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to be fighting overseas with militant groups, including a suicide bomber who killed three people in Baghdad in July and two men shown in images on social media holding the severed heads of Syrian soldiers.
Abbott has said that at least 100 Australians are in the Middle East either fighting with or supporting Islamic State or other militant groups, a number that he said has increased in recent months.
At least 20 are believed by authorities to have returned to Australia and pose a security risk, and earlier this month the national security agency for the first time raised its four-tier threat level to “high”.
Highlighting the threat posed by returning fighters, Australia was swift to commit troops and aircraft to a U.S.-led coalition fighting Islamic State militants in Iraq and Syria earlier this month.
United States and Arab allies on Tuesday bombed militant groups in Syria for the first time, killing scores of Islamic State fighters and members of a separate al Qaeda-linked group.
More than 800 police were involved in a security operation in Sydney and Brisbane last Thursday, which authorities said had thwarted a plot by militants linked to the Islamic State group to behead a random member of the public.
Security was also boosted at Parliament House in Canberra, after intelligence “chatter” had revealed a plot to attack the building and politicians on orders from overseas militants.Rudaw English sat with Tennessee Technological University Professor Michael Gunter, PhD, to discuss current Kurdish issues on May 27 in Erbil, Kurdistan Region. The US academic is political scientist, researcher and author of several books including his current project entitled ‘Handbook on the Kurds.’
The American recalls his 1993 visit to Iraqi Kurdistan during a KDP congress and the closeness of Jalal Talabani and Masoud Barzani. He notes the enormous progress in the region’s roads and infrastructure especially in the rural Kurdish countryside. Also discussed was the economy and Kurdistan’s protection of religious minorities being a point of leverage.
Gunter says relations between different political groups in Syria like KNC/ENKS and PYD could be improved through diplomacy and renewing the Turkey-PKK peace process. He also cites international reports of Kurds grabbing territory in Rojava as unfavorable internationally. Gunter says Kurds could explore options to the sea through Turkey, Iraq and Jordan.
Rudaw: One of the things that you’ve talked about is parliament and the upcoming referendum. From a Western perspective, is this a necessity for a step toward independence?
I don’t think it is a necessity, but it would help. I’ll tell you what also would help. You are doing tremendous things to help the Christian minorities in the Middle East. I’ve visited IDP camps and Americans, of course, are probably much more religious than Europeans and I think you should emphasize to the United States and your relationship with the US how Kurdistan and the KRG are
I have a warm spot for Turkey in my heart
aiding the survival of the Christians in the Middle East and that will impress the Americans even more. Americans know this, but they need to know it even more. It certainly impresses me because it would be difficult to find any place else in the Middle East where minorities like that would be taken care of.
And to that point, in northern Syria, it’s traditionally been a diverse place. There were Christians, ethnic Kurds, Jews, and other groups. But with ISIS and the civil war, some of them have been pushed out. Now, YPG, SDF and these groups have retaken much of the territory. Does this open the possibility for a connection to the Mediterranean which has always been the romantic dream of Kurds?
No, because the Kurds in Syria are landlocked and as they try to form a bridge to the Mediterranean, I would say that’s a bridge too far and maybe the roads aren’t strong enough to do it because of the civil war. But in the long run, the Syrian Kurds are what, 10–11 percent of the Syrian population? You’ll create enemies. If you want a land bridge to the Mediterranean, then it should be done through diplomacy and cooperation with the other people that are not seizing your territory. And your enemies, the Rojava enemies
I saw a clean environment, pristine streams flowing, a lot of economic progress
are making strong points. Even Amnesty International has talked about YPG and abuses against non-Kurdish population, so I think that’s badly exaggerated. But, certainly, if the Rojava is seen as grabbing territory that is historically not Kurdish just because it’s possible now under the conditions of the civil war, in the long run, that will be looked down upon very unfavorably to the Kurds. In the long run, what the KRG and Rojava needs is accessible diplomacy with their neighbors. I’ve always recommended Turkey.
I have a warm spot for Turkey in my heart, which needs some warm spots right now given the situation in Turkey, but of course an amicable divorce with Baghdad would allow the KRG to have a path to the sea through Iraq and also Jordan is there too. And Israel, as you know, is not allowed to say it, but they may be your best friend of all in the Middle East. And through Jordan and into Israel, so there are a lot of other diplomatic options for Kurdistan to diplomatically reach the sea and not be seen as that you’re somehow seizing land in an opportune moment that will in the long run create more problems than they solve.
If the operations in the Raqqa area of northern Syria are successful and it’s liberated from ISIS, and the Kurds in this area want to set up some sort of entity or some kind of self-autonomous zone, do you see the US supporting that in the way they supported a no-fly zone in the 1990s in what helped to lead to the Kurdistan Region?
That is more difficult, because as you know, Turkey is on reasonably friendly relations with the KRG now, so since Turkey is such an important American ally and will continue to be, the US can support the KRG. But as you know, Turkey considers the PYD a mere terrorist extension of PKK, so in the long run, the United States is probably going to pull away from the PYD and support Turkey.
So, there are two major Kurdish political groups in Syria, KNC or ENKS and PYD. Is there any force in the region or anyone that can bring these two groups together for the common good of the Kurdish people and Rojava?
That is almost squaring the circle and I would say I don’t have any good idea about that. We have to realize that there are some major problems between these two groups, and not trying to be too naively moving too far too fast. What I have said several times is that if we managed to get the Turkey-PKK peace process renewed again, that would make relations all round better and would help bring the PYD and KNC relations to a better situation than they are now.
And if we can just coming back to the Kurdistan Region and Erbil … When did you first come to the Kurdistan and can you describe what you see now versus what you saw at that time?
That’s an excellent question. I first came in 1993, I think it was in July or August for the Fourth KDP Congress, and I can remember, I was just 50 feet, maybe closer to Mam Jalal [Talabani] and Masoud Barzani were sitting side by side talking and everything seemed to be going well and then you fell into that civil war and never again have the Kurds have had to learn a bitter lesson from there. My own country as well went through a bitter civil war and 150 years later, we’re still having the memories of that in the United States.
How has Kurdistan changed since then?
When I came here the first time in 1993, I had to fly from Istanbul to Diyabakir (Turkey). And in Diyabakir, I got into a taxi cab and drove for about 100 miles to the border, and picked up my suitcase and went through a gauntlet of Turkish posts to finally cross the border into Kurdistan, where I was met by some KDP representatives in a Toyota Landrover, and we had to go over the most crude
Kurdish Peshmerga and security forces, know their home situation better than say American security
roads. At one we time we had to get out, and I helped push the thing, the Landrover, through a stream of water and eventually we got to Erbil, which looked like a big, overgrown village to me. Today, as you know, Erbil is one of the one of the most modern, progressive looking cities in the Middle East and indeed, as an American, I found some things here that were more modern than in the United States, in Washington or New York.
And, even more impressive though, is the extensive secondary road system you now have. [Yesterday] I took a 15 hour trip through the mountains of Erbil, around the Barzan region yesterday. For 15 hours, wandering the roads with an excellent Kurdish guide who lives here, Stafford Cleary, he knows more about the back roads of Kurdistan than anyone else. I’m trying to get him to write a chapter in my new book by Rutledge Press ‘Handbook on the Kurds.’ Anyway, I was most impressed by the economic infrastructure that has been constructed by the KRG government in the past 20 years. Enormous progress has been made — roads connecting little villages in the past probably that were so isolated, some of these people have probably never came down off the mountain in their entire life. Now, they have cars all over the place, restaurants, little markets to buy food, and even the ecology. I did not see a whole bunch of garbage on the road. I know this is a problem that you have to learn to keep your environment clean, but I saw a clean environment, pristine streams flowing, a lot of economic progress is occurring which I think is accredited to the KRG government.
When people from the outside come to Kurdistan, maybe people for their first time come to Kurdistan, have you talked to these people, do they say similar things when they visit Kurdistan for the first time?
I have not talked to a whole lot of people because not a whole lot of people are coming. Some are coming, but yes, I think the few people I have talked to would agree with me that there are enormous tourism prospects here, but people have been saying this for 20 years. Many people, who come here, seem to just stay in their hotel and don’t get to see some of the things that I saw. Now there are exceptions and there are other people who travel around like me and other people who travel much more than I do so I don’t want to create the wrong impression that I’m the only outsider that’s seen these things. But, still, relatively speaking, there are very few people even among those who come here on business get to travel and see some of these other things
What about the safety in the region when you go through the airport or when you leave the city, do you feel safe when you’re in Kurdistan?
That’s a good question and the answer is yes, amazingly so. I think obviously, the Kurdish Peshmerga and security forces, know their home situation better than say American security people would know. So I feel very comfortable being stopped along the highway for security look over and so forth, because as you know, no American has been killed in the Kurdistan region in 15 years or so since the removal of Saddam Hussein so I feel very secure. And in the city, I just simply cannot believe it, when I see people leave their material
the main security success that you have are intelligent people
possessions, even money, in the car and walk away and nobody breaks into the car.
I live at a small, rural city in Tennessee, Cookeville and you’d have to be an idiot to leave anything in your car. They’ll break the window and steal it. So the security situation here is very good and I hope that your increasing modernization will not lead to the problems that security in modernization often leads to. I think in the Kurdish culture though, there’s a lot of good in sense to the respect for the property and rights of other people. And again, I think the KRG government has fostered these admirable aspects of the Kurdish culture that people deserve a right to live in security.
One of the steps that the Kurdish government has embraced is this biometric system both for entry and for Peshmerga and for government employees. Are these the correct steps forward in the eyes of the international community, further transparency?
Well, as an older person, I’m computer challenged and I often have problems with these things, but in general, yes. I think that all attempts of modernization devices to encourage better security are looked upon positively in our background help. But I think the
I am disappointed in the fake news that came out
main security success that you have are intelligent people. You know your system, you know who your friends are, you know when there are outsiders who might be suspicious here so I would encourage you to use these modern security devices but only as a secondary device and continue to use the more traditional people intelligence which in the long run seems to work very well for the Kurds. And also, in the long run, the United States have gotten away from this, and we had to go back to more personal intelligence in the United States and not just depend on all these new security devices.
Do you have anything to add?
The thing that I’d like to add is the controversy of my speech at Hewler University. I don’t think that there’s anywhere else in the Middle East, except Israel, where somebody could come here and make some critical comments about the Kurdish government which I made in good will because I’m a friend of the Kurds and want to see intelligent successful independence but be allowed to say these things. And there was nobody dragging me off the stage and I think it’s a credit to the maturity and evolving democracy and freedom of speech in this country that I was allowed to say such things. I am disappointed in the fake news that came out where some news outlets in the KRG Region were saying, were exaggerating the problems that were created by my talk. This is simply not true, as you can see, here we are talking to each other even more.The TV gods heard our prayers: Judith Light is back on Dallas. Playing Judith Ryland, matriarch of a rival family to the Ewings of Southfork, Light was abruptly written off last season to accommodate her being cast in a Broadway play.
To get rid of her, Dallas exec producer and head plot-deviser Cynthia Cidre had Judith's evil son Harris (Mitch Pileggi) push her down a flight of stairs and then ship her off to a rehab hospital. But she wanted to return to the show this year, Cidre told Entertainment Weekly. So they found the money to hire her again and gave the series back its deliciously evil queen.
Light's voice as this character sounds like she's gargled with battery acid.
On this week's episode (written by Bruce Rasmussen), Judith's entrance was preceded by the menacing step-clunk, step-clunk noise of her hobbling with a heavy cane into son Harris' office at home in Murky Mansion. Surprised by the "intruder," Harris grabbed a gun from a drawer and pointed it at the door just as Judith appeared.
"Let's not shoot Mommy on her first day home," she growled. Light's voice as this character sounds like she's gargled with battery acid.
Judith let Harris know she was taking over the family's trucking business again. She isn't averse to doing deals with drug smugglers hauling party powder across the Mexican border into Texas.
When Harris meekly suggested this could bring trouble, she reared back like an angry adder: "Money and morality are like two cars on a one-lane road. When they meet, morality's gonna end up in a ditch."
Just to review: Harris is fresh out of prison, sent there for a brief stay in a set-up by his nymphet daughter Emma (Emma Bell, the Charlene Tilton of the new Dallas). He got sprung by paying off a crooked judge.
Emma is now living at Southfork and boinking John Ross Ewing (Josh Henderson) regularly. He's newly married but game for some games on the side. Emma's bedroom is directly across the hall from John Ross' marital boo-dwah. Convenient.
The last thing Harris needs is a violation of his parole, but his mother has other ideas. "I made my bones dealing with psychopaths and criminals while you were still playing with your Easy Bake Oven," she said this week.
Watch how Judith Light squints on the really good lines. When she blinks, only her right eyelashes move up and down, as if she's keeping one open to see if Pileggi is stealing focus. (He looks appropriately terrified in their scenes.)
Back at Southfork, Bobby (Patrick Duffy) and John Ross were still arguing about fracking this week. Yawn city. But Sue Ellen (Linda Gray), bless her, was honing in on the bedroom antics of her baby boy. She set a tail on John Ross.
"I spent 40 years being cheated on. I'm pretty good at picking up the signals," she said. Then she pulled a flask out of her handbag and took a healthy swig of firewater. Sue Ellen's back on the sauce! Let's all drink to that!
There were some dandy nuggets of dialogue in this episode. Bobby's wife Annie (Brenda Strong), trying to get him to come to bed, said, "I can't watch Duck Dynasty without you. I get all the beards confused."
And this one, after Judith Ryland took a hefty snort of cocaine offered by one of the cartel members she's doing a deal with. "Mama like," said Judith, then she sniffed another line as long as a garden snake and rubbed the excess into her gums.
The end of this week's installment offered a humdinger of a cliffhanger. Harris Ryland, it turns out, has become a quisling. He wired up to tape his mother's nefarious goings-on with the coke smugglers, and he's working with the CIA to bust the cartel.
To let Bobby Ewing in on the secret, he arranged a Deep Throat-like (the Watergate one, not the dirty movie one) meeting in an underground lair. Annie came along to the meeting but managed not to burst into tears, as is her wont.
Now this is the kind of hot nighttime soap writing we can get addicted to fast. Mama like.
---
Catch full episodes of Dallas on TNT online. New episodes air at 8 pm CST every Monday, with a rerun at 10.This article originally appeared at CounterPunch
The US Vice-President Joe Biden left Ukraine after his official visit on November 20-21, 2014, but Kyiv is still full of rumours about his arrival. And that’s due to the well known Ukrainian hacker group Cyberberkut (cyber-berkut.org/en/) that published in the net some documents signed by US President Barack Obama and State Secretary John Kerry about further deliveries of the lethal weapons to the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
The hacktivists claim they found the documents in the mobile device of an American diplomat accompanying Mr. Biden during his visit to Kyiv.
Official mass media preferred to avoid this message, however Rear Admiral John Kirby, the Pentagon press secretary, as well as the press secretary of the US Embassy in Moscow, were compelled to comment on the leaked information about military deliveries to Ukraine. According to their statements, Washington provides Kyiv exclusively with non-lethal military aid. Though they didn’t disprove the fact that the State Department employee’s mobile device had been hacked.
At the same time, the materials spread by Cyberberkut testify that Washington is ready to deliver rifles, missiles, anti aircraft armament and armor equipment to Kyiv. Besides, hackers claim that the Ukrainian army has been financed from the US Department of Defense budget for a long time. According to hackers, the amounts of financing are ‘amazing’ and make impression that the Ukrainian Armed Forces are ‘a branch of the American Army’.
What is more surprising, the US transfers hundreds of thousand dollars to Ukrainian officers’ personal accounts in circumvention of all established rules, principles and common sense. It’s not excluded that the Ukrainian military could freely spend the American aid for personal purposes.
The Ukrainian Armed Forces are actually in the extremely deplorable state. In August/September 2014, the Ukrainian ministry asked the Pentagon to pay meals and incidental expenses of the Ukrainian officers so that they could take part in the Rapid Trident joint maneuvers pending in Ukraine.
In fact, Kyiv might not be pressed for money so much. The Ukrainians may just have wanted to gain from the United States as much as possible while there was an opportunity like that.
Among the most interesting documents there’s also the Ukrainian Defense Ministry ‘request’ for the American weapons supply. Kyiv asks to deliver 400 sniper rifles, 2000 assault rifles, 720 shoulder grenade launchers, nearly 200 mortars and more than 70 000 mortar shells, 420 Javelin anti-tank missiles and even 150 Stingers.
Considering that the rebels have no aircraft, there is a fair question, what will the Ukrainian military do with anti-aircraft weapons? Unless they’re awaiting for another Malaysian Boeing.
The request for diving equipment for an underwater warfare team of 150 personnel also attracts special attention. The requests like that go outside the framework of peaceful and defensive measures. It turns out that all Ukrainian peaceful initiatives and statements to cease fire against rebels remain just a declaration.
Moreover, we shouldn’t forget that lethal weapons supplies to the crisis regions are prohibited by the UN Charter and International Law. Media leaks made by Cyberbercut hackers exclude the possibility that lethal weapons will come to Ukraine stealthy. Evidently the United States in contravention of civilized norms were not going to inform its NATO partners on preparations for lethal weapons supplies to Ukraine.
At the same time, Washington continues to exert considerable pressure on European countries in the context of the Ukrainian crisis.
For example, France has refused to deliver the first Mistral helicopter carrier warship to Russia to the detriment of their own interests. In addition to the public image losses as a reliable contractor, Paris will have to pay about $2 bln penalty and compensation for non-contract terms.
It seems that the visit of Vice President Joe Biden and his delegation will have long-playing consequences due to the Ukrainian followers of Julian Assange and his Wikileaks. As you know, what is done by night appears by day.
Perhaps, the US should be more transparent with its European partners: it’s extremely unpleasant to learn from the press about the secret negotiations behind your back.0 SHARES Facebook Twitter Google Whatsapp Pinterest Print Mail Flipboard
After Republicans tried to push beyond the $20 billion in food stamp cuts already in the Farm Bill, Democrats pulled their support, and John Boehner suffered another humiliating defeat.
The Farm Bill was defeated 195-234, and House Republican leadership immediately started blaming Democrats for the loss. Democrats pulled their support for the bill after the House passed an amendment by Rep. Steve Southerland (R-FL) that would have added work requirements to the food stamp program. The end result was that only 24 Democrats voted for the bill, and 62 Republicans voted against. After the vote Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi said, “It’s silly. It’s sad. It’s juvenile. It’s unprofessional. It’s amateur hour.” Later Pelosi added that Democrats couldn’t support the bill because it would have, “taken food out of the mouths of babies.”
Boehner and Cantor still could have passed the legislation on their own, but the Republican caucus had broken into factions. The reality is that John Boehner can’t pass anything major without Nancy Pelosi. House Republicans are too divided, and mired in infighting to pass anything beyond vague platitudes of ideology that everyone knows will never survive the Senate.
John Boehner needs somebody who can actually deliver votes in the House, and that person is Nancy Pelosi. When the radical tea party element of the GOP caucus tried to push for even more than $20 billion in food stamp cuts that they already had, Pelosi and the Democrats walked. What Boehner and Cantor won’t tell you is that the bill failed because of their weak leadership.
Democrats were never going to support a bill that cut $20 billion from the food stamp program. Without the support of at least 66 Democrats, the bill was not going to pass. House Republicans lost Democratic votes when they foolishly tried to attach a work requirement on to the SNAP program, but it wouldn’t have mattered if enough Republicans would have supported the bill.
Fair is fair. If Republicans want to blame Democrats for the defeat, Democrats have the right to take credit for a victory for the poor.
John Boehner’s inability to function without Nancy Pelosi’s ability to deliver Democratic votes proves once and for all that the wrong person is acting as Speaker. If America wants the House to function like it is supposed to again, they need to hand the Speaker’s gavel back to Nancy Pelosi, because the Boehner/Cantor/McCarthy/Ryan GOP leadership is a joke.
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:We bring you our annual survey of the best work of the year, as judged by our panel of 31 visual experts in photography and multimedia. The PDN Photo Annual is an esteemed accolade for established photographers and a jumping-point for student and emerging photographers breaking into the field. Join us in congratulating this group of exceptional artists. Many thanks to the jury, our sponsors and the photographers and organizations who entered work this year.
Aphelion — meaning the farthest from the sun—is the inspiration for the collection of TAKK jewelry featured in this catalog shoot featuring model Samia Magda Mja.
From a series of portraits of actor Madeleine Worrall, who plays Jane Eyre in the National Theatre stage adaptation of Charlotte Brontë’s novel.
IKEA’s “The Wonderful Everyday” campaign captures the pandemonium as monkeys at the Jaguar Rescue Center run wild in an IKEA METOD kitchen built in the Costa Rican jungle.
A series of images shot for a campaign for the Irish Wind Energy Association, highlighting the importance of wind energy in helping to keep the planet healthy.
An image from the “Take It” campaign that features athletes during crucial moments of competition. The images were used globally in various adidas print and digital ads.
From a print advertising campaign for USAA that showcases the strength, determination and passion of U.S. military heroes.
Photographed in Panama and Mexico, these images from a global Bacardí campaign focus on the brand’s famous heritage, and the Bacardí family’s personal history as exiles and Cuban revolutionaries.
Shot for the ODC Dance Company’s 2015 repertory season, used in all of ODC’s print and digital mediums that promote the brand.
An image of Hannatu Abbas, an 18-year-old mentor’s assistant at the Centre for Girls’ Education in Zaria, Nigeria. This image was used on The Malala Fund’s website, annual report and Instagram.
Commissioned by Sotheby’s, this image featuring Jackson Pollock’s painting “Number 12, 1950” was used to attract the interest of potential collectors.
This campaign was created as a refresh of Nike Basketball’s branding, featuring some of its biggest and brightest stars.
A portrait of author and singer Patti Smith, photographed in Toronto, Ontario, for The Globe and Mail on October 14, 2015.
From a series of portraits of five of the most stylish women making music in the summer of 2015, photographed for The Cut’s “Top 10—The New Female Musicians to See this Summer.”
Shot for The New York Times Magazine cover story “Unbearable,” published on May 31, 2015. Pregnant women often fear taking the antidepressants they rely on, but not treating their mental illnesses can be just as dangerous.
From a series that features principal ballet dancer David Hallberg and his travels between New York City and Moscow as a member of American Ballet Theatre and the Bolshoi Ballet, shot for “A Tale of Two Cities” in the February 2015 issue of Condé Nast Traveler.
An image from “Political Theater,” a series that reveals the artifice and absurdity of American politics as candidates vie for their party’s presidential nomination.
A portrait of former firefighter Patrick Hardison, 73 days after he received a face transplant, featured in the November 16, 2015 issue of New York. His surgery was the most successful face transplant in medical history.
From a series photographed for the article “The Black Family in the Age of Mass Incarceration,” featured in the October 2015 issue of The Atlantic.
From a series of documentary-style photographs captured at the Hedonism II resort in Jamaica, for “The Sex Machine” feature in the January 24, 2016 issue of Boston Magazine.
Nearly 60 million people are currently displaced from their homes by war and persecution—the most since World War II—and half are children. Shot for “The Displaced,” a feature article in the November 8, 2015 issue of The New York Times Magazine.
A portrait of author and singer Patti Smith, photographed in Toronto, Ontario, for The Globe and Mail on October 14, 2015.
From a series of portraits of five of the most stylish women making music in the summer of 2015, photographed for The Cut’s “Top 10—The New Female Musicians to See this Summer.”
As humans encroach on their habitat, leopards are adapting. Photographed for the “Learning to Live With Leopards” feature in the December 2015 issue of National Geographic.
From a series that documents the export of American-bred pigs to emerging markets like the Philippines, captured for the December 2015 feature article “Why Asia Craves America’s Pig DNA.”
An exploration of the northern part of Sri Lanka after 26 years of a brutal civil war, for a travel feature on Sri Lanka.
From a series of portraits captured during the 2015 Urban Beach Week in Miami’s South Beach, published in a June 2015 feature on Refinery29 as part of its “Take Back the Beach” body-acceptance campaign.
Shot for The New York Times Magazine cover story “Unbearable,” published on May 31, 2015. Pregnant women often fear taking the antidepressants they rely on, but not treating their mental illnesses can be just as dangerous.
From a series that features principal ballet dancer David Hallberg and his travels between New York City and Moscow as a member of American Ballet Theatre and the Bolshoi Ballet, shot for “A Tale of Two Cities” in the February 2015 issue of Condé Nast Traveler.
From a series of photographs documenting the Mattel Design Studio, the history and future of the Barbie doll and the process by which all Barbie dolls are made. Photographed for the February 8, 2016 issue of TIME.
A portrait of former firefighter Patrick Hardison, 73 days after he received a face transplant, featured in the November 16, 2015 issue of New York. His surgery was the most successful face transplant in medical history.
From a series photographed for the article “The Black Family in the Age of Mass Incarceration,” featured in the October 2015 issue of The Atlantic.
From a series of documentary-style photographs captured at the Hedonism II resort in Jamaica, for “The Sex Machine” feature in the January 24, 2016 issue of Boston Magazine.
Shot for the cover of the April 26, 2015 “Walking New York” issue, this photograph features a portrait of an immigrant, Elmar Aliyev, pasted over the triangle of pavement between Fifth Avenue, Broadway and East 23rd Street. The concept aimed to show that as immigrants find their way on the streets of New York City, their lives are often hidden to the people walking past.
A photographer known for taking portraits of members of the black queer community in South Africa turns the camera on herself. From a series of self-portraits featured in the October 11, 2015 issue of The New York Times Magazine.
Sierra Leone was declared Ebola-free by the World Health Organization on November 7, 2015, but the social and economic impact has prevented a return to normalcy. In addition to the nearly 4,000-person death toll, unemployment is high, commerce has slowed, the mining industry is in crisis, and many foreigners have left the country.
While the world’s attention is directed toward the thousands of African migrants traveling north to Europe, little attention is given to the African migrants looking south, arriving in Johannesburg to try to make a better life for themselves in one of Africa’s most affluent cities. Many end up living in derelict buildings in Johannesburg’s inner city, a place known for its high level of crime, poverty and unemployment.
Sayed Mohammad Sultani, left, the largest exporter of Karakul pelts in Afghanistan, examines pelts procured by middle men from northern Afghani shepherds. Karakul has forged an increasingly close economic relationship between Afghanistan and Finland, which imported over half a million pelts last year.
Refugees and migrants reach the coast of the Greek island of Lesbos after crossing the Aegean Sea from Turkey on October 11, 2015.
“The Other Border” depicts Brooks County, Texas, where an enforcement checkpoint has forced undocumented immigrants to travel up to 25 miles around the patrol stations in deadly conditions. Despite the attention to securing the U.S.-Mexico border, it is often at checkpoints further north where people and contraband are intercepted.
43-year-old Baynazar Mohammad Nazar lies dead on the operating table inside the Kunduz Trauma Center in Afghanistan. On October 3, 2015, 42 people were killed by an American airstrike on the Doctors Without Borders-operated hospital, which the U.S. military says was accidental. Several bodies, including Nazar’s, remained in the building for over a week because of fighting between Afghan government forces and Taliban insurgents.
Iraqi refugees enjoy the warmth at Sauna Arla, a traditional Finnish sauna in Helsinki. With support from the Red Cross and the sauna’s owner, the refugees are able to use the facilities free of charge.
From Modola’s series about life in the shantytowns around Kenya’s capital, Nairobi, including the slum neighborhoods of Korogocho, Mathare, Mukuru kwa Njenga and Kibera. More than 2 million residents live in these bustling and energetic neighborhoods, but crime and unemployment are high, and basic services and sanitation are scarce. Modola says there is mistrust of police officers; crimes often go unreported and relations with officers, who also face violence in the slums, are strained.
From the series “War Widows of Afghanistan.” Bibi Naiz was blinded while fleeing war in Helmand. She survived a NATO airstrike that killed seven members of her family, including her husband and three children. The eight that survived take care of her in the Nasaji Bagrami refugee camp outside of Kabul. More than three decades of war in Afghanistan has mass-produced widows who live in extreme poverty.
On December 13, 2015, a grocery store in Douma, Syria, a city near Damascus, came under attack. Khabieh photographed the field hospital in Duoma, one of many makeshift emergency facilities in basements and shelters, run by the city’s Unified Medical Office.
Somalia has an emblematic role to play in today’s refugee crisis. While millions are internally displaced or seeking asylum elsewhere, Somalia has also welcomed 30,000 Yemenites seeking refuge. Gualazzini says the desire for change in Somalia is palpable, seen in beachgoers, beauty parlors and arcades, and that the people of Somalia are looking toward the future despite the threats of militant group Al-Shabaab.
From Nahr’s series about the crisis in Unity State, South Sudan, following a December 2013 political dispute that has led to conflict and ethnic tensions across the country. At least 50,000 people have been killed, according to the United Nations, and 3 million face food shortages. Nahr spent a month photographing in hospitals and camps for the displaced.
From a series about Magic City, an Atlanta strip club known for its powerful and famous clientele. Rappers such as T.I. and Future got their start in the club, and dancers hope to become high-class socialites and artists and repertoire (A&R) executives. Greenfield calls it “a microcosm of the American Dream.”
A long-term project on Brazil’s indigenous tribes affected by hydroelectric projects underway in the Amazon Rainforest. The Belo Monte Dam is a cornerstone of the initiative and, nearing completion, will displace more than 20,000 people.
A swimmer drifts through the thousands of jellyfish that inhabit an enclosed salt-water lake in Palau, an archipelago in the western Pacific Ocean. Formed after the last ice age, the lake has been a home to these unique jellyfish that have adapted and become the dominant species in the lake.
18-year-old Torin Khairegi, one of hundreds of young Kurdish female soldiers who have taken up the fight against the Islamic State (IS). The Women’s Protection Unit (YPJ) is an offshoot of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, a Kurdish nationalist movement that has long fought a war of independence against Turkey.
Åslund’s series about the toll of climate change in the Arctic, where the sea ice is in decline due to rising temperatures. Åslund says it’s a bitter irony that a rapidly changing Arctic is not seen as a stark warning to our way of life, but is instead exploited by governments and oil companies to further drill for the very same oil that caused the melting in the first place.
Photographing in a Greenlandic orphanage, Just presented each of his portraits to his subjects and asked what they think when they look at themselves. The portraits and testimonies have been published in a photo book and exhibited at STATUS:15 in Denmark.
“Europe’s New Borders” documents the re-activation and enforcement of European borders during the refugee crisis, three years after the European Union was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for contributing to the advancement of peace and reconciliation across the continent. Shot over five months in 2015 with a custom-made drone, Degnbol looks at the solutions—and lack of solutions—in Bulgaria, Croatia, Denmark, Greece, Hungary, Macedonia, Serbia and Sweden.
Ponomarev traveled to Greece, Hungary, Serbia and Slovenia, among other countries, to take photographs of refugees and migrants searching for stability. The most direct routes, Ponomarev says, are fraught with danger: Those who cross the Aegean Sea from Turkey to Greek territory often take flimsy rubber dinghies or small wooden boats; those who attempt to reach Northern European countries take the perilous Western Balkans route, running the gauntlet of brutal human traffickers and robbers.
French tennis player Gaël Monfils is no stranger to putting himself in awkward positions in order to return a ball. This campaign, shot for use on Asics’ social |
25+ stolen base speed and should have no problem putting it to use at the big-league level. He will likely put his skills to the test at the start of this season and should be batting leadoff for San Diego on Opening Day. He appears to be a relatively low-risk player who should provide plenty of hits, stolen bases and runs scored to fantasy owners.
5. Josh Bell (1B/OF, PIT, MLB)
Stats: 152 PA,.273/.368/.406, 3 HR, 0 SB, 13.8% BB rate, 12.5% K rate
ETA: Opening Day
Another low-risk prospect, Bell has always demonstrated one of the most disciplined approaches to the plate of any player in the minors. He was viewed as a contact-only first baseman for a while, but he has recently begun to channel some of that raw power and now could be a 20+ home run threat for the Pirates. And with a very decent chance of hitting.290+ in the middle of a very potent lineup, Bell should be able to hit enough to be owned even qualifying at the deep fantasy position of first base.
6. Hunter Renfroe (OF, SD, MLB)
Stats: (from AAA) 563 PA,.306/.336/.557, 30 HR, 5 SB, 3.9% BB rate, 20.4% K rate
ETA: Opening Day
Petco Park is not by any stretch of the imagination considered to be a hitter’s ballpark, but scouts are predicting that Renfroe will make it seem like one. Renfroe has awe-inspiring power and should be able to hit 30 home runs, even in San Diego. Batting average could be an issue for him due to his poor discipline, but owners will happily take the home runs and RBI production in 2017.
7. Jharel Cotton (SP, OAK, MLB)
Stats: 29.1 IP, 2.15 ERA, 3.76 FIP, 20.5% K rate, 3.6% BB rate,.185 AVG
ETA: Opening Day
Cotton has quietly dominated the minors for many years without receiving a lot of recognition from scouting sites. Cotton has struck out at least 24 percent of opposing hitters with at least 30 innings pitched at every MiLB level he has reached while always keeping that walk rate in single-digits. His stuff likely will not translate to a future ace in the majors, but with his command and ability to generate enough whiffs, he could be a No. 3 starter with strikeout upside in 2017.
8. Austin Meadows (OF, PIT, AAA)
Stats: 145 PA,.214/.297/.460, 6 HR, 8 SB, 10.3% BB rate, 23.4% K rate
ETA: Mid-July (earlier if any PIT outfielder is injured)
Meadows has the most distant ETA of anyone in the top 10, but he is also one of the most promising outfielders in all of baseball. He is one Pittsburgh outfield injury or trade (*cough* Andrew McCutchen) away from debuting in the majors this season. He has a ton of power/speed potential and also possesses one of the more disciplined approaches in the minors, leading many to believe he would not be a victim of much early big-league struggles. When he is called up to the Pittsburgh outfield, he will immediately warrant ownership in all leagues.
9. Robert Gsellman (SP, NYM, MLB)
Stats: 44.2 IP, 2.42 ERA, 2.63 FIP, 22.7% K rate, 8.1% BB rate,.249 AVG
ETA: Opening Day
The Mets somehow always seem to find all these talented pitching prospects. Gsellman for the longest time was an unheralded pitching prospect, but he found some velocity and action on that fastball and has now started to look like a future No. 3 or 4 starter in the majors. He won’t be an ace, but Gsellman will miss some bats for fantasy owners and should produce a solid ERA around 3.50 or lower.
10. Aaron Judge (OF, NYY, MLB)
Stats: (from AAA) 410 PA,.270/.366/.489, 19 HR, 5 SB, 11.5% BB rate, 23.9% K rate
ETA: Opening Day
The American League equivalent of Renfroe, Judge is all about the longball. He is a massive outfielder, standing at 6-foot-7, 275 pounds, and has a ton of raw power potential. He has recently started to tap into that potential and should be able to hit 30 home runs in his first season in pinstripes. His inability to make consistent contact make him a bit of a riskier prospect, but so long as he finds the playing time, he should be a great source of power production.
11. Mitch Haniger (OF, SEA, MLB)
Stats: 123 PA,.229/.309/.404, 5 HR, 0 SB, 9.8% Bb rate, 22.0% K rate
ETA: Opening Day
Haniger made some adjustments to the plate in 2016 and it resulted in one of the best seasons of any player in the minors last year. He slashed.321/.419/.581 with 25 home runs and 12 stolen bases, and now could emerge as a stud as the new right fielder for the Seattle Mariners. Haniger has carried his hot-hitting ways into Spring Training as he is currently slashing.406/.472/.719 and could be a potentially explosive sleeper in 2017.
12. Tom Murphy (C, COL, MLB)
Stats: (from AAA) 321 PA,.327/.361/.647, 19 HR, 1 SB, 5.0% BB rate, 24.3% K rate
ETA: Early May
A catcher with a ton of power and a home field like Coors Field makes Murphy an enticing fantasy player. He would probably be a top-five player if he was the full-time starter or did not have some contact issues. But even when taking into account both this negatives, the power coming from the weakest offensive position in baseball means he has a ton of value in redraft leagues. He will miss some time with a fractured forearm and may be a bit slower to fully get back into the swing of things, but with his pop, he could still be a 20-homer hitter this season.
13. Tyler Glasnow (SP, PIT, MLB)
Stats: 23.1 IP, 4.24 ERA, 4.26 FIP, 22.9% K rate, 12.4% BB rate,.247 AVG
ETA: Late April
The ETA still says Late April, but Glasnow could exit Spring Training with the No. 5 starter spot in the Pittsburgh rotation. Now Glasnow has some notable control issues that may be a bit concerning to fantasy owners, but his ability to miss bats at such a high rate makes him an attractive possible late-round pitcher should he start right out of the gate.
14. Cody Reed (SP, CIN, MLB)
Stats: 47.2 IP, 7.36 ERA, 6.06 FIP, 18.7% K rate, 8.3% BB rate
ETA: Opening Day
A lot of people are very low on Reed because of how awful he was in 2016, but it is important to remember that he still possesses a nasty fastball/slider combination that has seen 20% strikeout rates or higher in all but three stints at varying MiLB levels. Add that to his always promising command, and you’ve got a guy who still has the potential to be a solid starting pitcher at the big-league level. He could be a solid post-hype sleeper in 2017.
15. Bradley Zimmer (OF, CLE, AAA)
Stats: 150 PA,.242/.349/.305, 1 HR, 5 SB, 14.0% BB rate, 37.3% K rate
ETA: Late June
Lonnie Chisenhall’s injury appears to be nothing too severe, but it does highlight the growing concerns about the state of their outfield. Several of Cleveland’s outfielders have injury issues, and they are actually both left-handed bats for that team. Zimmer has continued to crush Spring Training pitching and is starting to look more comfortable with his new swing. Even if the average is still an issue for Zimmer, providing both home runs and stolen bases to fantasy owners will certainly be a welcome sight to fantasy owners. If he gets a chance at regular playing time, that power/speed combination could be productive for fantasy owners.
16. Cody Bellinger (1B/OF, LAD, AAA)
Stats: (from AA) 465 PA,.263/.359/.484, 23 HR, 8 SB, 12.7% BB rate, 20.2% K rate
ETA: Early August (earlier if Adrian Gonzalez is traded/injured)
Bellinger is one of those guys whose upside warrants placement on this list even if he doesn’t have an immediate path to playing time. He can play all three outfield positions and first base, but given the Dodgers’ outfield depth, he will really need an A-Gone trade or injury for him to see playing time. With that said, he has an explosive bat and should be a future All-Star first baseman, so any chance he receives to play in the majors should be enough to warrant owning in most leagues.
17. Koda Glover (RP, WAS, MLB)
Stats: (from AAA) 24.0 IP, 2.25 ERA, 2.92 FIP, 25.0% K rate, 3.4% BB rate,.191 AVG
ETA: Opening Day
Glover has received a lot of hype for his dominant outings so far this pre-season and could find himself in a couple save opportunities for the Nationals this season. He has the upper-90s fastball and solid array of secondary offerings and could be a reliever worth owning even if he is not the full-time closer. If he dominates like some expect him to, he should be given a chance to save 10+ games this season.
18. Reynaldo Lopez (SP, CWS, MLB)
Stats: 44.0 IP, 4.91 ERA, 3.92 FIP, 20.9% K rate, 11.0% BB rate,.263 AVG
ETA: Late May
Though viewed by many as a future reliever, Lopez will still receive a chance to start in the White Sox rotation at some point in the near future for Chicago. Lopez has electric stuff and should have little issue missing bats at the big-league level. The question really is just whether his command will hold up over a full season of work. If he gets a chance to start this season, his strikeout potential and middle-of-the-rotation upside would warrant ownership in most leagues.
19. Amir Garrett (SP, CIN, AAA)
Stats: 67.2 IP, 3.46 ERA, 4.14 FIP, 19.7% K rate, 11.3% BB rate,.198 AVG
ETA: Opening Day
Garrett has not thrown a single inning in the majors to this point in his pro career. And yet, he will likely be one of two Reds pitching prospects to open the season in the big-league rotation. Garrett has dominated Spring Training lineups despite posting rather pedestrian numbers against Triple-A batters in 2016. He has historically found much more success and has the stuff to do well in the majors. Pitching in Great American Ballpark is not the easiest thing to do on a regular basis, but Garrett could be a future No. 3 starter for the Reds as early as 2017.
20. Roman Quinn (OF, PHI, MLB)
Stats: (from AA) 322 PA,.287/.361/.441, 6 HR, 31 SB, 9.3% BB rate, 21.1% K rate
ETA: Mid-July
If you liked Billy Hamilton, but want a guy who can hit just a tad better, Quinn is going to be your guy. Quinn is incredibly fast, having stolen 30 or more bases in every season except for 2015 when he only stole 29 bags... in 58 games. He has an injury-plagued history and still has strikeout issues, but with Michael Saunders having his own long history of injuries, Quinn could get a chance to start before long.
21. Raimel Tapia (OF, COL, MLB)
Stats: (from AAA) 110 PA,.346/.355/.490, 0 HR, 6 SB, 1.8% BB rate, 10.9% K rate
ETA: Late July
22. Lucas Giolito (SP, CWS, MLB)
Stats: 21.1 IP, 6.75 ERA, 8.21 FIP, 10.9% K rate, 11.9% BB rate,.295 AVG
ETA: Late May
23. Dan Vogelbach (1B, SEA, MLB)
Stats: (from AAA) 581 PA,.287/.410/.495, 23 HR, 0 SB, 16.7% BB rate, 17.9% K rate
ETA: Early May
24. Lewis Brinson (OF, MIL, AAA)
Stats: (from AA) 326 PA,.237/.280/.431, 11 HR, 11 SB, 5.2% BB rate, 19.6% K rate
ETA: Late July
25. German Marquez (SP, COL, MLB)
Stats: 20.2 IP, 5.23 ERA, 4.26 FIP, 15.3% K rate, 6.1% BB rate,.315 AVG
ETA: Opening Day
26. Charlie Tilson (OF, CWS, MLB)
Stats: (from AAA) 395 PA,.282/.345/.407, 4 HR, 15 SB, 8.4% BB rate, 12.9% K rate
ETA: Late May
27. Derek Fisher (OF, HOU, AAA)
Stats: 118 PA,.290/.347/.505, 5 HR, 5 SB, 7.6% BB rate, 22.0% K rate
ETA: Late July
28. Josh Hader (SP, MIL, AAA)
Stats: 69.0 IP, 5.22 ERA, 3.81 FIP, 29.3% K rate, 12.0% BB rate,.241 AVG
ETA: Mid-July
29. Chance Sisco (C, BAL, AAA)
Stats: (from AA) 479 PA,.320/.406/.422, 4 HR, 2 SB, 12.3% BB rate, 17.3% K rate
ETA: Early August
30. Jae-gyun Hwang (3B, SF, NA)
Stats: NA
ETA: Early AugustJets wide receiver Eric Decker is dealing with a partially torn rotator cuff in his shoulder. He will miss Sunday's game against Seattle, and coach Todd Bowles said Decker's status is "week-to-week."
He could wind up sidelined for the season, and will be out for the year if he requires surgery -- something that has yet to be determined.
To get a better understanding of Decker's injury, NJ Advance Media spoke to Dr. Leesa Galatz, the system chair in orthopedics for Mount Sinai Health System and the Icahn School of Medicine.
Her speciality is orthopedic surgery, so she knows all about rotator cuff tears. Galatz has not treated Decker, so she just spoke generally about these injuries.
The big question everyone is wondering: How long could Decker be out?
"Anywhere from a couple of weeks to a couple of months, depending on the severity," Galatz said. "Partial thickness tears [of a rotator cuff tendon] can have some that are not very severe and some that are almost full thickness tears. It really depends on the severity of the tear. With a partial tear, he's much more likely to be able to return to play than if he had a full thickness tear."
A partially torn rotator cuff tendon is such a variable injury because the attachment site of tendon to bone is so thick -- about a centimeter. So that leaves a bunch of room for different severities of partial tears.
If the tear is not severe, it sometimes can heal itself, so Galatz said Decker might not require surgery -- even after the season.
"He may be able to rehab through this," she said. "What a partial thickness rotator cuff tear means is that some of the fibers have torn away, but not all of them. Not all of the tendon has pulled off, and that's why it's possible to return to play after an injury like this. If the people who are caring for him control the pain and rehab his shoulder, it's possible for him to return to play."
Galatz said that, initially, she would suggest a rest period of seven to 10 days, followed by rehab, "to see how he's feeling." The rehab would enable her to get a better read on the healing progress -- or lack thereof -- in Decker's shoulder.
If Decker requires surgery -- which would've been the case for a full tear -- his season would be over.
Jets' 2016 game-by-game picks
"When you repair a tendon, it doesn't really matter if it's a partial tear or a full thickness tear," Galatz said. "It's a pretty involved recovery."
With a partially torn rotator cuff, Galatz said the injured person's movement actually is not restricted. He can move his arm as he normally would. It's just that these movements cause significant pain.
These injuries are most commonly associated -- but not exclusive to -- baseball pitchers, who sustain them through long-term wear and tear. But a single blow, like a hit from a football defender, can cause a rotator cuff tear, too.
"We see them mostly in the throwing athletes," Galatz said. "But any kind of rotator cuff tear can happen from a fall or a collision incident."
Decker initially injured his shoulder against the Bills, two games ago. He aggravated the injury last week in Kansas City. Galatz said it is possible for a rotator cuff tear to worsen when aggravated after the initial injury.
Bottom line: Decker might be back this season, but it is almost impossible to say when (if at all) because that thick rotator cuff tendon leaves a lot of room for different types of partial tears.
"It just depends on how big it is, really," Galatz said of the tear. "Some of them, you can recover and return just fine."
Darryl Slater may be reached at dslater@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @DarrylSlater. Find NJ.com Jets on Facebook.The Princess Bride: Rob Reiner's classic 1987 fairytale with a healthy dose of tongue-in-cheek humour, THE PRINCESS BRIDE remains as fresh and as entertaining today as when it was first released. All the standard fairytale characters are here - the handsome prince, the beautiful princess, the ugly but good-hearted ogre, the evil king and the wise old man with a knack for potion making - but holding it all together is the inimitable humour of its creators William Goldman (novel and screenplay), Mel Brooks (producer) and of course Rob Reiner at the helm. Labyrinth: Fifteen-year-old Sarah (Jennifer Connelly) is so resentful of her baby brother Toby that she hopes he will just disappear. Her dream becomes reality when goblins kidnap the boy--but Sarah unexpectedly finds herself horrified by the loss. So she sets forth to retrieve him, and finds herself on the adventure of a lifetime. To accomplish her task, she will somehow have to reach the center of the fantastical labyrinth where the wicked Goblin King (David Bowie, who performs two songs) has imprisoned the lad. But the task is easier said than done, for the maze is filled with strange creatures and mind-bending puzzles that confuse the girl. Directed by Jim Henson and penned by Monty Python's Terry Jones, 'Labyrinth' is a distinctive, beautifully designed dark fantasy for all ages.Mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato sings the title role of Handel's Ariodante in a concert performance streamed from New York's Carnegie Hall. A spectacular cast joined by Harry Bicket and The English Concert bring authentic Handelian brilliance to this marvelous opera.
Following the 1711 premiere of his opera Rinaldo, Handel held a decade-long sway over the world of Italian opera in London, bolstered by his sturdy patron King George I and a relatively empty field of competitors. But by the mid-1720s, his career was teetering at the edge of ruin: King George had died in 1727, Italian opera seria was being progressively undermined by English-language comic opera, and a newly arrived rival composer Niccolò Porpora had managed to lure away many of Handel's vocal stars. In the face of crisis, Handel rose above his difficult circumstances to reinvent himself, both artistically and professionally. It began in 1733 with the unveiling of his magical opera Orlando. Then in 1735, Handel premiered Ariodante at Covent Garden. The work would prove to be one of the composer's most gorgeous and inventive scores, filled to the brim with outstanding arias for each of its principal singers.
This concert is presented as part of Carnegie Hall’s critically acclaimed annual cycle of Handel operas in concert. Placing superstar mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato front and center as Prince Ariodante, she is joined onstage by numerous highly accomplished vocal colleagues as well as one of the world's finest chamber orchestras, The English Concert, under the baton of its current Artistic Director Harry Bicket.
Joyce DiDonato – Official website
Joyce DiDonato appears courtesy of Warner Classics.
Photo: Joyce DiDonato © Pari DukovicEveryone – or Twitter, at least – is calling it the most humiliating encounter ever. The Green party leader, Natalie Bennett, was interviewed by Nick Ferrari on LBC today, and her answers on housing policy were more ridiculed and scorned, more discredited even, than her exposition of basic citizen’s income on Andrew Neil’s Sunday Politics.
This encounter was worse because Ferrari is a more courteous interviewer than Neil, so Bennett didn’t even have the appeal of the underdog. As Ferrari told her, she should have “genned up” for questions as basic as “How much will each of your houses cost?”. Worst of all, she fell silent. At one point, Bennett said she had a cold – the interviewing equivalent of showing a predator your neck at the moment that they kill you. They might say something nice about Lemsip, but as far as they are concerned, you are dead.
Greens' Natalie Bennett suffers'mind blank' during campaign launch Read more
And now Bennett will have to cope with people forever calling her “discredited”. It is the new mantra of the right, covering everything from an honest mistake to a statement they disagree with. They love it because it accrues authority to them (they bestow and withdraw “credit”) and because of its finality. Bennett, I would hope, knows that this is nonsense: that you’re discredited if you believe lizards are taking over the world, but you’re not discredited if you fail to recall how much is spent giving mortgage tax breaks to buy-to-let landlords.
If I were her, I wouldn’t worry about it: people who are anywhere near voting Green will recognise that a far more profound change to the distribution of government spending will have to be undertaken if we want to reach a housing settlement than will ever be teased out for the first time in a five-minute radio segment.
Nevertheless, there were mistakes in the Bennett interview. “We have lost faith in any of the large available understandings of how structural change takes place in history,” the philosopher Roberto Unger said in a recent lecture in London, “and as a result we fall back on a bastardised conception of political realism, namely that a proposal is realistic to the extent that it approaches what already exists.” This is the whole of British politics encapsulated in two lines: unless a policy looks exactly like what the mainstream parties are suggesting; unless it can be funded by minor tootling on existing tax instruments (and even that will be called a “raid”); unless it will leave the fundamental structures totally unperturbed – then it is the most outlandish idea that anybody has ever heard.
Green party leader Natalie Bennett came unstuck by trying to be honest | Letters: Sara Parkin, Brian Wilson and Tim Daniel Read more
Therefore, nobody in opposition – not Bennett, not Ed Miliband, not Nigel Farage – should ever get into a conversation about how they will fund something without first underlining that the way things exist at the moment is completely wrecked. The status quo is broken; it’s not even static, it’s constantly worsening.
In the current spending round, £96bn was allocated to housing benefit, £5bn to building new homes. It is a naked redistribution of taxpayers’ money to the 2% of people who are landlords. Money we could be spending on decent, environmentally friendly housing stock that everybody would want to live in is instead being funnelled directly to the richest people in society: a system steadily creating dependence, insecurity and squalor, with 21% of people now on housing benefit. How many more have to join them before the boot is on the other foot and Nick Ferrari is called upon to explain what’s so great about the system as it stands? 30%? 50%?
Bennett came unstuck with the £60,000-per-unit costing, which Ferrari leapt upon. (What would that build, a conservatory? How much is the land costing? And so on.) In fact, I would venture that the Green party leader knows a lot more than Ferrari about building new homes: Green Cities is just one eco-think-and-do tank, which has produced blueprints for food neutral, energy neutral homes, costed at 10,000 flats for £1billion (100k each rather than 60, assuming that the land was bought by compulsory purchase order).
I would venture that the Green party leader knows a lot more than Ferrari about building new homes
Her mistake was to answer the question as Ferrari posed it, rather than describing the vision that she knows back to front; I can see why. We are all sick of hearing politicians simply address the question they arrived to answer. We claim to want to hear people listening, like human beings. But she needs to be able to frame the conversation around her own assumptions – that this housing would represent a radical, even beautiful new future – rather than his: that it would be a shanty town thrown up with plywood.
Least important, but most memorable, is the fact that Bennett freaked out. Like horses, these interviewers can smell fear; I wonder if they can even smell fear when she walks in. But the only way to deal with that is to get back in the saddle.
• This article was amended on 2 March 2015. An earlier version said that in the the final spending period of the Labour government, £96bn was allocated to housing benefit and £5bn to building new homes. Those figures are for the coalition government’s current spending round.After adding a championship coach to the sidelines, the Los Angeles Clippers set a new franchise record for wins in a regular season. However, they again failed to make a deep run in playoffs and will need to tweak their roster in the offseason if they stand a chance at making it further next season.
Season Summary
In recent years, the Los Angeles Clippers have completely reinvented themselves, going from perennial losers to genuine title contenders in the space of three seasons.
This season, the Clippers resurgence into relevance took another step forward as they entered the year with genuine title aspirations.
Since drafting Blake Griffin and trading for Chris Paul, the Clips have gone from strength to strength, returning to the playoffs and reinvigorating interest in the franchise, but this season was the first in the Lob City era that the Finals were a legitimate goal in Los Angeles.
After bringing in former Boston Celtics championship head coach Doc Rivers in the offseason, the Clippers looked to have finally put all of those years of mediocrity behind them and established a winning culture.
By season’s end, LA held a 57-25 record, eclipsing their franchise-record-setting mark from the year before by one win, and qualified for the playoffs with home court advantage for the second consecutive season – the first time in franchise history.
The Clippers entered the postseason as the third seed in the ultra-competitive Western Conference and faced the Golden State Warriors in the first round.
The dislike between the two Pacific Division rivals has been palpable in recent years and Los Angeles was pushed to the full seven games before advancing to face the Oklahoma City Thunder in round two.
Ultimately, the Thunder proved too much for LA, eliminating the Clippers 4-2 and condemning them to their second second-round exit in three years.
Early postseason exit aside, the Clippers played magnificently throughout the season, firmly establishing themselves as a force to be reckoned with in the Association.
In his first season at the helm, Rivers had Los Angeles not only playing exceptional offence – the Clippers finished the season first in points per game (107.9) and offensive efficiency (112.1) in the league – but he also transformed them into an excellent defensive unit.
While their pure statistical numbers say that their defence regressed, falling from fourth in points allowed (94.6) a season ago to 14th (101.0) this season, and dropping from eighth in defensive rating (103.6) to ninth (104.8), much of that can be attributed tot the faster pace Rivers had his team playing– up to seventh in the league (95.9) from 19th (91.1) – put simply, more possessions equals more opportunities to score for both teams.
Regardless, Los Angeles clearly embraced Rivers’ defensive philosophy, guarding teams more intelligently and sophisticatedly (running opponents off the three-point line – first in the league for three-point percentage against – and encouraging contested twos) than they had in seasons past and were definitely a better defensive team than they ever were under Vinny Del Negro.
Rivers presence also accelerated the progression of DeAndre Jordan, who developed from an athletic shot blocker into a serious defensive presence around the rim, finishing third in Defensive Player of the Year voting and narrowly missing All-Defensive Second Team selection.
Jordan finished the season averaging 10.4 points at 67.6% from the floor (first in the league), 13.6 rebounds (first) and 2.5 blocks (third) per game.
Most notably, Jordan was able to increase his minutes per game from 24.5 a season ago to 35.0 this season, which was a massive bonus for Rivers and helped hide the Clippers lack of frontcourt depth.
Meanwhile, Jamal Crawford, who was voted Sixth Man of the Year, gave the Clippers an excellent scoring option for their second unit, averaging 18.6 points per game for the season.
Likewise, the hustle and all-around game of Matt Barnes (9.9 points and 4.6 rebounds), solid backup point guard play of Darren Collison (11.4 points and 3.7 assists) and early-season sharpshooting of JJ Redick (15.2 points, 39.5% 3FG) were crucial parts to Los Angeles’ dynamic offence.
Some of their midseason acquisitions (Hedo Turkoglu, Stephen Jackson and Sasha Vujacic) didn’t quite pan out, but Danny Granger and Glen “Big Baby” Davis provided some veteran depth down the stretch.
Most Valuable Player
The NBA has developed into a point guard’s league.
Every successful team has an elite offensive coordinator running the point and as far as elite point guards come, they don’t get much better than Paul.
The former New Orleans Hornet had another fantastic season, averaging 19.1 points, 10.7 assists (first in Association), 2.5 steals (first) and 4.3 rebound per game and recorded the sixth-best Player Efficiency Rating in the league (25.9).
Paul’s standout play did not go unnoticed, earning his seventh All-Star selection and All-NBA First Team and All-Defensive First Team honours in his third season as a Clipper.
Not many players have so dramatically turned around the fortunes of a struggling franchise. While the high-flying frontcourt presence of Griffin and Jordan might catch the eye of the casual fan, Paul’s veteran leadership and composure running Los Angeles’ offence is what gave the team the legitimacy it had been lacking for years.
Baron Davis may have been just as capable to lob balls to Griffin and Jordan, but he couldn’t orchestrate an offence capable of winning 57 games in the Western Conference.
The year before CP3 arrived in Lob City, the Clippers won 32 games, in his first season with the team that total increased to 40 and the team made the playoffs for the only the second time in 15 years, year two LA won a franchise-record 56 games and this season that total was bumped to 57.
So, the improvement Paul has brought with him is obvious.
The next goal will be to make a deeper playoff run – the Clippers have experienced two first-round eliminations and a second-round exit during Paul’s tenure with the franchise – but Los Angeles definitely has the pieces to hit that target.
And at the forefront of it all will be their star point guard.
X-Factor
Paul might be the captain of the ship in Los Angeles, but the development of Griffin has been crucial to the Clippers climbing the standings.
The high-flying former Sooner has been a 20-point, 10-rebound machine since day one, but has often been criticised as a one-dimensional player that has benefited from the situation he found himself in.
However, this season, Griffin has put those critics to the sword as he has enjoyed his most well-rounded and successful season of his young career, making his fourth consecutive All-Star appearance, earning All-NBA Second Team honours and finishing third in MVP voting – Griffin and Steph Curry were the only players other than eventual MVP Kevin Durant to earn Player of the Month honours in the Western Conference.
Throughout the season, Griffin showcased a better rounded offensive arsenal, showing off his slick ball handling, improved jump shooting and averaging a career-high 24.1 points per game (sixth in the league).
Defences found it harder to key in on Griffin, as he developed a reliable midrange jumper.
This season, Griffin shot 41.5% from 10-16 feet (up from 35.8% last season) and 37.5% from 16 feet to the three-point line (34.0%). Meanwhile, BG’s often criticized free throw shooting – a career 64.0% shooter from the line – improved to 71.5% this season, allowing him to be a valuable late-game contributor for the first time in his career.
Along with his elite points production, Griffin averaged 3.9 assists (third amongst power forwards) and 9.5 rebounds (16th in the Association), shot 52.8% from the floor (16th) and finished with a Player Efficiency Rating of 23.9 (ninth – better than the likes of Dirk Nowitzki and James Harden) for the season.
Meanwhile, he continued to embarrass defenders on the daily with his ridiculous athleticism.
Griffin also proved he was capable of leading his team on his own, carrying the Clippers to a 12-6 record with Paul on the sidelines, upping his scoring to 27.5 per game during that stretch.
The scariest part of it all is that Griffin is still just 25 years old.
This year, Griffin was also added to Team USA’s 2014-16 roster. The prospect of the former dunk champ training, mingling and learning from the game’s elite should have Clippers fans salivating at the level Griffin might be able to push his game to next season.
Looking Forward
The Clippers had only one pick in the upcoming draft, selecting Washington senior, CJ Wilcox, 28th overall. Wilcox is an excellent shooter, averaging 39.1% from deep to go with 18.3 points a night in his final year with the Huskies, but the Clippers are already well stocked at the two guard, so it was a somewhat unusual selection – all signs point to a trade involving one of their guards.
Los Angeles already have a playoff-ready team, but they could stand to make some key veteran additions to turn them into a championship-ready team.
All of last season, the lack of frontcourt depth in LA was clear. So much so that Big Baby was a key contributor down the stretch.
Next season, the Clippers are already over the projected salary cap of $63 million to the tune of $9 million.
Regardless, this offseason, a defensive-minded backup centre should be at the top of the Clippers shopping list. The likes of Jermaine O’Neal and Chris Andersen will be on the market and should come a relative bargain price.
Meanwhile, the Donald Sterling saga looks to finally be reaching a conclusion, with former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer forking out $2 billion to take over control of the franchise.
Ballmer has deep pockets, but don’t expect him to splash him wealth on a multitude of signings just yet. This season, Los Angeles will need to pay the luxury tax for the first time and Ballmer would be smart to shed some salary, rather than take on more, so as to avoid the repeater tax penalty in coming seasons.
However, some savvy front office moves – like moving the salary of Jared Dudley and maybe even Matt Barnes or Reggie Bullock – would free up space to add some depth to their roster.
There is no need for the Clippers to make any majors moves this offseason. They already have their star point guard, a burgeoning superstar forward and an explosive rim protector. The San Antonio Spurs showed the league that winning a title revolves as much around building a complete team as it does about accumulating superstars. Los Angeles would be wise to follow a similar structure and bring in as many professionals that will buy into Rivers’ system as they can and build from there.
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AdvertisementsBob Dylan's 1965 classic "Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues" is a dense masterpiece, packed with literary references and serpentine tales about a weary, uncertain life on the road. It makes a fitting score for a newly produced video, which includes rare footage from Dylan's European tour of that |
Seyyed Abbas Shahmoradi Zavareh, head of the Physics Research Center (PHRC), a focus of the IAEA investigation of Iran's nuclear program in the 1990s.
A second report by Albright and Paul Brannan, says, "In an interview with the authors of this report, the former technical head of the AEOI [Atomic Energy Organization of Iran] centrifuge program in the 1980s said that while he worked on the centrifuge program he knew nothing of this parallel effort [by Iran's military], Shahmoradi, or the PHRC. However, he suspected that such a parallel military effort existed while he worked on centrifuges at the AEOI [emphasis mine]." How did he come to suspect this? It is not explained. Does ISIS know that in the highly polarized Iranian community in the diaspora -- an environment in which many Iranians consider each other as "either with us or with the Islamic Republic" -- this person might have had a political motivation to express a suspicion without providing any evidence? And why did ISIS not press him for evidence?
There are many claims in the same report that suggest Albright and company know very little about Iran. It makes a major issue, for instance, out of the fact that Shahmoradi Zavareh presented himself in the early 1990s to foreign companies as being affiliated with both Sharif and Amir Kabir (Tehran Polytechnic) universities, and concludes that something was odd about this. Why? The man had multiple appointments -- this is not odd, at least not in the Iran of that era. It was recovering from its eight-year war with Iraq and had undergone a huge brain drain, so many experts worked in multiple places. Even in the United States, many academics have two appointments.
In yet another report, Albright and Brannan go into great detail to argue that a company, Kala Naft (Oil Products), is owned by the National Iranian Oil Company and was presumably used by the PHRC to procure equipment from abroad. Firstly, that Kala Naft -- which also has, or at least until recently had, an office in London -- is owned by the NIOC is widely known. Secondly, the NIOC itself has several major research centers in which sophisticated research on oil and gas, both upstream (reservoir-related) and downstream (refinery-related), is carried out. One is on Taleghani Street, across from the old U.S. Embassy. Another, in the town of Rey on Tehran's southern edge, is a large-scale producer of carbon composites and carbon nanotubes, belying ISIS's repeated claims that Iran is unable to produce such materials. Why could the purchases made through Kala Naft not have been intended for the NIOC labs? This is not explained, nor even considered as a possibility.
Albright and Brannan also speculate on the role that Iran's current foreign minister, Ali Akbar Salehi, might have played in Iran's nuclear program. The evidence? The PHRC used Sharif University as its front, and Salehi was the school's chancellor in the early 1990s. Thus, he supposedly must have known what was happening. I do not know whether Salehi was aware of such activities. But what I do know is that it would not be surprising at all if Salehi were ignorant about a lot of activities, because in Iran of that era -- and even now to some extent -- this was completely normal. Two examples: Mohsen Rafighdoost, minister of Sepah (the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps), said in a 2010 interview that during the Iran-Iraq War his ministry engaged in many activities, including importing certain items, without informing his boss, then Prime Minister Mir Hossein Mousavi. Thousands of political prisoners were executed in 1988 unbeknownst to a number of high officials, at least at the beginning. And even if Salehi did know about everything, what is the significance of this after 20 years?
In a report published by ISIS on May 8, Albright and Brannan write,
ISIS has acquired commercial satellite imagery of the Parchin site in Iran showing new activity that substantiates the IAEA's stated concern regarding recent "activity" at the site. The new activity seen in the satellite image occurred outside a building suspected to contain an explosive chamber used to carry out nuclear weapons related experiments. The April 9, 2012 satellite image shows items lined up outside the building. It is not clear what these items are. The image also shows what appears to be a stream of water that emanates from or near the building.... The items visible outside the building could be associated with the removal of equipment from the building or with cleansing it. The stream of water that appears to emanate from the building raises concerns that Iran may have been washing inside the building, or perhaps washing the items outside the building. Satellite images of the building from recent months do not show any similar activity at the site -- indicating that such activity is not a regular occurrence at this building.
So let us see. It is not clear what the items outside the building are. They could be associated with removal of equipment from the building. Iran may have been washing inside the building, or perhaps outside. Satellite images do not show any similar activity at the site. (How often are such images taken?) Yet, all of these sheer speculations supposedly substantiate the IAEA's stated concern regarding recent "activity" at the site. In addition, ultra-sensitive sensors that the IAEA inspectors have can detect one part in one million particles in a sample, and so no amount of washing would be even nearly enough to hide such particles. And even if this were possible, would the water not contaminate the soil outside the building, so that the IAEA inspectors could, again, easily detect the contaminants?
Albright later conceded that a
clean up could involve grinding down the surfaces inside the building, collecting the dust and then washing the area thoroughly. This could be followed with new building materials and paint [emphasis mine].
Note his speculations. Jim White offers an entirely plausible alternative explanation for what has been observed:
The April 9, 2012 date for the [satellite] photo with the water is important. At this site, historical weather data for Parchin can be found. On April 9 and for several days leading up to it, there is no appreciable rainfall reported. However, if the date on the photo is off by [just] a few days, then rain can enter as a possible explanation. We see that rain began late in the evening of April 11, with 1.9 mm falling from late evening through the end of the day. On the 12th, it rained all day, with an additional 4.3 mm falling. Another 3.8 mm came on top of that through mid-morning on the 13th, but there was an opening in the 9:30 to 12:30 time frame when cloud cover decreased to 9 percent. A photo taken during that period very well could have shown runoff going through the area. Alternatively, more rain fell on the 13th, for a total of 5.8 mm that day and 12.0 mm for the 60 hours or so from late on the 11th through the 13th. Although this is only about a half inch, it can well lead to significant runoff in a high desert environment.... April is the highest rainfall month for Parchin, averaging 34 mm of rain for the month spread over an average of ten rainy days in the month.
And the website Moon of Alabama suggested another plausible alternative: nanodiamond production -- the intended use for the Ukrainian scientist's original chamber design -- requires significant amounts of water. So could the stream of water be due to nanodiamond production? As long as the only "evidence" is a satellite photo, these possibilities are as plausible as the ISIS claim.
The ISIS report also says,
Based on new information that the IAEA received, the Agency asked Iran to visit this building at the Parchin site, but Iran has not allowed a visit.... Iran should immediately allow IAEA inspectors into the Parchin site and allow access to this specific building. It should also explain the purpose of the activities seen at the building in this recent satellite image.
What ISIS does not mention is that Iran has no obligation to allow the IAEA to visit Parchin, because it is a non-nuclear site and according to its 1974 Safeguards Agreement with the IAEA the agency cannot demand to visit such a site. Iran has not ratified the Additional Protocol that would give the agency the authority for the visit. ISIS, which responded with an insulting statement when it was mentioned by Ali Asghar Soltanieh, Iran's ambassador to the IAEA, in a statement to the agency's Board of Governors, nonetheless demands that Iran should immediately allow a visit and explain everything.
All opinions are the author's own.The SEC announced Monday that ninth-ranked Tennessee's home game Oct. 15 against No. 1 Alabama will kick off at 3:30 p.m. Eastern time, and it will be televised nationally by CBS.
The Vols (5-0, 2-0 SEC) remained unbeaten Saturday by rallying for a 34-31 win over Georgia on a 43-yard touchdown pass from Joshua Dobbs to Jauan Jennings on the game's final play, improving to 5-0 for the first time since their 1998 national-championship season. They will travel to No. 8 Texas A&M (5-0, 3-0) on Saturday.
The defending national champion Crimson Tide (5-0, 2-0) continued their perfect start Saturday with a 34-6 win against Kentucky and will visit No. 16 Arkansas (4-1, 0-1) on Saturday night.
(What's next for the Vols? Make sure you're in the loop — take five seconds to sign up for our FREE Vols newsletter now!)
Tennessee's showdown with Alabama will mark the fourth consecutive week CBS has televised the Vols' game.
Alabama has won the past nine meetings in the "Third Saturday in October" rivalry, including a 19-14 victory over the Vols last year in Tuscaloosa, Ala.
The two teams will be meeting for the 98th time. The Crimson Tide currently hold a 52-38-7 lead in the all-time series.
BUY ONE MONTH, GET TWO MONTHS FREE to get VIP access to GoVols247.Just because a band hasn't endured a lot of drama doesn’t mean its story doesn’t deserve to be told. I’m Now: The Story Of Mudhoney will do just that upon its streaming release Oct. 30. The documentary directed by Ryan Short and Adam Pease covers the 25-year history of influential grunge band Mudhoney, from its origins in Seattle (where else?) through its recent world tour.
Several of its scene contemporaries offer their take on the band, including Pearl Jam’s Stone Gossard and Jeff Ament, Sonic Youth’s Kim Gordon and Thurston Moore, Soundgarden’s Kim Thayil, and Sub Pop co-founder Jonathan Poneman. The Oct. 30 release will be available exclusively for rent via Distrify, but fans interested in owning a copy can also pre-order the DVD now prior to its Dec. 11 release.The United States’ sent Iran $400 million in debt plus $1.3 billion in interest, and the money was disbursed as a ransom payment for four American hostages of the Islamic regime, a top Iranian commander said Wednesday afternoon. Therefore, the U.S. paid the Iranian regime $425 million dollars per American hostage, according to the commander.
“The annulment of sanctions against Iran’s Bank Sepah and reclaiming of $1.7mln of Iran’s frozen assets after 36 years showed that the US doesn’t understand anything but the language of force,” said Iranian Basij Commander Brig Gen Mohammed Reza Naqdi, addressing his forces in Tehran.
“This money was returned for the freedom of the US spy and it was not related to the (nuclear) negotiations,” he claimed, according to state-controlled Fars News Agency.
Four Americans who were held hostage by the Islamic Republic – Washington Post reporter Jason Rezaian, U.S. Marine Amir Hekmati, Pastor Saeed Abedini, and Nosratollah Khosrawi Roudsari (who decided to stay in Iran) – were part of the deal that included the ransom payment, along with the release of seven Iranians who were sitting in American jails on charges of thwarting international sanctions, and the delisting of 14 Iranian nationals from Interpol’s Red List, which seeks international criminals for extradition.
A fifth American, Matthew Trevithick, who was imprisoned by Tehran, was also released, but under the terms of a separate deal, according to reports.
The U.S. State Department tells Breitbart News that the payment to Iran was “separate but simultaneous,” and not a ransom.
“We did not pay ransom to secure the return of these Americans. The funds that were transferred to Iran were part of a separate but simultaneous arrangement we agreed to with Iran related to the U.S.-Iran Claims Tribunal at the Hague,” a State Department spokesperson told Breitbart News late Wednesday.
State Department spokesman Mark Toner told reporters earlier on Wednesday in Washington that no ransom was paid, rejecting the remarks of the Iranian commander.
“There was no bribe, there was no ransom, there was nothing paid to secure the return of these Americans who were, by the way, not spies. We’ve spoken to this in the days after their release on Sunday morning in great detail about how this process worked. There was this consular channel that was opened up to secure their release,” Toner said.
However, the timing of the payment “is not a coincidence” White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest said Tuesday. Instead, it’s a sign of “deeper diplomatic engagement,” he insisted.Share. Only a timed Xbox exclusive. Only a timed Xbox exclusive.
Square Enix has announced Rise of the Tomb Raider will be available on PS4 and PC in 2016.
The company has confirmed the PC version of the game will arrive in "early 2016", while console exclusivity will last for a year. This means Rise of the Tomb Raider won't land on PS4 until "Holiday 2016", as the Xbox One and Xbox 360 versions are due for release on November 10, 2015.
The game, which up until now was officially being described as an Xbox exclusive, is being developed by Crystal Dynamics and serves as a sequel to the recent Tomb Raider reboot.
Exit Theatre Mode
Following the announcement that Microsoft would be publishing Rise of the Tomb Raider, developer Crystal Dynamics' head of western studios recently talked about the partnership, and what it means for the future of the ubiquitous franchise.
For more, check out our story on the first gameplay footage of Rise of the Tomb Raider.
Luke Karmali is IGN UK News Editor. You too can revel in mediocrity by following him on Twitter.First lady Michelle Obama gave one of the best speeches, if not the best, of the opening night of the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia. It certainly couldn’t have hurt that she was one of the few speakers who could have commanded and end to the non-stop heckling by Bernie Sanders supporters, who were shushed quickly.
Room just hushed the Sanders supporters while the First Lady speaks — Sharman Sacchetti (@SharmanTV) July 26, 2016
Cali Berners just tried to bust out a Bernie chant and got *hushed* with a quickness. — Christopher Hayes (@chrislhayes) July 26, 2016
Mrs. Obama went after Donald Trump several times without mentioning him, at one point taking a familiar jab at his “Make America Great Again” slogan.
First Lady: Don't let anyone say the U.S. needs to be made great again — this is the greatest country on Earth. https://t.co/DebXRg6n3h — NBC Nightly News (@NBCNightlyNews) July 26, 2016
.@FLOTUS: "Don’t let anyone ever tell you that this country isn’t great… Because this right now, is the greatest country on Earth.” — Megyn Kelly (@megynkelly) July 26, 2016
.@FLOTUS: "Don't let anyone ever tell you that this country is getting great, that we somehow need to make it great again." #DemsInPhilly — Huffington Post (@HuffingtonPost) July 26, 2016
Especially, don’t let anyone tell you that it needs to be fundamentally transformed. America fell for that one already.
"Don't ever let anyone tell you that this country isn't great." Michelle Obama says. Glad she's finally proud of her country #DNCinPHL — Katie Pavlich (@KatiePavlich) July 26, 2016
More than a few people noticed quite a turnaround from the person who told the country in 2008, “For the first time in my adult life, I am really proud of my country.”
So it went from only being proud of her country for first time at age 43 to don't let anyone tell you this country isn't great.Which is it? — FrontRowBrian (@FrontRowBrian) July 26, 2016
"Don't let anyone tell you this country isn't great" – Woman who thought this country wasn't great until her husband ran for POTUS — Stephen Miller (@redsteeze) July 26, 2016
what a turnaround for FLOTUS. Calling America the greatest country on earth. WOW. — GregGutfeld (@greggutfeld) July 26, 2016
@greggutfeld does this mean she is proud to be an American? — irene (@chiplover44) July 26, 2016
@greggutfeld I guess she is proud of America for the SECOND time! — Mary Goodwin (@MaryLGoodwin) July 26, 2016
@greggutfeld just when did she become proud of her country?? Missed that story…. — jeff bennett (@whiskeyjeff) July 26, 2016
@greggutfeld you mean she's not ashamed anymore? It's a MIRACLE! — Rosemary Bryant (@PassTheTe) July 26, 2016
@greggutfeld shes been proud of it for almost 8 years now — Scott Lombardo (@slombar) July 26, 2016
@greggutfeld Of course it is NOW, BO worked a miracle and she has to make sure everybody knows! — Shawn Curtis (@22norsedad) July 26, 2016
@greggutfeld it took a long tour around the world apologizing to make America great in her eyes! — Charles Adams (@ceadamssr) July 26, 2016-Analysis-
PARIS — Imagine it's the early 1900s, the dawn of the 20th century, with all its promise and hope. Scientists and engineers are looking to the future and imagining a world in which machines handle more and more of the work previously done by people, including that most primary and vital of activities: agriculture.
At this point, agriculture still employs half the world's workforce. But a century from now, these experts predict, only a few hundred thousand people will be enough to keep the agriculture going in a country like France. There will be machines to plow, to milk the cows, to harvest the grapes. Even more incredible: one single man, with one single machine, will be able in one single day to harvest almost 1 million kilograms of wheat — a feat accomplished with a New Holland combine harvester on Aug. 15, 2014, with 798 tons harvested in eight hours.
What a nightmare! What will become of those millions of farmers who don't know any other job? How will society cope?
Fast forward to 1930. In the factories, assembly lines are demonstrating their formidable efficiency. The first best-selling economist, John Maynard Keynes, writes one of his best essays, Economic Possibilities For Our Grandchildren. He announces the emergence of "technological unemployment" due to the "discovery of means of economizing the use of labor outrunning the pace at which we can find new uses for labour."
The year is now 1961. Computers are starting to move from laboratories to companies. Time magazine, in a comprehensive investigative piece called "The Automation Jobless," suggests that the number of jobs lost to more efficient machines is only part of the problem. "What worries many job experts more is that automation may prevent the economy from creating enough new jobs," the article reads.
More than a half-century later, thousands of experts — whose jobs, it's worth pointing out, didn't exist in 1961 — are still grappling with questions about the future of work. They see promise, but also serious cause for concern.
Two years ago, a pair of Oxford economists, Carl Benedikt Frey and Michael Osborne, published a sensational article in which they estimated that 47% of jobs in the United States were threatened by automation. Their method, applied to France, puts that figure at 42%. For Britain it's 38%. In its World Development Report 2016, the World Bank extends the assessment to other countries: 63% of jobs are endangered in Croatia, 65% in Argentina, 69% in India, 72% in Thailand, 77% in China and a mind-blowing 85% in Ethiopia!
The only way to cope, it seems, will be to create hundreds of millions of new jobs — if that's even possible. Either that or face massive unemployment. Hence the global fear regarding the future of work.
Real-life human *computers, circa 1949 — Photo: NASA
Worst-case scenarios are mushrooming. In its report, the World Bank quotes science-fiction writer Isaac Asimov, who in 1964 described his vision of the world in 2014. "The lucky few who can be involved in creative work of any sort will be the true elite of mankind, for they alone will do more than serve a machine," Asimov wrote.
The mini-series Trepalium paints a similar picture. It describes the dire prospect of a world in which only 20% of the active population has a job. To keep the hordes of poverty-stricken people at bay, they live behind high walls. Winter is definitely coming.
We've heard these warnings before. And in the past, the economy found a way to create new jobs. And yet some experts worry that things are different this time around — for three reasons, according to a recent report published by the U.S. bank Citi and Oxford University.
First off, the change is taking place faster. It took 75 years for the telephone, launched in 1878, to reach 100 million users. It only took seven years for the Internet and two years for Instagram to achieve the same result. Another sign is that robotization is gaining pace, with sales of industrial robots growing 17% per year since 2010, compared to 3% before the 2008 financial crisis. What's more, information technology is shaking up the economy as a whole, not just a few industrial sectors. Finally, and contrary to what happened in the past, only the few are reaping the fruits of technological change, not the many.
This issue of distribution and sharing is crucial. It's striking to see Citi's experts bring up the need for tax credit for low-incomes and reducing working hours (something Keynes already advocated, foreseeing a three-hour workday).
Still, with regards to job creation, we might put some faith in what French economist Frédéric Bastiat wrote in his 1850 essay That Which Is Seen, And That Which Is Not Seen. What is seen are the jobs that are disappearing. What is not seen are the jobs that will emerge. Because we don't know about them yet. Because they will appear in shapes and sizes that aren't familiar to us, that don't resemble 20th-century work. Because the ways money circulates will also change, as will money itself.
Rather than fear the worst, let's keep our eyes wide open. Let's try and turn the tide. And let's preserve flexibility in the system, so the future truly can arrive, in whatever form or shape it will take.On April 16, 2014, Eli Roth released the trailer for his throwback to late 1970s, early 1980s Italian cannibal movies entitled The Green Inferno. While the trailer leaves much to the imagination, it shows enough to rile up fears that nearly unwatchable torture and terrible racism are what the movie has to offer, although in the latter case we assume that Roth is enlightened enough to avoid that. Press releases stress that the setup is an ironic one, wherein privileged college students from America visit South America to see the tribe they’re working to protect, only to be threatened with death by them.
It’s hard to say what the market for a film like The Green Inferno is. Horror is of course a reliable box office performer even during recessions as such relatively recent hits as The Conjuring demonstrate. On the other hand, it’s unlikely that the movie will receive as much free publicity and controversy as Roth’s old hit Hostel. “Enhanced interrogation techniques” are less of a hot button issue than they were back in 2005, which indicates The Green Inferno will have much less immediacy.
While many horror fans who saw it probably most strongly remember the unsatisfying taste that Roth’s much-publicized Hostel left in their mouths, Hostel II was widely regarded as a tremendous improvement on the original in terms of tone and audience sympathy. This indicates that Roth has learned the lessons of the old movie and at least knew to avoid making his protagonists as insufferable putzes as the original cast of Hostel when he began work on Inferno.
Roth’s decision to make a film that’s pretty much explicitly a throwback to 1970s & 1980s Italian cannibal horror films isn’t really a surprise. In the film Inglouious Basterds, his character uses the Italian alias Antonio Marghereti, a filmmaker both Quentin Tarantino and Eli Roth are fans of.
Marghereti most famously directed Cannibal Apocalypse, a film which The Green Inferno has an obvious kinship although Apocalypse is largely set in Atlanta, Georgia instead of any jungle area like the vast majority of cannibal films. Cannibal movies from this period also have a rather nasty reputation for envelope pushing (just like Roth used to) by doing such unacceptable things as really kill animals onscreen. Hopefully Roth also had the decency to not do that!by
Radiators are heat exchangers used to transfer thermal energy from one medium to another for the purpose of cooling and heating. The majority of radiators are constructed to function in automobiles, buildings, and electronics. The radiator is always a source of heat to its environment, although this may be for either the purpose of heating this environment, or for cooling the fluid or coolant supplied to it, as for engine cooling. Despite the name, radiators generally transfer the bulk of their heat via convection, not by thermal radiation, though the term “convector” is used more narrowly; see radiation and convection, below.
The heating radiator was invented by Franz San Galli, a Polish-born Russian businessman living in St. Petersburg, between 1855 and 1857.
One might expect the term “radiator” to apply to devices that transfer heat primarily by thermal radiation (see: infrared heating), while a device which relied primarily on natural or forced convection would be called a “convector”. In practice, the term “radiator” refers to any of a number of devices in which a liquid circulates through exposed pipes (often with fins or other means of increasing surface area), notwithstanding that such devices tend to transfer heat mainly by convection and might logically be called convectors. The term “convector” refers to a class of devices in which the source of heat is not directly exposed.NEW YORK -- The trio of Jay Cutler, Josh McCown and Alshon Jeffery seemed to garner much of the spotlight on the Chicago Bears' offense this season.
While a quarterback controversy raged and Jeffery put on a weekly show, running back Matt Forte chugged along as the real heart of the Bears' attack.
The numbers bear that out: Forte finished this season with 289 carries and 74 receptions. That's 367 touches, a heavy workload for any running back -- especially one with six seasons of tread on the tires.
Forte has no problem continuing to be a workhorse at that level.
"That's what I expect," he told me on Radio Row. "It wasn't like I was worn out at the end of the season or anything. I only averaged 18 or 19 catches a game but with the catches you get more touches that way."
"I think age is just a number like everyone says," he added. "It doesn't really matter if someone is 29, 28, 30 years old. It just depends on how their body feels and at the same time if they take care of their body."
Speaking of Cutler, Forte is on board with the mega-deal that could keep the quarterback in Chicago through the 2020 season.
"I think it's a smart move," he said. "Jay's a great quarterback. He went through some injury trouble this year, but he was playing very well in this offense. I just want to see him come back and be healthy and see how good he does, especially with a whole year under his belt with the offense."
Live from New York, it's "The Around The League Podcast!"A 2014 Kickstarter-backed company has folded, and it’s leaving customers in the dark.
Emberlight, a startup that raised $300,000 to make a smart light socket that works with any traditional bulb, emailed its customers Thursday (Nov. 16) to say it was shutting down due to pressure from big competitors and imitators. But unlike a company that sells independently operating computer keyboards, there is a headache for customers with Emberlight smart sockets: every time a customer wants to turn on a light, it requires the company’s cloud service to process the command.
If there’s no company paying to keep the cloud service running, the product doesn’t work.
This isn’t the first time something like this has happened—in 2014, Google-owned Nest acquired the company Revolv, which made a gadget that linked smart lights, thermostats, and locks. Two years later, it turned off its cloud service, rendering Revolv products useless.
Ownership doesn’t mean what it used to in the age of the internet. You might own a physical piece of a digital system, but every smart product purchased locks you into a software ecosystem that you have little control over. If a contractual, financial, or political dispute caused Amazon’s Echo products to stop supporting my Phillips Hue lights, I’d be in the same boat as the good people who backed the scrappy smart socket Kickstarter in 2014.
When looking to buy smart products this holiday season, it’s not enough to just like the features of the product—it‘s worth thinking twice about its chances of survival among a constellation of other connected products. Having the funding to keep the lights on is always a good start.Jason Kenney says he expects to hear an earful from constituents and businesses in Alberta concerned about his changes to the Temporary Foreign Worker Program.
But a CBC News analysis of documents obtained from the Department of Citizenship and Immigration under the Access to Information Act, shows Kenney has been hearing from his own MPs from that province for years — mostly about the need for easier access to temporary foreign workers.
CBC News requested correspondence from MPs to the department regarding the Temporary Foreign Worker Program in April 2013, after Prime Minister Stephen Harper referred to letters from NDP MPs supportive of the program in the House of Commons. Harper used the correspondence, which the Conservatives subsequently released to the media, to argue the NDP was hypocritical for criticizing a program that their own MPs were supporting.
But an analysis of the 171 pieces of correspondence from the Department of Citizenship and Immigration showed 149 came from the Conservatives, 11 from Liberals and 10 from the NDP.
Much of the Conservative correspondence has to do with complaints about paperwork and delays in getting temporary foreign workers. Some examples:
In 2006, 2010 and 2012, Rona Ambrose passed along complaints from constituents who felt the program needed to respond more quickly to their concerns for more workers.
In 2006, James Rajotte wrote that the criteria used to select temporary foreign workers should be left to the employers, not the immigration department, one of two departments responsible for the program.
In 2007, Mike Lake passed along a constituent's concern about the length of time it was taking for the department to process work permit applications.
Conservative MPs also flagged concerns about abuses years before the issue hit the headlines.
Jay Hill, who was government House leader at the time, passed along a message in 2009 from a constituent "concerned about recent information she has received regarding employers laying off Canadian/permanent residents and replacing them with foreign workers for less pay."
The complaint continued, "I respectfully ask that you look into (blanked out) concerns and investigate if employers may be abusing this program to hire foreign workers after laying off Canadian residents."
In 2007, Rajotte sent a letter about the protection of "live-in care givers and other temporary foreign workers from conditions of degradation, exploitation and abuse."
In 2008, Lake shared an email from a constituent regarding "concerns he has over the way those work permits are treated."
Those are the kinds of abuses Kenney now says he wants to stamp out.
Concerns about the program have been the loudest in Alberta, the province that uses the program the most, so it is no surprise Conservatives MPs are the ones raising those concerns given the party's domination in the province.
Alberta’s reaction to the proposed changes Kenney announced last Friday have been mainly negative. For instance, the Canadian Federation of Independent Business says members from that province are warning the changes could put them out of business.
Candidates vying to become the next leader of the Alberta PCs told Evan Solomon of CBC News Network's Power & Politics that the temporary foreign worker issue will be an issue in the leadership race.
Jim Prentice, a former Harper cabinet minister now seeking to lead the PCs in Alberta, passed along his concerns about the program when he was an MP.
In 2008, his assistant sent an email outlining a constituent’s "serious concerns over the delays and obstacles in the immigration process encountered by his company (blanked out)... in its attempts to assist employers in acquiring foreign workers to address labour shortages in Canada."WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Gov. Rick Snyder left today's Congressional hearing on the Flint water crisis still facing criticism for his actions, questions about his account of what happened and fresh calls for his resignation.
"Governor Snyder, plausible deniability only works when it's plausible, and I'm not buying that you didn't know about any of this until October 2015," U.S. Rep. Matt Cartwright said during the hearing of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. "You were not in a medically induced coma for a year, and I've had about enough of your false contrition and phony apologies."
Snyder faced the most difficult questioning he has likely experienced since he was elected to his first term as governor in 2011 when he addressed the committee with U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Gina McCarthy Thursday, March 17.
While the governor faced his toughest examination from Congressional Democrats, McCarthy was also under fire -- particularly from Republicans on the committee -- and both were asked multiple times to resign.
Flint's federally recognized water emergency has landed both officials in the hot seat with members of Congress who are trying to sort out how city was allowed to use the Flint River for drinking water without regulators recognizing the need to treat the water to make it less corrosive.
"Not a day or night goes by that this tragedy doesn't weigh on my mind...the questions I should have asked... the answers I should have demanded... how I could have prevented this," Snyder told Congress. "That's why I am so committed to delivering permanent, long-term solutions and the clean, safe drinking water that every Michigan citizen deserves."
Flint senator would sign petition to recall Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder over water crisis Senate Minority Leader Jim Ananich said Thursday he would sign a petition to recall Gov. Rick Snyder over the Flint water crisis, but stopped short of calling for his resignation.
The governor blamed "bureaucrats" in state government for creating "a culture that valued technical compliance over common sense - and the result was that lead was leaching into residents' water."
Snyder has apologized for the state's handling of Flint's water problems -- which started with bacterial contamination, included elevated levels of a cancer-causing byproduct of chlorination and continued with elevated levels of lead.
All of the issues developed while Flint was being run by emergency managers appointed by the governor and while the state Department of Environmental Quality was primarily responsible for ensuring that the city was in compliance with the Safe Drinking Water Act.
Although many key advisers to the governor were aware of problems like rising levels of lead, according to emails and other documents, Snyder has said he didn't realize the severity of the problem of lead poisoning until October 2015 -- about 18 months after the city water source changed.
Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Md., who joined Cartwright in calling for the governor's resignation today, said he didn't believe Snyder's timeline.
"The governor's fingerprints are all over this," the ranking member of the committee said.
"Governor Snyder has been described as running the state of Michigan like a business... There is no doubt in my mind that if a corporate CEO did what (his) administration has done, he would be hauled up on criminal charges."
Flint residents who traveled to Washington for today's hearing said in a news conference after the committee meeting that they need more than testimony from state and federal officials.
"We are all damaged. It's obvious after today's hearing that Mr. Snyder cannot... wrap his mind around that," said Flint resident Keri Webber. "The same goes for (former EPA Regional director Susan) Hedman and... McCarthy."
"We need a resignation or criminal charge -- I'm open to both," Webber said.
Snyder left the hearing room without responding to questions today but later issued a written statement, saying the water crisis is "a failure of government at all levels."
"Since I first learned that state water experts were wrong about the lead levels in Flint's water, we have been taking action to protect and serve the people of Flint - and all of Michigan - better," the governor's statement says.
"There are thorough, independent investigations underway to identify what went wrong, identify changes we need to make, and help our citizens hold us accountable for fixing this problem."
EPA officials have come under fire for not acting sooner to force Flint into |
the street and called his IRA contact to pick him up. Goertz’s contact was Seamus O’Donovan, a senior IRA figure who had orchestrated a bombing campaign in England the year before. O’Donovan had met Goertz in Berlin earlier, as he was the one who had delivered Plan Kathleen to the Germans. As he drove Goertz away, O’Donovan warned him against trusting Iseult as she was not committed enough to the cause for him. It was an omen of things to come.
On the 21st of May Goertz met with Stephen Hayes in Dublin. He had brought a great deal of American currency with him (between $20,000 and $175,000, by various accounts) and most of this he handed over. This financial contribution won him some goodwill, though it did not go both ways. Goertz was unimpressed with the Irish operation, which he regarded as riven by infighting and hopelessly insecure. This was underscored two days later on the 23rd of May when the house they met in was raided by the gardai. They found Goertz’s uniform and insignia, along with details of Plan Kathleen. Here was indisputable proof that the IRA were in collusion with Nazi Germany. There were three direct consequences of the raid. The first was that it immediately strengthened ties between British and Irish intelligence. Within days the British spy Dudley Clarke travelled to Dublin to begin discussions on Plan W – a secret treaty that would allow British troops into Ireland to defend it in the case of a Nazi invasion. [8] The second was that it brought an end to parachute missions into Ireland by the Nazis. Their report on the 25th of May reads:
[S]ome items of equipment and the money which he took with him were apparently seized in the house of an Irish agent, through the latter’s stupidity. Unfortunately this Irishman also had in his possession plans for a rebellion which had no connection with ‘Operation Mainau’. There is no information as to “Gilk’s” whereabouts…In consequence of the failure of ‘Operation Mainau’ proposals for the parachuting of further agents are for the future to be disregarded
“Gilk”, of course, is Goertz. They may also have been prompted to end the practice by an angry communication they received from the German ambassador, Eduard Hempel, who had no idea Goertz was in the country and who was left to pick up the pieces with the Irish government. The third consequence of the raid was that Goertz lost all trust in the IRA, and refused to have anything more to do with them for the rest of his time on the loose in Ireland. In fact, so determined was he to avoid them that he even abandoned one safehouse when he found out it had been previously used by the IRA. His main protectors seem to have been a succession of elderly ladies, still loyal to republican ideals but disassociated from the “official” movement. The first of these was a friend of Iseult Stuart, who met him at her house when he sought sanctuary there. Iseult had already been arrested, on the strength of papers captured in the raid, but she was eventually released without charge. Based on his experiences, Goertz seems to have concluded that the Irish were constitutionally incapable of secrecy and so from then on he kept his plans to himself as much as possible. His other big problem with the Irish rebels was that he felt they lacked ambition, and refused to think in big terms.
A hired taxi, four men in it with seven rounds in a non-functioning machine gun, that is the way they think that they can fight England. That is very sad. But outside a national movement is growing everywhere. It could so easy become a flame. But they are as timid as the masses in their imagination.
Goertz himself doesn’t seem to have been that effective as a spy either, however. In the first few months he was in Ireland he did meet with several Irish sympathisers secretly (reportedly including the Irish general Hugo MacNeill, who was the commander of Ireland’s Second Division). He also made contact with Hempel, who was delighted to discover that this potential diplomatic embarrassment was actually eager to leave the country and return to Germany. Hempel tried to arrange a boat to pick him up on the coast and take him to Nazi France, but the plan was foiled by bad weather. One other problem was that the Irish intelligence service G2 had managed to intercept most of his messages back to Germany, and thanks to the efforts of legendary Irish codebreaker Dr Richard Hayes [9] they were able to read them. They even sent back fake replies to convince him that his messages had gone through, and one (somewhat far-fetched) story has it that his promotion to Major was a hoax played by a bored G2 agent.
Eventually in November 1941 Goertz was captured. His paranoia proved well-founded – the police were led to his hiding place in Blackheath Park in Clontarf when they trailed a known IRA member named Pearse Kelly to the same building. Goertz was interned without trial, something which infuriated him as his knowledge of international law convinced him this was illegal. He even went on hunger strike in protest, but he stopped after three weeks when his fellow prisoners convinced him that nothing would please the Government more than if he died and stopped being an embarrassment. Which he definitely was – a week after he had been arrested America had entered the war, and De Valera was under a lot of pressure from his old homeland to abandon Ireland’s neutrality and join the Allies. The fact that an actual Nazi spy had been caught in Ireland was a weapon in the hands of those pushing that agenda, but the fact that he had clearly been supported by the population was a clear reason for “Dev” to play things carefully. In the end, Ireland remained neutral for the rest of the war.
After an initial period of intense questioning by the Irish secret service and military, Goertz was transferred to an internment camp at Athlone, along with several other captured German spies (the most notable of which was probably Ernst Weber-Drohl, simply because he was a former circus strongman and professional wrestler who had performed in Ireland as “Atlas the Strong” before the war). Conditions at the camp were extremely humane – cells were carpeted, and there was a common room and garden for the prisoners. Eventually Goertz resigned himself to his fate, and passed the next few years by writing two plays, and by translating the works of WB Yeats into German. In one letter written from the camp he told a friend:
I often curse fate that I found friends here, friends who showed me the genius of the country. I fell in love with Ireland: the more upright a lover is, the more he suffers if his love is unrequited.
At the end of the war most of the prisoners at Athlone were repatriated to Germany. Goertz had no wish to leave Ireland, and seemed to have a particular dread of falling into Russian hands if he returned to Germany. (Perhaps a guilty conscience over his “interrogation” activities in the First World War.) He cut a deal with Éamon de Buitléir, second in command at G2, that he would not be immediately deported if he gave them information about his activities in Ireland, though it seems he did protect the old women who had protected him. An official amnesty for all German spies in Ireland from the Irish Justice Minister in 1946 let him relax, and he became the secretary of the Save The German Children Society, a charity which eventually took in 500 German war orphans. The orphans were housed in the old military barracks at Glencree in County Wicklow, which had previously been used to hold German airmen who had crash-landed in Ireland during the war.
However this apparent calm soon came to an end, as increasing pressure was placed on Ireland to repeal the amnesty. On the 12th April 1947 Goertz and six other German refugees were arrested. Most were deported immediately, but Goertz was granted a brief respite to allow him to put his Irish affairs in order. During this period he was offered a deal by Ambassador Hempel that purported to come from the Americans, which offered him asylum if he agreed to work for them. He was still considering this deal when he arrived at Dublin Castle on the 23rd of May for what he thought was an appointment to extend his parole. Instead he was told that he was to be deported to Germany that afternoon. Goertz reportedly “stared disbelievingly at the detective officers”. Then he quickly pulled a glass vial out of his pocket and crushed it between his teeth. The vial contained cyanide, and he died instantly.
Goertz’s funeral attracted a great deal of attention in the newspapers. His pallbearers included Dan Breen (a notoriously pro-Axis TD) and Charles “Nomad” McGuiness (an Irish adventurer and explorer who had been a member of the IRA in the 1930s, and who had fought *against* the Fascists in the Spanish Civil War). The most notable feature in many of the newspaper reports was the large involvement of women in the funeral. Several women in the crowd wore swastika armbands, and one gave a Nazi salute to the coffin. There were also wreaths from the old ladies who had sheltered Goertz when he was in hiding. He was originally buried in a graveyard in Dublin, but in 1974 his remains were exhumed and moved to the German military cemetery in Glencree, next to the old barracks. There his bones still lie, buried in the ground of the country he came to help destroy but in the end would rather die than leave.
Images via wikimedia except where stated.
[1] His argument was that doing so would only increase the reparations that Germany would be forced to pay after the war.
[2] Well – it’s a bit more complicated than that. Clan na Gael schismed during the civil war, but after the war the pro-Treaty side disbanded (regarding their job as done).
[3] Doubtless she had been painting Communism as the common foe they would face.
[4] The one which was derailed by the RAF’s victory in the Battle of Britain.
[5] The fact that the raid had resulted in an intensive police operation which recovered most of the arms and reduced the IRA’s manpower dramatically should have been a warning sign.
[6] Designed to try to maintain a pretence at respecting Ireland’s neutrality.
[7] Iseult was, according to Maud, conceived in her dead brother’s grave in an attempt to reincarnate his spirit.
[8] Incredibly secret, as the revelation of such a treaty’s existence would have led to the fall of the Irish government.
[9] No relation to Stephen.This month, Elon Musk reminded us once again why he's the most entertaining executive alive. In an online comment that's since been deleted, Musk wrote about his fears concerning artificial intelligence (AI) research and how fast it is progressing.
"Unless you have direct exposure to groups like Deepmind, you have no idea how fast -- it is growing at a pace close to exponential. The risk of something seriously dangerous happening is in the five-year timeframe. Ten years at most. This is not a case of crying wolf about something I don't understand."
This isn't the first time Musk has voiced this specific panic. In a CNBC interview this past summer, the founder and CEO of SpaceX and Tesla Motors explained why he's an investor in Vicarious, an AI firm that defeated the CAPTCHA online security tool in October of 2013. "In the movie Terminator, they didn't create AI to -- they didn't expect, you know, some sort of Terminator-like outcome. It's sort of like the Monty Python thing: Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition." said Musk. "It's not from the standpoint of actually trying to make any investment return. It's purely, I would just like to keep an eye on what's going on with artificial intelligence... There are some scary outcomes and we should try to make sure the outcomes are good, not bad."
This is not how executives speak. Tech luminaries are a measured and media-trained lot, fully cognizant of the public eye and the of the power and peril in everything they say or write. It's hard to blame them for being bland, when a single off-message gaffe can send ripples through the stock market. There's every incentive to stick to talking points.
Musk, meanwhile, preaches the gospel of the coming robo-apocalypse without hesitation or restraint. In an interview at MIT, Musk called AI our biggest existential threat, adding that, "With artificial intelligence we are summoning the demon. You know those stories where there's the guy with the pentagram, and the holy water, and he's like, Yeah, he's sure he can control the demon. It doesn't work out." And in another recent interview, this time with Vanity Fair, he responded to a deeply silly question -- could SpaceX vessels could be used to escape an Earth-based AI uprising -- with breathtaking sincerity. "No -- more likely than not that if there's some... apocalypse scenario, it may follow people from Earth."
"If there's some apocalypse scenario, it may follow people from Earth."
I'm not lambasting Musk for being honest, or for replying to a question that's already soaked in science fiction tropes with yet more sci-fi speculation. Musk's heartfelt terror is what makes him so important. In addition to being the world's most entertaining executive, he's also the only one who has devoted his life to saving humanity from wholesale extinction.
I amuse myself by thinking of Elon Musk as a supervillain in training. He's a billionaire who's obsessed with electrifying cars, so much so that he's installing fast chargers around the United States on his own dime. He is building a privately funded fleet of self-landing robotic rockets, and his publicly stated goal for SpaceX is the eventual colonization of Mars. In fact, Musk allowed the makers of Iron Man 2 to film in a SpaceX facility, which appeared as the headquarters for one of the movie's mad scientists. Even Musk seems intent on framing himself as a Lex Luthor-like mastermind, building global infrastructure in preparation for megalomaniacal evil.
Allow me to argue this ludicrous point further.
Most of us are too apathetic to actively stave off our own extinction. We hear dire predictions of imminent climate collapse and bitter resource wars, and we compartmentalize that panic. It takes a special kind of drive, and possibly arrogance, to harness that fear, and to assume that you can personally rescue humanity.
In comic books and movies, we call these egomaniacs superheroes and supervillains. And most cape comics present the character of the genius with long-range, planet-scale plans as insidious, evil rather than heroic. Thus, despite all the passing comparisons to Tony Stark, a more accurate pop-culture reference point for Elon Musk is the generic mad scientist. He's one act of hubris -- or misguided paternalism -- away from wreaking havoc on Earth and beyond.
And Musk's own stated motivations could come from a supervillain textbook. The problems he talks about most often are global menaces. "Most people don't really appreciate the magnitude of the danger," he told the Guardian in 2013, referring to climate change. "The glacier melts are very stark. As you heat the planet up it's just like boiling a pot."
Musk has also expounded on SpaceX's mission as not only an attempt to establish planetary colonies, but as a hedge against an asteroid strike or similar extinction-level event. Even Musk's interest in AI is not as a cheerleader for the technology, but as a frantic critic, and increasingly outspoken doomsayer.Bug Catcher returns for another battle against Pokemon Trainer! I rather like the overeager kid, and his excitement about his favorite Pokemon getting in the way of basic strategy was a very childlike aspect that was fun to cover in a comic. At the risk of inciting ire from Pokefans, I never was too impressed with Charizard. Despite his fairly immense popularity, he’s always been pretty generic to me–just your standard fire-breathing dragon. Not all that special compared with a massive plant-dinosaur hybrid, or a tank-like turtle with cannons on its back.
The Pokemon nitpicker in me considered having a Rock-type move instead of Bubblebeam (4x damage to Charizard’s Fire/Flying self), but 1) Rock doesn’t seem as immediately debilitating as Water > Fire, and 2) I couldn’t think of any Rock moves that were funnier sounding than “Bubblebeam.”
-By MatthewAt the EICMA show last year, BMW Motorrad announced that it would make another air-cooled model, in order to commemorate the 90 years that the German OEM has been producing two-wheelers.
Expected to be the production version of the company’s LoRider concept, we got our first taste of what BMW had in store for us with the BMW Concept Ninety — which had its retro goodness co-developed with America’s own Roland Sands.
Now seemingly ready for a true production model, BMW Motorrad has been caught testing the BMW NineT street bike inside the Lake Garda region in Italy.
Obviously fitted with the venerable 1,200cc air-cooled boxer twin that has made the GS and RT such steady steeds, the NineT uses classic motorcycle aesthetics, mated to classic BMW design pieces.
Shaft-driven and fitted with telescopic forks, the full retro effect is a bit intriguing on the BMW NineT. From what we can see in these photos, the bike fits the silhouette quite well from BMW’s announcement last year, with its long fuel tank and cafe racer style tail.
The aesthetic gets a bit confused with the bulky shaft drive, but we think the model will strike a chord for riders looking for an uncluttered street-naked from the German marque.
Further details are light at this point, but BMW is expected to release more information by mid-October, and we certainly will have a better glimpse of the machine at the 2013 EICMA show.
Source: Motorrad MagazinExperts say society should be'very worried' by studies showing falling sperm quality in men Ed White/ Getty Images
Plastics have caused a sharp decline in fertility among men, leaving only one in four with “good” sperm, scientists say.
Chemicals called phthalates — found in plastics and products such as shower curtains, car dashboards and cleaning materials — can be breathed in, consumed or absorbed through the skin of pregnant women, inhibiting testosterone production in male foetuses, leading to sons with low sperm counts.
Other chemicals, known as PFCs and found in raincoats and non-stick pans, were also linked to poor-quality sperm. Niels Jørgensen, associate professor at Rigshospital, Copenhagen, told the European Society for Human Reproduction and Embryology’s conference in Lisbon that society should be “very worried” by studies showing falling sperm quality in men across Europe.
Men are taking longer to father a…Build up the American Section of the Comintern (SH)!
July 20, 2018
"Down with the pseudo-Stalinist-Hoxhaists in the USA!"
letter of our comrade from the USA
Introduction
Throughout the history of the communist world movement, Marxism, the sole Proletarian Ideology has and continues to make developments in order to adapt to new conditions, first as Leninism under the epoch of imperialism, Stalinism under the epoch of a capitalist encirclement and “Socialism in One Country”, and Hoxhaism in the epoch of a capitalist-revisionist encirclement and today, it has evolved into Stalinism-Hoxhaism which is based upon the teachings of the Five Classics of Marxism-Leninism, the experiences of the USSR and Socialist Albania, and new conditions that have arisen such as the rise of globalization which hastens the inevitability of a global proletarian revolution and after that, a new epoch in which the proletariat will never again have to share power with the bourgeoisie, but of course, Stalinism-Hoxhaism will continue to be developed and tempered throughout the 21st century and beyond.
Naturally, as Stalinism-Hoxhaism develops, so does its bourgeois adversaries hoping to falsify the teachings of Marx, Engels, Lenin, Stalin, and Hoxha as part of an effort to assimilate Stalinism-Hoxhaism into bourgeois ideology. The Stalinist-Hoxhaist movement has successfully exposed these phony ideologies, but new ones continue to emerge and must be fought.
Recently, a new revisionist movement that takes up the banner of “Stalinism-Hoxhaism” has arisen, particularly within the United States that has proven themselves to be Stalinist-Hoxhaist in words, neo-revisionist in deeds. While they supposedly support the Comintern SH, they also openly praise anti-revisionist lines, particularly from the pro-ICMLPO American Party of Labor.
On Tanner Staricka
First, we must analyze Tanner Staricka, an intellectual and self-proclaimed “Stalinist-Hoxhaist” who spent about 10 months in jail for child molestation and was released back in May and has resumed his work since then. Staricka serves as an unofficial leader of the pseudo-Stalinist-Hoxhaist movement within the United States and he has primarily published his works on his website “Ideas of a Proletarian” (which he hasn’t updated since his arrest) as well as his Instagram account where he posts most of his ideological content along with quotes, non-political and some obscene material.
Looking at his website, his theoretical works apply and feature the philosophy of the anti-Stalinist Louis Althusser, who often wrote of alleged “Stalinist crimes”, was one of the main architects of so-called Structural “Marxism”, and derived much of his phony philosophy from the revisionist Antonio Gramsci who rejected the central role of class conflict.
Looking at his Instagram account, only content that has relevance to his pseudo-Stalinist-Hoxhaist ideology will be analyzed. He has quotes of the social-fascist DPRK leaders Kim il-sung Kim Jong-il, describing the former as “the only Kim i admire and respect” and also features a quote from Lee Harvey Oswald, a member of the Khrushchevite CPUSA and assassin of the American imperialist president John F. Kennedy. In another post which features a screenshot of his Facebook profile that includes photos of the Maoist Huey P. Newton and the Black Panther Party, he describes himself as a “Future Member of the APL” illustrating his unprincipled and false "Stalinism-Hoxhaism".
On the “Stalinist-Hoxhaists” United
In addition to Staricka, there is also another neo-revisionist group known as the “Stalinist-Hoxhaists” United which operates on Twitter and their website “Stalinist Compositions” who describes themselves as:
“We are a decentralized unit made up of people primarily from within the United States working for an all-around Hoxhaist revolution on a global scale everywhere”. (https://twitter.com/hoxhaists)
And:
“we have no relations with, nor are we the result of breaking off with, any political party. We are an independent bunch who decided ourselves to form this unit, we did not do this on the behests of any party nor did we split from any party. That said, while we do agree with the fundamental line of many political parties, here in the belly of the beast and abroad, do not expect us to be within their ranks. Our line is our own, and like our posts, they are subject to change. Our line differs somewhat from that of other parties, in particular, our views on Mao and Maoism.” (https://stalinistcompositions.wordpress.com/2018/07/05/the-journey-begins/)
In other words, they are a “decentralized” group, which is against the organizational principles of the Comintern SH and they support the “fundamental line of many political parties”, meaning that they also support the lines of other (and thus, revisionist) parties. One such party is the neo-revisionist American Party of Labor, praising it as “one of the only genuine communist parties in the world today” in their critique on Maoism, which is the only document they have on their website so far.
Going into their critique on Maoism which is written by multiple authors and is by no means, written from a Stalinist-Hoxhaist perspective, the first thing one would notice is how amateurish and poorly-written it is, using simplistic language, logical and historical fallacies, and they often cite and praise Staricka, applying some of his ridiculous “dialectical formulas”, trying to apply some sort of equation to describe China’s conditions. They also express their admiration for the imperialist lackey Duterte, stating that:
“Duterte is a force for good in the Philippines, and trying to overthrow him only means a capultation to imperialism. Duterte is a force for good because he loves his beautiful country and his race, he's a transparent leader, he's giving it all to fight corruption, he's investing a lot in the economy and stuff, he's strong-willed and intelligent, and he's dealing with the drug crisis in the best way possible.”
The current situation of the proletariat in the Philippines states otherwise, with mass protests and political instability. Such unprincipled support for comprador bourgeois leaders and governments in the name of “anti-Maoism” again demonstrates that the "Stalinist-Hoxhaists" United are not Stalinist-Hoxhaists at all.
On the American Party of Labor
While the American Party of Labor doesn’t describe themselves as a “Stalinist-Hoxhaist”, much of the American pseudo-Stalinist-Hoxhaist movement and Tanner Staricka express support for the party. The American Party of Labor is a Blandist, pro-ICMLPO, and “Espresso-Stalinist” party (in fact, Victor Vaughn, the owner of the Espresso Stalinist website, is the party’s National Secretary) within the United States that supports the social-fascist Party for Socialism and Liberation and has friendly relations with ICMLPO “brother parties” such as the Turkish EMEP and the Danish Workers’ Communist Party. They also hold the typical “Four and a Half-Heads” position and actively defends and supports social-fascist Cuba along with Fidel Castro and Che Guevara, stating on their platform that:
“Our Party is based on Marxism-Leninism as formulated by Karl Marx, Frederick Engels, Vladimir Lenin, and Joseph Stalin; and enriched by figures such as Enver Hoxha, Che Guevara, Fidel Castro, Ho Chi Minh, and the countless other revolutionaries who have dedicated their lives to the defeat of capitalism and advancement of socialism.”
And many of their articles on their Organ “The Red Phoenix” as well as their theoretical journal “Revolutionary Spirit” contain articles by the ICMPLO, Cuban media, and Bill Bland. In conclusion, the American Party of Labor is just a typical neo-revisionist party.
Conclusion
Although it is noteworthy to point out that this phony group of “Stalinist-Hoxhaists” are small in number right now, it is essential for every honest Stalinist-Hoxhaist within the United States and elsewhere to combat and nip this threat in the bud, build a genuine American Section of the Communist International (Stalinist-Hoxhaist), and uphold and advance the correct line of Stalinism-Hoxhaism!!
DOWN WITH THE PSEUDO-STALINIST-HOXHAISTS IN THE USA!
DOWN WITH THE AMERICAN PARTY OF LABOR AND ESPRESSO STALINIST!
DOWN WITH THE ICMLPO AND NEO-REVISIONISM!
LONG LIVE THE TEACHINGS OF THE FIVE CLASSICS OF MARXISM-LENINISM!
LONG LIVE THE COMMUNIST INTERNATIONAL (STALINIST-HOXHAIST)!
LONG LIVE THE AMERICAN PROLETARIAN STRUGGLE!
LONG LIVE THE GLOBAL PROLETARIAN REVOLUTION!
LONG LIVE THE GLOBAL DICTATORSHIP OF THE PROLETARIAT!
WORKERS OF THE WORLD, UNITE!
LONG LIVE STALINISM-HOXHAISM!
on the 7th of November 2017
Comment on "Matin Rouge" Socialist Group (S-H) in Egypt
To our Dear Comrades of the Comintern from The Next Socialist Group (S-H) in Egypt that's our Comment on what recently happend in Morocco We would like to thank our Comrades who completly destroyed and Unmasked the Matin Rouge revisionist scums who were playing the role of the Hoxhaists in morocco by their statement and we should say and admit that this statement should be translated to arabic and published everywhere, that considered a victory for the SH Movement in The middle east and in the Arab World, it's a necessary to stand under the teachings of the 5 Classics and under the true revoultionary direction of the socialist world revoultion under the lead of the Comintern (S-H), we are not shocked because of what happend because we saw alot of scums pretended to be just "Marxist-Leninists" taking it as a cover to do what they want without doubts and questions, so they appear as a " Revolutionaries ", and if you tried to stand against them they will just call you a "dogmatic", the opportunist social-fascists were always doing the same thing before we even foster the true bolchevik Line of Stalinit-Hoxhais Ideology that the Comintern declared, Dogs of Matin Rouge did the same when we started to ask them about the so-called "National-Democratic Revoultion", even they ignored us and when they finally answerd they insulted us by their lame terms that the revisionists from every corner says just we are "Dogmatics", they think that they will win the argument against us by this term and their demagogical speech or even by the flag of the 5 classics,THAT'S NOT ENOUGH TO BEAT US! we know very well that what happend won't be the last thing we will meet in our fight against The Revisionism, this is just the start of Unmerciful and brutal fight against the dogs of the capitalist-imperialist who are in the communist world movement, especially here in the arab world!, we hope that we Always stand on the side of our true comrades gainst the fakers who trying to isolate us from the struggle and for the true goals we strive for,HERE and everywhere! the struggle of the comintern will continue now and forever by the hands of the true neo-bolcheviks everywhere, the Existence of Capitalism in our world now means death for the humans, Capitalism can't continue under any banner or slogan, that's what exactly the revisionist scums wants to do;by defending it and the Bourgeoisie by calling it "progressive/national,Bullshit"! The socialist world revoultion will remain mighty under the Leadership of the Comintern (S-H)! Morocco should find a true Stalinist-Hoxhaist Comrades who will lead and organize it working class and the poor farmers! Away from the Matin Rouge! Our Fight against revisionism in Egypt and in the Arab world will remain powerful by the help of the Comintern SH! For the World dictatorship of the Proletariat! For The Socialist Republic of Egypt! For A Socialist Arab World and for the victory of World Communism under the teachings of the 5 classics of MarxismLeninismStalinismHoxhaism and Under the leadership of Comintern (S-H)
عاشت الثورة العالمية الإشتراكية!
عاشت الستالينية الخوجية!
عاش الكومنترن (س-خ)!
عاش النضال ضد الرأسمالية و التحريفية في العالم العربي والعالم أجمع!
Comment on "Matin Rouge"
from our Polish comrade Jedrzej
October 26, 2017
I hope these revisionists will be shmashed by real S-H comrades in Morocco
National-democratic revolution, funny in mouth of "communists". National-democratic revolution is bourgeoise revolution, that smashes feudalism, is Morocco feudal country? No, It's capitalist.. So their current task is to carry a SOCIALIST revolution, carrying "national-democratic" (bourgeoise) revolution is not even possible, because there is already capitalism, bourgeoise is in power, not aristocracy, doing nat-dem revolution is doing nothing. Only socialist revolution is possible and necessary. Coming next, French comrades that would want to carry out a national-democratic revolution, fight with aristocracy again while there is no aristocracy, and bourgeoise is already in power. Mao did bourgeoise revolution and stopped after it, calling it "socialism", Morocco revisionists want to not carry socialist revolution and (it is not possible to even carry nat-dem revolution while it was carried out back then, in practice nat-dem revolution in Morocco now would be doing nothing, because effect of that revolution has been reached) and they call it "Stalinism-Hoxhaism". What do they mean by nat-dem revolution? Socialist revolution? So why don't call it socialist revolution? They mean reaction. They are poorly educated in Marxism, they can't tell the difference between socialist and bourgeoise revolution, they can't tell the difference between fight with capitalism, and fight with feudalism, they can't see the difference between Tzar Russia and diarchy Russia, they can't see the difference between XX century Morocco and today's Morocco. This is most important to know the difference between bourgeoise revolution and socialist revolution, to know that in countries where feudalism has been abolished recently, there is still need to carry out a socialist revolution, not to stop at bourgeoise revolution like Mao, etc. and in countries where bourgeoise revolution has been carried out, there is no need for next bourgeoise revolution because it is absurd, socialist revolution against capitalism, if you have capitalism you have to fight for socialism, national-democratic revolution against feudalism, against remains of feudal service, in Morocco there are no remains of feudalism, Morocco is in last stage of capitalism. Azar Eric is one of them I saw his comments, just words, and no arguments why they are S-H, they say that they are S-H but they can't refute Comintern's arguments, they can't refute a single Comintern's sentence. "We are not revisionists, we are not centrists, we are real S-H" that's all, just words. Time will show their errors.
Statement of the Comintern (SH)
22 October 2017
Decision of the Comintern (SH)
on October 16, 2017
On the occasion of the 109th birthday of Comrade Enver Hoxha, Comintern (SH) has taken the following decision:
July 16, 1947, is the date of birth of Stalinism-Hoxhaism.
Why did the Comintern (SH) select July 16, 1947 as the founding day of Stalinism-Hoxhaism?
Stalinism-Hoxhaism emerged on the indelible day when Stalin and Enver Hoxha met for the first time.
Stalin created Stalinism
and
Enver Hoxha created Hoxhaism.
Comrade Enver Hoxha described this first meeting in his memoirs as follows:
"The talks with Stalin and his advice would be a guide in the great and arduous work which we were doing to consolidate the victories achieved.
For all these reasons, our first visit to the Soviet Union was a cause for indescribable joy and great satisfaction not only for the communists and for us, the members of the delegation, but also for the entire Albanian people, who had been eagerly awaiting this visit and hailed it with great enthusiasm.
As we saw with our own eyes and felt in our hearts, Stalin and the Soviet Government welcomed our delegation in a very cordial and warm manner, with sincere affection. During the twelve days of our stay in Moscow we met Comrade Stalin several times, and the talks which we held with him, his sincere, comradely advice and instructions, have remained and will remain forever dear to us.
The day of my first meeting with Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin will remain unforgettable. It was the 16th of July 1947, the third day of our stay in Moscow. It was an extraordinary day from the outset: in the morning we went to the Mausoleum of the great Lenin where we bowed our heads in deep respect before the body of the brilliant leader of the revolution, before that man whose name and colossal work was deeply engraved in our minds and hearts, and had enlightened us on the glorious road of our struggle for freedom, the revolution and socialism. On this occasion, in the name of the Albanian people, our Communist Party and in my own name personally, I laid a wreath of many-coloured flowers at the entrance to the Mausoleum of the immortal Lenin. From there, after visiting the graves of the valiant fighters of the October Socialist Revolution, the outstanding militants of the Bolshevik Party and the Soviet state, buried in the walls of the Kremlin, we went to the Central Museum of Vladimir Ilyich Lenin. For more than two hours we went from one hall to the other, acquainting ourselves at first-hand with documents and exhibits which reflected in detail the life and outstanding work of the great Lenin. Before we left, in the Visitors’ Book of the Museum, among others, I also wrote these words:
«The cause of Lenin will live on forever in the future generations. The memory of him will live forever in the hearts of the Albanian people».
That same day, full of indelible impressions and emotions, we were received by the disciple and loyal continuer of the work of Lenin, Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin, who talked with us at length.
From the beginning he created such a comradely atmosphere that we were very quickly relieved of that natural emotion which we felt when we entered his office, a large room, with a long table for meetings, close to his writing desk. Only a few minutes after exchanging the initial courtesies, we felt as though we were not talking to the great Stalin, but sitting with a comrade, whom we had met before and with whom we had talked many times. I was still young then, and the representative of a small party and country, therefore, in order to create the warmest and most comradely atmosphere for me, Stalin cracked some jokes and then began to speak with affection and great respect about our people, about their militant traditions of the past and their heroism in the National Liberation War. He spoke quietly, calmly and with a characteristic warmth which put me at ease." (Enver Hoxha: "With Stalin" - Memoirs; pages 54 - 56)
Stalinism-Hoxhaism is the highest development stage of world-proletarian ideology, is the further development of |
food recalls per 100,000 people. Ontario, along with Quebec, are the only two provinces to earn an "A" for this indicator. However, Ontario's average performance on incidences of food-borne illness and animal condemnation bring down its overall grade on the food safety category.
When it comes to healthy food and diets, Ontario's shortcomings mirror those experienced in the rest of Canada. Ontarians consume more calories and sodium than they need, and do not eat enough fruits and vegetables or fish and shellfish. While Ontarians still exceed the recommended upper daily limit of sodium per day, Ontario is the best provincial performer on this indicator and receives a "C". Ontario performs well among the provinces when it come to carbohydrate, saturated fat, and added sugar intake.
Province Gets Mixed Results on Food Security and Industry Prosperity
Ontario receives mixed scores for its food security performance and earns an overall "C" on this category. As is the case in most Canadian provinces, youth and adults in Ontario are unlikely to be moderately or severely food insecure. Ontario also does well on indigenous food insecurity and food bank use by children. However, the province needs to improve its performance on the percentage of adults and children who said they were hungry but could not afford more food. Ontario households are also more vulnerable to food emergencies due to higher debt service ratio. The debt service ratio measures the share of disposable income required to meet interest payments on household debt.
Ontario is a middle to bottom ranking performer on industry prosperity—receiving a "C" grade. Ontario falls short on the size of its farms, as well as the number of farms in the province with a revenue of at least $500,000. Ontario's per capita food manufacturing exports score is lower than peer provinces.
In all, 63 food performance metrics were used to evaluate the overall food performance of the provinces. Definitions for the indicators and the full report are available from our e-Library.
Canada's Food Report Card: Provincial Performance was prepared for The Conference Board of Canada's Canadian Food Observatory (CFO). The Observatory monitors progress on improving food performance, spurs the required changes,and encourages action to make the Canadian Food Strategy a reality.
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SOURCE Conference Board of Canada
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http://www.conferenceboard.caProSpeed Competition is working hard to get the No. 79 Porsche 911 GT3 RSR ready for tomorrow’s 24 Hours of Le Mans.
The Porsche crashed heavily last night, resulting in serious damage to the chassis. It soon became clear that the car was beyond immediate repair and the Belgian team started looking for a replacement chassis.
Bret Curtis was briefly knocked out and was taken to a local hospital for checks. Even though the American driver, who was due to share the wheel of the WeatherTech-sponsored entry with Jeroen Bleekemolen and Cooper MacNeil, returned to the circuit today, doctors did not clear him to race.
“Bret briefly lost consciousness after the crash,” Bleekemolen said. “He couldn’t recall the accident, but he returned from the medical center. He said he felt well and would be ready to race, should he be declared fit to race.
“The doctors didn’t give him the green light though. They are cautious and don’t want to take any risks. I do know this myself. You’ve just crashed and one or two days later you’re starting to feel it, so I can understand their decision.”
Prospeed has found a replacement car and driver in France. Sebastien Crubilé is set to replace Curtis in the Porsche 911 GT3 RSR that he races in the European Le Mans Series.
“Sébastien raced at Le Mans last year with ProSpeed, so team and driver know each other,” Bleekemolen said. “He will be able to drive in the warm up tomorrow morning, so if all goes to plan we will be on the grid tomorrow.”
The Stewards of the Meeting have yet to confirm the requested changes. “Everything has been put in motion, and I am hopeful that it works out the way we want,” Bleekemolen added.
René de Boer contributed to this article.CALGARY – Until now, she has only been identified by her initials, but a publication ban lifted Wednesday afternoon now means Canadians can know Hanne Schafer by name.
On Feb. 29, 2016 Schafer became the first Canadian to end her life with medical help.
The Supreme Court of Canada granted a constitutional exemption in relation to Schafer’s case in January, ahead of new legislation that passed to allow physician-assisted death in June.
“She would have wanted what happened to her to be out there, to help people so that they didn’t have to go through what she went through,” her husband Daniel Laurin told the Justice.
WATCH: Exclusive video interview with Daniel Laurin, the husband of Alberta woman Hanne Schafer, the first Canadian to be granted physician-assisted death.
READ MORE: Husband of Alberta woman granted physician-assisted death fights to have her name released
Schafer had initially requested the publication ban remain in place but family said she later decided she wanted the ban removed after her death.
“She, through [her lawyer], requested a publication ban and didn’t specify any timeline for that to end. What am I to make of that?” the Justice asked.
“She maybe didn’t understand what the full implication of the publication ban was,” Schafer’s life-long friend Mary Valentich told the court.
She said Schafer had asked her to write an obituary and agreed to its release with a photograph of her before her death.
WATCH: Mary Valentich, a long-time friend of Hanne Schafer, and Daniel Laurin, Schafer’s husband, spoke to media after a publication ban was lifted allowing them to speak publicly about Schafer and her battle for physician-assisted death.
Her friends and family asked for the ban to be removed so they’d be able to “celebrate her life,” publishing an obituary and continuing to be an advocate for physician-assisted dying.
“For obvious reasons it’s now not possible to ascertain her wishes fully,” the Justice said. “Now that she has received the peaceful death she sought.”
The Justice said other individuals applying for this should be fully informed and can learn from hearing Schafer’s story.
“In this case, after that peaceful passing had occurred, they did not fully understand the implications of a publications ban and how that would be affected after her death,” the Justice said.
WATCH: Global’s coverage of the case of “Ms. S” Hanne SchaferLieutenant colonel Mikhail Sergeyevich Tolstykh, aka “Givi” has been murdered
This is one of those times when I sincerely wish I had been proven wrong and that those who criticized me for raising the alarm following the murder of Motorola had been proven right. Instead, one of my worst fears has now materialized: Lieutenant colonel Mikhail Sergeyevich Tolstykh, aka “Givi” has been murdered.
That’s what you get for not asking the hard questions and for stupidly denying that there is a major problem.
Frankly, I am too disgusted to write a personal analysis. Besides, Colonel Cassad has already said everything which could and should be said at this point in time. All I will do is offer a translated summary of his main conclusions:
The murder is being investigated. There are no suspects at this time. Since, with one exception, none of the murders of senior LNR/DNR figures have been successfully investigated – don’t hold your breath. Givi was killed in his office by a reactive flame thrower of the RPO-A Smel type. The killers knew where and when Givi would be which shows that he was under direct observation. His personal protection detail and the DNR counter-intelligence seem to be totally clueless. As for those who murdered him, they knew how to get in and out undetected. Givi had a minor political role, he was quite happy to be a tactical commander, he was on record fully supporting Zakharchenko (and Putin, would I add).
Bottom line: this is totally and completely inexcusable. The RPO-A has a range of about 150-400m (depending on the actual kit and the proficiency of the operator) and to strike Givi’s office the killers must have had direct line of sight. As far as I am concerned, many heads should now roll, especially after the murder of Motorola which should have served as a very painful wake-up call to the shameful reality that DNR counter-intelligence and security is clearly completely dysfunctional. At this point in time I am also inclined to blame Russia for not having stepped in following the murder of Motorola and restored a modicum of security in the DNR/LNR. And to those who will accuse me of overreacting, I will ask a simple question: what would it take for your to admit that there is a problem – do you really want to see Zakharchenko killed next?
As to the “who done it?” question, I am now revising my evaluation of how hard it would be to mount such an operation downward and I am beginning to think that the Ukronazis might actually be behind it. Initially, I had dismissed that option due to the notorious incompetence of the SBU and the rest of the Ukronazi terror organizations, but now I am starting believe that the “incompetence” of the Ukronazis, especially if trained by western operators, might be favorably compared to the “competence” of the DNR/LRN security services.
I will conclude this post by repeating what I wrote when Motorola was killed: The real question is not who had the means to execute such an operation, but why would anybody at all have had the opportunity to do so?!
With the Saints give rest, O Christ, to the soul of Your servant Mikhail where there is no pain, nor sorrow, nor suffering, but life everlasting.
The Saker
PS: in terms of consequences, the murder of Givi will make absolutely no difference. Yes, a lot of good people will mourn him, we are all heartbroken, but it has now been several years that Givi played no crucial role in Novorussia, especially not in military terms. For all his immense personal qualities, Givi was not a real military specialist (none of the Novorussian leaders are, as far as I know). So the *real* military brains behind the defense of Novorussian republics are “behind the scenes folks” which you never see on TV, who graduated from several military academies and who have extensive personal combat experience. And yeah, a lot of them probably come from, or report to, Russia.Ohio Gov. John Kasich celebrates his only win in the 2016 presidential primaries: his home state of Ohio. (Photo: Enquirer file/Carrie Cochran)
CLEVELAND — As the gavel fell at the GOP convention Monday, John Kasich’s rift with Donald Trump and his campaign hit feud levels.
But when the drama on the convention floor peaked — in part because of a last-ditch anti-Trump push — Kasich was down the street in a dark-paneled steakhouse. Packed in by a couple dozen Illinois delegates and sweaty reporters, he gave low-key remarks about Illinois' Republican governor and U.S. senator.
That Kasich failed to appear during the most dramatic anti-Trump push highlighted his absence from the GOP gathering. Kasich, the Ohio governor who suspended his presidential campaign in May, has declined to endorse Trump and doesn’t plan to attend convention proceedings in his home state. Instead, he is speaking to some friendly delegations, meetings that could form the foundation of a 2020 presidential bid — if Trump loses and the GOP is looking for a new candidate in four years.
The Trump campaign’s irritation with Kasich boiled over Monday. Paul Manafort, Trump’s campaign chairman, said on two morning TV shows Kasich was “embarrassing his state.” Kasich political strategist John Weaver, an outspoken Trump opponent, struck back — questioning Manafort’s “professionalism” and campaign management and mocking him for his past political consulting work in Ukraine.
Kasich later told NBC Nightly News he laughed when he heard Manafort's comments. People in Ohio still support him, he said. "I don't hold any personal animus towards Donald Trump." But for Kasich to speak at the GOP convention, "He'd have to change everything that he says. We can't be attacking Muslims and Hispanics, and trying to shut down trade, and not caring about the debt," Kasich said.
Trump didn't let him have the last word. Calling in to The O'Reilly Factor, which cut away from coverage of the GOP convention to air the interview, he said he beat Kasich "very, very soundly" in the GOP primary. "Maybe if I were in his position, I wouldn't have shown up either," Trump said. Still, he said, Kasich should come to the convention "from a standpoint of honor," because he pledged to support the GOP nominee, and because the convention is in Ohio.
The feud brought out praise of Kasich from his supportive Ohio delegation. But the GOP convention is about an attempt to unify the party after a long primary, many said. Delegates from around the country weighing in on Kasich’s 2020 chances gave comments ranging from uncomfortable demurs, given the implications for Trump’s campaign, to downright rebukes.
Soon after the Manafort comments aired, Ohio Republican Party Chairman Matt Borges led an Ohio delegation breakfast in applause for Kasich. “He has a 60% approval rating in Ohio, and that’s not by accident,” Borges said. “We love our governor.”
Trump’s name was not uttered at the breakfast — not even by Arkansas Sen. Tom Cotton, a Trump supporter, who was a guest speaker to the Ohioans.
Still, after the event, Ohioans expressed doubts about Kasich’s anti-Trump stance and his plan to avoid the convention.
“I’m a strong supporter of Gov. Kasich, but I think this is a mistake,” said Mary Ann Christie, an alternate delegate and former mayor of Madeira. “I think we got the convention here in Ohio, the campaign for a candidate is over with, and if we’re going to win, then we better get together. …
“There are some people saying, ‘Let Hillary (Clinton, the Democrat,) have it, and we'll come back.’ That's a mistake."
The idea of a Kasich 2020 bid is uncomfortable for Republicans. Most of the people at the convention either wholeheartedly or grudgingly say they want Trump to win in November. If that happens, the party theoretically won’t need another GOP candidate in 2020.
"Kasich is a non-factor at this point in my mind, as far as presidential politics," said John DeFrancisco, a Kasich delegate and deputy leader of the New York State Senate. "If and when he decides to run, he's not going to do it this year. My only concern is this year. What happens in the future is too speculative." DeFrancisco said he’s supporting Trump, because he won the nomination.
But the idea of a Kasich 2020 campaign is out there. While JohnKasich.com, the governor’s 2016 campaign site, still has a thank you message posted after he suspended his campaign in May, Kasich2020.com says only: “#BuckleUp,” one of Kasich’s presidential campaign slogans.
It’s not yet time to discuss 2020 with Kasich, said Tom Rath, a New Hampshire politico presidential campaign adviser who backed Kasich. But he hopes he’s keeping his options open — as Rath encouraged former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney to keep his options open for 2012 after his failed presidential bid in 2008.
“You’ve created a whole bunch of assets and brand and favorability, and people like you and respect you. Let’s take care of those assets,” such as by campaigning for congressional candidates, Rath said — especially since Kasich lagged in fundraising in 2016. “At the end of the day, you want everybody to say, ‘I needed help, and he gave it to me.’ He creates IOUs.”
Kasich says he won’t endorse Trump unless he sees a change in tone and position akin to the apostle Paul’s conversion, as relayed in the Bible, from a persecutor of the Christian church to one of its chief missionaries. That’s won’t hurt him if a 2020 chance comes around, Rath said. “I don’t think anyone expects a John Kasich endorsement to sway the general election,” he said.
But others said Kasich is hurting potential 2020 chances by declining to support Trump.
“Anybody who sits this one out, or throws rocks on the sidelines thinking Trump is going to lose in 2020, is wrong on two accounts,” said Kentucky U.S. Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Garrison. “One, Trump’s not going to lose. Two, if he does lose and they bear any blame for him losing, they’re going to be persona non grata in 2020.”
Kasich didn’t address his 2020 chances or the feud with Trump’s campaign in remarks to some of the Illinois delegation Monday afternoon. As the drama on the convention floor played out on cellphones in the steakhouse, some of Illinois’ delegates ate chicken skewers and mini-burgers and then clustered around the Ohio governor.
He told them about his speech at the NAACP in Cincinnati Sunday night — a convention Hillary Clinton addressed Monday but whose invitation Trump declined — and promoted his effort in Ohio to push reforms in community and police relations in cooperation with African-American Democrats. He told them to stand by their governor in his budget wars with the Illinois Legislature and promised to attend a fundraiser next month to support Illinois Republican Sen. Mark Kirk’s re-election campaign.
“Really an inclusive reform agenda for the Republican Party is where my head is,” Kasich said.
Back at the convention arena, some delegates unsuccessfully pushed for a roll call vote on rules changes that could have put Trump’s nomination in question.
Competing shouts of “Roll call vote!” and “We want Trump!” bubbled up even as the Republicans were standing for a prolonged shoot of the official convention photograph.
Kasich has said he doesn’t support efforts to deny Trump the nomination or disrupt the convention’s seemingly inevitable nod toward Trump. And Pat Brady, a former chairman of the Illinois GOP, said Kasich’s stand against Trump didn’t contribute to tumult at the convention.
“It’s time to put that away. To just do it to create a problem, without an end game, is silly,” Brady said of the effort to deny Trump the nomination this week. Still, “we can be a loyal opposition within our own party. I think Gov. Kasich represents what the good part of our party is all about.”
In the end, the roll-call effort failed, and the party turned its attention toward nominating Trump on Tuesday. And Kasich?
“One time he talked about getting out of politics. I think he still has a lot to offer,” said Keith Faber, president of the Ohio Senate.
Like another run for president?
“If we have a President Trump, I don’t think so,” Faber said. “We’ll see what happens.”
Contributing: Jessie Balmert, The Cincinnati Enquirer; Scott Wartman, The Kentucky Enquirer; Jon Campbell, Gannett Albany bureau. Chrissie Thompson writes for The Cincinnati Enquirer. Follow her on Twitter: @CThompsonENQ
Read or Share this story: http://usat.ly/2a5ZYW9Mark Bertolini, chief executive officer of Aetna.
"If [our staff] can prove they get 20 nights of sleep for seven hours or more in a row, we will give them $US25 a night, up $US500 a year," said Mr Bertolini, who uses the wireless activity tracker Fitbit to monitor his employees' sleep levels.
"You can't be prepared if you're half-asleep," he said, citing research that better sleep can lead to bigger profits.
Working in collaboration with Duke University, Mr Bertolini said he had seen "69 minutes more a month of [worker] productivity on the part of us just investing in wellness and mindfulness".
World leaders have often prided themselves on their lack of sleep. Winston Churchill is said to have slept only five hours a night. Margaret Thatcher got four hours a night; former Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi said he needs only two hours.Episode Notes for
What the Fouke?
The Beast of Boggy Creek (episode 106)
Lyle Blackburn is a musician, actor, and cryptid researcher who explores the US in search of creatures in swamplands and backwoods. He is the author of The Beast of Boggy Creek: The True Story of the Fouke Monster and Lizard Man: The True Story of the Bishopville Monster. Lyle is a staff writer for the horror magazine Rue Morgue, he has been featured on Coast to Coast AM, and on numerous TV shows on Discovery, Animal Planet and more. Lyle joins us to discuss the history and impact of “the Boggy Creek Monster” on the small town of Fouke, Arkansas.
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Monstertalk Theme: Monster by Peach Stealing Monkeys
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The views expressed on this program are not necessarily the views of the Skeptics Society or Skeptic magazine.In silico experiments
We ran digital experiments on the artificial life platform Avida version 2.14.0 (http://avida.devosoft.org/)11. The Avida platform is a model system for investigating how co-evolution (and co-extinction) works within simple, transparent, stochastic rules11,23. The most important difference between empirical food-web assembly24,25 and artificial life simulations is that food-web biologists model natural-looking systems to explain patterns in nature, whereas artificial-life simulations are alternative ‘natural’ systems that evolve in silico26,27. Artificial life simulations generate and maintain complexity starting from a few rules (just as in natural evolution). This, in turn, generates the patterns expected in ecological and evolutionary systems.
We studied host–parasite networks for several reasons. First, although Avida can model predator–prey interactions28, and can create different trophic levels by manipulating the resource setting29, these options are unexplored. Conversely, host–parasite networks in Avida have ecological and evolutionary behaviors close to those observed in nature28, and have been already used to explain how complex features evolve30 and how parasites maintain host diversity12. Furthermore, empirical food webs have limitations, such as unequal resolution among the trophic levels due to lumping some species in broad taxonomic categories31. For instance, in aquatic trophic webs, it is common to have fish identified at the species level, and all the phytoplankton aggregated into a single category32. This creates obvious problems for interpreting robustness, especially when lower trophic levels are aggregated, leading to unrealistic assumptions such as all phytoplankton go extinct at once as if they were a single species. Additionally, there is little information from IUCN on extinction risk for non-vertebrate species. Thus, even if we obtained resolved food webs, we would have not been able to investigate their robustness to future extinction scenarios. More importantly, host–parasite networks are bipartite, which makes it easy to isolate how secondary extinctions affect system robustness, whereas in food webs, hosts can suffer secondary extinctions if their resources vanish7.
We used the Python programming language33 and R34 to process Avida output, simulate disassembly, and analyse data. Supplementary Data 1 details the co-evolved host–parasite networks and the host extinction sequences in the historical scenario.
The Avida study had three distinct phases: coevolution, assessment and disassembly. In the co-evolution phase, we ran simulations to evolve 100 complex host–parasite networks (100 being enough for hypothesis testing in past studies23,30). To make our results as general as possible, we randomized several parameters (carrying capacity, parasite virulence, resource availability, injection timing and amount of ancestral parasites) of a setting already explored in host–parasite co-evolution experiments30. In each simulation, the Avida world was a bi-dimensional grid with random dimensions between 50 and 120 host units (thus between 250 and 14,400 host habitations). Mutation rates were the same as in Zaman et al.30, but we also allowed parasite virulence to mutate throughout the experiment (starting from 1, that is, a situation in which the parasites steal all the CPU to its host). To create environmental variation, we randomly selected between one and nine resources associated with the canonical nine Avida logical operations (not, nand, and, orn, or, andn, nor, xor and equ). Similarly, we randomly associated the available resources as products of the nine tasks, with an input–output ratio randomly selected between 0 and 0.5. We set a random seed for each replicate, inserted a single host ancestor and allowed for host diversification for a random period lasting between 1,000 and 5,000 steps, at which point we injected 500–1,000 individuals belonging to a single ancestral parasite species. Both the host and the parasite ancestors could only do one of the two least complex tasks in Avida (that is, the ‘NOT’ function, where 0 is returned if 1 is consumed, and vice versa)30. Parasites in Avida are similar to free-living species in terms of structure and evolutionary processes (that is, mutation type and rate). However, parasites could not survive outside a host. Thus, when a parasite reproduces, its offspring try to infect a nearby host (like a directly transmitted, single-host microparasite). The host is susceptible only if it is uninfected, and the parasite can do at least one of its tasks. Depending on their virulence, parasites can take up to all the host’s CPU cycles. During the co-evolution phase, hosts and parasites competed, interacted and co-evolved, generating complex host–parasite networks with different structural properties. We retained the first 100 simulations where at least one host and parasite species persisted to a random end point between 105 and 5 × 105 steps (resulting in assemblages with different ages).
After stopping the co-evolution phase, we assessed host vulnerability to extinction by letting host species interact but not mutate12. In this context, host species compete, going extinct one after another, depending on their relative fitness, providing an objective way to measure host vulnerability to extinction under the conditions in which they evolved in the coevolution phase (that is, historical conditions).
In both the co-evolution and assessment phases, we monitored the species every 100 steps by recording genome, spatial position, host or parasite, genetic code and closest ancestor. The Avida documentation at https://github.com/devosoft/avida/wiki gives additional details about how to setup/run Avida simulations, and processing/interpreting Avida output.
In the assessment phase (that is, after we stopped mutations), we also recorded, for each host: (i) vulnerability to extinction, measured as h/H, with h being the order a species went extinct and H being the starting host abundance; (ii) parasite richness; and (iii) average parasite host range; that is, the average number of hosts (including the target one) used by its parasites. Then, we assessed the relationships between parasite richness and average host range (standardized by, respectively, the total number of parasite species and the total number of host species per simulation), and host vulnerability to extinction (using Spearman’s rank correlation coefficient) on each individual run, and on all the runs aggregated.
In the disassembly phase, we removed hosts one by one until no hosts remained, counting parasite species richness at each step. We determined the best-case scenario for parasites by removing, in sequence, the host with the least parasites, so that hosts with many parasites went extinct late and parasite diversity declined slowly. We determined the worst-case scenario for parasites by removing, in sequence, the host with the most parasites, so that hosts with many parasites went extinct early, and parasite diversity declined rapidly. Then, to identify the parasite assemblage robustness to historical conditions, we removed, in sequence, the most vulnerable host to extinction as quantified in the assessment phase. Finally, to identify parasite assemblage robustness to a hypothetical environmental change, we randomized the host-removal sequence.
For each removal treatment, we averaged 100 replicates where we randomized ties (for example, the host extinction order associated with the same number of parasites in the best- and worst-case scenario, or having the same historical vulnerability or the same maximum complexity). In the random scenario, we simply averaged 100 random sequences. We quantified parasite assemblage robustness as the area under the host diversity versus parasite diversity curve (rescaled as proportions)7.
We considered the extent that various assumptions might affect our results. Specifically, we asked how network structure, task complexity, genotype, incomplete information and time in the co-evolutionary phase affected robustness. As detailed in the following paragraphs, these factors did not alter the qualitative findings.
Because robustness can be sensitive to network structure35, we controlled for network structure by applying each treatment to the same network. Nonetheless, our replicate networks differed in structure and that could lead to differences in robustness among them, adding to the variation we see in robustness within a treatment. To investigate whether and how network structure can affect robustness, we did pairwise comparisons between robustness, and basic network properties such as the number of nodes and edges, the connectance, nestedness/overlap and modularity36. Most networks tended toward either a nested or a modular structure or both (Supplementary Fig. 2), whereas segregation (that is, the tendency of species to minimize overlap in partners) never emerged, which might support the idea that sharing interacting partners could promote network persistence. Usually, network structure (Supplementary Table 1) did not affect robustness, explaining, at most, 10% of the variation (Supplementary Table 2).
We investigated whether task complexity (see Table 1 in Lenski et al.23) affected parasite assemblage robustness by replicating the disassembly experiments on the 100 networks and removing hosts in decreasing or increasing order of complexity. We measured host complexity as equal to its most complex task. Complexity did not correlate with robustness (P=0.21). Moreover, the robustness measured using decreasing complexity was not distinguishable from that obtained from random removal (P=0.56), whereas robustness measured using increasing complexity was only slightly different from the random removal (P=0.047; see also Supplementary Fig. 3).
To identify and disassemble networks, we classified organisms (both host and parasites) into taxonomic units (hereafter ‘species’) by their phenotype, that is, their ability to do particular tasks30. However, to assess whether evolutionary convergence affected the results, we replicated all the disassembly experiments by classifying taxonomic units by genotypes. We found consistent patterns suggesting that evolutionary convergence was not biasing our findings (Supplementary Fig. 4).
Empirical networks suffer from incomplete information that underestimates generality (for example, the more we study networks, the more complex they appear, with increasing redundancies). To better compare the simulations with the analysis on the (undersampled) empirical networks, we asked what simulations would have looked like if we had incomplete information. We replicated all the analyses by eliminating 10, 20, 30, 40, 50, 60% of the host–parasite interactions, finding that data gaps only slightly underestimated parasite assemblage robustness (Supplementary Figs 5–8).
To investigate how soon parasite assemblage robustness emerges through the co-evolutionary phase, we measured a random parasite assemblage’s robustness to historical and novel perturbations every 1,000 steps, from 10,000 to 100,000 generations. Figures 1 and 4 show that robustness to historical conditions evolved relatively early, but there is a tradeoff with robustness to novel conditions.
Tests on empirical host–parasite networks
As a companion to the Avida experiments, we evaluated our predictions using all fish–parasite records available from FishPEST (http://purl.oclc.org/fishpest)13, and 16 large host–parasite networks, built by combining all the records available from the host–parasite database of the Natural History Museum of London (http://www.nhm.ac.uk/) for different combinations of host and parasite taxa (amphibians, birds, mammals and reptiles versus acanthocephalans, cestodes, nematodes and trematodes). These networks have already been used to estimate global parasite richness14.
Both datasets were filtered by including only hosts present in IUCN redlist. After this filtering procedure, the FishPEST network included 16,681 associations between 1,696 fish species and 7,555 parasite species belonging to different taxa (acanthocephalans, cestodes, monogeneans, nematodes, trematodes), whereas the Natural History Museum of London data included 29,275 associations between 2,751 host species and 9,638 parasites species.
We disassembled these networks, by taxon, by removing hosts as in our experiments on digital networks. For all host groups, we could estimate future vulnerability from IUCN risk categories for some species. Thus, for both the vertebrate and the fish–parasite networks, we simulated 100 worst-case, best-case and novel scenarios (randomizing the whole order of extinctions in the random scenario, and only ties in the others). For the fish–parasite network only, we simulated 100 disassembles under historical conditions using fish intrinsic vulnerability to extinction (www.fishbase.org)15 as a proxy for historical vulnerability. Such measures, which take into account fish life history and ecological characteristics, have already been used as a proxy for fish intrinsic extinction risk in studies dealing with co-extinctions8,18.
Sensitivity analyses
We considered the extent that various assumptions might affect our empirical results. For instance, we calculated robustness as if all parasite species had simple life cycles. However, many parasites require two or more host species in sequence, and this reduces robustness7. Another aspect that reduces robustness in food webs (absent from our disassembly) is that hosts can suffer secondary extinctions if their resources vanish7. However, because the overestimation applies to all the scenarios, we expect no bias in the results. The following paragraphs describe how we determined that reducing the FishPest data filtering with IUCN records, ties in the IUCN vulnerability rankings, incomplete parasite information and sampling-effort bias did not alter the qualitative findings.
Although filtering the FishPEST data set by IUCN records reduced the data set, our analysis on Avida partial networks suggested that incomplete information does not introduce biases, instead underestimating parasite assemblage robustness. We found the same pattern by replicating the fish host removal according to intrinsic host vulnerability on the complete FishPEST network (including 33,426 unique interactions between 12,762 parasite species and 4,091 host species). Supplementary Figure 9 plots parasite diversity versus host diversity for, respectively, the complete FishPEST network, and that filtered by IUCN data (that is, the same curve shown in Fig. 5).
A potential problem with comparing the empirical data is that the IUCN categories lead to more ties in the vulnerability ranking than occurs for the continuous FishBase vulnerability measure15. To investigate whether ties affected the results, we replicated the fish host disassembly by grouping fish into five intrinsic vulnerability categories (corresponding to the five intervals in the FishBase vulnerability scale). The resulting historical disassembly curve was almost identical to the one obtained using continuous vulnerability values (R2=0.99; regression line: slope=1.0; intercept=−0.000004).
Furthermore, the species that are most under-sampled for parasites are either rare, or limited in range. According to our main hypotheses and findings, rare species are likely to be used by few generalist parasites. Thus, their addition to the data sets would not have a strong effect on parasite persistence. Similarly, missing some host records for widespread generalist parasites would affect the overall robustness little, because these species are already likely to persist. Even if the estimate error was appreciable, we do not expect it to affect the comparison among treatments. The biggest concern about bias for the empirical data would be if increasing host sampling effort disproportionately sampled vulnerable hosts and found more specialist than generalist parasite species. Such a pattern could make it appear that invulnerable hosts had more specialist parasites when they were simply sampled more. Fortunately, sampling effort (measured as published parasite studies per fish species) did not correlate with vulnerability (r s =−0.015) or specialist to generalist ratio (r s =−0.049).
Data availability
The 100 co-evolved host–parasite networks and the host extinction sequences in the historical scenario are available in Supplementary Information. Host–parasite records used in the analyses are available from FishPest (http://purl.oclc.org/fishpest) and from the London Natural History Museum host–parasite database (http://www.nhm.ac.uk). Fish vulnerability scores can be obtained from FishBase (http://www.fishbase.org), while conservation status information for both fish and terrestrial vertebrates can be retrieved from the IUCN website (http://www.iucnredlist.org).Josh Gordon has returned from the wilderness.
The Browns wide receiver was reinstated Monday from his 10-game suspension for violating the league's substance-abuse policy.
On hand at the team facility, Gordon has been cleared for normal activities without restriction ahead of Sunday's showdown with the Atlanta Falcons, per NFL Media Insider Ian Rapoport.
NFL Media's Albert Breer was told by team sources that the wideout was limited during his ban to strength and conditioning work inside Cleveland's building. Monday's return will mark Gordon's first wave of offensive meetings since training camp and his first real practice since before the regular season.
"I can't wait to get him back," play-caller Kyle Shanahan said last week, adding that he'd be "surprised" if Gordon wasn't ready for full-time duty right away |
fully visible. Apps that cover up or modify the Google logo or copyright holders identification will be rejected
So in a word, no biggies - mainly updates to reflect new services (or removal thereof) and different wording of some legalese.
On a side note, they also updated a few statistics: the number of developers (from tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands) and apps available in the App Store (from 350k to 700k), as well as the size limit for apps downloadable via cellular networks (from 20MB to 50MB).
Perhaps what’s most telling is the removal of the “We don’t need any more Fart apps” clause. I guess that means they’ve run out, so let’s get busy!Sen. Ted Cruz and Donald Trump participate in a CBS News debate, Feb. 13, 2016, at the Peace Center in Greenville, South Carolina. Spencer Platt/Getty Images
If you watched Thursday’s Democratic presidential debate, you saw a calm, wonky, and civil discussion between two presidential candidates. If you watched Saturday’s Republican debate, you saw the opposite. You saw a brawl. And the instigator—the man who turned a debate about leading the country into a cage match—was Donald Trump.
Trump had a single strategy for the night: Attack, attack, and attack. Early in the debate, he blasted Jeb Bush for his national security plans, specifically criticizing how Bush would go about fighting both ISIS and the Syrian regime. “You can’t fight two wars at one time. You listen to him, and you listen to some of the folks that I’ve been listening to—that’s why we’ve been in the Middle East for 15 years, and we haven’t won anything,” he said, the first of many jabs at the former Florida governor. But Trump went beyond this. He used these attacks on Jeb to litigate the presidency of his brother.
“The war in Iraq, we spent $2 trillion, thousands of lives, we don’t even have it,” Trump said. He continued: “George Bush made a mistake. We can make mistakes. But that one was a beauty. We should have never been in Iraq. We have destabilized the Middle East.”
To millions of American voters—independents, Democrats, and even Republicans—this is true. The majority of Americans think the Iraq war was a bad decision and, until recently, gave low ratings to George W. Bush. Trump was speaking to them. Unfortunately for the real estate magnate, this isn’t the general election. He still needs to win the Republican nomination, and Republicans still favor the Iraq war and President Bush.
Which is why Republicans onstage went to bat for the former president, defending his tenure against Trump’s charge that President Bush failed to keep the country safe. “The World Trade Center came down during your brother’s reign, remember that,” responded Trump to one of Jeb’s defenses of the previous president’s security record. When Marco Rubio had a chance to speak, he pushed back. “I just want to say, at least on behalf of me and my family, I thank God all the time it was George W. Bush in the White House on 9/11 and not Al Gore,” he said.
This was the pattern for the night. Trump would attack, with reckless swings at everyone on stage (but especially Jeb Bush), and his targets would attempt to push back, all arguing on his terms. Bolstering this free for all was the audience, which clapped, and booed, and encouraged the pitched battle between the remaining candidates.
“You are single biggest liar,” said Trump in a heated exchange with Texas Sen. Ted Cruz. “This guy will say anything, nasty guy. Now I know why he doesn’t have one endorsement from any of his colleagues.” In turn, Cruz replied by trying to hit Trump on his past positions and rhetoric. And while the crowd backed Cruz, the fact of the matter is that Trump’s voters love his aggression. His attacks are part of the appeal. Cruz, Bush, and others have to engage Trump—lest they look weak—but doing so lets Trump stay in his element.
If you were watching the Republican debate to get a read on policy and plans, you were disappointed. The entire occasion—all two hours—were consumed by this death match of a presidential debate. With that said, this night of combat wasn’t a waste. No, it didn’t illuminate anything about the candidates, but it did tell us something about the Republican Party. Even now, as it fights to win a term in the White House, the GOP is unwilling to deal with the legacy of the Bush administration. For everyone but Trump, there is nothing to apologize for and nothing to change. Bush, in their view, took the right steps.
This is where Trump has an advantage. His Bush-bashing may fall short with conservative Republicans, but more moderate Republicans—and even conservative independents—might back Trump’s take on the Iraq war and the legacy of George W. Bush. Indeed, if he wins the nomination, Trump’s vocal disagreement with Republican orthodoxy on Iraq will stand as an asset, not a liability.
For all of his anger and vulgarity, Trump understands what the GOP (as an institution) doesn’t. Americans may want a Republican in November, but they don’t want a return to the Bush years. The party doesn’t want Trump’s “common sense conservatism” on these issues, but it might be what it needs.
See more of Slate’s coverage of the GOP presidential primary.The makeshift tarpaulin tent outside Aulia Masjid in Connaught Place in the heart of Delhi is sealed. Vijay Baba, the 60-year-old rickshaw-puller who lives in this cramped, 6x6-feet space with his 14-year-old son, four rabbits and a couple of dogs is nowhere to be seen. The adjacent shack that goes by the name of Rama Meat Pullao, a popular joint that doles out Mughlai and tandoori fare, is packed with But isn’t among them. “He’s there, waiting for you in that car,” points out a helpful employee of Rama Meat. The car turns out to be a white Tata Safari which belongs to Rajeev Kumar, a gym owner and an (AAP) worker who is sitting at the wheel. Vijay Baba, with a Main hoon aam aadmi cap firmly placed on his head, is lounging in the backseat, clearly at ease in the SUV. His beard is scraggy, his clothes are old and hang loose on him, and muddy feet peep out of his rubber slippers. He looks just the way he did when Delhi’s new chief minister, Arvind Kejriwal, got him to inaugurate a hospital — the upgraded Palika Maternity Hospital on Lodhi Road — on January 25.
That extraordinary moment had shot this man from the streets to fame overnight. The next day’s newspapers were splattered with pictures of him cutting the ribbon in the presence of the chief minister and senior officials of the administration. TV channels rushed to interview him. The headlines read: “Aam aadmi inaugurates hospital.” “Rickshaw-puller inaugurates hospital as Kejriwal looks on.” The aam aadmi, everybody declared, had arrived.
Only, isn’t just any aam-aadmi that Kejriwal randomly picked from the street to inaugurate the hospital — an honour reserved for VIPs. He has been a die-hard Kejriwal supporter from Day One. He enjoys direct access to the chief minister who, he says, “treats me like a father”.
Vijay Baba, who was born in Patna and raised as Vijay Kumar, came to Delhi 50 years ago when he was barely 10. “And in these 50 years, I lost everything — my house and my family,” he says. He used to operate a piao, a drinking water facility for the public in the area where he lived. A local goon, he says, demolished that facility. “My wife, who was mentally disturbed, went into shock, and four years ago, she disappeared.” He says neither the police nor the court helped him. “There was corruption everywhere.” So, when he heard about the Anna Hazare movement, he jumped in, and later joined AAP as a worker, campaigning furiously on his rickshaw. The party also gave him a mobile phone from which he would make hundreds of calls to Delhiites asking them to vote for Kejriwal. AAP would foot the bill for those calls.
He continues to carry the mobile phone which now has AAP’s helpline number and is paid for by the party. “At times I get emergency calls at midnight, from facing trouble getting admission to the hospital,” he says. “I help them out. Since I inaugurated the hospital, the doctors all know me. If needed, I call Health Minister Satyendra Jain.”
Every few days, Vijay Baba, who greets with a resounding Vande Mataram, visits the hospital he inaugurated to ‘inspect’ the facilities, interact with doctors and talk to patients. “Patients have complained that there is no proper arrangement for food,” says “I will take the matter to Arvind.” These hospital visits are mostly made on his rickshaw-cart that carries the flag of India and AAP’s banners along with his and Kejriwal’s pictures. On certain days, like today, “when I am getting late,” he says he calls for the car. And Rajeev Kumar promptly obliges with his Tata Safari.
Visits to the Delhi Secretariat are also frequent. “About 20 people approach me every day with complaints,” says Vijay Baba. His son digs into their tent and pulls out a file containing applications from street vendors and requests for voter ID cards. “I take these to the secretariat. Though I don’t get to meet Arvind there much, the AAP team deployed there looks into these complaints,” he says.
A sizeable part of his day is spent at the nearby Press Road with the “rehri-patriwalas (street vendors) who are harassed by both the municipal staff and the police,” says Vijay Baba. “But when they see me there, they don’t trouble these people. I would like to nail them in the act, but they are very cautious with me around.”
So, does he want to contest an election? “No. If everybody started fighting elections, who would work at the grassroots?” he says. While he puts all his time and energy into popularising Kejriwal’s cause, the party takes care of his need for food and clothing. “One of the party’s supporters from Japan also sends Rs 4,000 for me every month,” says Vijay Baba.
Cycle-rickshaws are banned from plying in Connaught Place. “But I can take mine anywhere,” says Vijay Baba. “Nobody stops me.”The 2013 offseason started out relatively calm and normal for the Florida Gators football program with some players deciding to leave school early to play professionally and others choosing to try their luck at another university. Suddenly, starting on Jan. 10, a string of arrests, poor decisions, injuries and negative headlines began taking over the spring and summer for the Gators. Below is a timeline* of one of the most bizarre and controversial offseasons in Florida football history.
* While all of the news below was sour for Florida or its players in one way or another, obviously some of the occurrences (arrests, suspensions) are significantly more egregious than others (players transferring, coaches leaving). The standout, headline-making stories that either painted the program in a negative light or were exceptionally newsworthy during the summer are highlighted in red.
Luckily for Gators fans, with fall practice officially opening on Friday and the 2013 college season exactly one month away, the offseason is now over.Trick or Treat At Your Local Independent Record Store For a Chance To Hear Atlas, Rise! Early
Oct 24, 2016
No surprises this time around! We’re giving you some heads up that we plan to unleash the next track from Hardwired…To Self-Destruct, “Atlas, Rise!” to you streaming online and via your favorite radio station this Halloween (October 31st) at noon PDT. Keep reading for details on how you can hear it early!
To help you get into the Halloween spirit, starting this Friday, October 28th, fans around the world can visit select independent record stores for the chance to obtain a free limited edition Hardwired…To Self-Destruct Halloween mask. Inside of each mask, you’ll find a special access code that will allow you to hear “Atlas, Rise!” 30 minutes prior to its official release on Halloween. To see a complete list of participating record stores, click here.
We’re less than a month away now... looking forward to celebrating Halloween with you as we take the next step toward the release of all 12 songs!Donald Trump has suggested that the US border wall with Mexico could "pay for itself" through solar energy.
The US president suggested to Republican senators this week that if solar panels were installed on the wall they would generate enough energy to fund his controversial building project.
Trending: Men wear skirts to work to protest shorts ban in Europe heatwave
At a rally in Iowa on Wednesday (21 June), Trump told supporters that he had come up with the idea of installing solar panels on the wall himself.
"Solar wall, panels, beautiful. I mean actually think of it, the higher it goes the more valuable it is. Pretty good imagination, right? Good? My idea," he said.
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"We're thinking of something that's unique, we're talking about the southern border, lots of sun, lots of heat. We're thinking about building the wall as a solar wall, so it creates energy and pays for itself. And this way, Mexico will have to pay much less money, and that's good, right?" he told the crowd.
Building a wall along the US-Mexico border was one of Trump's key campaign pledges. The billionaire said it was a necessary measure to stop illegal immigration and drug trafficking. He has always insisted that Mexico will pay for the wall, but Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto has strongly dismissed this proposal.
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Trump's proposed 40-foot tall and 1,300 mile long border wall would cost an estimated $21.6bn (£17bn) to build, according to a US Department of Homeland Security report seen by Reuters in February.
During the presidential campaign, Trump said that the wall would cost around $12bn to build. Republican House Speaker Paul Ryan and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell estimated that the total cost would amount to around $15bn.
To cover the entire wall with 21-square-foot solar panels, around 13,358,136 panels would be needed, Gordon Johnson, managing director of Axiom Capital Management, told Bloomberg this week. He said the extra equipment and construction costs could add around $7.6bn to the total estimate.
If constructed, the border wall with solar panels could generate an annual profit of $221m, Johnson estimated. Without factoring in rising inflation, he said it would take the US government 125 years to pay the American taxpayer back the $28bn total cost of the wall.
You may be interested in:Billionaire investor Warren Buffett has plenty of reasons to celebrate ahead of Apple's (AAPL) big Sept. 12 launch event -- several billion, in fact.
The Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A) CEO, 86, famously avoided tech stocks for decades, saying, "If there's lots of technology, we won't understand it." However, Berkshire started buying shares of Apple in mid-2016 and ended the year with about 59 million shares in the tech company. In early January, Berkshire more than doubled that stake to 133 million shares. The increased stake gives Berkshire about 2.5% of Apple's outstanding shares.
Apple's stock has increased 40% from $116.15 at the beginning of the year to $162.91 as of Tuesday's market close, meaning Berkshire has made roughly $6.2 billion off its 133 million shares, which are now worth about $21.7 billion. However, because Berkshire first disclosed a stake in Apple in the first half of 2016 when shares were trading just above $100, investors can assume Berkshire has made even more money off of its Apple stake.
When Buffett was asked why he added nearly 76 million Apple shares to his holdings in January, he replied simply, "Because I like it." Buffett noted that Apple has created a difficult-to-escape ecosystem with its products. "Apple strikes me as having quite a sticky product, and an enormously useful product to people that use it," he said on CNBC.
"The degree to which people's lives center around the product is huge," Buffett said of the iPhone, even as he revealed that he didn't have one himself.
The Oracle of Omaha also said during the interview that he thinks Apple will be the first company to reach a $1 trillion valuation. "I'd bet on Apple just because they've got a stronger position," he explained.
Updated from August 4 with Apple's current share price.
Apple is a holding in Jim Cramer's Action Alerts PLUS Charitable Trust Portfolio. Want to be alerted before Cramer buys or sells AAPL? Learn more now.
More of What's Trending on TheStreet:A panel of top toon creators — including Byron Howard ('Zootopia), Garth Jennings ('Sing'), Travis Knight ('Kubo and the Two Strings'), Mike Mitchell ('Trolls'), John Musker ('Moana') and Mark Osborne ('The Little Prince') — reveal their surprising inspirations, when to avoid having certain characters kiss and why you have to "kill yourself" when working in animation.
"What are you doing here?" veteran animator John Musker jokingly asked Seth Rogen as the masterminds behind some of this year's eclectic lineup of animated features began to assemble at the Line 204 stages in Hollywood to talk shop. Not that anyone resented Rogen's presence, since Sony's saucy Sausage Party, on which he served as a writer, producer and voice actor, added some unusual R-rated spice to the mix. "That taco was amazing," laughed Mike Mitchell, 46, director of DreamWorks Animation's Trolls, as the group welcomed Rogen, 34, to their unique fraternity: filmmakers who can spend five years or more, sweating thousands of tiny details, to bring their visually inventive movies to the screen. Nor was Rogen the only newbie on the scene. Having attracted attention with his indie, live-action 2007 movie Son of Rambow, Garth Jennings, 44, made the transition to directing an animated feature with Illumination Entertainment's Sing. And though he's no newcomer to stop-motion animation — he's president and CEO of Portland, Ore.-based Laika and has served as an animator on several of its films — Travis Knight, 43, took the director's reins for the first time on Kubo and the Two Strings. They, in turn, were joined by experienced hands Musker, 63, whose credits range from The Little Mermaid and Aladdin to Disney Animation's just-released Moana; Bolt and Tangled helmer Byron Howard, 48, who was one of the directors guiding the anthropomorphic critters through Disney's Zootopia; and Mark Osborne, 46 (Kung Fu Panda), who helmed the screen adaptation of Antoine de Saint-Exupery's The Little Prince, appearing on Netflix.
What advice would you give a first-time animation director?
TRAVIS KNIGHT Don't do it. (Laughter.) Look what it has done to all of us.
BYRON HOWARD Look at our posture.
KNIGHT The main thing is that you have to be passionate about it. In a lot of ways, working in animation can be something of a thankless task. You're working in isolation. You're working for long hours. You have to love what you do. You don't expect adulation, you don't expect recognition. You do it because it's a part of you. I have been working in animation for 20 years. So if there is something that you're driven by, if there is something that you love, even if you're working really, really hard and killing yourself — which you have to do if you're working in animation — it takes a lot out of you. But if it's something that matters to you, if it's something that means something to you, a part of yourself that you have to express, then it's a worthwhile endeavor. I could not imagine a better life for myself. This is my life's work, and I love what I am able to do, to be able to tell stories, to be able to connect with people, to be able to bind them together. If you have that inside you, then working in animation is probably the best thing you can possibly do.
JOHN MUSKER I love animation as well. Being able to communicate an idea visually is sort of a cornerstone of animation, in all its forms: CG, stop-motion and hand-drawn. So I would recommend people, if they can, get some familiarity with being able to express themselves visually, just as a building block in their arsenal.
HOWARD What I would say to a new filmmaker — if you're a film student now, if you have a diverse background, if you're female, if you're from a different country, if you don't see yourself being represented onscreen — animation is a great medium to explore films and ideas. It's a great, collaborative process. We work with amazingly talented people, and we can work with great stories that have been around for many years and bring them to life. There is something about the way this medium works that is such an education for me. Over the years — like Travis, I've been around for about 25 — I have learned so much every time I get involved in a new film.
Seth, you're the new kid on the block as far as writing and producing an animated movie, but you've lent your voice to such animated movies as Kung Fu Panda. Mark, did he take direction well?
MARK OSBORNE You don't have to give much direction with Seth. It's just put the piece of paper down, let it happen and, actually, I think every single line [Rogen had] in Kung Fu Panda came from [him]. It's sort of like we were really workshopping as we were recording. It was so much fun.
So Seth, what was the learning curve for you like on Sausage Party?
SETH ROGEN It was vast, but, honestly, it was my experience on those DreamWorks animated movies — through the people we were meeting and their enthusiasm for the idea — that really made us think it was possible for us to do an adult-oriented animated movie. Conrad Vernon [one of Sausage Party's directors], whom I'm sure a lot of you know, was one of the first people we told the idea to, and the look on his face literally is one of the things that made us think it was worth pursuing. We were like, "Oh, this guy is like a legitimate animation person." It was as though you had a weird sci-fi idea and George Lucas was like, "That's a good idea, I would work on that." So for us, it was only through me doing voices in those movies that our movie came into existence and why it actually is like a real movie and not just something that me and my friends tried to pull off. We knew it had to have the skin and feel of a real, big animated movie, and it's only through the relationships I had from DreamWorks that it happened at all.
Garth, you directed your first animated movie with Sing. What was the transition from live-action movies like?
GARTH JENNINGS Yes, I shouldn't be here either. (Laughter.) It's been nuts. I only just finished. I'm really glad I didn't know how long it was going to take when I started or just how crazy [it would be]. I was so naive with everything. I thought, "Yeah, I can do that, I can do an animated film." And then about a year in, I got pneumonia. But then it came through great. I mean, the team I have is amazing. And the fact that I can just write and direct it myself without having come up through that animation world is an amazing gift. I loved it. It's just a miraculous process. It really is. I have to calm down my enthusiasm when I see a shot finished, because my team, they're used to it, but I'll be like, "Oh, that's amazing!" And I just end up looking like an idiot. So I have to try to be a bit cooler. I'll try to do that next time.
Travis, you've been an animator and produced animated movies for Laika. But Kubo and the Two Strings is the first one you directed yourself.
KNIGHT Stepping into the director's chair on this film was sort of the culmination of all those different experiences. As a producer or executive, you have to have a global view. You have to see the big picture. Being a director, you have to be able to balance being able to focus on the detail, on the granularity, but also be able to extricate yourself from that and never lose sight of the story you're trying to tell. For me, it was absolutely the hardest thing I've ever done, but it also was the most rewarding. You really are part of this incredible community of artists who are passionate and innovative, who really care, who pour their souls into something. It's a long, arduous process, because to spend that kind of time and effort comes at a cost to your personal life and everything else. You don't want to devote that much time and energy into something that's just a pop culture confection, just a bit of ephemera. You want to focus on something that matters, something that's meaningful, something that hopefully can enrich people's lives. And paradoxically, the more intimate you make something, the more universal it becomes. Art in its finest form elicits empathy, it gets us to see the world through someone else's eyes, it gets us to experience someone else's story as if it were ours. In this world that's so chaotic, having some degree of empathy so that we can all try to see other people's perspectives is a beautiful thing, and that's one of the rare things film can do.
How do you approach different ethnicities and cultures in animation? Are you conscious of running the risk that some group could take offense?
HOWARD You have to be careful, just speaking from our own perspective on Zootopia. One of the things that I love about animation is that we often ask ourselves, "Why does this have to be an animated film?" And for us what was great about doing a movie about bias and difficulties between groups is that we didn't have to use human beings. You could use different types of animals to be an allegory for what we are experiencing as humans. When we first pitched it five years ago, we had this predator/prey idea. Then we did about a year of research into animals and then into human sociology as well. We started to figure out really quickly that these two groups of animals not getting along was just like our situation and our own world. So we really dove into bias — and not just bias — kind of in-your-face bias, contemporary bias, which is kind of in everything around us. And then as we were making the film, the world started to go crazy with politics and the election that just happened. And this weird lineup between what we're doing with the film and what was happening in the world, especially in the United States, came out. You can't really plan for something like that. But when a film ends up being timely …
JENNINGS Sausage Party.
ROGEN Yeah, we knew. (Laughter.)
MIKE MITCHELL You knew that people wanted to see food having an orgy? So ahead of your time, Seth, so on the cusp.
OSBORNE Talking about culture, we had a crazy challenge. The Little Prince is a book that's known all over the world. It's been translated into 260 different languages, and I think that's a big reason why it's been seen as this impossible book to adapt. I initially said no, because it's crazy how different the book is in different cultures and at different times in people's lives when they read it. And so we were looking for a way to tap into the universal ideas that are there in the book. And then, luckily, the book was able to draw in talent from all over the world that wanted to be involved in the project, and we were able [to have] these different perspectives on why the book resonated with people and has been around for 70 years. When we took the [completed] film to different places, they would say, "Oh the parents, they're Italian parents, aren't they?" Or in China they would say, "These are Chinese, this is a Chinese mother." Everybody was relating to what was universal about the book and the movie.
MUSKER We had the challenge in Moana of dealing with this culture that we were really outsiders to in a way. I knew something about the South Pacific just from a distance, reading books set there and seeing paintings by Paul Gauguin and that sort of thing. But after I pitched the idea to John [Lasseter, Disney Animation creative chief], I started to read Polynesian mythology and I discovered there was this character, Maui, who was bigger than life, could pull up islands with his magical fish hook and was a shape-shifter and I was like, "Why has this never been done before?" So we cobbled together a story and pitched it to John and he said, "This is great, but you've got to dig deeper, do more research." So we were forced to go to Tahiti and Samoa and Fiji. Our development people arranged a really deep dive into the culture where it wasn't the Tiki bars and that sort of thing. We met with anthropologists and archeologists and linguists and cultural ambassadors. As we went forward, we kept those people involved because we really wanted to be faithful to the culture and yet make a movie that hopefully would entertain people around the world. But it was an added challenge that we didn't have when we did Aladdin. Our research on Aladdin, it was during the first Gulf War, so for our research, we went to the L.A. Convention Center, where there was a Saudi Arabian expo.
OSBORNE That's pretty good. On Kung Fu Panda, we just Googled China. That was as far as we could go.
Despite all that research, when the first images from Moana were released, you got some criticism for fat-shaming Polynesians. Were you surprised?
MUSKER Not entirely. When we designed the character of Maui, in these myths, he was described in different ways. In some he was short, some he was squat, some he was like a leading man. It was an oral culture. There was nothing written down. He's a pan-Pacific demigod. Different versions of him existed. We really wanted to make him super-heroic. We felt like if he's going to pull up islands, he's got to look like he can really pull up an island with his magical fishhook. He's got to look powerful. So that's what we were going for. On our trip, we took pictures of all sorts of people on the islands, and we did sketches. So his design was based loosely on some of the people we had seen in the islands. And when we brought Dwayne Johnson in, he was going to do the voice. And he said, "Oh, I like him, he's lovable. Yeah, I like him."
ROGEN You got to listen to him. (Laughter.)
MUSKER I think Maui played a little differently in some of the stills that people were reacting to in the early going. When they see him in the context of the film, I think he plays differently.
Seth, you also got some criticism for some of the ethnic stereotypes in Sausage Party, like Salma Hayek's taco. Did that surprise you?
ROGEN No! (Laughter.) You know, our movie is directly about racial stereotypes and how religion divides us and how our beliefs divide us and how we look different divides us and how we speak different divides us. And at the same time, as a lover of Disney animated movies, we took a lot of cues from those types of movies. They don't use it to the same narrative effect, but you look at [Pixar's] Cars and the Fiat is Italian and the [VW van] is a stoner and the tow truck is a Southern guy. It's very much a part of the animation vernacular, and so we thought if we're going to do an animated movie and it's about these things, then it seemed like a perfectly organic opportunity to really lean into all those things and not just do them, but to really talk about them and confront them as head-on as possible — to really make it part of the overall narrative of the movie.
Were there characters you decided in the end to remove?
ROGEN Oh yeah, tons. (Laughter.) In my opinion, my favorite comedies feel like they are really riding a line between what people think they should be allowed to watch in a movie and what seems like maybe you shouldn't even be allowed to see in some ways. There's a danger to it. You're looking around at the other people: Are we really seeing this? Is this happening? Those are my favorite experiences in theaters: when I am watching a movie and I have to look around at the people to make sure we're all seeing the same thing. There was a real trial-and-error process, and our only way to reconcile exactly what you're talking about was to test it exactly as we would any of our other movies, put it in front of real audiences a lot.
For all of you, several of your movies have female protagonists. But they're not looking for a prince.
MITCHELL Well, on Trolls, we wanted to completely break the mold of the animated princess. Most princesses have big eyes and little bitty waists and little tiny hooves they walk around on. And [with Poppy], we wanted to keep this ugly-cute, big melon head, giant teeth. She didn't have to wear uncomfortable princess shoes, which I think is cool. (To Musker) I don't think your princess has any shoes.
MUSKER No. She does not.
MITCHELL That's cool. Who needs these shoes? We wanted to make a film about happiness, and we really researched happiness. We wanted to explore happiness and how undervalued a positive attitude is. So our lead character is super-optimistic, but we wanted to make sure she wasn't vacant. It was nice; we took a cue from [the rabbit] Judy Hopps [in Zootopia]. Is this something Judy Hopps would do? Because (to Howard) your character is so positive. And Anna Kendrick came in and she helped us find that character with her voice. I'm sure your actress did, too.
HOWARD Yeah, Ginnifer Goodwin.
Judy also is not your typical female character. She aspires to be a police officer.
HOWARD Yep, yep. Part of our research on Judy was talking to female police officers who have come up through the ranks over the years in different generations and finding out their struggles as women going into a mostly male-dominated profession. This lieutenant we talked to, she had come up during the 1980s through a California police organization and the guys around her at first didn't trust her — not because they had any direct animosity toward her, but because going out on patrol they weren't sure how to [relate to her]. Can I interact with this person the same way I'd interact with a male? They would actually protect her out on patrol. And she was like, "Don't protect me, let me do my job." And the determination we saw in those women made its way into Judy's character because Judy doesn't want to be treated differently because she is small or because she is female or because it hasn't been done before.
Was there a point where you debated whether Judy and Nick the Fox should kiss?
HOWARD It's funny because when the movie came out …
MITCHELL No, no, they shouldn't do that.
HOWARD … the world was divided. We are very aware of it on social media, because half of the audience wants them to get involved with each other and half doesn't. And what we talked about in creating their relationship, we talked about shows like Moonlighting or Northern Exposure where you have great tension and chemistry. But it gets wrecked when they get together. We'll see where it goes in the future.
MITCHELL Same with us. Everyone wanted those two together, and maybe they'll hook up eventually …
ROGEN Trolls III?
MITCHELL Maybe three. (Laughter.) It'll really create that tension.
Moana is another female protagonist who is growing into a leadership role.
MUSKER Yeah, she's going to be the future leader of the village. It's really a coming-of-age story. There is no romance in it. We were at Comic-Con and we did a little pitch, and I just incidentally said, "There's no romance," and there was a gasp in the room. "How can you? Are you mad?" But we really liked that challenge. It's a hero's journey, and gender is taken out of the equation a little bit in our story. It isn't like her problem is that she's a girl. It really is: Does she know who she is in terms of her own abilities? And the ocean kind of picks her to go on this mission to save the world. And it was great to have a girl and have her be an action-adventure hero. We really designed her in ways so she could jump off a cliff and sail a boat on the open sea.
OSBORNE The Little Prince is a book about a boy, and all the characters are male. So making a little girl the main character of the story was actually a huge challenge going into it. This was pre-Frozen. My daughter Maddy was the inspiration. We watched all the [Hayao] Miyazaki films, we watched Mulan over and over on repeat. It just made a lot of sense to try to bring balance to the book, when the idea of adapting the book is crazy, by building this larger story about this little girl's experience with the book.
Music is an important part of all of your movies. Seth, where did the idea for the Sausage Party song come from?
ROGEN Again, it all came from a love of the animated movies that we grew up watching: Aladdin, The Little Mermaid and The Lion King and then the Pixar movies |
to nature, the birds cared little, as they remained safely up above, chirping solemnly into the sky.
Far below, sitting at the foot of a tall cedar tree, Samson ate his grits, glancing silently in the direction of the cry. The sound had admittedly put him on guard, but outwardly the Huntsman appeared as calm as ever.
Even so, it was better to be cautious. Better avoid that area, Samson noted, swallowing the last bit of his breakfast. With a grimace, he reached up and pulled off several strands of his hair. They gave off a scarlet glow as he grabbed his weapon, an enormous greatsword with a pure-white blade, and inserted the strands into the long red canister lodged in the handle. The sword began to glow with the same energy.
With that done, he got up and continued toward his destination, not caring that it might be days, weeks, perhaps even months away. He'd already been here long enough for time to not matter. He had to fulfill his mission.
"Are we seriously sending one person into that forest, alone?" A man's gruff voice played out in his memory. "Even an A-rank Huntsman like Samson Heracle won't be able to handle all those Grimm alone."
"We have little choice. There is far too much at stake," another voice replied, this one female.
"And he'll be fine, I'm sure," replied a third. "Ozpin clearly trusts his strength. If anything, the Grimm will probably mistake him for one of them. He sure looks as ferocious as one, after all!"
Samson shook his head, shoving those memories into the back of his mind. There was no point in dwelling on the past. That was what he had always believed.
His assignment was simple, in concept. Investigate the site, and report back anything that would indicate movement by their enemy. But the stakeout location lay at the heart of the treacherous Hantel Forest, where few who went in ever came out to tell their tales. The only certain thing about the place was that it was teeming with Grimm.
Which, of course, was why Samson considered himself to be the ideal man for the task.
He heard a noise from nearby, and instinctively reached for his weapon. However, when the noise repeated itself, he recognized it as a human cry. The Huntsman did not lower his guard, however - being human did not extinguish the possibility of them being an enemy. He approached the source of the sound with caution.
He came across a wide clearing, where a young girl lay in the grass, sobbing while holding her cloak over her head. An enormous, ape-like beast of a creature with a single, eternally glowing red eye - a Beringel. It growled softly as it opened its salivating maw.
Samson's instinct kicked in. Protect the innocent. That was his top priority as a Huntsman. He drew his weapon. He swung the weapon as he landed protectively in front of the girl, slicing the Beringel's arm off. Howling in agony, the beast stepped back apprehensively, glancing at the scarlet glow of its stump.
Samson glanced at the girl. "Are you alright, kid?" he asked, his voice a low, raspy growl. She looked up at him, her teal-green eyes peering out from her hood, and nodded silently. Turning back to his foe, he swung his blade to meet the furious Beringel's fist.
The two collided, and the impact launched a gust of wind that knocked the girl back with a yelp. Samson grimaced - truly, the fearsome reputation of a Beringel's strength was not undeserved. Still, that wouldn't be enough to stop him. Flicking a switch on his weapon, the edge of his blade retracted to make way for a small red minigun. A stream of bullets burst out from the tip, tearing the Grimm's arm into shreds.
The beast screeched, its cries even more feral than before as it struggled to stay upright with both its arms amputated. Without hesitation, Samson raised his weapon. A shroud of scarlet-red energy surrounded the blade as he brought it downward, bisecting the Beringel through the head.
Samson breathed a sigh of relief as he watched the beast's body dissolve. With a wry smile on his face, he turned to the girl behind him, who stood silently with her head down. A melancholy warmth flowed through him as he thought of his own children, who had perished at the claws of Grimm years ago.
"It's alright. You're safe now," he murmured as he knelt, extending a hand to her. Suddenly, his body tensed up, as his instincts alerted him to the impending danger. A killing intent! He grabbed his blade and held it defensively in front of him, blocking the sting of the girl's dagger. She removed her hood, revealing her short green ponytail, and the cruel smirk on her face as she leapt backward, extending her dagger into a small glaive. "Awww….you didn't fall for it after all," she giggled, lunging at him.
Snarling, Samson parried several of her strikes, but she was much more agile than he was expecting. The girl struck him in the chest with a brutal stab, and he cried out in pain. In retaliation, he swung his blade and sent her flying into the bushes, out of sight. He approached cautiously, waiting for her to emerge.
Whoosh. He sensed something behind him, and turned around. "Ugh!" Several projectiles hit him all across his body, taking off large chunks of his Aura. When he recovered, he saw that he'd been struck by tiny spheres resembling marbles. They levitated in the air above the girl, who stood serenely some distance away.
"Heehee. Here they come!" Smiling, she raised her arms, and the marbles began flying at him again, far too fast for Samson to deflect them all. How?! He thought desperately as he winced in pain, his Aura levels soon reaching zero. Her fighting style has completely changed!
"Hrahhhh!" Samson howled, firing off a round of bullets from his weapon. The girl motioned with her hands, and the marbles moved in front of her to form a shield, protecting her as she fled back into the bushes. "Get back here!" the Huntsman growled furiously, taking a step forward.
He felt the rush of pain as the tip of the glaive burst out of his chest from behind, and Samson gasped, coughing up spurts of blood. Losing his balance, he fell over onto the ground. He struggled to get up, as the world around him started to blur. Turning around onto his back, he saw the girl standing above him, the marbles floating around her head.
"See? I told you he'd come," she murmured happily, as if addressing someone. "Milady is never wrong, after all."
Salem, Samson realized, growing delirious as he lay there. So they knew. But how….could someone have…?
The girl raised her hand, and a purple marble perched itself directly above the Huntsman's exposed head. She smiled down at him. "Sweet dreams, mister," she cooed.
Samson closed his eyes. Ozpin...forgive me.
The marble embedded itself in his skull with a sickening crunch.
Tai took a deep breath, his eyes shut tightly as he prepared his stance. Calm. Be calm.
He formed a fist, feeling the energy flow through him. His heart was pounding as he fought to contain it, all while hoping his arm wouldn't explode from the power coursing through his veins. Be calm. Focus on your surroundings. Clear your mind. In his mind, he repeated the maxims that he had been taught from a young age.
Hearing a sound from the back of his ear, Tai immediately sprung into action. Turning around on his foot, he swung his fist to deflect the projectile that was flying in his direction. His eyes still shut, he followed up with an uppercut to the right, blocking another shot. Feeling confident, he raised his arm, feeling the warm sting of his tattoo glowing with lightning Dust.
He sensed more of them coming, this time in larger clusters. "Hmmph!" He held out his hand, and an explosion of electric energy burst out from his palm, vaporizing several incoming projectiles at once. Suddenly, he gasped. Oh, crap! More of them were coming...but this time they were flying at him from all directions.
I guess I'll just have to do that! Yelling, he began focusing all his energy into his right fist. He felt the pain in his arm grow, continuing even as it became nigh-unbearable. "Take…" Unable to resist, Tai opened his eyes, looking up to see about ten glowing orbs approaching him. His arm was sparkling with a sinister dark energy. "...THIS!"
He swung his fist upward. An ear-shattering explosion followed, sending out powerful strikes of black lightning that destroyed all the projectiles around him. Tai let out a scream of pain as he felt a scorching sensation all across his arm.
Once it was done, Tai felt all the strength in his body fade, and he fell to his knees, panting. He glanced at his ravaged arm, watching as his Aura healed the burn wound. "Hah...well, at least it worked," he muttered.
A computerized voice rang in his ears. Simulation complete. Systems indicate an 94.7 percent efficiency. Tai gave a sigh of relief as the Dust cannons retracted back into the walls, and the door behind him opened. Raven was waiting for him outside.
"You did well," the dark Huntress smiled as he walked over to his locker. "I see you're taking steps to improve your composure. Being able to fight in the darkness is an important skill."
Tai grinned, opening his water bottle and taking a swift chug. He glanced around the gym, taking note at the various other men and women who were training their bodies in similar battle scenarios. Unsurprisingly, many of them were clad in Huntsman gear. "C'mon Rae, you're not my teacher," he said jokingly.
"That being said," Raven continued unflinchingly, "You really shouldn't have exerted yourself like that, not when we have work to do later. Especially when using such a dangerous technique." She glanced at her boyfriend's arm with concern in her eyes. "Misuse of Blackstorm Dust has caused the death of many careless Huntsmen."
"Don't worry about that," Tai reassured her cheerfully. Even so, he instinctively massaged his still-aching arm. "Careful is my second middle name!"
Raven didn't seem convinced, but she didn't press any further. Instead, she changed the subject. "Your village was certainly beautiful," she muttered. "The atmosphere was calm, there was always a sweet aroma in the air, and it was all so...peaceful."
Tai smiled. "You sound surprised. It's almost like you're new to the concept or something."
"The town where I grew up was...different," she admitted. "Valhalla was a dangerous place, even for the Mantle Wastelands. But it was still my home. Recently...I've started to wonder if I ever truly left it."
"Huh? What do you mean by that?"
"Tai," Raven said softly. "I was thinking...will you…"
Tai tensed up. Wait, where's she going with this?
"...come with me to Valhalla sometime?" she finished. "I want to revisit the place, and I honestly think that if I do...I'll be able to find the answers I've been seeking for so long. And I'd like for you to be there, too. I think you deserve to know the truth - about where Brother and I came from."
"Um..." Tai blinked, slowly taking in everything his girlfriend was saying. He was spared from his confusion by the vibration of the Scroll in his pocket. Relieved, he took it out and glanced at the screen.
He's here. We'll need you at the designated point, ASAP. Please hurry! -S
"Nice." Tai grinned, and quickly texted a reply, before looking back at Raven. "Summer and Qrow are at the mission point. We better get over there quick, or we'll miss all of the fun!" He hoisted his bag over his shoulder as smiled awkwardly at her. "And uh...thanks for the offer. Once the mission's done, I'll give you my answer, alright?"
"Very well." Raven smiled back at him. "It's a deal, then."
Hooray, it's back! Hopefully the wait wasn't too long. I don't know when Chapter 1 will come out, but just getting this prologue done is already a major step for me. Expect more by the end of the month!
- I initially had a hard time deciding what Samson's weapon was going to be, but in celebration of Ruby being announced for BlazBlue Cross Tag Battle, I decided to give him a greatsword similar to the one Ragna The Bloodedge uses. If you haven't played the BlazBlue series, I highly recommend them!
-Tai's new technique was indeed inspired by Deku's "One For All", from My Hero Academia - another really good series. I don't watch much anime anymore, but I'd still give this one a try.
-I'm excited for Volume 5 of RWBY. That's...about all I have to say about that, really.
Hope you all enjoy!I walked out of the lab with two vials of my own blood in a zip lock baggie with a hazardous label on it.
Dear Internet,
It has been so long! Since last we spoke I got very well acquainted with the anger stage of grief. The genetics lab that had told me they would hopefully have a spot for me in September, told me, at the end of August, that I would not be able to get in until next year. I, admittedly, went a little ape shit. I broke up with my former wizard of eyes (retina specialist) after he failed to call me back amidst my growing wrath and panic.
I found a new doctor. Just an opthamologist. He was recommended by a friend as the best in the city and while he is not a retina specialist, what he is AMAZING at is doggedly perusing a thing and making the connections with the various people in the field to get it done. He made a connection with the best genetics lab for RP in the country. It is in Oregon. When the results are in, the director of that lab will go over the results with me personally.
The only snag… we had to get the blood to them, and as a normal sort of eye doctor, we found ourselves without the means to draw the blood.
So I went to a random blood testing place that draws for outside labs. Perfect I think. I give my doctor their fax and head over. When I arrive the receptionist is all “Oh! You are the person that belongs to this weird fax!” The instructions for the draw and where to ship it were hand written on his letterhead.
The lab wanted to know where the requisition form was. When I stared at them blankly, they showed me one. It was a very. Complicated form, filled with little boxes to check off which things you wanted to test for. I told them a form like that for the thing I need tested does not exist. So they shrugged, drew two vials of blood and then handed my own blood back to me!
They would not ship it to the lab. They would not give me a box to ship it in. They suggested FedEx. And they said to send it priority over night.
I walked out of the lab with two vials of my own blood in a zip lock baggie with a hazardous label on it.
At FedEx, I grabbed the smallest box they had and stood awkwardly in line with my box and ziplock trying to look normal, while the woman at the counter struggled mightily to get the address of the man standing at the head of the line, correct. It took a long time. And she was very frazzled. It was my intention to be very nice to her in the first instant of our interaction so that she would want to help me figure this out.
To be fair, I was nice to her for about a couple seconds before her face started looking all alarmed and she repeatedly told me no this could not happen, no I could not use that box, no she could not sell me a box for shipping blood and by the way where I had even gotten the blood?! To this I motioned at my bandaid.
It was about this time that I rejected everything she was saying and told her “no, they sent me here, you need to help me make this happen.” This did not work either.
So, feeling as though I had hit a wall I told her I had a rare genetic condition and that this blood needed to get shipped overnight to the one, and only, lab in the country that tests for this condition. And during saying that fairly complex sentence I began to cry, a lot. That sentence was largely broken up into blubber bits of itself and strung back together sloppily with the snot, mucus and tears leaking out of my face.
The two other people behind me in line stood silently, valiantly engaging in the culturally normative behavior of ignoring uncomfortable things, like weeping young ladies in a FedEx.
The stupid cow clerk went off to find someone else, someone less stupid and cowish than herself. My rescuer was a trundle-ee sort of fellow, with the Chinese characters for strange brother on his wrists. The characters wouldn’t really be put together like that in Chinese. It would sound weird, but individually their meaning was correct, even if the character used for brother was weird and archaic.
The point is, the strange brother was a gem. He found me a box and packaged the vials in crumpled up papertowel. He assured me that this was not his first rodea, and that there was always a way. He didn’t even charge me for the box. He then took the funny hand written note and entered in the addresses correctly the first time. I was so grateful.
So the moral of the story is, if people aren’t listening to you, cry. It will be so awkward for them that they will do anything to make you go away. Also, people are often annoying and incredulous, but sometimes wonderfully kind and considerate. Also, if you can’t not cry, you might as well get over your own embarrassment.
As to the painting. The feature painting is a small painting of an aspen grove in summer. It is very green, which is my favorite color. I intend to give it to my new doctor for him to keep in his office. It is small because offices are often not great places for large pieces.
As to the genetics.. the results should be back in a month.
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Like this: Like Loading... RelatedZombie author and expert Dr. Steven Schlozman will join us for a Twitter chat at 12:00 p.m. ET on Tuesday, April 26. Tweet your questions to @cnnhealth and follow along at #cnnzombies.
(CNN) -- An airborne virus is rapidly turning people into zombies. Two-thirds of humanity has been wiped out. Scientists desperately look for a cure, even as their own brains deteriorate and the disease robs them of what we consider life.
Relax, it's only fiction -- at least, for now. This apocalyptic scenario frames the new novel "The Zombie Autopsies" by Dr. Steven Schlozman, a child psychiatrist who holds positions at Harvard Medical School and the Massachusetts General Hospital/McLean Program in Child Psychiatry.
You might not expect someone with those credentials to take zombies seriously, but it turns out the undead are a great way to explore real-world health issues: why certain nasty diseases can destroy the brain, how global pandemics create chaos and fear, and what should be done about people infected with a highly contagious and incurable lethal illness.
"One of the things zombie novels do is they bring up all these existential concerns that happen in medicine all the time: How do you define what's alive?" says Schlozman, who has been known to bounce between zombie fan conventions and academic meetings.
"When is it appropriate to say someone's 'as-good-as-dead,' which is an awful, difficult decision?"
What a zombie virus would do to the brain
So maybe you've seen "Night of the Living Dead," read "World War Z," or can't wait for the return of the AMC show "The Walking Dead," but you probably don't know what differentiates the brains of humans and zombies.
First things first: How does the zombie disease infect its victims? Many stories in the genre talk about biting, but Schlozman's novel imagines a deliberately engineered virus whose particles can travel in the air and remain potent enough to jump from one person to another in a single sneeze.
Now, then, to the brain-eating. The zombie virus as Schlozman describes it basically gnaws the brain down to the amygdala, an almond-shaped structure responsible for the "fight or flight" response. The zombies always respond by fighting because another critical part of the brain, the ventromedial hypothalamus, which tells you when you've eaten enough, is broken.
The brain's frontal lobes, responsible for problem-solving, are devoured by the virus, so zombies can't make complex decisions. Impairment in the cerebellum means they can't walk well, either. Also, these humanoids have an unexplained predilection for eating human flesh.
"The zombies in this book are stumbling, shambling, hungry as hell," Schlozman said. "Basically they're like drunk crocodiles; they're not smart, they don't know who you are or what you are."
Why we love those rotting, hungry, putrid zombies
How a zombie virus would be made
So the bloodthirsty undead wander (or crawl) around spreading a lethal illness ominously called ataxic neurodegenerative satiety deficiency syndrome, or ANSD, for short.
"When something really terrifying comes along, especially in medicine or that has a medical feel to it, we always give it initials. That's the way we distance ourselves from it," Schlozman said.
The virus has several brain-destroying components, one of which is a "prion," meaning a protein like the one that causes mad cow disease. In real life, prions twist when they are in an acidic environment and become dangerous, Schlozman said. How our own environment has changed to make prions infectious -- getting from the soil to the cows in mad cow disease, for instance -- is still a mystery.
Now here's something to send chills up your spine: In Schlozman's world, airborne prions can be infectious, meaning mad cow disease and similar nervous-system destroyers could theoretically spread just like the flu. Swiss and German researchers recently found that mice that had only one minute of exposure to aerosols containing prions died of mad cow disease, as reported in the journal PLoS Pathogens. A follow-up described in Journal of the American Medical Association showed the same for a related disease that's only found in animals called scrapie. Of course, these are mice in artificially controlled conditions in a laboratory, and humans do not exhale prions, but it could have implications for safety practices nonetheless.
Like mad cow disease, the zombie disease Schlozman describes also progresses in acidic environments. In the book, a major corporation doles out implantable meters that infuse the body with chemicals to artificially lower acidity when it gets too high. But, sadly, when acidity is too low, that also induces symptoms that mimic the zombie virus, so it's not a longterm solution. Everyone who gets exposed eventually succumbs, Schlozman said.
As for the unknown component of the zombie disease that would help slowly zombifying researchers in their quest for a cure, that's up for the reader to figure out -- and the clues are all in the book, Schlozman said.
How we'd fight back
You can't ethically round up fellow survivors to kick some zombie butt unless the undead have technically died. And in Schlozman's book, a group of religious leaders get together and decide that when people reach stage four of the disease, they are basically dead. That, of course, permits zombie "deanimation," or killing.
The 'zombie theology' behind the walking dead
And how do you kill a zombie? Much of zombie fiction knocks out zombies through shots to the head. That, Schlozman said, is because the brain stem governs the most basic functioning: breathing and heartbeat.
A zombie-apocalypse disease like the one he describes probably wouldn't evolve on its own in the real world, he said.
But, as we've seen, individual symptoms of zombies do correspond to real ailments. And if they all came together, the disease would be creepily efficient at claiming bodies, Schlozman said.
Bad news, folks: Even if people contracted a zombie virus through bites, the odds of our survival aren't great.
A mathematician at the University of Ottawa named Robert Smith? (who uses the question mark to distinguish himself from other Robert Smiths, of course), has calculated that if one zombie were introduced to a city of 500,000 people, after about seven days, every human would either be dead or a zombie.
"We're in big, big trouble if this ever happens," Smith? said. "We can kill the zombies a bit, but we're not very good at killing zombies fundamentally. What tends to happen is: The zombies just win, and the more they win, the more they keep winning" because the disease spreads so rapidly.
The best solution is a strategic attack, rather than an "every man for himself" defense scenario, he said. It would take knowledge and intelligence, neither of which zombies have, to prevail.
Why study zombies?
In his day job, Smith? models how real infectious diseases spread. But he's already reaped benefits from his work on zombies. For instance, while many mathematical models only deal with one complicated aspect of a situation at a time, he tackled two -- zombie infection and zombie-killing -- when it came to speculating about outbreaks.
When it came time for modeling of real-world human papillomavirus (HPV), then, Smith? felt equipped to handle many facets of it at the same time, such as heterosexual and homosexual transmission of HPV.
"Knowing what we knew from zombies allowed us to actually take on these more complicated models without fear," he said.
Studying zombies is also a great way to get young people excited about science. Smith?, who was on a zombie-science panel with Schlozman through the National Academy of Sciences' Science and Entertainment Exchange in 2009, has also seen math-phobic people get interested in mathematics by reading about his work with zombies.
"There are insights that we gain from the movies, and from fiction, from fun popular culture stuff, that actually can really help us think about the way that science works, and also the way science is communicated," he said.
And as to why people like reading about zombies and watching zombies so much, Schlozman points to the impersonal nature of things in our society, from waiting in line in the DMV to being placed on hold on a call with a health insurance company.
Think about all the situations in daily life where you sense a general lack of respect for humanity, and zombies make a little more sense.
"The zombies themselves represent a kind of commentary on modernity," Schlozman says. "We're increasingly disconnected. That might be the current appeal."Castello di Amorosa is a castle and a winery located near Calistoga, California. First opening its doors to the public in April 2007, the castle is the pet project of 4th generation vintner, Dario Sattui, who also owns and operates the V. Sattui Winery named after his great-grandfather who originally established a winery in San Francisco in 1885 after emigrating from Italy to California. [2][3]
The winery sits on property that was once part of an estate owned by Edward Turner Bale.[4]
The castle [ edit ]
Front entrance to the Castello di Amorosa Winery.
The castle interiors, which include 107 rooms on 8 levels above and below ground, cover approximately 121,000 square feet (11,200 m2). Key details and building techniques are architecturally faithful to the 12th and 13th century time period. Among many other features it has: a moat; a drawbridge; defensive towers; an interior courtyard; a torture chamber; a chapel/church; a knights' chamber; and a 72 by 30 feet (9.1 m) great hall with a 22-foot (6.7 m)-high coffered ceiling.
The torture chamber has an authentic 300-year-old iron maiden which Sattui states he bought for $13,000 in Pienza, Italy, a replica rack, prison chambers and other torture devices. [1] [5][6] The great hall features frescoes painted by two Italian artists who took about a year and a half to complete and showcases a 500-year-old fireplace.
Wine tasting in the cellar
The masonry, ironwork and woodwork was fashioned by hand using old world crafting techniques. Building materials included 8,000 tons of locally quarried stone, in addition to paving stones, terra cotta roofing tiles and some 850,000 bricks imported from Europe.[1][7][8] Extending into the hillside adjacent to the castle lies a labyrinth of caves some 900 feet (270 m) in length. Beneath the castle are a 2-acre (8,100 m2) barrel cellar and tasting rooms where visitors can sample the wines-all sold only at the Castle.[9]
Due to Napa County restrictions, the castle and grounds cannot be rented for weddings or receptions, but are available to rent for corporate gatherings and fund raisers. In May 2012 the county ordered the winery to cease holding a weekly Catholic Mass in the chapel located on the grounds due to lack of use permits.[10]
A 360° panorama of the Great Hall.
The castle as seen from the driveway.
A view of the drawbridge entrance.
A view of the great hall.
A view of the courtyard.
A view of knights' chambers.
A view of the wine cellar.
A view of the castle exterior from moat level.
The Iron Maiden in the Torture Chamber.
The Torture Chamber.
A 400 year old wine press imported from Italy on the castle grounds.Images courtesy of D-Pad
In the lead-up to Waypoint's launch on October 28, the site's staff is giving a preview of some of the titles that they'll be playing during the massive 72 Games in 72 Hours livestream.
When Owlboy is released on November 1, it will have been nearly ten years after development began on the gorgeous looking, Metroid-inspired action game. It wasn't supposed to take this long, of course. No one involved in making Owlboy expected to spend the better part of a decade on a single game, and when the clock strikes midnight on Halloween, it will mark the end of an unexpectedly long journey.
"I've always imagined it would be emotional," said art director Simon Anderson, who's been with Owlboy since day one. "A lot of people suggest it'll feel like a relief."
That relief is, if everything goes according to plan, close at hand.
The game's developer, D-Pad, is made up of just five people: an art director, two programmers, a designer, and a composer. Like most small teams, though, people wear many hats and are responsible for many other jobs—public relations, QA testing, etc.
The original idea for Owlboy came about when Andersen was closely watching rumors about Nintendo's upcoming "Revolution" console, which would later be called the Wii. As other developers were mulling new directions for how to play video games, Andersen saw an opening for a callback to the pixel-driven action games he (and others) had grown up on.
This was long before the concept of retro-style games went through the full trend cycle: once a novel idea,, then a popular style, and ultimately, a repetitive cliche. (Owlboy comes, somewhat ironically, at the tail end of that rotation.)
While playing Super Mario Bros. 3, Andersen was struck by the game's Tanooki suit, which lets Mario float down after a jump by tapping a button. Andersen's idea was the opposite: let the player fly up. Simultaneously, leaked details on a prototype for a new Kid Icarus, worked on by Rogue Squadron developer Factor 5, had Andersen mulling how to represent flying in 3D. It seemed overly difficult, leading Andersen to double down on 2D for his game. The final puzzle piece was a suggestion from Andersen's girlfriend: the main character should be an owl.
"With that," said Andersen, "everything fell into place and pretty much all the major characters were sketched that same night."
At that point, Andersen figured Owlboy would ship in 2011. He was, uh, pretty far off.
One of the game's early victories was a nomination in the 2010 Independent Games Festival for visual excellence. Though Owlboy didn't win, the recognition was important. Soon after, the team was invited to attend the Norwegian Game Awards, a competition for students. Owlboy won the top prize, which came with something better than recognition: a $10,000 cheque.
"It really did feel like we were on our way to something amazing," said Andersen. "Like we had made the right choice to go all in for our dreams."
"We literally thought, "Hey guys we're finishing this thing with this! 2010 is the year of the owl!'" said programmer Jo-Remi Madsen. "We're in 2016. It's still not year of the owl."
Though $10,000 feels like a big number, it's nothing if you want to build a modern game. Continuing to work on Owlboy has been possible because the developers have benefited from the generosity of friends and family, whether it comes to financial stability or having a cheap place to stay. They've also received a relatively meagre amount of grant money—less than $80,000—from the Norwegian government. By being thrifty, that money "saved their asses" a few times.
So, what took so long? The game didn't come into focus until the team produced a demo in 2011. And while Owlboy's basic premise hasn't changed, the game has been through several full-on reboots, often because as development dragged on, players were demanding games of increasingly higher quality. It didn't help that Metroid-style games became increasingly en vogue, forcing Owlboy to adjust.
"We literally thought, 'Hey guys we're finishing this thing with this! 2010 is the year of the owl!' We're in 2016. It's still not year of the owl." —Jo-Remi Madsen
"The long development ended up becoming its own burden," said Andersen. "Considering how I had originally pitched this project and involved all these people to help me create it, I felt very, very responsible whenever there was another delay, someone was unhappy or stressed."
Life (and death) happened over the course of that ten years, too. When I talked with the team about their experiences, a melancholy tone hovered over the conversation. Overworked, exhausted, and hoping the finish line really was in sight, D-Pad sounded utterly spent.
For example, Andersen had promised his girlfriend a proposal—and a wedding—after the game shipped. Every time he delayed Owlboy, he was delaying this next chapter in his life.
"Having to constantly tell her it was going to be another year was getting to me badly," he said.
He eventually gave up, and the two got married last year.
Andersen's struggled with depression, too—a problem for him since he was young. For him, depression is "always an underlying factor" and an unfortunate constant. "My art and our work [were] the positives in my life," he said, "so I always had that to push me through."
The simple march of time has proven brutal, too.
"When we started out working on Owlboy, all my grandparents were still alive—cheering me on year after year," said Madsen. "Not once have I been told to stop, or 'go find a proper job, one that pays.' My family isn't like that. Now, as Owlboy is about to launch, I've lost all my grandparents, but their support stuck with me."
Halfway through development, Madsen was on his way to meet up with one of his best friends for dinner when he received a call telling him that the man had died of catastrophic heart failure.
"From that moment on," he said. "I've been painfully aware of how fragile life can be."
Relationships haven't been easy for Madsen, either.
"During this project," he said, "I've had several girlfriends somehow willing to be part of the madness—and just like the rest—they've been massively supportive. But even with massive support, with time, I've started feeling bad about my constant empty promises. 'The game is coming out this year.' 'Just a couple of months now.' 'Soon, soon.' In the end, I've had to let them go, because I've always been aware that my living situation isn't exactly ideal."
That living situation changed over the years. Andersen was working out of his parents' home, but during development, his parents not only got divorced but the house burned down. Fortunately, Madsen was able to move into his parents' house, allowing Andersen to hunker down in the apartment Madsen had been living in. That apartment became a pseudo-office. The rest of the team is scattered around various parts of Norway, the US, and Canada.
After working on the same game for so long, the team worried it wasn't capable of even shipping a game. To prove themselves wrong, instead of taking a vacation, they spent the summer of 2013 working on Savant - Ascent, a quick 'n' dirty pixel shooter that, thankfully, was well-received. It also proved to Owlboy fans that, yes, that game might actually get finished. It's gone on to sell more than 500,000 copies, keeping the team afloat financially.
"It was refreshing and reminded us just what we can do as a team," said Andersen. "It's easy to forget when you have to put that talent to work over such a long time."
The low-lows have been, especially in the final stretch |
in 2004 and briefly in 2008.) Go here: http://kucinich.us.
We have the possibility of putting another extremely powerful voice for peace into our government this year in the form of Norman Solomon. Solomon is the author of a dozen books on media, political discourse, and public policy, including "War Made Easy: How Presidents and Pundits Keep Spinning Us to Death," which he also made into a film. From 1997 to 2010, Solomon was the founder and executive director of the Institute for Public Accuracy. He was one of the few strong voices on national television against invading Iraq before the start of the Iraq War in early 2003, appearing on CNN and other major TV networks more than a dozen times to argue for diplomacy instead of a U.S. attack. Solomon organized and went on three missions to Baghdad prior to the invasion of Iraq — including one led by Congressman Nick Rahall and former U.S. Senator James Abourezk — seeking alternatives to war. Solomon is one of us and would speak to us from within our government — as an infiltrator, as it were. He needs to win his primary! (Full disclosure: I work for an organization that Solomon was involved in starting at http://rootsaction.org.) Go here: http://solomonforcongress.com
We have the possibility as well of returning to Congress another uncompromising voice against war with the power to shift the corporate-approved public discourse in a wiser direction. Alan Grayson's was a principled and fearless voice during his brief tenure in Washington, and we ought to bring him back: http://congressmanwithguts.com.
Of course, I'm counting on Rep. Barbara Lee to remain in office. And there are young newcomers with the potential to become allies of the people in the halls of power. It would be crazy to predict such a thing, but it is possible. One of these potential leaders is Ilya Sheyman: http://ilyasheyman.com.
The clearest congressional voice for peace at the moment, of course, is the voice of someone with a vision of domestic policy that many of us find dangerous if not delusional. Republican Congressman Ron Paul's voice against wars, empire, militarism, and abuse of power is helpful to those causes. Any success he has in the presidential primaries that is credited to his foreign policy positions will be all to the good. In the absence of progressives with backbones, more Libertarians like Paul would be welcome additions, I think. Go here: http://ronpaul2012.com and here: http://ronpaulforcongress.com.
That's all I have to say about this election. I now return you to whatever dumbest thing Newt Gingrich said today.
_______Getty Images
The Jets named the winners of their team awards on Friday morning and wide receiver Brandon Marshall was selected as their most valuable player.
Marshall’s 101 catches and 13 touchdowns make him a very worthy choice, but some fans have joked about another candidate being truly deserving of the honor. That candidate would be Bills defensive end IK Enemkpali, who was released by the Jets after breaking Geno Smith’s jaw with a punch over the summer.
That injury opened the door for Ryan Fitzpatrick to start at quarterback and Fitzpatrick’s play has been a big reason why the Jets are 10-5 and in position to make the playoffs with a victory over Enemkpali’s new team on Sunday. Enemkpali has heard people suggest he should be the team’s MVP, which neither surprises nor seems to amuse him much.
“Nobody knows if what I had done was going to deter whether Geno was going to play or not,” Enemkpali said, via the Buffalo News. “Nobody knows that exactly. In the league, it’s next man up. I mean, the Jets’ fans — I was up there for a year — they’re crazy. They say anything and they have no filter at all. So I’m not surprised.”
Enemkpali served a four-game suspension as a result of the punch and has 12 tackles in 10 games for the Bills during a season that he calls a “whirlwind.” Those filterless Jets fans might describe it differently, but plenty of them likely appreciate Enemkpali for throwing a punch that turned into the first domino of a winning season.St. Vincent Announces New Album 'Masseduction,' Releases New Single 'Los Ageless'
Enlarge this image toggle caption Nedda Afsari Nedda Afsari
"Putting out a record is like having a Bridezilla-style wedding every two to three years," St. Vincent's Annie Clark told the viewers of a pristine, fuschia-heavy, faux press conference in which she annouced details of her new album, Masseduction. Her fifth album, and her first since 2014's St. Vincent, will be out Oct. 13 on Loma Vista. After introducing the record, she told viewers she would be "taking questions in the style of Sarah Huckabee Sanders."
Concurrent to the event, St. Vincent released a new single, the fully vogue-ready "Los Ageless," which follows the wistful piano ballad "New York," released earlier this year.
YouTube
Clark has been teasing the possibility of an album announcement for days on social media and her Facebook page — and weeks, if you factor in a very album-focused profile from The New Yorker.
Clark recorded Masseduction with Jack Antonoff, who she praised in the opening of this morning's press conference. If Antonoff's involvement wasn't already a hint (he's produced Lorde, Taylor Swift, Sia and Fifth Harmony... that is to say, severely pop artists) of a shift in direction, the attention to detail and media-savvy muscle she's put behind the campaign of her new record cements it. And maybe it's not so much a shift in direction, but an increase in ambition; Clark is clearly aiming for the mainstream, but in service of a familiar satire and transposition.
To wit, she's been releasing a series of video clips since Sunday produced with Carrie Brownstein (some choice cuts below) that mock music journalists and the kinds of questions she consistently receives, like, "What's it like being a woman in music?" Where Taylor Swift wants to dominate the conversation, Clark seems to be politely asking why she's so easily able to.
A post shared by St. Vincent (@st_vincent) on Sep 5, 2017 at 12:31pm PDTCTVNews.ca Staff
Canadians struggling to finish their income tax returns by Thursday just got a last-minute reprieve thanks to a Canada Revenue Agency blunder, CTV News has learned.
In a rare mea culpa, the CRA has admitted to sending out an incorrect notice to tax preparers across the country, indicating that this year’s income tax filing deadline is May 5, instead of April 30.
The incorrect notice was sent to accountants “due to human error,” the CRA said in a statement to CTV News Monday night.
As a result, Canadians who file their taxes after April 30, but before May 5, won’t be penalized.
Revenue Minister Kerry-Lynne Findlay “has made it clear that this incorrect information is unacceptable,” the CRA said.
Last year, the CRA extended the tax deadline to May 5 after the Heartbleed computer bug forced the agency to shut down its E-File system.Al the Octopus is the mascot of the Detroit Red Wings of the National Hockey League. During some games (usually home playoffs), octopuses are thrown onto the ice by fans for good luck, this usually occurring after the national anthem is sung or after a goal is scored.
This Legend of the Octopus tradition, started on April 15, 1952,[1] when two brothers, Pete and Jerry Cusimano, who owned a fish market, decided to throw an octopus onto the ice at Olympia Stadium, with the eight tentacles of the octopus symbolizing the eight wins it took to win the Stanley Cup at the time.[2][3][4] The Red Wings were a perfect 7–0 in the playoffs and were one win away from not only winning the Cup, but becoming the first perfect team in the NHL's post season history. Sure enough the Red Wings won that game, and the media made mention of the octopus "omen" in the papers the following day, thus establishing the octopus legend in the process. Fans have been throwing octopuses onto the ice at Red Wings games ever since. The tradition died down somewhat in the 1970s and 1980s during the Red Wings dismal seasons, but when the Red Wings became contenders again in the 1990s, the tradition resumed.
Eventually, a drawn purple octopus mascot was created, and in the 1995 playoffs a large Octopus prop was unveiled. The Octopus was eventually named "Al" (after former Joe Louis Arena building operations manager and current Little Caesars Arena building operations manager Al Sobotka),[3] and every playoff year since, Al the Octopus gets raised to the rafters, when the Red Wings skate out onto the ice.[1] As the years went on some modifications were made to Al, such as making it so his pupils light up red (blinking on and off), the adding of a large Red Wing Jersey to his body, and the removal of a tooth in order to give Al that "hockey player" look. Al often appears on Red Wings apparel and promotional items. Coca-Cola would later create stuffed Als, in their Fan in the Can or Al in the Can promotion. The promotion featured cases of Coke in which some cans were, in fact, containers holding the stuffed Al. Later, Michigan stores would carry the doll, and it would be sold via a mail-in.
There have been many other types of Al merchandise, such as stickers, inflatable dolls, and decals. During the 1996 playoff year, a CD called A Call to Arms was released featuring Al on the cover. Being an octopus, Al's jersey number is 8.
As it now takes 16 wins for the Red Wings to claim the Stanley Cup, there are now two Als hanging from the rafters when the Red Wings are in the playoffs.
Despite all this, there is no costumed Al mascot, perhaps due to the impracticality of such a suit, combined with the lateness of Al's adoption. Detroit remains one of very few hockey, and indeed American sports, teams without a suited mascot to rally fans.
See also [ edit ]When we think about all the great games and systems we’ve enjoyed over the years, it’s all too easy to forget about the fallen pieces of hardware that lay in our wake. Such as:
SNES Pad: Street Fighter 2: The World Warrior is a great game, and you know how much I love playing it even though I’m terrible at it. But MAN, M. Bison in World Warrior was a cheap little PUNK. He’d pull out the Psycho Crushers at a moment’s notice and that flying head stomp thing would cross me up at every opportunity. And yep, I have to admit that I got so enraged by this continual stream of BS that I threw my SNES controller at the wall, smashing it into pieces in what could only be called “A God damn infantile temper tantrum”. So not only did the game cost me a small fortune to buy in the first place but I was out $40 for another controller too.
Commodore 64: One day I was reading a local gaming magazine and saw this bad boy:
No, not the koala – a real arcade-style joystick for the Commodore 64, with real arcade buttons and everything! Far out, that is seriously hardcore. I can’t remember if they were only available via mail order if they had a local store distribution deal but I do remember being insanely excited when I finally got my own Star Cursor joystick for the C64. Except one little problem: the bloody thing didn’t work.
For some reason that I could never understand plugging a Star Cursor into my C64 completely drove the C64 berserk, spamming the screen with keyboard commands and making every game unplayable. It was the weirdest thing, and then when I took it back to the store (oh, so I guess I did get it from a store then) to get a replacement the replacement fried my C64 so it never booted again. I guess I had faulty joystick ports or something. That’s the last time I bought an Australian-made joystick! 3 year guarantee my big bottom.
Sega MegaDrive: When the MegaDrive first came out there were cheat codes being printed in EGM and the like for games such as AfterBurner and Space Harrier that gave you unlimited lives – but you had to rip the cartridge out of the slot and put another cartridge in its place. (There’s a great list of these cheats here) Now, this seems like utter madness now but I was young and stupid and didn’t really get what I was doing. And yep, you guessed it, I broke a MegaDrive in the process of ripping a cart out. Instead of pulling Altered Beast out of the cartridge slot I ended up flinging the MegaDrive across the room and it never worked right since. What the hell, man? That was just DUMB.
Another Commodore 64: Speaking of cheat codes, the essential item you needed as a Commodore 64 gamer was a reset switch. This handy little gizmo was usually available as part of an Action Replay cartridge or similar, and basically let you jump out of the game back to the BASIC prompt where you could then enter POKE codes to change how many lives you had or whatever. Now, being stuck in the middle of nowhere with no access to an actual reset switch, I had to resort to McGuyvering my own reset switch with a paper clip carefully jammed into the computer’s expansion port. What I didn’t realise then that doing so basically connects the expansion sort with the power supply, so I shouldn’t have been surprised that I fried the machine after a couple of weeks of doing this. I was an idiot who really didn’t deserve to have a computer.
Countless dodgy joysticks: The sticks that came with the Commodore 64 were pure garbage that didn’t even last a day, but they were freebies so who cares. There was a plentiful supply of cheap and cheerful sticks available at the local store, but they too were wrecked by ‘waggle the stick really fast’ games like Decathlon and Combat School. It’s like these games were designed by joystick companies to encourage kids to keep buying more joysticks.
Every pinball machine I ever touched: For some reason every time I go near a pinball machine something happens to it. A brand new machine fresh out of the crate will somehow develop a flipper issue within minutes of me playing it, or something goes wrong with the display, or the coin box stops working, or whatever. Damn it, I want to get into buying pinball machines one day but I guess I’ve fallen afoul of some ancient curse.
The first PlayStation 2 Sony sent me: “Here’s your review PlayStation 2, fresh from Japan” the nice PR person told me, “you can just use your regular PlayStation 1 cables with it”. Well, I promptly hooked it all up and turned it on. A few minutes into Ridge Racer and people around me started asking what the smell was. Oh, it turns out that the PR guy meant I could use all my regular Japanese PlayStation 1 power cables (110 watts) with it, not the over-powered Australian ones (240 watts). One completely fried PlayStation 2 later I was politely informed Sony would not be sending me a replacement. Greedy mongrels!
Guitar Hero Guitar: I was drunk. I was a jerk. I later regretted it. But man oh man did it feel good to finally get a perfect score on Matthew Sweet’s “Girlfriend” in Guitar Hero 2 and then proceed to smash the living crap out of the guitar in true rock and roll style. I wish there was an achievement I could have unlocked or something.
PC monitors: Did you know that I blame my horrendous eyesight on Commodore’s line of incredibly blurry and bulky PC monitors? I thought they would have been awesome after how good the 1084 was (and still is!) but NOOO they were crap. HOWEVER, did you also know that it feels really, really good to throw Commodore’s line of incredibly blurry and bulky PC monitors into a dam? They’re heavy bastards for sure but make a satisfying CRUNCH against the concrete wall and then a big SPLASH a few seconds later. Wow, thinking back, that was a really dumb thing to do and I probably contaminated the local water supply for weeks. WHOOPS SORRY!
The house’s power supply: I had one (1) power point in my room growing up, and about 16 computers, consoles, computers and televisions all being powered from that thanks to a complex series of power point expanders and extension cables. At some point I decided, what the heck, let’s add some more power points to this mix so I can have an extra Amiga going. All I remember next was a loud bang and flying across the room, and then people being mad at me because apparently electricians are expensive? Pfft whatever I had to go without playing Elite for a while.
Daytona Arcade: Serious Daytona USA players don’t use the brakes to get around the tight corners – they just downshift the car for a second before going back up to regular gear and going on their merry way. Well, for some reason I found it really, really satisfying to wrench the crap out of the gearstick in the local arcade on my daily Daytona session, and then the damn thing broke. The greedy bastards who ran the arcade had the audacity to charge $2 a go, but then I’m the monster for breaking the gear stick? What a world.
My Grandmother’s Television: Christmas 1992. Imagine, if you will, a young me being ferried over to my grandmother’s house for the annual family reunion Christmas booze-up. I HATED these events. I didn’t really fit in with the rest of the family, who were all into sports and being loud and playing cricket in the back yard. All I wanted to do was play video games and read magazines about video games and draw pictures of video games I wanted to make one day. But! I had managed to convince the parents to let me take my SNES and new copy of Super Mario Kart along to play all day while everyone else had their own fun. And it was a great Christmas! Basically my sister, brother and I played Super Mario Kart and Game Boy by ourselves while 50 relatives drank and argued all day. But MAN, ever since then, TO THIS GOD DAMN DAY, my Grandmother STILL complains that plugging a Super Nintendo into her TV somehow broke it. She can’t even see TV any more and she still complains that evil video games destroyed her precious antique TV. IT WAS 22 YEARS AGO GRANDMA LET IT GO ALREADY.
Let’s all pour out a virtual 40 ounce for our fallen gaming hardware. Do you have any hardware failure stories?The emails currently roiling the US presidential campaign are part of some unknown digital collection amassed by the troublesome Anthony Weiner, but if your purpose is to understand the clique of people who dominate Washington today, the emails that really matter are the ones being slowly released by WikiLeaks from the hacked account of Hillary Clinton’s campaign chair John Podesta. They are last week’s scandal in a year running over with scandals, but in truth their significance goes far beyond mere scandal: they are a window into the soul of the Democratic party and into the dreams and thoughts of the class to whom the party answers.
The class to which I refer is not rising in angry protest; they are by and large pretty satisfied, pretty contented. Nobody takes road trips to exotic West Virginia to see what the members of this class looks like or how they live; on the contrary, they are the ones for whom such stories are written. This bunch doesn’t have to make do with a comb-over TV mountebank for a leader; for this class, the choices are always pretty good, and this year they happen to be excellent.
They are the comfortable and well-educated mainstay of our modern Democratic party. They are also the grandees of our national media; the architects of our software; the designers of our streets; the high officials of our banking system; the authors of just about every plan to fix social security or fine-tune the Middle East with precision droning. They are, they think, not a class at all but rather the enlightened ones, the people who must be answered to but who need never explain themselves.
Let us turn the magnifying glass on them for a change, by sorting through the hacked personal emails of John Podesta, who has been a Washington power broker for decades. I admit that I feel uncomfortable digging through this hoard; stealing someone’s email is a crime, after all, and it is outrageous that people’s personal information has been exposed, since WikiLeaks doesn’t seem to have redacted the emails in any way. There is also the issue of authenticity to contend with: we don’t know absolutely and for sure that these emails were not tampered with by whoever stole them from John Podesta. The supposed authors of the messages are refusing to confirm or deny their authenticity, and though they seem to be real, there is a small possibility they aren’t.
With all that taken into consideration, I think the WikiLeaks releases furnish us with an opportunity to observe the upper reaches of the American status hierarchy in all its righteousness and majesty.
The dramatis personae of the liberal class are all present in this amazing body of work: financial innovators. High-achieving colleagues attempting to get jobs for their high-achieving children. Foundation executives doing fine and noble things. Prizes, of course, and high academic achievement.
Certain industries loom large and virtuous here. Hillary’s ingratiating speeches to Wall Street are well known of course, but what is remarkable is that, in the party of Jackson and Bryan and Roosevelt, smiling financiers now seem to stand on every corner, constantly proffering advice about this and that. In one now-famous email chain, for example, the reader can watch current US trade representative Michael Froman, writing from a Citibank email address in 2008, appear to name President Obama’s cabinet even before the great hope-and-change election was decided (incidentally, an important clue to understanding why that greatest of zombie banks was never put out of its misery).
The far-sighted innovators of Silicon Valley are also here in force, interacting all the time with the leaders of the party of the people. We watch as Podesta appears to email Sheryl Sandberg. He makes plans to visit Mark Zuckerberg (who, according to one missive, wants to “learn more about next steps for his philanthropy and social action”). Podesta exchanges emails with an entrepreneur about an ugly race now unfolding for Silicon Valley’s seat in Congress; this man, in turn, appears to forward to Podesta the remarks of yet another Silicon Valley grandee, who complains that one of the Democratic combatants in that fight was criticizing billionaires who give to Democrats. Specifically, the miscreant Dem in question was said to be:
“… spinning (and attacking) donors who have supported Democrats. John Arnold and Marc Leder have both given to Cory Booker, Joe Kennedy, and others. He is also attacking every billionaire that donates to [Congressional candidate] Ro [Khanna], many whom support other Democrats as well.”
Attacking billionaires! In the year 2015! It was, one of the correspondents appears to write, “madness and political malpractice of the party to allow this to continue”.
There are wonderful things to be found in this treasure trove when you search the gilded words “Davos” or “Tahoe”. But it is when you search “Vineyard” on the WikiLeaks dump that you realize these people truly inhabit a different world from the rest of us. By “vineyard”, of course, they mean Martha’s Vineyard, the ritzy vacation resort island off the coast of Massachusetts where presidents Clinton and Obama spent most of their summer vacations. The Vineyard is a place for the very, very rich to unwind, yes, but as we learn from these emails, it is also a place of high idealism; a land of enlightened liberal commitment far beyond anything ordinary citizens can ever achieve.
Consider, for example, the 2015 email from a foundation executive to a retired mortgage banker (who then seems to have forwarded the note on to Podesta, and thus into history) expressing concern that “Hillary’s image is being torn apart in the media and there’s not enough effective push back”. The public eavesdrops as yet another financier invites Podesta to a dinner featuring “food produced exclusively by the island’s farmers and fishermen which will be matched with specially selected wines”. We learn how a Hillary campaign aide recommended that a policy statement appear on a certain day so that “It wont get in the way of any other news we are trying to make – but far enough ahead of Hamptons and Vineyard money events”. We even read the pleadings of a man who wants to be invited to a state dinner at the White House and who offers, as one of several exhibits in his favor, the fact that he “joined the DSCC Majority Trust in Martha’s Vineyard (contributing over $32,400 to Democratic senators) in July 2014”.
(Hilariously, in another email chain, the Clinton team appears to scheme to “hit” Bernie Sanders for attending “DSCC retreats on Martha’s Vineyard with lobbyists”.)
Then there is the apparent nepotism, the dozens if not hundreds of mundane emails in which petitioners for this or that plum Washington job or high-profile academic appointment politely appeal to Podesta – the ward-heeler of the meritocratic elite – for a solicitous word whispered in the ear of a powerful crony.
This genre of Podesta email, in which people try to arrange jobs for themselves or their kids, points us toward the most fundamental thing we know about the people at the top of this class: their loyalty to one another and the way it overrides everything else. Of course Hillary Clinton staffed her state department with investment bankers and then did speaking engagements for investment banks as soon as she was done at the state department. Of course she appears to think that any kind of bank reform should “come from the industry itself”. And of course no elite bankers were ever prosecuted by the Obama administration. Read these emails and you understand, with a start, that the people at the top tier of American life all know each other. They are all engaged in promoting one another’s careers, constantly.
Everything blurs into everything else in this world. The state department, the banks, Silicon Valley, the nonprofits, the “Global CEO Advisory Firm” that appears to have solicited donations for the Clinton Foundation. Executives here go from foundation to government to thinktank to startup. There are honors. Venture capital. Foundation grants. Endowed chairs. Advanced degrees. For them the door revolves. The friends all succeed. They break every boundary.
But the One Big Boundary remains. Yes, it’s all supposed to be a meritocracy. But if you aren’t part of this happy, prosperous in-group – if you don’t have John Podesta’s email address – you’re out.For years we have seen women who were not thought to be dressed modestly or who were believed to have transgressed against the family honor attacked with acid by Muslims in Pakistan. Now that savage ethos is coming to Western countries. But no one would have dared try to talk Billal Kidd Mujahedin out of converting to Islam. That would have been “Islamophobic.”
“One of acid attack fugitive brothers ‘was already on the run from police for another crime,'” by Patrick Hill, Mirror, September 26, 2015 (thanks to Robert):
Acid attack suspect Billy Midmore was already on the run from police, it has been claimed.
The 22-year-old and his older brother Geoffrey, 26, have become Britain’s most wanted men after being accused of throwing acid in the face of mum-of-six Carla Whitlock, 37.
Billy, who also uses the name Billal Kidd Mujahideen after converting to Islam, fled the family home in South London after he was put on police bail three months ago, a source said.
Hampshire Police tonight refused to confirm or deny the claim that Billy that he was on bail at the time of the attack.
A cartel of South London gangsters have put £10,000 bounties on each of their heads since the horrific attack in Southampton nine days ago.
Carla may be blinded. She has had a corneal transplant, but doctors are “not hopeful” she will see again.
A pal of the brothers told the Sunday People: “The pair of them need to be stopped now before someone else gets hurt. They’re out of control.”
On Tuesday – four days after the acid attack – Billy posted a graphic on Facebook, which said: “Imagine if I passed away.
“If you don’t care, stop reading.
“If you’d come to my funeral like this.
“If you’d miss me, comment.
“If you’re not scared, repost and see who your real friends are.”
Above the Facebook post, he wrote: “Who’s real, who’s not”.
Carla suffered significant burns to her face, neck and arms and may end up losing her sight following the attack in outside the Turtle Bay bar and restaurant last Friday night.
She was with her boyfriend when it is claimed the Midmore brothers, who were wearing black hoods and bandanas, threw a highly corrosive substance in her face.
They hurled around 200ml of acid so corrosive that firefighters were called to the scene and had to use a hose to wash the chemical from the pavement.
It melted the skin on her face, arms and neck and may have left her permanently blinded in her right eye….39
50
26
6
9
Sources: College graduation rates by family income and test scores: analysis of the National Education Longitudinal Study of 1988 by Matthew M. Chingos, Brookings Institution; share of students who enter and complete college: analysis of National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, 1979 and 1997 by Susan Dynarski and Martha Bailey, University of Michigan, in “Whither Opportunity: Rising Inequality, Schools, and Children’s Life Chances,” edited by Greg J. Duncan and Richard J. Murnane;” enrichment spending: Greg J. Duncan and Richard J. Murnane, “Whither Opportunity.”
’05-’06
Born ’72-’73
Born ’61-’64
’79-’82
70
complete college
30%
19
$835
$1,315
$8,872
$3,536
29
80
Born ’61-’64
’79-’82
Richest
19
58%
Poorest
Share of all students who entered college
Richest
Above-average test scores
Below-average test scores
Poorest
Bottom middle
Upper middle
Richest
Poorest
Poorest
Richest quarter of students
9
54
5
$10,000
Adjusted for inflation
80%
80%
36%
Annual enrichment spending on children
Share of all students who completed college
College graduation rates by family income and test scores
The Advantage
The Growing Gap
*Includes summer session after the school year. **Ms. Gonzales took out a private loan in her freshman year after failing to fill out the paperwork required for other aid in time. Note: Ms. O’Neal declined $1,980 in unsubsizdized loans she was offered her junior year.
Loans $44,240 in total
Source: The families and the universities
AVERAGE ANNUAL INCOME
$35,742
FAMILY’S
AVERAGE ANNUAL INCOME
$27,668
FAMILY’S
TEXAS STATE UNIVERSITY, San Marcos
Melissa O’Neal
EMORY UNIVERSITY, Atlanta
Angelica Gonzales
Two Students, $105,000 of Debt, No Diplomas
$2,219
$12,761
$3,500
Freshman
$18,480
$13,730
$4,500
$1,230
Sophomore
$19,460
$2,664
$15,105
$12,500
Junior*
$30,269
$12,150
$12,500
$460
Senior*
$25,110
Fifth year
$10,050
$11,240
$21,290
No gap
Freshman
$3,581
$45,500**
$627
$49,708
$5,338
Sophomore
$40,294
$6,500
$52,132
$5,929
Junior
$40,127
$7,500
$53,556
$12,010
Senior
$42,482
$1,500
$55,992
Grants
Total cost
Total cost
Gap to make up
Grants
Loans $61,000 in total
Gap to make upNot to be confused with Stereotypy
An 18th-century Dutch engraving of the peoples of the world, depicting the inhabitants of Asia, the Americas and Africa in their typical dress. Shown below are an Englishman, a Dutchman, a German and a Frenchman
Police officers buying doughnuts and coffee, an example of perceived stereotypical behavior in North America
In social psychology, a stereotype is an over-generalized belief about a particular category of people.[1] Stereotypes are generalized because one assumes that the stereotype is true for each individual person in the category.[2] While such generalizations may be useful when making quick decisions, they may be erroneous when applied to particular individuals.[3] Stereotypes encourage prejudice[3] and may arise for a number of reasons.
Explicit stereotypes [ edit ]
Explicit stereotypes are those people who are willing to verbalize and admit to other individuals. It also refers to stereotypes that one is aware that one holds, and is aware that one is using to judge people. People can attempt to consciously control the use of explicit stereotypes, even though their attempt to control may not be fully effective.
Implicit stereotypes [ edit ]
[5]]]
Implicit stereotypes are those that lay on individuals' subconsciousness, that they have no control or awareness of.[6]
In social psychology, a stereotype is any thought widely adopted about specific types of individuals or certain ways of behaving intended to represent the entire group of those individuals or behaviors as a whole.[7] These thoughts or beliefs may or may not accurately reflect reality.[8][9] Within psychology and across other disciplines, different conceptualizations and theories of stereotyping exist, at times sharing commonalities, as well as containing contradictory elements.
Etymology [ edit ]
The term stereotype comes from the French adjective stéréotype and derives from the Greek words στερεός (stereos), "firm, solid"[10] and τύπος (typos), impression,[11] hence "solid impression on one or more idea/theory."
The term comes from the printing trade and was first adopted in 1798 by Firmin Didot to describe a printing plate that duplicated any typography. The duplicate printing plate, or the stereotype, is used for printing instead of the original.
Outside of printing, the first reference to "stereotype" was in 1850, as a noun that meant image perpetuated without change.[12] However, it was not until 1922 that "stereotype" was first used in the modern psychological sense by American journalist Walter Lippmann in his work Public Opinion.[13]
Relationship with other types of intergroup attitudes [ edit ]
Stereotypes, prejudice, and discrimination [14] are understood as related but different concepts.[15][16][17][18] Stereotypes are regarded as the most cognitive component and often occurs without conscious awareness, whereas prejudice is the affective component of stereotyping and discrimination is one of the behavioral components of prejudicial reactions.[15][16][19] In this tripartite view of intergroup attitudes, stereotypes reflect expectations and beliefs about the characteristics of members of groups perceived as different from one's own, prejudice represents the emotional response, and discrimination refers to actions.[15][16]
Although related, the three concepts can exist independently of each other.[16][20] According to Daniel Katz and Kenneth Braly, stereotyping leads to racial prejudice when people emotionally react to the name of a group, ascribe characteristics to members of that group, and then evaluate those characteristics.[17]
Possible prejudicial effects of stereotypes[9] are:
Justification of ill-founded prejudices or ignorance
Unwillingness to rethink one's attitudes and behavior
Preventing some people of stereotyped groups from entering or succeeding in activities or fields[21]
Content [ edit ]
Stereotype content refers to the attributes that people think characterize a group. Studies of stereotype content examine what people think of others, rather than the reasons and mechanisms involved in stereotyping.[22]
Early theories of stereotype content proposed by social psychologists such as Gordon Allport assumed that stereotypes of outgroups reflected uniform antipathy.[23][24] For instance, Katz and Braly argued in their classic 1933 study that ethnic stereotypes were uniformly negative.[22]
By contrast, a newer model of stereotype content theorizes that stereotypes are frequently ambivalent and vary along two dimensions: warmth and competence. Warmth and competence are respectively predicted by lack of competition and status. Groups that do not compete with the in-group for the same resources (e.g., college space) are perceived as warm, whereas high-status (e.g., economically or educationally successful) groups are considered competent. The groups within each of the four combinations of high and low levels of warmth and competence elicit distinct emotions.[25] The model explains the phenomenon that some out-groups are admired but disliked, whereas others are liked but disrespected. This model was empirically tested on a variety of national and international samples and was found to reliably predict stereotype content.[23][26]
Functions [ edit ]
Early studies suggested that stereotypes were only used by rigid, repressed, and authoritarian people. This idea has been refuted by contemporary studies that suggest the ubiquity of stereotypes and it was suggested to regard stereotypes as collective group beliefs, meaning that people who belong to the same social group share the same set of stereotypes.[20] Modern research asserts that full understanding of stereotypes requires considering them from two complementary perspectives: as shared within a particular culture/subculture and as formed in the mind of an individual person.[27]
Relationship between cognitive and social functions [ edit ]
Stereotyping can serve cognitive functions on an interpersonal level, and social functions on an intergroup level.[9][20] For stereotyping to function on an intergroup level (see social identity approaches: social identity theory and self-categorization theory), an individual must see themselves as part of a group and being part of that group must also be |
her husband says the Karaoke machine is broken, she’s probably a little off key. Meanwhile, I remember as a kid, overhearing my cousins say in disgust “have you heard bill sing?” - yea assholes, I heard that. But you know what, Asa and I still sing like horny alley cats. They should have us serenade lovers.
2. Everyone knows that reality shows are a sham so lets just be ridiculous and have us rob fast food fried chicken restaurants, shoot the patrons, take hostages on our escape and become their friends. We eventually leave them at the bus terminal with a free ticket back home and a story.
3. After the DVDASA podcast, Asa and I go home. Film us then. That’s when we talk shit about the guests. We see through their pretentiousness and/or tomfoolery. Especially the so called more famous celebrities. Yes, Asa and I talk about what you’re thinking. We’re just like you…except we have each other. The Asa and Bill show. Forever.A Current Concerns Interview with Lt. Col. Dave Grossman
Video Games on Our Kids’ Computers Provide Military Training to Kill
Lt. Col. Dave A. Grossman(*), West Point Psychology Professor and Professor of Military Science
Current Concerns: A few weeks ago at the ‘Electronic Entertainment Exhibition’ in Los Angeles, the US Army introduced new video games targeted at 13-year-olds and upwards. These games aim at teaching children how to kill in situations simulating reality. Recently in Germany the tragedy in Erfurt happened. You have been a military psychologist for many years now and for years you have also been fighting against violent video games. Can you say a few things about the effects of these games?
Lt. Col. Dave Grossman: Look at the Erfurt case. The boy used to play Counterstrike. Counterstrikethat’s a way to kill somebody: The closer you are the better you hit. So that’s the way to kill somebody in Counterstrike. That’s what you are trained to do by the game and that’s what the boy in Erfurt did. The boy didn’t have much range practice. He joined the range but he never spent much time at the range. But what he did: He visualized and rehearsed a particular way of killing people which is to walk right up to the people, shove the gun in their face and pull the trigger repeatedly. Reports from the police force in Erfurt said that some of the victims were so disfigured they couldn’t tell who they were. You can see the boy is trained, the military quality training coming out. The thing to understand is that the US military is basically using PG-13 rated game (= games that can be played from the age of 13, if accompanied by an adult) to educate kids to our thinking about joining the military. We’re seeing far more realistic, far more violent, far more devastating games, and we’re giving them indiscriminately to children, providing them with these skills. You have to understand how hard a heart, how brutal a soul the killer has to have to shoot a person in the face repeatedly.
CC: It’s unimaginable.
DG: Indeed, it’s unimaginable, it’s unthinkable and to do it again and again and again. Even the Nazis and the Mafia couldn’t and can’t be brought to shooting people in the face. They like to turn them around and shoot them in the back of the head. So they don’t have to look in their faces and kill them. But this boy walked to person after person and killed them. And the only way you can do that is by rehearsing and being desensitized to the suffering. He had already done it tens of thousands of timestheir heads explode, they die, they moan, they twitch, they bleed and you get rewarded for it. So the point becomes that we are taking military quality training devices, we are making them far more brutal, far more devastating, destructive and harmful than the ones the military uses and we are turning them loose indiscriminately upon our children. And if we are little disturbed about the military using video games we should educate kids, because it just shows them what the military is like. But we should be infinitely more disturbed that vastly more destructive and devastating and harmful games are being provided indiscriminately to the children without any regulation control or safeguard.
And there is an industry out there doing this. If they were selling guns to children we would never permit them to do it, but if they provide them with military quality training that enables them to use those guns, then they have gone far too far.
CC: One point we also find very important: You said in a different context that the violent video games also affect children who are usually not aggressive at all. If they do this training, they will respond with a reflex action, they become like machines. We first believed Littleton was an isolated case in your country, but similar cases have also occurred in Europe: in Germany, in Great Britain, in France. The number of such incidents is on the increase.
DG: Yes, and understand there is something new, it’s important to understand that: In Germany, in Austria, throughout World War I, in between the wars and throughout World War II, hundreds of thousands of 18, 19 year-old German boys were walking around with those pistols, Mousers, handguns and Lugers, Walthers; hundreds of thousands of boys walking round with those pistols, but none of them committed anything like what we see at Erfurt today. There’s got to be a new ingredient. The weapons are piece of the equation. But we know if the children want to get the weapons, they will! They will find the weapons. If a criminal wants drugs, will he get drugs? Yes. And that doesn’t mean that they shouldn’t be illegal. We know that if he wants something bad enough, he can get it. If a criminal wants guns, he will get guns. The truth is, you need three things to kill someone, you need a weapon, and you need the skill and the will to kill. And the video games are providing two out of three.
CC: Then it’s wrong to argue for stricter gun control laws. Switzerland is a good example: We have a militia army but nothing like Littleton or Erfurt has ever happened here.
DG: To keep itself safe, the most important thing Switzerland can do is what one guy calls remote control and not gun control. That’s not saying you can’t have an impact. But you understand that what’s on TV and what’s on the video games is vastly more important than what’s in your hands. The guns have always been there.
The primary killing instrument in Littleton (Colorado) 1 at Columbine High School was the 12-gauge pump action shotgun. In Columbine Highschool the 12-gauge pump action shotgun did most of the killing and these shotguns have been in existence for over a century. Literally millions of them have been manufactured and distributed, but it is only today that boys are doing something like that. The primary killing instrument in Jonesboro (Arkansas) 2 was a 30-calibre carbine rifle, a WWII weapon that has existed for half a century. The question we have to ask ourselves is: what is new? The boy in Erfurt used a 9mm pistol. These have been in existence for over a century. Hundreds of thousands of German boys have carried those weapons in WW I and WWII. It’s only today that we see the kids using those weapons in mass murders like this. And there is a new factor in the equation. The American Medical Association, The American Academy of Paediatrics, the American Academy of Child Adolescent Psychiatry, they all have made definitive statements that there is a new factor in the equation, and that is media violence and violent video games. Because of their interactive nature, the violent video games are particularly dangerous.
CC: Are more and more people opposing these computer games in your country?
DG: What is happening is that more people are becoming educated, they are opposing it. The battle we are having right now is we have passed laws to legislate violent video-games, to regulate the video games. Now the video game industry made 20 billion dollars last year. They have made more money than Hollywood. They are an incredibly influential industry, tremendously powerful, tremendously wealthy. Now the video game industry fights tooth and nail with armies of lobbyists against any attempt to regulate them. We have had a few regulations passed. One was passed in Indianapolis, but it was found unconstitutional by the Circuit Court Judge; but another one was passed in St. Louis where it was found completely constitutional by the Circuit Court Judge. So you see, we are having a real battle here to work this thing up through the court system to say there is no constitutional right for a child to practice blowing people’s heads off at the local video arcade. So you see that’s the battle right now. For a while, as a delaying action, they are hiding behind our First Amendment. Our first amendment is the right to free press and free speech, to say the video games constitute free speeches (!), which is absolutely asinine, yet they have already convinced several judges. So that’s the battle we are having right now, and slowly but surely people are beginning to figure out what’s going on, and we’ll make progress here.
CC: What about the parents? Do you often talk to parents?
DG: You see, the thing is that parents are products of this incredible disinformation campaign. And it is being systematically fought against any opportunity to inform people about what’s going on, and so it’s just a long hard battle. And the most important part of this is education. Possibly the most important research ever done on this topic was released this year, no, this time last year. It was done at Stanford University. They took two elementary schools, and convinced, basically educated one elementary school about the impact of media violence. The Surgeon General said media violent video games are bad for you. Violent television is bad for you, you should turn it off. The bottom line was after the elementary teachers told them that this is a harmful product, the majority of the children voluntarily turned it off. And the result was a 40% reduction of violence at this school. There is a link to the Stanford study on my homepage. (www.killology.com)
Well, this summer the Indiana University will release information about a brain scan, showing what is done to children who play at high-level use violent video games. The bottom line is it is turning off the brain, it is putting the brain on a leash, it is diminishing the brain, doing enormous harm to the brain of the kids who have a high level use of violent television. Once upon a time you could say: Look, here is an x-ray of a smoker’s lung and here is an x-ray of a non-smoker’s lung, and you look at the two side by side. And the result was astonishing. And now we have the brain scans of the video-game player and the brain scan of the non-video game player. And the result is simply astonishing. What you see is: The brain scan of the healthy kid is all full of colours where brain activity is happening. But the other kid, the kid that spends so much time in front of violent video games and television has no brain activity. The forebrain, the human brain, the rational brain is shut down, and the mid brain, the emotional brain, the limbic system is all that functions. So we are turning off the kid’s cognitive brain and we are using these video games truly to make them totally emotional creatures. And when they kill in the video games they truly kill without conscious thought. When you see them playing the game they are taking action and are killing without conscious thought.
CC: That’s the key point. It was always said that these kids were from broken homes, but that’s not true.
DG: So the video game industry has some bogus research. Remember when we were all fighting the tobacco industry. They have their lobbyists, they have their pet-scientists who do their stooge research for them. One of the things they came up with when I was in Sweden, was some Danish research. They claimed that kids can tell the difference between fantasy and reality. It’s not true at all! That’s the kind of bogus video-game-funded research you get. If you ask the kid, we call it the ‘not me’ effect. You ask the kid, you really ask the kid, do you think tobacco is doing any harm and he says ‘no’. And you ask: Do you think it is harming your friend? And he would say: Yes. So if you ask the kids: Do you think what you are doing is harmful for you, they will never admit it! They are children! I mean, they are asking children whether or not they think it has any effects! But there is recent research in Japan that demonstrates that for the kids the video games are more real than reality! If you ask the child what they did on the third of last month, they won’t have a clue, but if you ask them what happened on level three of their favourite video game they will tell you in intimate detail what happened. The video games are more real than reality.
I’ll give you an example. Movies are more real than reality. What is your favourite movie? Do you remember the movie in detail? O.K. Do you remember what you did before you watched the movie? Do you remember anything else you did the day before? No.
The movie you remember in detail, but you don’t remember anything else that happened before, on that day, or the day after. The movie is more real than reality. We call it the hyper-reality effect. The video games are more real than reality. They have a more profound impact on you than reality does. •
1 On 20 April 1999 in Littleton/Colorado two seventeen and eighteen year-old students killed fourteen students (including themselves) and a teacher and injured 23 more students badly.
2 On 24 March 1998 two 11 and 13 year-old students triggered a false fire alarm, shot four classmates and a teacher and injured another ten students in Jonesboro/Arkansas.
Dave Grossman’s homepage: www.killology.com
Dave A. Grossman (top)
Lt.Col.Dave A. Grossman is one of the world’s foremost experts in the field of human aggression and the roots of violence and crime. He is a West Point psychology professor, Professor of Military Science and was an Airborne Ranger infantry officer for many years.
In 1998 he gave up his career as a soldier to become the founder of the ‘Killology Research Group’. Col. Grossman has made revolutionary contributions to our understanding of killing in war, the psychological costs of war, the root causes of the current ‘virus’ of violent crime that is raging around the world, and the process of healing the victims of violence, in war and peace.
He has served as an expert witness and consultant in State and Federal courts and he has testified before U.S. Senate and Congressional committees and numerous state legislatures.
He is the author of ‘On Killing: The Psychological Cost of Learning to Kill in War and Society’ (ISBN 0-316330116), which was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize and is required reading in classes at West Point, the U.S. Air Force Academy, police academies worldwide, and ‘peace studies’ programs in numerous universities.
Co-authored with Gloria DeGaetano, ‘Stop Teaching Our Kids to Kill: A Call to Action Against TV, Movie and Video Game Violence has received international acclaim’.Deepest scuba dive in the world 2014 has just been achieved by Egyptian special force member Ahmed Gamal Gabr. According to Guinness World Records officials on Friday, Gabr was able to break the record for the world record of the deepest scuba dive in the world 2014 with a plunge into the Red Sea.
According to the AFP in Cairo, Gabr reached the depth of 332.35 metres or 1,090 feet in only 12 minutes. However, the travel back took him almost 15 hours so he would not suffer any injury or illnesses.
The record for the world record of the deepest scuba dive in the world 2014 was reportedly achieved by Gabr on Thursday at the popular Red Sea diving resort of Dahab. The previous record the Egyptian surpassed was of a dive whicd reached 318.25 metres or 1,044 feet, set in the same location on June 2005 by South African Nuno Gomez, reports the AFP.
According to the Associated Press, the official confirmation on the deepest scuba dive in the world 2014 had been done by Guinness World Records Judge Talal Omar on Friday. Omar noted the record attempt to have begun on Thursday morning. According to the judge, Gabr emerged from the water after midnight on Friday.
Omar reportedly told the AFP via email, "I would like to confirm that the record for the deepest scuba dive (male) in Dahab, Egypt was successful and was achieved by Ahmed Gabr."
Of course, Gabr had not been alone towards his journey in striking the record on the deepest scuba dive in the world 2014. He was assisted by a team of hyperbaric doctors and French and Egyptian diving specialists. They reportedly created custom-made decompression tables whilst using more than 60 different diving tanks of several gases to keep him alive on his way back.
Apparently, his training with the team took four years to finish because of the enormous risks the 41-year-old lieutenant colonel had to face. Organisers said his initial plan was to descend 350 metres to hit the record for the deepest scuba dive in the world 2014, which is a dangerous depth as water pressure reaches 35 kilos per square centimetre.
There are risks such as nitrogen narcosis and high pressure neurological syndrome (HPNS), which, according to the AFP, killed former world record holder American Sheck Exley.
According to Al Arabiya News, Exley's record had not really been certified by the Guinness World Records. However, his name is recognised by the world's clubs and experts of sport diving.
Gabr's team said during training for the for the deepest scuba dive in the world 2014, Gabr had to spend months planning his every move, such as race car drivers taking in the details of their courses.
Al Arabiya News reports that a camera had been fixed together Gabr's equipment to record his feat of achieving the record for the deepest scuba dive in the world 2014.
Though he had a team accompany him in the depths of the Red Sea, he reportedly left behind other divers and friends after reaching 100 metres. He was alone descending into the cold, dark depths of the sea.
Apparently, Gabr used techniques learned from yoga masters in getting the record for deepest scuba dive in the world 2014. This is because he had to limit his breathing to a minimum and consciously slow his heartbeat. According to Al Arabiya News, at such extreme depths, divers must know how to achieve fill body control as the ascent back to the surface could be fatal.
Deepest scuba dive in the world 2014 was achieved by a man who began his diving career at the age of 18. According to the AP, Gabr was granted a scholarship to the United States Army Combat Diver course at the time. It was the year 2010 when he began training for the record of the deepest scuba dive in the world 2014.
Good morning Ahmed Gabr on the top of the list as the world record holder for deep diving #Egypt #Dahab pic.twitter.com/8gohQGkpk7 — Love Life &Smile (@loveLife_Smile) September 19, 2014
See Now: The U.S. had the highest number of Most Wanted properties, dominating the Hotels.com Loved By Guests Awards 2018.- Pope Benedict XVI has signed his Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation on the Church in the Middle East, “Ecclesia in Medio Oriente,” during the first day of his visit to Lebanon.
“The Exhortation as a whole is meant to help each of the Lord’s disciples to live fully and to pass on faithfully to others what he or she has become by Baptism: a child of light, sharing in God’s own light, a lamp newly lit amid the troubled darkness of this world, so that the light may shine in the darkness,” he said.
Pope Benedict made his remarks during the official signing ceremony at the Melkite Greek Catholic Basilica of St. Paul in the coastal town of Harissa, Sept. 14.
“The document seeks to help purify the faith from all that disfigures it, from everything that can obscure the splendor of Christ’s light,” he noted.
“For communion is true fidelity to Christ, and Christian witness is the radiance of the paschal mystery which gives full meaning to the cross, exalted and glorious.”
The exhortation is the Pope’s response to the deliberations of the Synod of Bishops of the Middle East held at the Vatican in October 2010. The topic for discussion then was “The Catholic Church in the Middle East: Communion and Witness.”
The Pope, who is in the country from Sept. 14 -16, noted the providence of signing the document on the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, which has its origins in 4th century Jerusalem during the reign of the Roman Emperor Constantine.
He also reminded those present that next month is the 1700th anniversary of the appearance to Constantine of the Chi-Rho, the first two letters of Christ’s name in Greek. It appeared to the emperor as a “radiant in the symbolic night of his unbelief and accompanied by the words: 'In this sign you will conquer!'” prior to victory at the Battle of the Milvian Bridge near Rome, thus paving the way for the acceptance of Christianity within the Roman Empire.
Reading the exhortation with these historic events in mind “leads to renewed appreciation of the identity of each baptized person and of the Church, and is at the same time a summons to witness in and through communion,” said the Pope.
“For Christians, to exalt the cross means to be united to the totality of God’s unconditional love for mankind. It means making an act of faith!” he said.
“To exalt the cross, against the backdrop of the resurrection, means to desire to experience and to show the totality of this love. It means making an act of love!”
“To exalt the cross means to be a committed herald of fraternal and ecclesial communion, the source of authentic Christian witness. It means making an act of hope!”
Listening to Pope Benedict was a packed congregation consisting of leaders of Lebanon’s 40 percent Christian community – mainly Catholic and Orthodox – along with leaders of other religions including the region’s dominant faith, Islam.
The Pope thanked God that it was the people of the Middle East “were the first to welcome his incarnate Son” but also recognized that following Jesus Christ in the region today often requires much “courage and faith.”
This was why, he said, the Synod Fathers were keen to reflect upon the “joys and struggles, the fears and hopes of Christ’s disciples in these lands.”
“In this way, the entire Church was able to hear the troubled cry and see the desperate faces of many men and women who experience grave human and material difficulties, who live amid powerful tensions in fear and uncertainty.”
Such is the way of the exultation of the cross, said the Pope, that it often requires following Christ “even in difficult and sometimes painful situations.”
“It is here and now that we are called to celebrate the victory of love over hate, forgiveness over revenge, service over domination, humility over pride, and unity over division.”
Middle Eastern Christians, therefore, should not fear the future but, instead, should “stand firm in truth and in purity of faith” that results from the “the cross, exalted and glorious.”
“Churches of the Middle East, fear not, for the Lord is truly with you, to the close of the age!” urged Pope Benedict, “Fear not, because the universal Church walks at your side and is humanly and spiritually close to you!”A prior section 7431 was renumbered section 7437 of this title.
Amendments
2006—Subsec. (a)(2). Pub. L. 109–280, which directed insertion of “or in violation of section 6104(c)” after “6103” in subsec. (a)(2) of section 7431, without specifying the act to be amended, was executed by making the insertion in subsec. (a)(2) of this section, which is section 7431 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, to reflect the probable intent of Congress.
1998—Subsec. (c)(2). Pub. L. 105–206, § 3101(f), substituted “, plus” for the period at end.
Subsec. (c)(3). Pub. L. 105–206, § 3101(f), added par. (3).
Subsecs. (g), (h). Pub. L. 105–206, § 6012(b)(3), redesignated subsec. (g), relating to special rule for information obtained under section 6103(k)(8), as (h), and substituted “(9)” for “(8)” in heading.
1997—Pub. L. 105–35, § 3(d)(4), inserted “inspection or” before “disclosure” in section catchline.
Subsec. (a)(1), (2). Pub. L. 105–35, § 3(a)(1), (2), substituted “Inspection or disclosure” for “Disclosure” in headings and “inspects or discloses” for “discloses” in text.
Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 105–35, § 3(c), amended subsec. (b) generally. Prior to amendment, subsec. (b) read as follows:
“(b) No Liability for Good Faith but Erroneous Interpretation.—No liability shall arise under this section with respect to any disclosure which results from a good faith, but erroneous, interpretation of section 6103.”
Subsec. (c)(1). Pub. L. 105–35, § 3(d)(1), (2), inserted “inspection or” before “disclosure” in subpars. (A) and (B)(i) and substituted “willful inspection or disclosure or an inspection or disclosure” for “willful disclosure or a disclosure” in subpar. (B)(ii).
Subsec. (d). Pub. L. 105–35, § 3(d)(1), inserted “inspection or” before “disclosure”.
Subsec. (e). Pub. L. 105–35, § 3(b), added subsec. (e). Former subsec. (e) redesignated (f).
Subsec. (f). Pub. L. 105–35, § 3(b), (d)(3), redesignated subsec. (e) as (f) and amended it generally. Prior to amendment, subsec. (f) read as follows:
“(f) Return; Return Information.—For purposes of this section, the terms ‘return’ and ‘return information’ have the respective meanings given such terms in section 6103(b).”
Subsec. (g). Pub. L. 105–35, § 3(b), (d)(6), redesignated subsec. (f) as (g) and substituted “any inspection or use” for “any use” in par. (2).
Pub. L. 105–34, § 1205(c)(2), added subsec. (g) relating to special rule for information obtained under section 6103(k)(8).
1983—Subsec. (f). Pub. L. 98–67 added subsec. (f).Inside Out, the new Disney/Pixar collaboration is in cinemas this week, ready for the June-July school holidays.
It’s an ambitious project about the emotions inside the head of Riley, an 11-year-old schoolgirl. There’s joy, happiness, disgust, sadness and fear, depicted as colourful characters operating and fighting over the control room that is Riley’s mind. But after seeing the movie with my son, I experienced another emotion — disappointment.
media_camera From left, Anger (voiced by Lewis Black), Disgust (Mindy Kaling), Joy (Amy Poehler), Fear, (Bill Hader), and Sadness (Phyllis Smith) in the film “Inside Out”. (Disney-Pixar via AP, File)
And it’s not because this isn’t a great movie. Early reviews say it is the best animated flick from the Pixar stable, and I agree.
On a basic level it’s goofy enough to amuse the kids. For the mums and dads who pay for the tickets it’s very clever. There’s an explanation as to why after years of piano lessons all we can remember is chopsticks, or why we can’t get that annoying advertising jingle out of our heads.
And it has that obligatory message about life, in this case — without sadness there can be no joy.
But having sat through Disney’s Frozen, with its two strong female characters and negative depiction of men, I was hoping Inside Out would offer some inspiration for boys. After all, in Frozen, the handsome prince was a schemer pretending to love princess Anna to gain control of the throne, and her other love interest, Kristoff, could at best described as a mountain nerd who preferred the company of his reindeer to people.
I was hoping Inside Out would include a positive male role model. Instead what we got was another strong female leads in Riley and the two emotions that are the heroines of the movie — joy and sadness. Disgust is also portrayed as a sassy teenage girl, which leaves the boys with anger and fear.
In an interview, director Pete Docter said anger was a response to the unfairness in the world, making it a noble emotion, but what the audience sees is a short square red man who is quick to blow his top and loves to swear. The message is clear — boys are fearful and quick to get angry.
Girls are sensitive and fun.
Maybe they are just re-dressing the balance? In the Toy Story movies, for instance, the main characters Buzz and Woody were male, but at least there was the fearless cowgirl Jessie and the caring Bo Peep. For the sake of this argument I’m forgetting about the nagging Mrs Potato Head. Andy’s mum was busy looking after her son and his younger sister but where was Andy’s dad? He literally wasn’t in the picture.
Riley’s dad is at least around, however as soon as they get to their new home he abandons his wife and daughter to race off to work. The message is dads put work before family. And in a scene at the dinner table when Riley’s mum is trying to find out what is troubling her daughter, we get a glimpse into Dad’s mind — he’s thinking about sport.
I asked my son if it worried him that main character was a girl — and that the heroines of the movie were both girls. “No,” he replied. “It’s just the way things are. Girls are better than boys.”
And that sums up my point. Let’s continue to show girls they are intelligent and able, but in doing so, let’s not forget our sons need the same encouragement.
Michelle Collins is the mother of three boys.By James Morgan
Science reporter, BBC News
The race is on to breed maize which can tolerate the heat of future summers
Half the world's population could face a climate-induced food crisis by 2100, a new report by US scientists warns. Rapid warming is likely to reduce crop yields in the tropics and subtropics, according to Prof David Battisti of the University of Washington, Seattle. The most extreme summers of the last century will become the norm, he calculates, using 23 climate models. We must urgently create crops tolerant to heat and drought if we are to adapt in time, he writes in Science journal. We're taking the worst of what we've seen historically and saying that in the future it is going to be a lot worse, unless there is some kind of adaptation
Prof Rosamond Naylor, Stanford University "The stresses on global food production from temperature alone are going to be huge," said Mr Battisti, a professor of atmospheric sciences. "And that doesn't take into account water supplies stressed by the higher temperatures." He collaborated with Professor Rosamond Naylor, director of Stanford University's Program on Food Security and the Environment, to examine the impact of climate change on the world's food security. Beyond extreme The duo combined direct observations with projections from 23 global climate models that contributed to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's (IPCC) 2007 global assessment. They calculate there is greater than 90% probability that by 2100, the average growing-season temperatures in the tropics and subtropics will be higher than any temperatures recorded there to date. "We are taking the worst of what we've seen historically and saying that in the future it is going to be a lot worse unless there is some kind of adaptation," said Professor Naylor.
We do have long enough to adjust these kind of temperature rises... But it requires a huge effort and it requires us to start now
Dr Geoff Hawtin, International Centre for Tropical Agriculture
"This is a compelling reason for us to invest in adaptation, because it is clear that this is the direction we are going in terms of temperature and it will take decades to develop new food crop varieties that can better withstand a warmer climate." In the tropics, the higher temperatures could be expected to cut yields of the primary food crops, maize and rice, by 20-40%, the researchers said. Rising temperatures also are likely to reduce soil moisture, cutting yields even further. Currently three billion people live in the tropics and subtropics, and their number is expected nearly to double by the end of the century. "You are talking about hundreds of millions of additional people looking for food because they won't be able to find it where they find it now," said Professor Battisti. Crop failures would not be limited to the tropics, the scientists concluded. As an example, they cite record temperatures that struck Western Europe in June, July and August of 2003, killing an estimated 52,000 people. In France and Italy, the heatwave cut wheat yields and fodder production by one-third. Scientists say such temperatures could be normal for France by 2100. "I think what startled me the most is that when we looked at our historic examples there were ways to address the problem within a given year. People could always turn somewhere else to find food," Professor Naylor said. "But in the future there's not going to be any place to turn unless we rethink our food supplies." Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play. Advertisement "You can let it happen and painfully adapt, or you can plan for it," said Professor Battisti. "You could also mitigate it and not let it happen in the first place, but we're not doing a very good job of that." "This is a very important report," said Dr Geoff Hawtin, director general of the International Centre for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) and a former executive secretary of the Global Crop Diversity Trust. "What worries me is the uncertainty about the speed at which the growing season temperatures will rise. African farmers will be among the first to feel the heat of predicted droughts "We do have long enough to adjust to these kinds of temperature increases - they are well within our capabilities. But it requires a huge effort - much bigger than we are making currently - and it requires us to start now," he told BBC News. "We don't know where the tipping points are - they could come quite quickly." Along with some other experts, Dr Hawtin believes that maintaining the maximum level of genetic diversity in crops and seedbanks is a good insurance policy, providing options for developing future strains. "We are not doing enough," he said. "We've done a fairly good job on cereal crops, but we have a long way to go on minor crops that could turn out to be of major importance in the future. "We need to understand more about the physiology of drought and heat resistance in plants - maize, beans, legumes, sorghum, millet - anything which grows in an environment subject to drought. "We need to take genes for heat tolerance, for example, and put them together in crops. "And we have to start now." Harsh reality As the summers get hotter, said Dr Hawtin: "We can't just move all our crops north (or south) because a lot of crops are photosensitive. Flowering is triggered by day length - so you would run into all sorts of problems if you tried that. "And even if Russia and Canada turn out to be the world's bread baskets, the cost of transporting the food to Africa will be too much. People in these areas can't afford food now." Researchers at CIAT are part of the global Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) network, aiming to create new, improved crop varieties able to survive the extreme growing seasons predicted throughout the coming century. Approaches range from conventional crop breeding to genetic modification. A number of other public research institutions and commercial companies are also working on drought- and heat-tolerant varieties. Agrichemical giant Monsanto said this week it had made a "significant step" in creating a drought-tolerant maize which could be available as early as 2012. The genetically modified (GM) corn, which Monsanto claims will "reset the bar" in farming productivity, has moved to the final stage of development, the company said. However, the claims were dismissed as "hype and misinformation", by Bill Freese, a science analyst at the Centre for Food Safety in Washington DC. Farmers in tropical countries such as Senegal will suffer most, the study predicts
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StumbleUpon What are these? E-mail this to a friend Printable versionYeu-jin "Reignover" Kim is a League of Legends jungle player for Team Immortals. Formerly from Korea, Reignover made his first apperance on Incredible Miracles. Shortly after, he was scouted and joined Fnatic's 2015 roster, a roster that reached semi-finals at Worlds. Now, he's moved to the North American LCS to play for Team Immortals and has high hopes for the upcoming split.
This week you started off really strong with this weeks LCS. Immortals went 2-0 and look to be a contender for a top North American spot. How's it feel beating one of the most hyped junglers in NA (in Rush) this split.
Reignover: At the beginning of the game and even before we started, I was pretty worried because everyone was saying Rush is really aggressive and that he's a really good player. But when the game started, they |
fish hooks in the world of fishing. Sizes, designs, shapes, and materials are all variable depending on the intended purpose of the fish hook. Fish hooks are manufactured for a range of purposes from general fishing to extremely limited and specialized applications. Fish hooks are designed to hold various types of artificial, processed, dead or live baits ( bait fishing ); to act as the foundation for artificial representations of fish prey ( fly fishing ); or to be attached to or integrated into other devices that represent fish prey ( lure fishing ).
An early written reference to a fish hook is found with reference to the Leviathan in the Book of Job 41:1; Canst thou draw out leviathan with a hook? Fish hooks have been crafted from all sorts of materials including wood, animal [5] and human bone, horn, shells, stone, bronze, iron, and up to present day materials. In many cases, hooks were created from multiple materials to leverage the strength and positive characteristics of each material. Norwegians as late as the 1950s still used juniper wood to craft Burbot hooks. [6] Quality steel hooks began to make their appearance in Europe in the 17th century and hook making became a task for specialists. [7]
The fish hook or similar device has been made by man for many thousands of years. The world's oldest fish hooks (they were made from sea snails shells) were discovered in Sakitari Cave in Okinawa Island dated between 22,380 and 22,770 years old. [2] [3] They are older than the fish hooks from the Jerimalai cave in East Timor dated between 23,000 and 16,000 years old, [4] and New Ireland in Papua New Guinea dated 20,000 to 18,000 years old. [2]
Contemporary hooks are manufactured from either high-carbon steel, steel alloyed with vanadium, or stainless steel, depending on application. Most quality fish hooks are covered with some form of corrosion-resistant surface coating. Corrosion resistance is required not only when hooks are used, especially in saltwater, but while they are stored. Additionally, coatings are applied to color and/or provide aesthetic value to the hook. At a minimum, hooks designed for freshwater use are coated with a clear lacquer, but hooks are also coated with gold, nickel, Teflon, tin and different colors.
Commonly referred to parts of a fish hook are: its point, the sharp end that penetrates the fish's mouth or flesh; the barb, the projection extending backwards from the point, that secures the fish from unhooking; the eye, the loop in the end of the hook that is connected to the fishing line or lure; the bend and shank, that portion of the hook that connects the point and the eye; and the gap, the distance between the shank and the point. In many cases, hooks are described by using these various parts of the hook, for example: wide gape, long shank, hollow point or out turned eye.
A Variety of fish hooks
There are a large number of different types of fish hooks. At the macro level, there are bait hooks, fly hooks and lure hooks. Within these broad categories there are wide varieties of hook types designed for different applications. Hook types differ in shape, materials, points and barbs, and eye type, and ultimately in their intended application. When individual hook types are designed the specific characteristics of each of these hook components are optimized relative to the hook's intended purpose. For example, a delicate dry fly hook is made of thin wire with a tapered eye because weight is the overriding factor. Whereas Carlisle or Aberdeen light wire bait hooks make use of thin wire to reduce injury to live bait but the eyes are not tapered because weight is not an issue. Many factors contribute to hook design, including corrosion resistance, weight, strength, hooking efficiency, and whether the hook is being used for specific types of bait, on different types of lures or for different styles of flies. For each hook type, there are ranges of acceptable sizes. For all types of hooks, sizes range from 32 (the smallest) to 20/0 (the largest).
Shapes and names Edit
Hook shapes and names are as varied as fish themselves. In some cases hooks are identified by a traditional or historic name, e.g. Aberdeen, Limerick or O'Shaughnessy. In other cases, hooks are merely identified by their general purpose or have included in their name, one or more of their physical characteristics. Some manufacturers just give their hooks model numbers and describe their general purpose and characteristics. For example:
Eagle Claw : 139 is a Snelled Baitholder, Offset, Down Eye, Two Slices, Medium Wire
: 139 is a Snelled Baitholder, Offset, Down Eye, Two Slices, Medium Wire Lazer Sharp : L2004EL is a Circle Sea, Wide Gap, Non-Offset, Ringed Eye, Light Wire
: L2004EL is a Circle Sea, Wide Gap, Non-Offset, Ringed Eye, Light Wire Mustad Model : 92155 is a Beak Baitholder hook
: 92155 is a Beak Baitholder hook Mustad Model : 91715D is an O'Shaughnessy Jig Hook, 90 degree angle
: 91715D is an O'Shaughnessy Jig Hook, 90 degree angle TMC Model 300 : Streamer D/E, 6XL, Heavy wire, Forged, Bronze
: Streamer D/E, 6XL, Heavy wire, Forged, Bronze TMC Model 200R: Nymph & Dry Fly Straight eye, 3XL, Standard wire, Semidropped point, Forged, Bronze
The shape of the hook shank can vary widely from merely straight to all sorts of curves, kinks, bends and offsets. These different shapes contribute in some cases to better hook penetration, fly imitations or bait holding ability. Many hooks intended to hold dead or artificial baits have sliced shanks which create barbs for better baiting holding ability. Jig hooks are designed to have lead weight molded onto the hook shank. Hook descriptions may also include shank length as standard, extra long, 2XL, short, etc. and wire size such as fine wire, extra heavy, 2X heavy, etc.
Single, double and treble hooks Edit
Green Highlander, a classic salmon A Salmon Fly hook as the foundation for a, a classic salmon fly
Hooks are designed as either single hooks—a single eye, shank and point; double hooks—a single eye merged with two shanks and points; or triple—a single eye merged with three shanks and three evenly spaced points. Double hooks are formed from a single piece of wire and may or may not have their shanks brazed together for strength. Treble hooks are formed by adding a single eyeless hook to a double hook and brazing all three shanks together. Double hooks are used on some artificial lures and are a traditional fly hook for Atlantic Salmon flies, but are otherwise fairly uncommon. Treble hooks are used on all sorts of artificial lures as well as for a wide variety of bait applications.
Bait hook shapes and names Edit
Bait hook shapes and names include the Salmon Egg, Beak, O'Shaughnessy, Baitholder, Shark Hook, Aberdeen, Carlisle, Carp Hook, Tuna Circle, Offset Worm, Circle Hook, suicide hook, Long Shank, Short Shank, J Hook, Octopus Hook and Big Game Jobu hooks.
Fly hook shapes and names Edit
Fly hook shapes include Sproat, Sneck, Limerick, Kendal, Viking, Captain Hamilton, Barleet, Swimming Nymph, Bend Back, Model Perfect, Keel, and Kink-shank.
Points and barbs Edit
The hook point is probably the most important part of the hook. It is the point that must penetrate fish flesh and secure the fish. The profile of the hook point and its length influence how well the point penetrates. The barb influences how far the point penetrates, how much pressure is required to penetrate and ultimately the holding power of the hook. Hook points are mechanically (ground) or chemically sharpened. Some hooks are barbless. Historically, many ancient fish hooks were barbless, but today a barbless hook is used to make hook removal and fish release less stressful on the fish. Hook points are also described relative to their offset from the hook shank. A kirbed hook point is offset to the left, a straight point has no offset and a reversed point is offset to the right.
[ citation needed ] A hook in a finger. Either surgery or pushing the hook through the finger are the least destructive methods to remove a barbed fishing hook.
Care needs to be taken when handling hooks as they can 'hook' the user. If a hook goes in deep enough below the barb, pulling the hook out will tear the flesh. There are three methods to remove a hook. The first is by cutting the flesh to remove it. The second is to cut the eye of the hook off and then push the remainder of the hook through the flesh and the third is to place pressure on the shank towards the flesh which pulls the barb into the now oval hole then push the hook out the way it came in.[citation needed]
Hook point types Edit
Hook points are commonly referred to by these names: needle point, rolled-in, hollow, spear, beak, mini-barb, semi-dropped and knife edge. Some other hook point names are used for branding by manufacturers.
Eyes Edit
Up-turned, Down-turned and Straight Hook Eyes
The eye of a hook, although some hooks are technically eyeless, is the point where the hook is connected to the line. Hook eye design is usually optimized for either strength, weight and/or presentation. There are different types of eyes to the hooks. Typical eye types include the ring or ball eye, a brazed eye-the eye is fully closed, a tapered eye to reduce weight, a looped eye—traditional on Atlantic Salmon flies, needle eyes, and spade end—no eye at all, but a flattened area to allow secure snelling of the leader to the hook. Hook eyes can also be positioned one of three ways on the shank—up turned, down turned or straight.
Size Edit
There are no internationally recognized standards for hooks and thus size is somewhat inconsistent between manufacturers. However, within a manufacturer's range of hooks, hook sizes are consistent.
Hook sizes generally are referred to by a numbering system that places the size 1 hook in the middle of the size range. Smaller hooks are referenced by larger whole numbers (e.g. 1, 2, 3...). Larger hooks are referenced by increasing whole numbers followed by a slash and a zero (e.g. 1/0 (one aught), 2/0, 3/0...) as their size increases. The numbers represent relative sizes, normally associated with the gap (the distance from the point tip to the shank). The smallest size available is 32 and largest 20/0.Microsoft has managed to do what a roomful of secretive, three-letter government agencies have wanted to do for years: get the whistleblowing, government-document sharing site Cryptome shut down.
Microsoft dropped a DMCA notice alleging copyright infringement on Cryptome's proprietor John Young on Tuesday after he posted a Microsoft surveillance compliance document that the company gives to law enforcement agents seeking information on Microsoft users. Young filed a counterclaim on Wednesday – arguing he had a fair use to publishing the document, a full day before the Thursday deadline set by his hosting provider, Network Solutions.
Regardless, Cryptome was shut down by Network Solutions and its domain name locked on Wednesday – shuttering a site that thumbed its nose at the government since 1996 – posting thousands of documents that the feds would prefer never saw the light of day.
Microsoft did not return a call for comment by press time.
The 22-page document (.pdf) contains no trade secrets, but will tell Microsoft users things they didn't know. (You can read it directly on your own computer from the above link, or read it inline below.)
For instance, Xbox Live records every IP address you ever use to login and stores them for perpetuity. While that's going to be creepy for some, there's an upside if your house gets robbed, according to the document: "If your investigation involves a stolen Xbox console, if the console serial number or Xbox LIVE user gamertag is provided and the console has been connected to the Internet, IP connection records may be available."
The Microsoft® Online Services Global Criminal Compliance Handbook (.pdf) also goes so far as to provide sample language for subpoenas and diagrams on how to understand server logs.
Other things you might not know and which Microsoft (sometimes oddly) doesn't want you to know?
Microsoft retains only the last 10 login records for Windows Live ID. As for your instant messages, it tells police that it keeps no record of what anyone says over Microsoft Messenger - though it will turn over who is on your buddy list.
And if you like to use Microsoft's social networking products – like its old-school Group mailing list or its Facebook-like Spaces product, be aware that it's very social when it comes to law enforcement or court subpoenas.
As Microsoft tells potential subpoenaees, "when you are looking for information on a specific incident like a photo posting or message posting, please request all group content and logs. We cannot retrieve single incident data." The same holds for Spaces – if you are interested in a single picture, just request the entire thing. Call it Subpoena 2.0.
The compliance handbook is just the latest in a series of leaks of similar documents from other companies. Yahoo, like Microsoft, reacted as if its secret sauce had somehow been spilled by letting curious users know the hows and whys of how the companies deal with lawful surveillance requests. Google, for all its crusading for internet freedom, refuses to say how often law enforcement comes searching for user data.
The one company who has had a stand-up policy for years is the Cox Communications' ISP, which has had this information and their price list public for years.
But hypocrisy is the name of the game for giant internet companies like Yahoo, Microsoft and Google that want us to entrust large portions of our lives to Gmail, Yahoo Mail, Buzz, Xbox, Hotmail, Messenger, Google Groups. When it comes to the most basic information about how, why and how often our data is subpoenaed and collected without our knowledge, these online innovators resort to lawyers, abusive legal process and double-talk.
Photo: Emma Swann
See Also:Hello, everyone! It’s Marco again and I’m back with another article on EXCEED. By this point, Street Fighter EXCEED should either be on its way to you or in your hands right now! This means that many of you will have at least seen the cards or played a couple of games.
I’d like to, therefore, take this opportunity to talk about something unique to the Street Fighter EXCEED game: Criticals. Specifically, I want to explore season mechanics and how they further sell you on the fantasy of the worlds tied to that season. So, without much else, let’s get into it, shall we?
What’s a Season Mechanic?
Simply put, a Season Mechanic is a unique mechanic that we put into every season of EXCEED. However, it is important to note the depth and gravity of this mechanic. It is not simply something like adding a new effect or a unique set of effects, as you’d often see when we make a new fighter. Instead, a season mechanic is more akin to a system-wide change. It does not only affect one character, it affects everyone in the season and, often, governs the gameplay and design of the characters in said season. The season mechanic finds itself interwoven into the very fabric of the game, making it less of an exception and more of a rule.
Furthermore, season mechanics are exactly just that: mechanics that last a season. They are made the main highlight for one set of characters and, then, take a backseat once the next season begins. This makes season mechanics similar to the “new keywords” that are introduced with every new set in CCG’s like Magic: The Gathering.
But Why Only One Season?
With each season of EXCEED, we hope to bring a new and enjoyable gaming experience to all of you. It is, therefore, in our best interest to keep things interesting by introducing new and fresh mechanics to a familiar system. This way, you can all enjoy the discovery of new and fun interactions through the lens of something that is familiar. However, such a concept presents a problem in terms of growing complexity.
One disadvantage of adding new mechanics is that they often tend to increase the amount of information that players need to know in order to even play the game. Since season mechanics tend to be system-wide changes that permeate every single character, it is very unlikely that one can play EXCEED while completely ignoring the season mechanic. This can be quite problematic for future design space. Would new players need to understand a couple of years’ worth of season mechanics just to even begin playing?
In the end, this issue of discovery at the cost of complexity is solved by having season mechanics last for only one season. Not only does it allow for discovery with each new season, it doesn’t increase the complexity of future seasons as a result. As an added benefit, not having to consider previous season mechanics as core design allows us to further sell you on the fantasy provided by each of the worlds we feature in each season. To better understand this, let’s look at two season mechanics: Criticals and Transforms.
Criticals VS Transforms
As mentioned earlier, one reason to make use of a season mechanic is to highlight and “sell” the players on a certain fantasy or experience related to the property or world we’re featuring in a season. This isn’t made clearer than in Seasons 2 and 3 of EXCEED, where we make use of the Transform and Critical mechanics, respectively.
However, before exploring their design and experience implications, it’s important to understand what these mechanics do.
Above, you’ll see Akuma’s Gohadoken from Season 3 and Minato’s Bus Stop from Season 2. Both cards feature that Season’s mechanic. Street Fighter EXCEED (Season 3) makes use of the Critical mechanic. By paying 1 Gauge as they set an attack, Street Fighter characters can activate all the Critical triggers on their card, giving them added effects or stats. On the other hand, EXCEED Seventh Cross (Season 2) makes use of the Transform mechanic. Seventh Cross characters have cards that have a Transform rather than the typical Boost. When hitting an opponent with an attack that has a Transform, Seventh Cross characters may Transform it instead of putting it into their Gauge. These often give them special actions and abilities for the rest of the game. Transforms also reduce the character’s EXCEED cost, making it easier to flip to their EXCEED side.
These mechanics are quite different. Criticals are temporary attack buffs and Transforms are semi-permanent buffs that very much add to the list of available actions or effects the character has. However, this is to be expected, given the different worlds that each of these seasons are trying to highlight.
The world of Seventh Cross is defined by the idea of change and transformation. Characters, in the lore, can make use of magic, but must be weary when doing so, as magic inevitably corrupts and, eventually, distorts the user into a gigantic monster with immense strength and almost zero control. The Transformation mechanic captures this on multiple levels. By offering you the choice of Transforming or not, the game is tempting you with the Transform’s power, much like magic tempts the characters in the world of Seventh Cross. Should you decide to make use of the power, you lose the ability to use the card as an attack in the future, while also making it easier to EXCEED into your “monster form”, effectively mirroring the experience of Seventh Cross characters.
On the other hand, not every mechanic is meant to provide the experience of the world it is meant to represent. Sometimes, season mechanics pay homage to something familiar in the world. This is very much the case for Criticals in Street Fighter EXCEED. Being loosely based on the V-Trigger and EX systems in that game, Street Fighter characters can imbue their attacks with added properties in exchange for Gauge. This affords them added firepower at the cost of hard-earned resources, making this season more focused on Gauge generation, resource management, and attack buffs; much like the Street Fighter video games themselves. As such, Street Fighter EXCEED’s season mechanic is less about making you feel like you’re in the world of Street Fighter but, rather, making you feel like you’re playing Street Fighter.
Final Words
Not every season of EXCEED will have a season mechanic, but those that do make use of them to further immerse you into the world of the season, whether it’s that world’s mechanics or lore. This doesn’t necessarily mean that seasons without season mechanics are any less immersive. The lack of a season mechanic opens the design space for more complex individual powers that can make each character truly play differently, as opposed to working within a system that all the other characters are designed around. This highlights the individual characters more than the world they inhabit, which is a positive in its own right. Perhaps, we can explore that in a different article, when another season comes out. 😉
I do hope you enjoyed this dabble into the design of season mechanics! If you’re excited to see the difference yourself, I suggest getting EXCEED Season 2 (Seventh Cross) and EXCEED Season 3 (Street Fighter). Happy gaming!Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images(SPRINGERVILLE, Ariz.) -- A U.S. Forest Service official said on Sunday there is no evidence that illegal immigrants started some of the wildfires in Arizona, as Sen. John McCain has claimed.
Tom Berglund, spokesman for the federal group managing the Wallow fire that McCain toured on Saturday, said the cause of the fire has been determined as "human," specifically an "escaped campfire," meaning the campfire sparked beyond the confines of the rocks containing it.
Two "subjects of interest" have been spoken to, but as of now, no suspect has been named, Berglund said. When asked if there is substantial evidence that some fires were caused by illegal immigrants, as McCain said at a news conference Saturday, Berglund said, "Absolutely not, at this level."
"There's no evidence that I'm aware, no evidence that's been public, indicating such a thing," he said.
"We are concerned about, particularly, areas down on the border where there is substantial evidence that some of these fires are caused by people who have crossed our border illegally," McCain said Saturday at a press conference, according to CNN. "The answer to that part of the problem is to get a secure border."
"They have set fires because they want to signal others. They have set fires to keep warm and they have set fires in order to divert law enforcement agents and agencies from them," McCain said.
McCain offered no evidence to substantiate his claims, however, prompting criticism from Latino civil rights advocates.
The Wallow fire has burned 511,118 acres of land, according to InciWeb, an online database that tracks natural disasters. On Saturday, it was about 38 percent contained, according to the Arizona Republic, but authorities are concerned about high winds. The 200 residents of Luna, N.M., located seven miles away from the Arizona border, were evacuated on Saturday.
The Wallow fire is one of five wildfires currently being battled in Arizona, including the Monument fire in southern Arizona, which destroyed dozens of homes last week.
Copyright 2011 ABC News RadioStrawberries found to decrease knee pain in arthritis sufferers
Strawberries are regarded as a healthy fruit with a multitude of health benefits, and a recent study has uncovered another one. Regular strawberry consumption has been found to alleviate the pain levels of knee osteoarthritis.
For the purposes of their study, published in Nutrients, the researchers took in 17 obese adult volunteers then divided them into two groups. One group was given 50 grams of freeze-dried strawberry powder daily, while the other was given a placebo everyday. The experiment took place over the course of 12 weeks, with a two-week washout phase to draw out the total experiment duration to 26 weeks. Blood samples, health assessment questionnaires, and pain and quality of life indicator assessments were administered throughout various points of the experiment to gauge the possible effects of the strawberry powder.
By the end of the experiment, the volunteers who were given strawberry powder reported feeling significantly decreased levels of pain when compared with the control group. The researchers noted that this is most likely due to the the anti-inflammatory effects of strawberries. “Dietary strawberries may have significant analgesic and anti-inflammatory effects in obese adults with established knee [osteoarthritis],” wrote the researchers.
This research presents a good solution for sufferers of osteoarthritis, as this condition has no known cure. All that can be done to treat osteoarthritis is to manage it through anti-inflammatory medications, lifestyle modifications, and weight management.
The benefits of strawberries
According to Arthritis.org, strawberries are among the best foods to add to the diets of arthritic patients. Strawberries have an impressive vitamin C content that is much higher than oranges, and vitamin C can decrease the risk of gout by lowering uric acid levels. Moreover, strawberries are rich with phythochemicals like anthocyanins which are known to have anti-inflammatory and antioxidant effects. By reducing inflammation and muscle degeneration while simultaneously increasing joint mobility, strawberries can alleviate the pains of arthritis. It’s no small wonder then why strawberries had such a positive effect on the volunteers.
In addition to soothing arthritic aches, strawberries can yield many other benefits when eaten frequently. Since strawberries are abundant in vitamin C, they can strengthen the immune system and make you less likely to catch a cold or develop heart disease. Strawberries contain considerable amounts of magnesium and potassium as well, so they can lower blood pressure and lessen your chances of hypertension. (Related: Strawberries again vindicated in the fight against heart disease, diabetes and cognitive decline)
Strawberries are an excellent addition to your diet. You don’t need to wait to for your knees to hurt before you enjoy the health benefits of these delicious fruits when you can start right now.
To read up on more ways of improving your health, simply go to NaturalHealth.news today.
Sources include:
MDPI.com
Arthritis.org
OrganicFacts.netThe stories of a unique bond between a child and their pet are as timeless as they come, but rarely does the pet have wings. Such is the case with photographer Cameron Bloom whose son Noah happened upon a baby magpie in 2013 when the family was out walking near their home in Newport, Australia. After consulting with a veterinarian, the family learned to raise the orphaned bird, who they affectionately named Penguin.
A year later, the curious bird has deeply integrated with the family. Despite being free to come and go outdoors, she always returns to the Bloom household where Cameron, his wife Sam, and their sons Rueben, Noah, and Oli eagerly await her return. On rare occasions, Penguin even shows off her adopted family to other magpies who have followed her inside the house.
For the past year, Bloom has dutifully snapped photos which he publishes on a wildly popular Instagram account. Seriously people, it’s amazing; follow it now, ask questions later. The feels. Penguin pretty much gets the run of the house and is free to snuggle with the family in bed, get tangled in their hair, or help with homework.
Just yesterday, New York Times bestselling author Bradley Trevor Greive announced that he’ll be writing a book about Penguin and the Blooms, accompanied by Cameron’s photography. You can see more on his website. All photos shared here courtesy the photographer. (via Beautiful Decay, ABC)Unfortunately, the poor can’t eat conservative principles.
Scott Olson/Getty Images
Like all of the leading Republican presidential contenders, Ted Cruz has vowed to pass a series of implausibly large tax cuts that would disproportionately benefit the wealthy. But is his plan so heartlessly regressive that it would actually raise taxes on the poor?
A new analysis by the nonpartisan Tax Policy Center says, indeed, it is.1 The think tank finds that by 2025, Cruz’s proposal—total cost: well more than $8 trillion over a decade—would increase the average federal tax burden for the bottom fifth of Americans by 0.6 percentage points, or $116 dollars. The top 1 percent, in contrast, would get a 14.1 percentage point cut, on average, worth $490,000. That would distinguish Cruz’s framework from the proposals put forth by Jeb Bush, Donald Trump, and Marco Rubio, which at least have the decency to offer pretty much everyone a tax cut while handing an especially large windfall to the rich.
Tax Policy Center
However, other analysts have reached different conclusions about the Cruz plan. The conservative Tax Foundation, for instance finds that it would actually raise after-tax incomes among the bottom 20 percent.
Why the discrepancy? It’s a little technical, but basically boils down to whether you buy some of the vaguer policy promises that Cruz has made to voters.
Cruz has never said that he wants to raise taxes on the poor. But it is a potential side effect of the highly regressive overhaul he’s proposed. The Texas senator plans to eliminate a whole host of taxes—including the corporate income tax, the payroll taxes that fund Social Security and Medicare, and the estate tax—while setting a flat income tax rate of 10 percent. To make up for some of that lost revenue, Cruz would then introduce a 16 percent “business flat tax,” which, branding aside, is really just a variation on what the rest of the world calls a value-added tax, or a VAT.2
The key thing to know about a VAT is that it doesn’t just hit business profits; it taxes payrolls as well. And at 16 percent, Cruz’s VAT is actually steeper than the current U.S. payroll tax. The Tax Policy Center assumes that cost will get passed on to workers in the form of lower wages. And since the poor typically don’t pay federal income tax, they won’t benefit from Cruz’s rate cuts. Hence, their overall tax burden will rise. Of course, it’s possible that instead of cutting their employees’ take-home pay, companies will pass the cost of the VAT onto customers. But in that case, the bump in consumer prices would eat away at Americans’ purchasing power and, adjusted for inflation, wages would still fall. And at the end of the day, the poor would still end up worse off.
Now here’s where things get a little ambiguous. Theoretically, Cruz has a proposal to deal with all these issues. The candidate says he wants to “expand” and “modernize” the Earned Income Tax Credit, which boosts after-tax earnings for low-wage workers, and could offset the the VAT’s erosive effect on their wages. Unfortunately, the public version of Cruz’s tax plan doesn’t offer any further detail, so the Tax Policy Center assumes he won’t actually increase the credit. The Tax Foundation, on the other hand, says Cruz is going to boost the EITC by 20 percent, which would more than make up for the VAT.
Who to believe? On this narrow point, I might actually go with the Tax Foundation, since it has a fairly decent working relationship with the Republican candidates, and the Cruz campaign may have offered it more in the way of specifics.
But in some ways, that’s missing the forest for the trees. In the end, Cruz is proposing a multitrillion-dollar rejiggering of the entire U.S. tax system that, if it falls short on the dubious promise of delivering a staggering surge of economic growth, would have barely anything to offer society’s neediest, and could leave them marginally worse off. The fact that we even have to discuss whether a major presidential candidate might actually hike taxes on the poor is horrifying on its own.
1Some conservatives will argue that TPC leans liberal—which is accurate insofar as, unlike more conservative think tanks, its analyses don’t assume that tax cuts will unleash a torrent of new economic growth. However, that assumption is also basically true to what the empirical literature tells us.
2 That’s calculated on a tax-inclusive basis—so if a blender cost $119, $19 would go to tax. If you look at it on a tax-exclusive basis (which is how most people think about sales taxes), it’s a 19 percent rate (a $19 tax on a $100 blender). But we don’t need to dive that deep into the weeds.
3The money a company earns in profit and spends on wages are considered its economic “value-add,” hence “value-added tax.”
Read more Slate coverage of the GOP primary.Masked Scheduler's Ratings Smackdown
Given the disappointing Sunday night ratings I thought this Twitter question was worth talking about:
"With TV networks suffering lower ratings on Sunday nights, could you see them considering the return of movie nights?"
That's an interesting question. By the time I got in the scheduling game in 1991, all three broadcast networks targeted Sunday night for movies (both made-fors and theatricals) and big events. All the networks had more than one movie night, but Sunday was the free-for-all.
For me Sunday night was "Bonanza" and, later on, the great CBS Sunday nights of "60 Minutes," a great 4-comedy block with "All in the Family" and "The Jeffersons" and "Trapper John"/"Lou Grant," but at some point, Sunday became movie night for all the networks.
All three networks survived in peaceful harmony for quite a while, and on any given Sunday, any one of the networks would prevail. There was enough audience to go around for everyone.
I may have mentioned here, and definitely on my blog, that I would walk my dog Bella through my neighborhood in Queens on Sunday night. I would look in the windows of my neighbors and get a sense of what movie they were watching (back then, you were generally watching one of the big three) and report to Brandon Tartikoff. It would generally give us a lead indication of which network would win the Sunday night battle.
Sunday was my favorite night to schedule since it was a cat and mouse game with my fellow schedulers. It was especially fun to schedule the night during sweeps periods.
At some point, I started to realize that original movies were a highly unprofitable form of programming, and I started to advocate the return to series. I felt NBC should be the first to get back into that game on Sunday before the other nets. I even convinced my bosses to let me schedule an all-original four-comedy block followed by an original "Law & Order." The results were inconclusive.
I soldiered on, and finally we cancelled the Monday Movie (we had two nights). By the end of the decade all the networks had moved away from Sunday as a movie night.
The problem with the return of series to Sunday is that the networks now find themselves in competition with cable, both basic and pay, for the series audience.
I think it's probably too late to go back to the movie strategy. Cost, promotion and repeatability would all be issues. As always it's about coming up with the signature show and building on it.
Finally, it's all about consistency. Looking at last night's numbers you see the established shows in the time period are the better performers.
Tough times out there.
***
Last night's sked:
- "Payback" (WWE Network) Solid main event. I could write a doctoral thesis on Roman Reigns and and the WWE fans.
- "Billions" (Showtime, L+SD) Gang, this is an outstanding show having a great season. If you like "Tom & Jerry" or Road Runner/Wile E. Coyote cartoons this show is for you.
- "Silicon Valley" (HBO, L+SD) Great episode with a sidesplitting button.15 Republican Senators Call On Obama To Withdraw Chuck Hagel Nomination
Enlarge this image toggle caption Alex Wong/Getty Images Alex Wong/Getty Images
Fifteen Republican senators sent a letter to President Obama asking him to withdraw the nomination of former Republican Sen. Chuck Hagel to be secretary of Defense.
The senators pointed to his lackluster performance during his confirmation hearing as well as what they said were his untenable positions on Iran.
They said his confirmation testimony raised doubts "about his basic competence" and his stance on Iran means the "military option will have near zero credibility."
"It would be unprecedented for a Secretary of Defense to take office without the broad base of bipartisan support and confidence needed to serve effectively in this critical position," the senators wrote.
Last week, GOP senators took the unprecedented step of blocking an up-or-down vote on the Hagel. The New York Times reports that while Hagel will almost certainly be confirmed, Republicans seem intent on slowing his nomination.
The Times reports:
"The level of derision directed at Mr. Hagel from Republicans has been striking not just because defense secretaries are usually confirmed on a simple up-or-down vote, but also because Mr. Hagel, a Republican, served with many of them in the Senate until 2008."
During the daily White House press briefing, today, Press Secretary Jay Carney said Obama will not withdraw his nomination.
"Any suggestion otherwise might have been found in the minutes of the meetings of Friends of Hamas," Carney said.
In case you missed it, that is a reference to a rumor that popped up in the conservative press. The late Andrew Breitbart's website quoted "Senate sources" saying that Hagel has received funding from "a group purportedly called 'Friends of Hamas.'"
The group does not exist. In fact, The New York Daily News' Dan Friedman said he may have started the rumor during the course of questioning a congressional source.
The Times reports the letter was signed by, "John Cornyn of Texas, the No. 2 Senate Republican; Lindsey Graham and Tim Scott of South Carolina; Roger Wicker of Mississippi; David Vitter of Louisiana; Ted Cruz of Texas; Mike Lee of Utah; Patrick J. Toomey of Pennsylvania; Marco Rubio of Florida; Dan Coats of Indiana; Ron Johnson of Wisconsin; James E. Risch of Idaho; John Barrasso of Wyoming; and Tom Coburn of Oklahoma."When Bloomberg Media convened an invitation-only forum of notables on “The Future of Climate Change” during the first weekday of the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia last summer, there was only one black person at the table.
When that person, economist Julianne Malveaux, finally asked what that event’s cross section of environmentalist elite were doing about the disproportionate impact of climate disaster on black people, the reaction was quizzically tense.
“But, well, what do you recommend we do?” was the response from one white woman, who seemed to pose it more as a challenge than a question.
And when the other black person in the room (a silent observer for the only two black media outlets present) suggested that they could start |
bite is a poor man's disease," said Litschka-Koen. "If snakebites affected the middle and upper class, we would have had a solution a long time ago. These people have no voice."
Plus, you can't eradicate snakes. They're environmental risks, and bites are difficult to mitigate. Perhaps that's why, in 2013, the WHO downgraded snakebites from a neglected tropical disease to a neglected condition with no major program to address them. From one vantage, that's a fair prioritization of scarce resources. From another, it leaves tens of thousands of the world's most vulnerable people at risk.
In 2012, Chippaux and some African colleagues formed the African Society of Toxinology. Over three years, the collective of activists and experts has crafted best practices and raised the visibility of snakebites. Through ambitious guidelines for willing states, they hope to reduce African bite mortality by 90 percent by 2020. It sounds utopic. But today, officials in at least seven nations have started working with the African Society of Toxinology on subsidy, training, and education programs, foreshadowing a possible sea change in countries' reticence to acknowledge or seriously, openly tackle snakebites.
The publicity Doctors Without Borders provided has given antivenom activists a shot in the arm by demonstrating the power and vectors of an effective snakebite PR campaign.
While awaiting breakthroughs, activists look to education as an immediate preventative tool. Getting people to wear shoes, use flashlights, and sleep with mosquito nets can drastically reduce bites. Kids, common victims, might not absorb these messages, and habitat encroachment is making it harder to avoid snakes. But education can help local and national leaders to see snakebites as something you can systematically address rather than an inevitable ailment. Community education could serve as a catalyst for the already promising changes the African Society of Toxinology and its allies are pushing forward across the continent. So there is hope.
This article appeared in the April issue of VICE magazine. Click HERE to subscribe.Orioles reliever Darren O’Day threw off flat ground this morning in Sarasota and may progress to a mound on Tuesday if his hand responds favorably.
O’Day hasn’t pitched since Sept. 7 because of soreness and tingling in the index and middle fingers on his right hand. He didn’t accompany the team to Boston.
O’Day threw only fastballs today, but will mix in his break ball on Tuesday - a pitch that has brought the most discomfort.
The Orioles are aiming to get O’Day ready for the Tampa Bay series that starts Friday night at Tropicana Field. There’s an outside chance that he could join them at Fenway Park, but it’s not likely to happen. Much depends on how he’s feeling after Tuesday’s mound session.
Also, the Orioles have removed outfielder Henry Urrutia from the restricted list and placed him on the 40-man roster. A corresponding move will be announced later today.
Urrutia couldn’t travel to Toronto because of visa issues related to his defection from Cuba, and he will remain in Sarasota instead of joining the Orioles. It appears that he will stay down there and get ready for the Arizona Fall League that begins play next month.
The Orioles want Urrutia to get comfortable playing the outfield. He’s played only three innings in left field over two major league games, mostly serving as a designated hitter and pinch-hitter. Also, the Orioles feel that they have enough left-handed hitters on their expanded roster.
Urrutia, recently chosen as the Orioles’ minor league Player of the Year, is batting.276/.276/.310 with a triple, two RBIs, no walks and 11 strikeouts in 24 games and 58 at-bats.
And finally, Steve Pearce has been swinging a bat in Sarasota after receiving another cortisone injection in his sore left wrist. Currently on the 15-day disabled list, he’s a candidate to join the Orioles in Boston or later this week.
Pearce is batting.241/.328/.361 with four doubles, three homers and nine RBIs in 38 games.
Update: The Orioles designated Wilson Betemit for assignment to make room for Urrutia on the 40-man roster.
Betemit was 0-for-10 after coming off the 60-day disabled list. He missed most of the season after tearing the PCL in his right knee in late March.
Betemit is a free agent after this season. His contract with the Orioles included a $3.2 million vesting option for 2014 if he achieved a combined 700 plate appearances over 2012 and 2013.
The Orioles will keep left-handed hitting first baseman Dan Johnson on their expanded roster.
“Wilson is a popular player on our team and a hard-working ballplayer, but he just couldn’t overcome his injury to make a contribution to our team this year,” said executive vice president Dan Duquette. “In fairness to him, I don’t know that he’s 100 percent. We were running out of time. I think he needs more at-bats and he didn’t really have that opportunity.”Quitting Competitive
Hey everyone, this is so hard for me to announce/do but I've decided to quit competitive. It's been floating in my head for a couple months now. I didn't even want to attend UGC Niagara but I didn't wanna f my teammates over so I went. Just so much outside of gaming, and I just need to find myself and get my head straight. This weekend at a Anaheim we came up short/ and it really killed my drive to win and keep playing. We were close to getting sent to loser bracket on Friday and Satruday but then started to pick it up towards the end of the night. Sunday came and we were just not ready. Simply choked and just didn't play as a team. I love my team to death but I don't wanna kill motivation for them when I don't even take this serious like I use to. I would like to maybe come back when I get my things back on track but until then I'm done. Shoutout to all the nice people I've met through this and all the good friends I've made. Keep pursing you dream and lookin up it'll happen.
- Thing2 <3
Reply · Report PostFrom POLITICO 44, Jennifer Epstein reports:
President Barack Obama has been digging at Mitt Romney's opposition to the auto bailout for months, but as he spoke to auto workers on Tuesday -- and as Michigan votes in its presidential primary -- he attacked the former Massachusetts governors more forcefully on the issue than ever before.
"It’s been funny to watch some of these politicians completely try to rewrite history now that you’re back on your feet. The same folks who said if we went forward with our plan to rescue Detroit, 'you can kiss the American automotive industry goodbye.'"
That line, "you can kiss the American automotive industry goodbye"? It comes right from the first paragraph of Romney's oft-cited 2008 New York Times op-ed, in which he urged the federal government not to bail out the struggling automakers.
"If General Motors, Ford and Chrysler get the bailout that their chief executives asked for yesterday, you can kiss the American automotive industry goodbye. It won’t go overnight, but its demise will be virtually guaranteed."
Romney wrote that in October 2008 and still defends his opposition to the bailout, saying in the Detroit News earlier this month that it was "crony capitalism on a grand scale." He added:
"While a lot of workers and investors got the short end of the stick, Obama's union allies -- and his major campaign contributors -- reaped reward upon reward, all on the taxpayer's dime."
In his speech Tuesday to a United Auto Workers union conference in Washington, Obama went after Romney's line of attack.
"Now they’re saying they were right all along.... Or you’ve got folks saying worse, they’re saying that the problem is that you, the workers, made out like bandits in all of this; that saving the American auto industry was just about paying back unions. Really? I mean, even by the standards of this town, that’s a load of you-know-what."
After more than three years of structured bankruptcy and rebuilding, GM earlier this month announced record-setting annual profits of $7.6 billion, and many as a million jobs in the industry have been saved.How a Plumber Toppled a President
Kirk j Barbera Blocked Unblock Follow Following Jun 20, 2016
“I am an American. Not of the sort we see on the news today, but an old guard American. Citizens no longer believe in such things. They no longer believe even in history. Yes, believe is what I said. We barely comprehend the present, while absolutely condemning the past. I believe. I believe, because I was there. I have seen it. I have lived it. Every good achievement and deplorable accomplishment of our noble American history has been conducted by men like me. They were neither good nor evil, but men. And as such, they were swayed and moved by the same forces as men of today.
This is not a story about all of history, but of a singular moment in history. An historical event enacted by three men who desired what all men desire: power.
John Mitchell was President Richard Nixon’s Attorney General, and Director of the Committee to Re-elect the President (CRP). Jeb Magruder — Steve Stunning we called him — was John’s assistant. Neither men liked G. Gordon Liddy. They thought he was flaky and unstable. Once, Liddy was giving a speech, and Mitchell interrupted him just to belittle Liddy. Liddy knew the word that rested on the man’s lips: “quack.” But of course he never said it. Not to Liddy’s face.
Liddy was in charge of intelligence-gathering operations for the CRP. His investigative work was excellent. Though many Americans today are not properly taught the context of the Watergate Scandal, it all began with plumbers. That’s what the team that Liddy headed was dubbed: “The Plumbers.” They did more than gather intelligence on political enemies. They flushed away any unsavory items, too.
Every good achievement and deplorable accomplishment of our noble American history has been conducted by men like me.
Every American has heard about The Watergate Scandal. But they are indolent in their inquiries. Their answers are as simplistic as that of a child. “Where is our doggy daddy?” They ask. “He went to a farm.” But men are men, remember. They make decisions and influence one another in a complex chain of words, ideas, bodily movements and acceptable grunts so complex the physics of the universe pales in comparison. Only a true master can conduct the affairs of men.
Some background is needed. In the lead up to the 1972 re-election of Nixon, his committee leaders knew they had this election in the bag. In late March, their only competition, Edmund Muskie, had flopped. They would be competing against the most defeat-able candidate imaginable: George McGovern.
In January Liddy began to do his job with all the force he could muster. Arriving at Nixon’s re-election headquarters, Liddy walked to the front, his big thick mustache bristling with excitement at what he was to explain. Before him was a mostly bare conference room where sat John Mitchell and Jeb Magruder.
Without salutations Liddy began, “we must learn what information O’Brien has on Nixon. What’s more I have reason to suspect that O’Brien and the DNC party are being funded by the Russians. My plan calls for a full on appraisal of their situation.” Liddy walked around the conference room which seated only four men. He handed the men a stack of papers neatly fit into a manilla envelope.
“While my plan may seem costly it is the only way to ensure victory. And we must win, right?”
Bewildered, Magruder and Mitchell nodded their heads.
Looking through the details for the job, Mitchell looked up and said “But G. You want 1 million dollars to gather intelligence? What are we paying you now?”
“This plan is much more elaborate than anything we’ve done so far. As you see on page 15, we will require a specially equipped communications chase plane. There will be a need to enter O’Brien’s office at Watergate, where I will tap the phones, and gather all relevant and damaging documents. On page 48 you can see The Yacht Plan.”
“Yes,” Magruder said. “But are this many call-girls required to entrap the Democratic leaders?”
“Need to make sure those dems take a bite. If they don’t like what they see, alls for naught.”
“And the kidnapping plan? The mugging squads? How far do you intend to go Liddy?” Asked Mitchell.
“Never that far, sir. We just need to confirm our intelligence and ensure their use of our material.”
Mitchell and Magruder sat in silence, contemplating. Liddy became nervous, but not at the thought of them rejecting the plan. He was nervous they would accept it. If they did, all would be lost.
“But G. You want 1 million dollars to gather intelligence? What are we paying you now?”
“No.” This is just too far Liddy.” Mitchell finally said, venting the tension built in the room.
Inwardly relieved, but outwardly placid, Liddy stated “I understand sir, I will return with a more amenable plan to the administration. How’s that?”
“Fine. Do your job. But none of this outrageous extravagance.”
Liddy knew human nature as some men know the house they grew up in. By rejecting his first offer, Liddy knew his second proposal would be harder to reject. Moreover, they had agreed to see a “less extravagant,” version. So Liddy obliged.
He extracted the Yacht scheme with call girls as well as the chase planes. The proposal was cut in half to $500,000.
Several days later they all met again.
“Still,” Mitchell said. “It’s too much. Too outrageous. It’s too damn risky!”
Again, Liddy smiled inwardly.
“I can appreciate that, sir. I’ll hit the boards with the boys and give you the bare bones. Obviously we need some information on these guys, right?”
“Right,” Mitchell and Magruder agreed.
The tumbler fell into place. These rejections were critical for two very human reasons. First, by conceding, Liddy was coming across as doing them a favor. And he knew how powerful the need to return a favor was. Second, after the extravagant $1,000,000 proposal, his last proposal would seem — in contrast — to be insignificant.
This time, it would be a tightrope walk. Now a fifth man was joining to hear Liddy’s last proposal. The man was another assistant on the CRP, Frederick Larue. Liddy feared that since this man was absent on the previous two proposals the two forces — reciprocation and contrast — would not be active within him.
Liddy would simply have to rely on the influence of the other two men.
The last proposal was slimmed to $250,000. It included only The Watergate break in and the wiretapping.
As expected, Larue shifted uncomfortably in his seat. Liddy stood at military attention by his whiteboard. He did not move a muscle. This was the proposal he wanted accepted. Mitchell and Magruder eyed one another, and then Larue said “it’s too risky isn’t it?”
Mitchell paused for a few moments longer. He whispered, “let’s see what he can do.”
And the machinations of history were engaged.
The Watergate incident and the corresponding cover-up need little explanation. The burglars were seen by a security guard at the Watergate complex. The President’s men attempted to cover up the entire fiasco. The revelation of the break-in and cover up forced Nixon’s resignation.
Liddy knew human nature as some men know the house they grew up in. By rejecting his first offer, Liddy knew his second proposal would be harder to reject.
After they were caught, Magruder was cited as muttering “How could we be so stupid?” Indeed, how? In his testimony, he would say of the Liddy Plan that “no one was particularly overwhelmed with the project, but after starting at the grandiose sum of $1,000,000, we thought $250,000 would be an acceptable figure. We were reluctant to send him away with nothing. If he had come to us at the outset and said ‘I have a plan to burglarize and wiretap Larry O’Brien’s office,’ we might have rejected the idea out of hand. Instead, he came to us with his elaborate call-girl/kidnapping/mugging/sabotage/wiretap scheme. He had asked for the whole loaf when he was quite content to settle for half or even a quarter.”
The men involved went to jail, and a King was toppled from his throne.
When in the course of human events, a nation comes to a deadly maelstrom, it takes a master seaman to steer them from it.
This has been my role. Every step of the way I have understood that men are men, no matter to what heights they climb. Something as simple as a favor and a contrast brought down a President, and set America away from the whirlpool of the time. But now… But now, no one believes in history.”
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After you hit that little heart below of course :)President Donald Trump has appointed Gov. Sam Brownback to an ambassadorship, a little more than a month after the Kansas governor saw his signature tax policy dismantled by the state’s Legislature.
Trump announced Brownback’s appointment as ambassador-at-large for international religious freedom Wednesday evening. Brownback had long been expected to be named to the post.
“Religious Freedom is the first freedom,” the governor said on Twitter Wednesday evening. “The choice of what you do with your own soul. I am honored to serve such an important cause.”
Brownback was first elected governor in 2010 after a failed presidential run and 15 years in the U.S. Senate, overseeing Kansas’ transformation into one of the leading laboratories for conservative policies.
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He ushered into law new abortion restrictions, controversial welfare reforms and an aggressive tax-cutting strategy. He entered office with more than 60 percent of the vote, but he’ll leave office as one of the least popular governors in the nation.
Brownback will be succeeded by Lt. Gov. Jeff Colyer, a Johnson County plastic surgeon who played a key role in Brownback’s decision to privatize the state’s Medicaid system during his first term.
The ambassador serves as the United States’ main spokesman for oppressed religious minorities around the globe. Brownback had been a top choice for religious leaders because of his advocacy on the issue during his tenure in the U.S. Senate.
The position requires Senate confirmation.
“Senator Brownback will, I sincerely hope, see this position as contributing to the national security of the United States,” said Tom Farr, the president of the Religious Freedom Institute in Washington, D.C.
“Advancing religious freedom in our foreign policy will help Christians and other religious minorities around the world who are suffering persecution,” said Farr, who served under two of the previous ambassadors. “It will at the same time undermine religion-based extremism and terrorism. He has an extraordinary opportunity, at low cost, to advance the fundamental national security interests of our nation.”
The last person to hold the position was David Saperstein, a rabbi and attorney who held the position from January 2015 to January 2017.
Brownback’s selection was criticized by Equality Kansas, the state’s leading LGBT rights group that has repeatedly clashed with Brownback on the issue of religious freedom.
“Governor Brownback is unsuited to represent American values of freedom, liberty and justice, whether at home or abroad,” said Tom Witt, the group’s executive director. “His use of religion is little different than that of a bully wielding a club. His goal is not to use religion as a way to expand freedom, but to use a narrow, bigoted interpretation of religion to deny freedom to his fellow citizens.”
Former Virginia congressman Frank Wolf drafted the bill that created the ambassadorship for religious freedom in 1998. He now serves as a distinguished senior fellow for the 21st Century Wilberforce Initiative.
Wolf said Brownback’s appointment will raise the profile of the post and bring more attention to religious freedom concerns.
“I think it’s a great appointment,” Wolf said in an interview on Wednesday. “Sam is such a good guy. This job is really made for Sam. On all these issues he’s been there before almost anybody else.”
Wolf said he and Brownback were the first two members of Congress to go to Darfur, Sudan, during the genocide there, and when they came back they pushed to have the U.S. recognize the violence there as a genocide.
His appointment “ought to send a message around the world that America cares very very deeply” about religious freedom, Wolf said.
Brownback’s own faith will play a big role in his new position, Wolf said.
A bill passed by Congress in December strengthened the office of religious freedom that Brownback will lead, Wolf said.
The legislation “gives the office a lot more power and funding and authority,” he said.
“It’s a pretty big office — probably has 20-25 maybe even 30 plus the new law that was passed in December really enhances the office... This office now reports directly to the secretary (of state) so Sam will be Tillerson’s right hand on these issues, and I think Sam will complement Tillerson very well.”
Wolf said Brownback should have little trouble getting Senate confirmation because “Sam was well liked and well thought of by members on both sides of the aisle.”
He said Brownback will be the first publicly elected official to hold the ambassadorship, which previously has been held by heads of non-governmental organizations and religious leaders.
Having a former governor and member of Congress in the role “will raise the profile,” Wolf said.
Wolf rejected that the ambassadorship could be seen by some as a step down for the governor.
“Oh my goodness no....I understand maybe somebody in Kansas hasn’t heard of it, but it is an important job... 70 some percent of the people are living in a religiously oppressed environment.”
Brian Hart, a former deputy chief of staff for Brownback in Washington, said accepting the appointment was a difficult decision for the governor “but when the President of the United States asks, it’s hard not to answer the call to serve.”
Hart said Brownback is the best person for this job, and in many ways, the position was created with someone like him in mind.
“Sam is a man of deep integrity, strong faith, and knows how to get things done,” he said. “He was the singular champion for advancing religious freedom and human dignity while in the U.S. Senate where he was the chairman of the Helsinki Commission and authored the North Korea Human Rights Act, which is now law.”Some changes underway in the automated retail space: Outerwall, operators of the Coinstar coin-counting kiosks and the Redbox disc and game distribution network, is acquiring ecoATM for $350 million in cash. EcoATM operates its own kiosk network focused on accepting used mobile phones, tablets and MP3 players for cash and has positioned itself, coincidentally, as the “Coinstar for used devices.”
Outerwall, which officially changed its name from Coinstar Inc. today complete with a new stock ticker (OUTR) and ringing today’s opening bell, was already an investor in ecoATM, which had raised $31.4 million in VC financing, plus another $40 million in debt. Because of the 23% stake that Outerwall already owns, that will be deducted from that $350 million pricetag, the company noted today.
EcoATM is also holder of the 2012 Crunchie for best clean tech startup.
The move is a sign of consolidation in the self-service retail space, and also a mark of how Outerwall has much bigger ambitions beyond simply turning your multitudes of pennies into more useful dollar bills — hence, also, the rebranding.
It also underscores how lower-margin companies like these are looking for ways to ramp up into higher value items, while at the same time providing a much-needed service in our highly disposable economy. In the U.S. alone, ecoATM says 175 million new devices are sold each year, but in terms of older models, only 20% of used mobile phones are collected, and another 50% are either stored or simply thrown away.
“With ecoATM, Outerwall will advance its evolution into multiple automated retail businesses and increase our exposure to the growing demand for refurbished products and mobile devices across the globe,” said J. Scott Di Valerio, chief executive officer of Outerwall, in a statement. “As evidenced by our growing investment in ecoATM over the last four years, we are confident that ecoATM’s innovative, environmentally minded business model will continue to resonate with today’s technology savvy consumers.”
Outerwall, for its part, had already been extending well beyond coin machines and simply returning paper money in exchange for coin shrapnel.
In February 2013, the company (still called Coinstar at the time) kicked off a rollout with PayPal to let users credit their PayPal accounts with the change, as well as withdraw money from those accounts ATM-style and also transfer money to others.
It also owns Redbox, the Blu-ray, DVD and video game kiosk network in the U.S. and Canada, which offers a standalone service but also partners with Verizon for Redbox Instant. The company says that to date 2.5 billion discs have passed through the Redbox service.
Lesser known are the Rubi coffee kiosks launched last year.
EcoATM, which will remain headquartered in San Diego, says that going forward it will expand its service to more locations across the U.S. “We are excited to build upon our successful relationship to take the business to the next level,” Tom Tullie, chief executive officer of ecoATM, said in a statement. “We look forward to benefitting from Outerwall’s resources and expertise to accelerate ecoATM’s rollout and bring our innovative solutions to consumers nationwide once the transaction closes.” That transaction is expected to close in Q3 of this year.One of Charlottetown's most successful video game developers has been sold to Electronic Arts — one of the biggest game developers in the world.
Bight Games is the P.E.I. company behind Trade Nations, a mobile phone game that's been a top 50 seller on the Apple iStore.
Trade Nations is free to play in its simplest form, but users can pay to advance in the game.
"We just signed the deal on Friday, and we're really excited about it. It's a big change for us, and a lot of opportunity," said the company's CEO Stuart Duncan.
Mobile games are one of the fastest growing segments of the industry.
It's a model that's proven profitable for developers, one which Electronic Arts wants to expand.
"It was a natural fit," said Duncan. " They have the expertise and the management and the support services — that side of the business that we don't have the expertise in. Yet we can retain the benefit of those resources and continue to make games."
Duncan said while Bight Games will be owned by Electronic Arts, it will still continue to operate as an independent studio, with a lot of the same creative control it has now.
That means the 26 full time staff will be staying in Charlottetown and Duncan thinks it could mean more employment opportunities on P.E.I.
"I think what we're going to see is access to the financial and support services that will allow us to grow the studio here, to put more people in seats, making games in Charlottetown."
Neither Duncan nor Electronic Arts would give any more details about the deal until it's finalized.
The two sides hope to have that done by the end of August.For more than two years, Tenet Healthcare and our predecessor, Vanguard Health Systems, have worked with our partner, Yale-New Haven Health System, as well as elected officials and community leaders in Waterbury, Bristol, Manchester and Rockville to secure the continued availability of high-quality, affordable local hospital care for residents of those communities.
We greatly appreciate the dedication and hard work of so many individuals and organizations to create a strong future for the hospitals serving these communities. We respect the role the state regulators have in providing guidance and oversight to the healthcare industry, and understand the responsibility they take in discharging their duties. Nonetheless, the extensive list of proposed conditions to be imposed on the Waterbury Hospital transaction, which is only the first of four transactions for which we’ve made applications, has led us to conclude that the approach to regulatory oversight in Connecticut would not enable Tenet to operate the hospitals successfully for the benefit of all stakeholders. As a result, today we informed the Office of Health Care Access (OHCA) and the Attorney General that we are withdrawing our applications to acquire Waterbury Hospital, Saint Mary’s Hospital, Bristol Hospital and Eastern Connecticut Health Network.
We appreciate and admire the leadership of these hospitals and Yale-New Haven Health System. Throughout this journey they have consistently demonstrated the highest level of integrity and steadfast devotion to a singular purpose: preserving access to high-quality, local healthcare services for all residents of their communities. It is our hope that by removing Tenet from the process at this time, these leaders will have the opportunity to identify and pursue alternatives to achieve that goal.
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investorrelations@tenethealth.comIt might be easy to think that the title to this piece is simple provocation, a tool to inspire people, perhaps mislead them, through sparking an angry reaction or just plain morbid curiosity, into taking a look at what this article is about.
Even though the thrust here is slightly different than the title would imply, there is no deception here at all. The question is serious, and the answer, to be certain, is so clear it need not take an entire article to address.
When is it O.K. to punch your wife? Well, anytime you are defending yourself from her physical attack. You have the right, at that moment, legally and morally, as is explicit in every legal model I know of, to use whatever force is necessary to protect yourself.
Ah, but you really don’t, which is of course the real purpose of this article, and a purpose well worth study and consideration.
You see, the surface answer about self defense only applies in the world of legal theory and the land of ought-ta-be.
In the real world, where we actually live, the preponderance of people, from your friendly neighborhood patriarch to his twin sister the Gloria Steinem clone, see this type of dialog as a reason to go nuclear. In fact, I knew that the title would be provocative precisely because we live in a culture where I am not supposed to even ask such a thing. It’s like asking when it is OK to hunt an endangered species, or steal a senior citizens social security check, or joke about children with cancer.
And people, whether it is women gone insane with the power of the pussy pass, or the men who are in fact the underwriters of those passes, will surely bring their wrath down upon you. They will rush in to scream, “You NEVER hit a woman! NEVER, NEVER, NEVER!”
I can just see the bulging veins in their necks, their flushed cheeks, and spittle flying from their mouths.
And of course they are right. A man should never hit a woman.
NEVER.
Not if he knows what is good for him.
It’s not because some women don’t deserve it. Heck, there is many a woman that righteously deserves a foot being broken off in her ass. You read about them a lot these days; women who beat and abuse their partners, who poison them, who hire paid killers to take them out, who shoot and stab and cut their husbands and boyfriends in their sleep, who run them down and kill them in cars, who get other thugs to torture and abuse them.
There are women, and plenty of them, for which a solid ass kicking would be the least that they deserve; where any justice at all would deliver to them the executioners needle. But hey, we can‘t even defend ourselves against them, so it makes perfect sense that they won’t find themselves on the wrong side of the glass window in a death chamber- no matter what they do.
The real question here is not whether these women deserve the business end of a right hook, they obviously do, and some of them deserve one hard enough to leave them in an unconscious, innocuous pile on the ground if it serves to protect the innocent from imminent harm.
The real question is whether men deserve to be able to physically defend themselves from assault when it comes from a woman. Does the concept of self defense even apply to men who are the victims of violent females? Technically, the law says yes. But the people around you, especially the ones with guns, regard the pussy pass as a higher authority.
You hit a woman, even in self defense; indeed if you even call the cops on one that is beating the crap out you, the beta thugs we have come to call police will come round to your house and deliver some fucking law and order- on you.
I know, I just crossed another line. This time that thin blue one. Just like asking when it is alright to punch your wife, I am breaking a social gag order to point at police, rather at what police have become, and speak the truth.
But of course, that is how the police ended up doing what they are doing- by everyone keeping their mouths shut.
I respect the idea of police work very much. I have known many in law enforcement, including members of my family.
I also know that street cops are obliged to follow department policy, no matter how screwed up it is, or face losing their jobs. For that reason alone I have taken a soft line with the police for a long time.
In other words, I have been a part of the problem. I hate those kinds of look-in-the-mirror moments, but there is only one thing you can do with them- freaking fix the problem. And so I am here to start.
If you are willing to keep your job as a police officer by taking an abused man to jail for the sake of department policy or convenience, or even for your job, then you lack the integrity to be a public servant. Please take off your badge and resign. I am sure there are openings in the nearest street gang- where rule by force, not law, is much more your cup of tea.
Or perhaps you like your position a beta male thug enforcer. Perhaps you don’t care who you cuff and cage as long as it gives you a hard on. Either way, I am tired of the public overlooking your actions, and worse, patting you on the back for being morally bankrupt and abusing innocent men.
Lest you think I am being over reactive about just how far the police have gone. Let’s take a look at a case or two.
In Sacramento, California David Woods’s wife Ruth took their young daughters outside in 39 degree temperatures, for seven hours, till their lips were blue and they were borderline hypothermic. After she returned, Woods argued with his wife about her actions, till she grabbed a serrated kitchen knife and stabbed at him. The blade passed through the collar of his shirt and actually gave him a small nick in the flesh of his neck. Apparently unsatisfied, she reared back to stab him again, but this time he hit her in the mouth. She dropped the knife and ran to call 911. Sacramento Sheriffs Deputies arrived at the scene to intervene, drew their guns, and slapped cuffs- on Mr. Woods.
They were preparing to take him to jail, over his protests, but it was the daughters, who insisted that the deputies listen to them (they sure as hell were not listening to him), that finally prevented them from taking their father to jail and leaving them alone with the disturbed and violent mother.
But, they did not take the mother anywhere either. They released Woods from his handcuffs advised him to get her to counseling.
After the incident Woods was quoted as saying, “Now, isn’t that strange? When she had a fat lip it was a felony and I was going to jail. But when they finally realized she tried to stab me in the neck, it stopped being a crime and became a mental health issue.”
Woods is not alone. This sham is passing for good police intervention on family violence in every major city in the country. From L.A. to New York City, police are embracing policies for handling domestic calls that can only be described as politically motivated, simple minded and criminal.
Whatever happens, arrest the guy, unless someone beats you over the head hard enough with the truth that you have no choice but to consider arresting whatever aggressor the evidence points to.
In doing this, our police, with our absolute complicity, have gone from being public servants to public menaces, trampling on victims, enabling criminals- mindlessly obeying department policy to the point that Gestapo references would not be overblown.
Their handling of domestic disputes is part of the a massive roll back in civil and constitutional rights and they need to be called to task for it.
Consider the following clip from ABC news that measures reactions of people to seeing a man violently abused by a woman.
Predictably, few people cared at all, one even celebrated the guy getting a beating, and most just decided on their own that he had it coming, but most telling is the cop that walked past this scene doing nothing and later told reporters, “Yeah, if it had been the other way around I would have definitely done something.”
Then he excused it by talking about how he was raised, admitted that it was a double standard, but informed us that even being confronted with it was going to change nothing.
“Hey, it is what it is,” he says.
Consider the recent story out of Orlando, Florida, regarding the false rape accusation epidemic. Even in that situation, as reported by police themselves, they do not want to arrest women– simply because they are women. The pussy pass is police issue.
Note the basic turn of events. Man angers women. Women attack, verbally and physically. Man refuses to comply. Women call police. Women lie. And lie again. And lie again. And lie again.
Police office treats the man as though he is the problem, going as far as to tell him that he cannot disrespect women.
Any thoughts on what would have happened if this man were not smart enough to film his actions?
And this is what we have, people. From rape allegations to domestic disputes, to civil protests |
, “I regret nothing, except for snacking on those cherries.”
13. Millard Fillmore
“The nourishment is palatable.” He was commenting about some soup he had just been fed. By the way, does Fillmore look particularly attractive to you? Queen Victoria once said he was the most handsome man she had ever laid eyes upon.
14. Franklin Pierce
No last words seem to have been recorded for Pierce, though given his tragic life, perhaps they were words of relief that it was finally ending. In lieu of Franklin Pierce, I give you Ben Franklin's final words: "A dying man can do nothing easy,” he said, after his daughter asked him to change positions in bed.
15. James Buchanan
“Oh, Lord God Almighty, as thou wilt!”
16. Abraham Lincoln
“She won’t think anything about it.” His remark was to his wife, who was wondering what their female theater companion would think if she saw Mary Todd "hanging" on her husband so.
17. Andrew Johnson
“Oh, do not cry. Be good children and we shall meet in heaven.” Rather similar to Andrew Jackson's last words, aren't they?
18. Ulysses S. Grant
“Water.” Grant was suffering from throat cancer and couldn't speak much, but he did write something more poignant shortly before his death: "There was never one more willing to go than I am."
19. Rutherford B. Hayes
“I know I am going where Lucy is.” His wife, teetotaling "Lemonade" Lucy, had died four years before.
20. James Garfield
“Swaim, can’t you stop the pain?” Garfield, who had been shot by an assassin months before, was napping in his room in the company of good friends General David Swaim and Colonel A.F. Rockwell. About 15 minutes into his nap, he awoke, clutching his heart, and spoke his final words to Swaim.
21. Chester A. Arthur
They’re apparently not recorded, a friend said “almost” his last words were, “Life is not worth living.”
22. Grover Cleveland
“I have tried so hard to do right.”
23. Benjamin Harrison
“Are the doctors here? Doctor, my lungs...” Harrison died of pneumonia.
24. William McKinley
“Goodbye, all, goodbye. It is God’s way. His will be done.”
25. Teddy Roosevelt
“Put out the light.” He was speaking to his valet right before he went to sleep. He died sometime during the night.
26. William Howard Taft
His words were not recorded for posterity, but I thought you might enjoy a picture of him anyway.
27. Woodrow Wilson
“When the machinery is broken... I am ready."
28. Warren G. Harding
“That’s good. Go on, read some more.” His wife had been reading him an article about himself from the Saturday Evening Post.
29. Calvin Coolidge
“Good morning, Robert.” He greeted a carpenter working on his house, then died of coronary thrombosis shortly thereafter.
What he told a friend not long before his death is perhaps more fitting: "I feel I no longer fit in with these times."
30. Herbert Hoover
We don’t know the last words he spoke, but the last words he is known to have written were a get well message to Harry Truman, who hit his head on the bathtub after slipping in his bathroom. In a telegram, Hoover wrote, “Bathtubs are a menace to ex-presidents for as you may recall a bathtub rose up and fractured my vertebrae when I was in Venezuela on your world famine mission in 1946. My warmest sympathy and best wishes for your speedy recovery.”
31. Franklin Delano Roosevelt
“I have a terrific headache.” He suffered a cerebral hemorrhage a few minutes later.
32. Harry Truman
Truman's words are unknown, but his Vice President's last words were actually caught on tape. Veep Alben W. Barkley was giving a keynote address and had just said the words, "I'm glad to sit on the back row, for I would rather be a servant in the House of the Lord than to sit in the seats of the mighty," when a heart attack struck him on stage.
33. Dwight D. Eisenhower
“I want to go. God take me.”
34. John F. Kennedy
"No, you certainly can't." Kennedy said this in response to his fellow passenger, Nellie Connally, the wife of governor John Connally. She had just remarked, "You certainly can’t say that the people of Dallas haven’t given you a nice welcome, Mr. President."
You'll occasionally read that Kennedy's last words were “My God, I’ve been hit."
35. Lyndon B. Johnson
“Send Mike immediately.” Mike was his Secret Service agent who was housed in a compound 100 yards away from the main house at Johnson's Texas ranch. When agents arrived in Johnson's bedroom, he was already dead.
36. Richard Nixon
“Help.” He said this to a housekeeper as he had a stroke in 1994. Though he remained alert for a period of time after he was taken to the hospital, he was unable to speak.
37. Gerald Ford
Gerald Ford's last words are not known.
38. Ronald Reagan
Reagan's last words have not been shared with the public, but his daughter Patti shared his final moments:He affected games without looking at the basket, made pinpoint bounce passes in transition to teammates and often left fans wondering what he was going to do next. Jason Kidd was the ultimate point guard for much of his 19-year career in the N.B.A., but at the end of his one season with the Knicks, his magic was no more.
So it was not a surprise that the 40-year-old Kidd, the third-oldest player in the league, announced his retirement Monday with two years left on his contract with the Knicks. In his last month in a Knicks uniform, Kidd could barely put the ball in the basket. He did not score a point in the Knicks’ second-round playoff series against the Indiana Pacers, and he missed his last 18 shots of the postseason.
In the final two games against Indiana, Coach Mike Woodson played Kidd only 11 minutes.
“I’ve played the game for a long time,” Kidd said in a radio interview Monday on ESPN. “This was the time to move on.”
Kidd’s departure leaves three guards on the Knicks’ roster: Raymond Felton, J. R. Smith and Iman Shumpert. However, Smith is expected to opt out of his contract to pursue free agency and is not certain to return. Shumpert may be needed in the frontcourt.Some people believe that feminists hate men, but I'm actually pretty sure that Fox News hates men. If you were an alien and tried to learn everything you could about men exclusively by watching Fox News, you would basically think they were the worst pieces of shit ever.
Earlier this week, Fox News hated men by declaring that all of them like to catcall women and that street harassment is basically in their man blood and man bones. In a panel discussion on "Outnumbered," the female co-hosts debated whether they loved being catcalled or super-loved being catcalled. During the the conversation, the following sacred truths were shared:
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"Let men be men."
"Look, men are going to be that way. What can you do?"
BUT NOT ALL MEN OR SOMETHING?
Search the clip or the words "Let men be men" on Twitter and you won't find any collective outrage from the people who lose their minds when women talk about sexual assault or sexism in the workplace. And there's nothing about it on A Voice For Men, either. (Though there is a post raging against the "one good man" who "sees all other men as feckless, immoral, weak, beneath him." That guy should really stop generalizing about men!)
And what else do we learn about men from Fox News? Apparently, teen boys can't be raped and love sexual harassment. The lack of media attention given to male victims of sexual violence is supposed to be a major concern of the men's rights movement and this kind of ignorance actively harms male survivors, but Tucker Carlson doesn't seem to be a target of their ire.
While the men's rights movement and the women against feminism are quick to point to the apparent misandry of women talking about their experiences of street harassment or sexual violence, they are awfully quiet when it comes to Fox's sweeping generalizations about what it means to be a man in the world. Most of the people who called out Carlson (and Jesse Waters and the hosts of "Outnumbered" for yet another segment they spent making light of sexual violence against men) were feminists, the same feminists who, I guess, really hate men.
Fox News is a haven for misandry. Get on it, men of #NotAllMen!There I was minding my own business last Friday afternoon when a bunch of lobbyists in Prague suddenly enlisted me as “a foot-soldier in the fight against Putin.” As Queen Victoria probably didn’t say, “we are not amused."
In Russia, they have a wonderful phrase: “Скажи мне кто твой друг и я скажу кто ты,” which roughly translates as “tell me who is your friend and I'll tell you who you are.” And it’s a sentiment which contains plenty of logic. So you can just imagine my discomfort when, the misleadingly named, “European Values,” a George Soros’ funded pressure group, pretended that I’d signed up to something called the “Prague Declaration” alongside a motley crew of anti-Russia opportunists.
The “Prague Declaration” is a long-winded thing, so I’ll sum it up in six words: “liberal Western states, good; Russia bad.” Now you’ve got the gist, here are some of the signatories, described as “European and American security experts and parliamentarians from 22 countries,” by NATO’s Atlantic Council adjunct.
I want to congratulate @MarkSleboda1 and @27khv on seeing the light and joining the likes of Bumfrey McDoogle. The School of Hard Knox hires only the best. https://t.co/c1aHeJuVoYpic.twitter.com/0yeKJ65ljs — Kevin Rothrock (@KevinRothrock) November 10, 2017
Bill Browder, the controversial financier, features and is joined by Yevhen Fedchenko, a Ukrainian activist who recently suggested all Russian journalists were embedded with the state security apparatus. Meaning, even people working for anti-Kremlin outlets, who have grievances with Vladimir Putin’s administration. Another signatory is James Kirchick, a neocon who has threatened a military coup against President Donald Trump and he’s allied himself with Molly McKew, a key figure in what "The American Interest" dubs the “Russian Interference Racket” in the US.
Fake news
The misery doesn’t end there because John Schindler, a former spook-turned-conspiracy theorist, and ally of Louise Mensch, is also on board. Presumably to provide buzzwords such as deza, short for dezinformatsiya (disinformation), or Chekist, an old Russian term for the Soviet secret police. Meanwhile, another questionable entry is one Bumfrey McDoogle, who apparently represents the “School of Hard Knox.” An entity that sounds about as academically legitimate as this "think tank," to be fair.
It's field trip time, peeps. Taking the fight to the Chekists. Keep Cheeto Jesus in line while I'm on the road. Don't let #TeamDeza win. — John Schindler (@20committee) May 11, 2017
Bumfrey’s inclusion tells you all you need to know about “European Values.” Because despite his considerable largesse, poor old Soros has managed to recruit a bunch of rank amateurs to push his agenda. A collection of clowns, who only a few weeks ago, somehow confused RT presenter Larry King with the comedian Larry David and believed an actor impersonating Boris Johnson, was the real UK foreign secretary.
Read more
Another thing I find offensive about the lobby group is their attempt to appropriate the idea of what ‘European values’ actually represent. Because, most Europeans would agree with the late Charles De Gaulle on this, who spoke of “Europe, depuis l'Atlantique jusqu'à l’Oural.” Meaning one “Europe, from the Atlantic to the Urals." That is, the entire continent united, with Russia, as its largest country, a major stakeholder.
And that’s the kind of Europe most smart people want to see. But Soros and his lackeys have hijacked these sensible ideals to promote Atlanticism, which primarily serves American interests and those of liberal global capitalism. Indeed, these imposters desire a Europe, entirely subservient for Washington, with no independent foreign policy.
Calling the shots
In other words, they demand a unipolar world, dictated by a country which last year elected an unqualified man-child as its president. A figure almost completely neutered by the neocon-dominated American establishment, who, surely out of his own frustration, has now resorted to name calling foreign leaders on Twitter. Well, thanks, but no thanks, folks.
But back to why I apparently joined the likes of Bill Browder (incidentally neither a security expert nor a parliamentarian), Molly McKew, James Kirchick and their colleague Bumfrey McDoogle on this particular wall of shame? My guess is they mixed up their ‘official’ list with some internal smear-laden trial run they had put together.
Read more
Let’s be clear, these lobbyists had a reason to be angry with me. Because, after all, only two weeks ago, here on RT, I exposed how Soros was responsible for at least 25 percent of their cash pile in 2015, which was cleverly obscured by listing different Open Society Foundation agencies. As it happens, other paymasters include the US and British embassies in Prague. And, in the same piece, I also outlined how they were smearing 2,327 prominent guests of RT as “useful idiots:” including, Harrison Ford, Stephen Fry, Will.I.Am and even Mr. T.
This “European Values” gang illustrate all that is toxic in the foreign policy “think tank” racket. Which, these days amounts to a succession of chancers giving each other faux-academic titles while taking hardline anti-Russian positions and waiting for Soros and US government moolah to roll in. Some are actually able to pull the routine off with reasonable competence. But the greenhorns in Prague are pretty much a bunch of buffoons, behaving like the Mr. Beans of agitprop. Soros could get better bang for his buck, elsewhere. But, thankfully, for those of us who oppose his worldview, he's wasting it on these jokers.The Chicago Teachers Union rejected a four-year contract offer from the city, with union leaders saying they approved of certain provisions in the proposal but were concerned about the cash-strapped district's ability to enforce the deal.
"The real problem is the lack of trust in CPS," CTU President Karen Lewis told reporters gathered at the union's Merchandise Mart headquarters.
Contract talks, which have now gone on for more than a year, will move into a final fact-finding stage that must precede any potential strike. A deal could be reached during that process.
"There were a lot of things that were great," Lewis said of the city's offer. "I'm not going to tell you they weren't. However, the things that will affect the classrooms the most — especially around the budget — were the ones that were concerning to people."
The union said its 40-member "Big Bargaining Team" rejected the deal unanimously, and posted a video to YouTube that showed members applauding after the vote.
The offer from Chicago Public Schools would bar economic layoffs and provide some moderate pay increases, sources said last week. It would put a cap on privately run charter schools, although the union noted Monday that a state commission can override the district on charters.
In exchange, union members would have to make concessions that included paying more toward their pensions and health care expenses.
The district said Monday that its proposal also included a commitment to restore a city property tax levy solely for teacher pensions, a move that would require state approval.
In a statement, district CEO Forrest Claypool said he was "disappointed" with the union's decision to turn down the offer.
"This agreement provided pay raises, guaranteed job security and met the union's key demands, including restrictions on charter school expansion, raises for seniority in addition to cost-of-living increases, and more classroom autonomy for teachers," Claypool said.
"We are committed to returning to the bargaining table and working around the clock to reach an agreement," he said.
Labor expert Robert Bruno said there were signs that both sides have made progress.
"The union would not have gone to the Big Bargaining Team and described it as a'serious offer' if they hadn't seen enough in the offer to suggest that they needed the bargaining team to provide serious input," said Bruno, a professor at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign's School of Labor & Employment Relations. "They wouldn't have gotten to this point if they hadn't made progress."
A proposed contract between the city and the Chicago Teachers Union fell through when the union's bargaining team rejected the latest deal. Feb. 1, 2016. (CBS Chicago) A proposed contract between the city and the Chicago Teachers Union fell through when the union's bargaining team rejected the latest deal. Feb. 1, 2016. (CBS Chicago) SEE MORE VIDEOS
CPS, he said, "will read that Big Bargaining Team vote as an indication of what it's going to take to get a deal."
The offer would include a phase out of the district's longstanding practice of picking up 7 percentage points of the 9 percent pension contribution required of teachers. New hires would have to pick up their entire share of pension costs right away. Last year, the district ended the practice for its nonunion workers.
In exchange, CPS would not be allowed to make any "economic layoffs" through the end of the contract's term in 2019, sources said. The district could, however, eliminate jobs through retirements and attrition, a source said.
The offer also would allow for cost-of-living pay increases for teachers as well as so-called step-and-lane pay bumps, which are raises based on experience and seniority.
CTU Vice President Jesse Sharkey said the deal would have cost the district money in its first year, but that members still balked at a lack of detail in the deal.
"When asked 'is it worth actually taking a pay cut for that?' people said 'no way.' Because the skin that we put in the game is concrete and will definitely be extracted from us, and the skin which they put in the game is something which is abstract, in the future and can't be guaranteed," Sharkey said.
Teachers already have voted to authorize their leaders to call a strike, if deemed necessary.
The union's stance Monday could affect district efforts to borrow more money to get through the year, adding to its already sizable debt. The district last week put off a bid to borrow up to $875 million, placing the deal on day-to-day status while courting potential investors.
CPS already has scaled back the size of the deal by hundreds of millions of dollars, and if it goes through the district is expected to pay high interest rates because of its junk bond rating status. Claypool has said the district expected to complete the deal by early this week at the latest.
Mayor Rahm Emanuel was in New York on Monday for meetings with financial institutions, his office said.
In recent days, negotiators on both sides of the table have said talks have gained steam after Republican proposals to allow a state takeover of the cash-strapped district, and also allow the district to declare bankruptcy.
"I know people were expecting something completely different," Lewis said of Monday's vote. "But that's not how we work as the Chicago Teachers Union.
"It doesn't matter what one person wants or what two people want or what three people want. People need to understand that our Big Bargaining Team is an extension of the officers and the experts and the lawyers who come with us to have conversations with the board."
jjperez@tribpub.com
Twitter @PerezJrIslamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) militants withdrew from the main government building in the Iraqi city of Ramadi on Saturday, the mayor and a tribal leader said, a day after the jihadist group raised its black flag over the building in the western provincial capital.
Airstrikes by a U.S.-led coalition forced the militants to retreat, leaving the buildings booby trapped or on fire, the officials said. Their reports could not be confirmed independently.
Al Arabiya News Channel’s correspondent reported Saturday that the airstrikes have killed at least 30 ISIS militants west of the Iraqi province of Anbar.
The news comes after Iraq’s military dispatched reinforcements to help its battered forces in Ramadi, an Iraqi military spokesman said Saturday.
The spokesman of the Joint Operations Command, Brig. Gen. Saad Maan Ibrahim, told Iraqi state television that the U.S.-led coalition was supporting Iraqi troops with “painful” airstrikes since late Friday.
Ibrahim didn’t give details on the ongoing battles, but described the situation on the ground as “positive” and vowed that ISIS would be pushed out of the city “in the coming hours.”
On Friday, the militants swept through Ramadi, the capital of Anbar province, launching a coordinated offensive included three near-simultaneous suicide car bombs. The militants seized the main government headquarters and other key parts of the city.
Local officials said dozens of security forces and civilians were killed, mainly the families of the troops, including 10 police officers and some 30 tribal fighters allied with Iraqi forces.
In a sign of how the latest advance is worrying Washington, U.S. Vice President Joe Biden spoke with Iraqi Prime Minister Haider Al-Abadi on Friday, promising the delivery of heavy weapons, including AT-4 shoulder-held rockets to counter suicide car bombs, according to a U.S. Embassy statement.
The statement said both leaders agreed on the “importance and urgency of mobilizing tribal fighters working in coordination with Iraqi security forces to counter ISIL and to ensure unity of effort among all of Iraq’s communities,” using a different acronym for the group.
Meanwhile, U.S. officials are pressing that ISIS is on the defensive in Iraq, despite the extremist group’s gains in Ramadi and an intense fight to keep the oil refinery in Baiji from falling to the terrorist group's control.
“It is a tough fight right now,” said Operation Inherent Resolve commander Brig. Gen. Thomas Weidley.
In Ramadi, “Daesh executed a complex attack on Iraqi security forces [Friday,]” Weidley said, using the Arabic derogatory term for ISIS. The Iraqi forces were able to repel most of the attacks, but “some gains were made by Daesh” in the east and south of the city.
Backed by U.S.-led airstrikes, Iraqi forces and Kurdish fighters have made gains against ISIS, including capturing the northern city of Tikrit. But progress has been slow in Anbar, a vast Sunni province where anger at the Shiite-led government runs deep and where U.S. forces struggled for years to beat back a potent insurgency. American soldiers fought some of their bloodiest battles since Vietnam on the streets of Fallujah and Ramadi.
(With Associated Press)
Last Update: Saturday, 16 May 2015 KSA 19:26 - GMT 16:26Net analytics firm Net Applications has released its latest mobile browser market share data, and the results on the Android side were a bit of a surprise to me: apps based on the stock Android browser are still handily trouncing Chrome for usage. That includes 3rd party solutions like the stock Samsung, HTC, and LG browsers, all of which are based on the stock Android browser.
To be precise, the figures are 21.86% of all mobile visits for the "Android Browser," but a mere 2.43% for Chrome (Safari is out in front, at 61.79%). That includes the iOS version of Chrome, too, so the figure is even lower if you're only counting Android handsets.
Given that Google has started requiring OEMs to include the Chrome browser as part of Android since version 4.1 - and that a default browser must be chosen by the end user - this is quite intriguing. Net Applications collects the data from over 40,000 websites comprising 160,000,000 pageviews, so it's not like a small data set is skewing things here, either. For the record, Android 4.1+ now makes up 25% of Play Store-enabled devices.
Given Chrome's ever-increasing popularity as a PC browser, one would think its success on Android would be something of a given, but it seems that the vast majority (based on these figures, around 90%) of Android phone users are drawn to the stock browsing experience. Now, there is likely a significant skew is built into these analytics, because not every Android device is Play Store-enabled (especially cheap tablets), meaning no Google Chrome. But that's not really a skew, so much as the reality of how Android is penetrating the mobile device market as a whole.
Either way, the numbers are certainly eye-opening - Chrome has a long way to go in the mobile browser space, even on its home platform.
Net Applications via AllThingsDA missing 20-year-old Grayslake man was found dead Tuesday after an intense search involving friends and family, a mission at least partially coordinated on Facebook.
Loved ones of Joey Frase, discovered close to Campbell Airport in an unincorporated area near Grayslake, say they’re still trying to determine what happened just before the young man’s death.
“I’m not sure what happened that night,” said Brett Frase, his father.
Frase was last seen by a friend leaving a party in Round Lake's Madrona Village approximately 1:15 a.m. Sunday, Round Lake Park police said.
Volunteers searching the area Tuesday morning found Frase against the side of a barn, as if attempting to block the wind, his father said.
“I'm not sure why he didn't have his jacket,” Brett Frase said. Joey Frase worked at a car dealership and was planning on going to school to become a mechanic soon, his father said.
Frase does not appear to the victim of foul play, according to Lake County Coroner Thomas Rudd, but the Lake County Major Crimes Task Force is “processing the scene to be sure.”
Due to extremely cold temperatures outside and the state of the body, Rudd said, a time of death will be almost impossible to determine with accuracy.
There were no external signs of suicide or an accident, according to the coroner. A toxicology report and an autopsy were expected to be finished Wednesday, he said.
As the family waits for answers, they remember Joey Frase as an infectiously happy person who loved the outdoors, particularly fishing—a favorite hobby.
“He was always the life of the party,” Brett Frase said. “He was a great kid."
dwaters@tribune.comIs Japan Sliding Back Into Fascism?
As we’ve previously reported, the Japanese government is reacting to Fukushima by introducing a bill which would ban journalism. The bill has passed the lower house, and is expected to pass the upper house this week.
A Japanese Senator notes:
The path that Japan is taking is the recreation of a fascist state. I strongly believe that this secrecy bill represents a planned coup d’état by a group of politicians and bureaucrats ….
The bill would grant agencies which no longer even exist the power to classify secrets. And Japanese officials admit that it will be used to classify what’s really going on at Fukushima.
Bloomberg notes:
The entire process has echoes of George Orwell. If enacted, the secrecy law would allow government ministries to declare just about anything they want classified. It now even appears that trying to cajole information from someone privy to a state secret could warrant jail time. In other words, if I grab a beer with a bureaucrat and ask the wrong question, could I end up in handcuffs? Ambiguity reigns. *** Last week, the No. 2 official in Abe’s governing Liberal Democratic Party, Shigeru Ishiba, issued a dark warning to anyone like me who might dare to question the bill. In a Nov. 29 blog post, the LDP secretary-general likened any such challenge to “an act of terrorism.” *** “How can the government respond to growing demands for transparency from a public outraged by the consequences of the Fukushima nuclear accident if it enacts a law that gives it a free hand to classify any information considered too sensitive as a ‘state secret’?” Reporters Without Borders asked in a Nov. 27 statement. Essentially, the group argued, Japan “is making investigative journalism illegal, and is trampling on the fundamental principles of the confidentiality of journalists’ sources and public interest.” “Welcome to the land of the setting sun. Let’s see how much darker it will get,” Tokyo-based investigative reporter Jake Adelstein wrote in a Nov. 30 Japan Times op-ed. As Adelstein pointed out, the secrecy bill bears a resemblance to Japan’s pre-World War II Peace Preservation Law, which gave the government wide latitude to arrest and jail individuals who were out of step with its policies. Parts of the bill also echo the George W. Bush-Dick Cheney power grab that was the Patriot Act. Japan’s press-freedom ranking is already in free fall. In 2013, its standing dropped 31 places from 2012 to a new low of 53rd out of 179 countries, according to Reporters Without Borders. Japan now trails South Africa and the Comoro Islands off Mozambique. The main culprit behind this year’s drop was weak reporting on radiation risks at Fukushima — a problem that’s sure to get even worse as incentives for media self-censorship increase. If you think the powerful bureaucrats who really run Japan are too opaque with their fiefdoms and secret handshakes now, just wait. What’s odd, and should greatly worry Japan’s 126 million people, is the urgency behind Abe’s push to pass the secrets bill. The prime minister hasn’t implemented a single structural reform in almost 12 months in office. Not one. He’s taken no important steps to deregulate, shake up or remake an overmanaged economy. But this particular legislation apparently needs to be passed, like, yesterday. *** It’s up to the terrorists — sorry, concerned members of the public to speak out if they want to stop him.
(America is no different. In the U.S. today, peaceful protest is treated as terrorism.)
Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev says that the Chernobyl nuclear accident caused the collapse of the Soviet Union. Is the same thing happening to Japan today after the more severe Fukushima accident? After all, nuclear accidents can bankrupt entire nations …
Maybe, but there are other forces at play as well. For example, the ruling party is trying to repeal the constitutional provision preventing Japan from waging war. As the Daily Beast notes:
Japan is about to take a giant step back into its oppressive past. When one also considers Prime Minister Abe’s stated ambition to restart Japan’s nuclear power plants and remove Article 9 from the constitution, the article which prevents Japan from waging war, it seems like the Empire of The Sun may be moving towards darker times.
Indeed, Japan is ramping up it’s bellicose actions regarding the Senkaku Islands, which – if someone makes a mistake – could erupt into a shooting war.
And – while Japan is widely referred to as a “liberal democracy” – its economy has largely devolved into crony capitalism … which is just another way of saying “fascism”.BOSTON (CBS) – MBTA Police are searching for three young women who they say threw bleach in the eyes of a bus passenger after robbing him of his money.
The victim was returning home from work early Sunday morning, riding the #28 bus on Blue Hill Avenue through Roxbury, when it seems the trio sized him up.
Officials say one female slapped the man about the head, while one went to work to search him for money.
“One of the women puts her knee on top of his legs so he can’t get up and takes the money from his pockets,” MBTA Superintendent-in Chief Joseph O’Connor told WBZ-TV.
The third suspect tossed the bleach, contained in a water bottle, in his eyes using it as a “cheap weapon,” say police.
Officials have released surveillance photos from the bus hoping someone in the public will recognize the women.
They’re also urging anyone else who may have been a victim to come forward.
Police say one of the women was seen harassing other passengers on the Orange Line earlier in the night, waving her hair in their face.
“I’ve been told as a result of throwing the bleach in his face, he’s having difficulty seeing,” said O’Connor.
At least a third of the fleet of MBTA buses is equipped with the cameras which police believe will be key in tracking the women down.
“We do have incidents where we can obtain video and pictures. It’s crucial for the public to come forward and help solve crimes,” said O’Connor.
WBZ-TV’s Bobby Sisk reports
Other passengers were shocked to hear about the attack.
“I lost my grandson to violence last year,” said Louisa Mitchell. “They shot him dead in October and I pray for the young people.”
“Imagine if it was me, because I work late nights I do security and I work late nights and am coming home,” said Michael Lockley. “It’s just outrageous, just mean, it is just uncalled for, unhuman.”Neon Lights is a creamy white base that only takes two coats to reach opacity. It is filled with neon pink, neon yellow, neon green, neon orange, and big neon pink hexes. This polish is a pre-made jelly sandwich heaven neon bomb! I love love love this and I'm so glad that I finally bought it. This polish is the perfect compliment to summer. I can't wait to rock it poolside.
Which neon color in this polish is your favorite?
Enjoy & until next time, Amy Lee
*all polishes featured in this post were purchased by me
Day eight of the Untried Polish Challenge brings us to the Newest untried polish. Does getting a polish in the mail then waiting half a day to apply it count? I totally think so. Today, I have Lush Lacquer's Neon Lights. I've been eyeballing this polish for ever. And I mean forever. I can't remember which blog I initally saw it on, but it's been sitting in my favorites on Etsy for quite sometime. I finally pulled the trigger and I am ever so happy that I did.A Thousand Years of Solitude
Imagine spending a month alone in a windowless cell the size of a small bathroom. Now multiply that by 100, and you can begin to understand the average period of solitary confinement endured by prisoners held in the Security House Unit at California’s Pelican Bay State Prison.
The SHU, as the unit is called, houses more than 1,000 men, most of them remaining in solitary confinement for years, even decades.
According to official prison statistics, more than 500 prisoners at the SHU (or about half the total population) have been held there for more than 10 years. What is more, 78 prisoners have been held at the SHU for more than 20 years.
The Center for Constitutional Rights, a non-profit public interest law firm, filed a class action complaint in federal court last week on behalf of ten named plaintiffs who are incarcerated in the SHU, calling the SHU’s solitary confinement regime “inhumane and debilitating.” The plaintiffs, who had originally filed the case without legal assistance, have each been held in solitary confinement for between 11 and 22 years.
These numbers are stunning no matter how one looks at them. A recent European human rights court case condemned Russia for holding a prisoner in solitary confinement for three years, which, compared to the length of prisoners’ stays in the SHU, is a short stint. In the aggregate, prisoners held at the SHU spend thousands of years in their cells alone. It is a large-scale experiment in sensory deprivation and social isolation.
Communication as a Disciplinary Offense
The complaint paints a stark picture of daily life in the SHU. Prisoners in the SHU “normally spend between 22 and one-half and 24 hours a day in their cells. They are typically allowed to leave their cells only for ‘exercise’ and to shower.”
The cells are made entirely of concrete and measure approximately 80 square feet. They contain a concrete bed, a sink, and a toilet, as well as a concrete desk and stool. Prisoners’ personal belongings are extremely limited. The cell doors are made up of solid steel, not bars, and have small round perforations that allow a partial view into the hallway.
The only means prisoners have to communicate is to yell or speak loudly to their neighbors, which may be deemed to be a disciplinary offense.
“Exercise,” according to the complaint (which puts the word in quotes), takes place in “a barren, solid concrete exercise pen, known as the ‘dog run.’” Until last year, the exercise pen was empty. Following an organized hunger strike by prisoners, the authorities added a handball to the pen.
Phone calls are not allowed, except in exceptional circumstances like a death in the family, and even then permission to make a call is granted at the prison authorities’ discretion. The complaint describes how one of the plaintiffs, Gabriel Reyes, “was denied a telephone call home after his stepfather died, because he had been allowed a telephone call several months earlier when his biological father died.”
Family members are limited to non-contact visits, behind plexiglass, with communication taking place over a telephone handset. The prison gets few visitors, as it is located far from most prisoners’ home cities, near the state’s northern border with Oregon, and visiting hours are extremely limited. As the complaint explains, many prisoners have “been without face-to-face contact with people other than prison staff for decades.”
Prisoners have no access to recreational or vocational programming. Psychological counseling is minimal, despite the obvious mental health risks at issue. When one plaintiff requested mental health care, the complaint asserts, “he was referred to a ‘self-help’ library book.”
While most prisoners are held in solitary confinement, a few are double-celled. The complaint suggests that the only thing nearly as bad as solitary confinement is being locked in close quarters with one other person, with no possibility of leaving the room. “[D]ouble-celling,” the complaint says, “requires two strangers to live around-the-clock in intolerably cramped conditions, in a cell barely large enough for a single human being to stand or sit.”
Indefinite Confinement
No judge ever sentences a prisoner to serve time at the Pelican Bay SHU. Instead, it is the state prison bureaucracy that puts people there and keeps |
at the University of Iowa led by Terry Wahls, MD, to compare the ability of two popular diets to treat MS-related fatigue, a disabling symptom that can significantly interfere with a person’s ability to function at home and work. This financial commitment is the latest in the Society’s relentless research efforts to move us closer to a world free of MS, and part of a projected investment of $50 million in 2016 alone to support more than 380 new and ongoing studies around the world aimed at stopping the disease in its tracks, restoring function, and ultimately ending MS forever.“The National MS Society is committed to identifying wellness solutions to help people live their best lives,” noted Bruce Bebo, PhD, the Society’s Executive Vice President, Research. “We’re very pleased to support a rigorous clinical trial to test the ability of two popular MS dietary approaches to address the disabling symptom of fatigue,” he added.“Together with the National MS Society, and this grant, we will be able to take our long-standingeven further, examining how food and nutrients can impact the lives of people with multiple sclerosis,” said Dr. Wahls.– and the strategies needed to achieve it – is a high priority for people living with MS and for National MS Society programs and research. Research studies in the area of dietary approaches have generally been of inadequate size and design to provide useful information about dietary strategies in MS. This new trial takes a carefully designed approach to understanding the potential impact of diet on fatigue and possibly other symptoms commonly experienced by people living with MS.Terry Wahls, MD, created the Wahls Protocol diet after being diagnosed with MS herself. She’s spent more than a decade studying the origins of certain foods and vitamins and their effects on the body. The Wahls Protocol follows a modified Paleolithic diet that doesn’t include grains, eggs, dairy products, legumes and nightshade vegetables, but places a heavy emphasis on vegetables, fruit, meat and fish.Roy Swank, MD, PhD, began studying MS in 1948. He created the low saturated fat Swank Diet around 1950 after he observed a higher incidence of MS in geographic areas where people ate meat, milk, eggs and cheese – foods that are high in saturated fat – and a lower incidence in areas where people ate fish. He spent more than 50 years recommending this diet to his patients and monitoring their health.Both diets have been shown to have a positive impact on patients with MS.Study investigators will be recruiting 100 people with relapsing-remitting MS who experience fatigue to enroll in the 36-week clinical trial. Participants will follow their usual diet for 12 weeks and then be randomly assigned to follow a low saturated fat diet (Swank diet) or a modified paleolithic diet (Wahls diet), for 24 weeks. Their health and activities will be extensively monitored during the study.This study is currently recruiting participants. Participants must live within a 500-mile radius of Iowa City, IA. This includes the states of Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Missouri and Wisconsin, and parts of Arkansas, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma and Tennessee. Individuals interested in being considered for enrollment in this study may complete screening questionnaires and use code: JMJPYEJHP. For questions, please email MSDietStudy@healthcare.uiowa.edu or call 319-384-5002.A. Wellness – and the strategies needed to achieve it – is a high priority for people living with MS and for National MS Society programs and research. For the most part, research studies in the area of dietary approaches have generally been of inadequate size and design to provide useful information about dietary strategies in MS. This trial takes a carefully designed approach to understanding the potential impact of two widely used MS-related diets on fatigue and potentially other symptoms commonly experienced by people living with MS.A. First, when the Society makes a research grant, the funds associated with the grant go to the investigator’s institution – the University of Iowaand are administered by the university, not the investigator. Second, as with any clinical trial that the Society supports, the trial was carefully reviewed by independent scientific experts. They assessed the trial for both its scientific rigor, but also looked closely at the design to ensure there were no biases that might influence outcomes or interpretation of the results. Third, the funding agreement between the Society and the University of Iowa has strict provisions to ensure compliance with conflict of interest policies including disclosure of conflicts and issues surrounding monetary rewards or other tangible benefits derived from this research. For ongoing assurances, the Society is appointing a data and safety monitoring board to monitor safety of participants and to oversee implementation of the study to ensure it complies with best practices for scientific validity and objectivity, as well as adherence to the study protocol. Lastly, the agreement with the University prohibits use of the Society’s name, logo or trademarks to promote any activity, product, or enterprise without the express written permission of the Society.A. This trial is comparing the ability of two different dietary approaches to reduce MS-related fatigue. Participants will be randomly assigned to follow a low saturated fat diet (Swank diet) or a modified paleolithic diet (Wahls diet), along with specific nutritional supplements, and will keep careful food diaries. Their health and activities, particularly physical activity level, will be extensively monitored before and during the study. The trial will last 36 weeks.A. The Swank diet, developed by the late Dr. Roy Swank, limits intake of saturated and unsaturated fats and oils, eliminates processed foods containing saturated fats, eliminates red meat for the first year, and includes eating fruits and vegetables, nonfat dairy products as well as whole grain cereals and pastas.A. The paleolithic diet involves eating natural foods while avoiding highly processed food, especially high carbohydrate foods that significantly raise blood sugar; and also emphasizes the intake of game (non-domesticated) meats and plant-based foods (fruits, roots, and nuts). The modified paleolithic (Wahls) diet also eliminates foods to which some individuals may be sensitive, including grains, dairy, legumes (including soy), eggs, and nightshades (tomatoes, potatoes, eggplant and peppers), but continues to stress a high intake of vegetables.A. About four years. Clinical trials generally take many months to establish processes, convene a safety monitoring committee and to recruit all participants. Once it has begun, the actual study takes 36 weeks for each individual enrolled. The results can only be evaluated after all participants have completed all testing involved in the study, and then it usually takes months to evaluate the results, write a paper describing the results, and then getting it published in a peer-reviewed medical journal. Given this, it is likely that study results will be released in 2020.A. Participants will be monitored to track their physical activity, nutritional status, mobility, cognition and mood, and will also be monitored for potential side effects.A. Yes. Some restrictive diets may lead to vitamin or mineral deficiencies, which may impact overall health. The paleo diet can result in deficiencies in folic acid, thiamine and vitamin B6 (due to reduced intake of cereals), calcium and vitamin D (due to lack of dairy intake) and insufficient caloric intake without appropriate nutritional advice. Although no definite deficiencies would be expected to develop from the Swank diet, a recent study showed that people following this diet were consuming less than the recommended levels of vitamin A, C, E and folate. For these reasons, this clinical trial includes nutritional supplements for all participants and careful monitoring of potential side effects.A. There are specific criteria established for determining who is eligible. People with relapsing-remitting MS who are experiencing fatigue and live within 500 miles of Iowa City will be considered for enrollment. Individuals who wish to be considered may complete a screening questionnaire at:and use code: JMJPYEJHP. For questions, please email MSDietStudy@healthcare.uiowa.edu or call 319-384-5002.A. Yes. Enrolled participants will be asked to continue their usual medications during the study, and also to maintain their usual physical activities and stress reduction regimens, unless their physician or physical therapist recommends changes.A. The decision to include only individuals with relapsing-remitting MS was made after careful consideration. One reason is that many studies have difficulty recruiting enough participants, and since there are more people who have relapsing-remitting MS than who have specific forms of progressive MS, the study is more likely to achieve its recruitment goals. Another reason is that including both relapsing-remitting and progressive participants would require recruitment of many more people, since the analysis of the results would have to make provisions for examining possible differences in the response of relapsing versus progressive participants. This would raise the cost of the study beyond what is feasible.A. Unless you have an allergy or medical condition that would prohibit any of the foods suggested for these diets, there’s no reason not to try one of these diets. However it is a good idea to check with your healthcare provider before undertaking any major change in your dietary habits. Also, be sure to get the full details about these diets and their recommended nutritional supplements so that you get the nutrition you need while you are trying one of these approaches.A. Although there’s no proven “MS diet,” what and how you eat can make a difference in your energy level, bladder and bowel function, and overall health. MS specialists recommend that people with MS adhere to the same low-fat, high-fiber diet recommendations of the American Heart Association and the American Cancer Society for the general population.A. The National MS Society is supporting several clinical trials including one exploring the impacts of intermittent calorie restriction (at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, currently recruiting participants), and a medical food for the treatment of MS cognitive impairment (at the University of Miami, currently recruiting participants). Other trials include a study investigating theon immune function (at Yale University, New Haven, currently recruiting participants).(PDF)(CNN) Sixteen states will run out of federal funding for CHIP -- the Children's Health Insurance Program -- by the end of January, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation. Three-quarters of all states expect to exhaust funds by the end of March unless Congress can agree to fund it. (Scroll to the bottom for the full list.)
CHIP has come into the news lately because Congress has not yet reauthorized its funding mechanism and, as a result, states are running out of money. Once the money runs out, potentially hundreds of thousands -- if not millions -- of low-income kids could lose their health insurance. That could be a dire situation for some families.
Versions of CHIP reauthorization have passed both the House and a key Senate committee, but there have been disagreements on how to pay for the program. Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle agree that it will ultimately be reauthorized, but for families who rely on the coverage, the stopgap temporary solutions have caused heartburn and Democrats have complained that Republicans want to focus on tax reform first.
The loss of federal funds could cause state budget shortfalls because nearly all states assumed continued federal funding in their 2018 budgets. States have already made plans for what to do in the event that federal funds are exhausted.
Depending on how they have setup their CHIP programs, states plan to terminate or reduce coverage, cap enrollment or transition children to Medicaid, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation. States that have a CHIP-funded Medicaid expansion are making plans to address the budgetary shortfall that will occur when they still need to provide children coverage but receive a lower federal Medicaid match rate.
CHIP has also become a topic of conversation in popular culture. ABC late-night host Jimmy Kimmel gave an emotional monologue about his son, Billy, who recently had a successful surgery. Kimmel thanked the doctors who took care of his son while making a plea that CHIP funding be extended so that other children can get health services.
"Now CHIP has become a bargaining chip," he said. "It's on the back burner while they work out the new tax plans."
CHIP costs just over $16 billion per year. Even after accounting for economic growth, the tax bill passed by the Senate, which is now being reviewed for final passage by both chambers, is projected to cost $1 trillion by the Joint Committee on Taxation.
The steps Congress has taken to fill the funding gaps while it debates a more permanent solution have been small and drawn the ire of states and medical groups.
President Donald Trump signed a short-term government funding bill which called on the Department of Health and Human Services to allocate any remaining funds to the states most at risk of running out of CHIP funding.
"The short-term funding agreement to fund the government until Dec. 22 only includes a patchwork measure," said the American Academy of Pediatrics in a statement
A bipartisan group of 12 governors led by Ohio Gov. John Kasich and Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper wrote a letter to House and Senate leadership Tuesday asking them to reauthorize CHIP. "We believe covering children and pregnant women without disruption is one thing we can all agree on," the letter read.
Congress has fought over how to pay for CHIP but has yet to reach a compromise. Democrats and Republicans skirmished over authorizing the funding this fall in the House, where Republicans wanted to extend funding in exchange for funding cuts to Obamacare. Then in December, Republican Utah Sen. Orrin Hatch and Democratic Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown clashed over whether the government could afford such programs. Hatch, who was one of the initial authors of the legislation, said the government had spent beyond its means and he wants to find a way to extend the program.
Already, some states are sending our mailers to families saying their coverage may be affected. There is concern among health experts that added insecurity about programs or just a brief hiccup in coverage can have lasting damage.
Research into programs that have suspended or modified coverage found that once programs like CHIP experience temporary program suspension, it can take years to bring coverage levels back to previous levels.
The sixteen states expected to run out of funding by January are:
Arizona
California
Colorado
Delaware
Florida
Idaho
Massachusetts
Minnesota
Nevada
New Hampshire
Oregon
Pennsylvania
Texas
Utah
Virginia
Washington"It's way more likely we would head in that direction than say, 'Let's find some giant company that wants to cash us out and wait two or three years to have our employment agreements terminate.'"
- Valve boss Gabe Newell explains that it's more likely Valve would "disintegrate," employees departing, before he would sell it to another company.Not that Newell hasn't had opportunities to sell the company, reports the New York Times. According to "two people with knowledge of the discussion," Electronic Arts was previously interested in acquiring Valve, which was valued for over $1 billion.That figure most likely wouldn't cut it nowadays, however -- Wedbush Securities' analyst Michael Pachter believes that Valve is worth around $2.5 billion today.We've updated the headline and the EA acquisition reference to better reflect the original NYT article.]A physically disabled man arrested for drunken driving on a scooter he uses to get around cannot be convicted, because the machine is not a motor vehicle under state law, the Minnesota Court of Appeals said Monday.
Over the years, people behind the wheel of a riding lawnmowers and even a customized motorized recliner have been charged with drunken driving. But the Appeals Court reversed the conviction of James Anthony Brown Jr., who was charged in July 2009 with third-degree driving while impaired for driving his motorized scooter on the sidewalks of Grand Rapids while drunk. Brown argued that he should not be charged because he was not driving a motor vehicle.
According to the opinion, the scooter has a maximum speed of 5.75 miles per hour. On the day in question, he drove the scooter to a local car dealership, where employees called police. Brown took a breath test and tested 0.17 for alcohol concentration. He was charged with third-degree DWI because he had a previous DWI conviction.
Brown was convicted of a gross misdemeanor. He appealed, arguing that if his scooter is considered a motor vehicle, his constitutional due process and equal protection rights were violated. The scooter does not require a driver's license to operate and does not require insurance or license plates.
The appeals court pointed out that the state's definition of motor vehicle includes "every vehicle which is self-propelled," with the exception of "an electric personal assistive mobility device." Statutes define pedestrians as "any person afoot or in a wheelchair." The definition of wheelchair includes "any manual or motorized wheelchair, scooter, tricycle, or similar device used by a disabled person as a substitute for walking."
The court concluded that Brown's scooter is a wheelchair, not a motor vehicle, and overturned the conviction. It did not address his constitutional rights because the case was decided on that definition alone.
ABBY SIMONSSYDNEY, Australia — Australian researchers say rising sea levels have wiped out a rodent that lived on a tiny outcrop in the Great Barrier Reef, in what they say is the first documented extinction of a mammal species due to human-caused climate change.
The rodent was known to have lived only on Bramble Cay, a minuscule atoll in the northeast Torres Strait, between the Cape York Peninsula in the Australian state of Queensland and the southern shores of Papua New Guinea. The long-tailed, whiskered creature, called the Bramble Cay melomys, was considered the only mammal endemic to the Great Barrier Reef.
“The key factor responsible for the death of the Bramble Cay melomys is almost certainly high tides and surging seawater, which has traveled inland across the island,” Luke Leung, a scientist from the University of Queensland who was an author of a report on the species’ apparent disappearance, said by telephone. “The seawater has destroyed the animal’s habitat and food source.”
“This is the first documented extinction of a mammal because of climate change,” he said.
Anthony D. Barnosky, a professor at the University of California, Berkeley, who is a leading expert on climate change’s effects on the natural world, called the disappearance of the melomys “a cogent example of how climate change provides the coup de grâce to already critically endangered species.”From a tiny black-box theater on Sunset, right next door to the nerd mecca Meltdown Comics, Ptolemy Slocum is plotting improv’s return to its freer roots.
Slocum, a character actor who’s appeared in a number of films and in HBO series including The Wire, Veep and The Sopranos, is the lead teacher at the Nerdist School, a year-old improv instruction center named for actor Chris Hardwick’s megapopular geek-culture podcast and website. (Not to be confused with the NerdMelt Showroom, the popular stand-up stage in the back of the comics shop.)
For 15 years, since back in his New York theater days, Slocum has been developing a curriculum that embraces a more experimental, less rule-bound approach to improv.
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“It’s about raw performance, doing exactly what’s coming out of you," he says. "You get to the point where all the rules are gone. To a point of pure expression."
While the Nerdist School has the backing of Hardwick’s brand, it’s distinctly its own thing. Hardwick doesn't sit in the back row and give notes — he simply bought into Slocum’s vision. “There is a lot of crossover in the philosophies,” Slocum says. “We’re looking for people with personal passion that drives them, but who aren’t the type that, you know, does whatever it takes to fuck over the competition. Chris had one rule: Make sure no one is an asshole.”
Nerdist faces a tough challenge in a marketplace already saturated with big-name improv schools: Upright Citizens Brigade, ImprovOlympic West, Second City and Groundlings. Nerdist's class size (a maximum 16 per class) and price ($350 per eight-class run) are right on par with the other big schools. Without any history, how do they expect to compete?
“I think we have better classes,” Slocum says. “We only have teachers that have been doing it for 10 to 15 years, only teaching what they’re passionate about. We’re taking a more holistic approach, treating our students as entire artists.”
That’s the intangible answer. The more realistic one is that the Nerdist School has a tool that the other ones don’t — affiliation with a site that attracts tens of millions of clicks per month. No other school has an online presence that comes anywhere close to Nerdist's. Slocum is already working on the first Nerdist Presents short-film series, featuring all Nerdist School players. It will be published on the Nerdist site and promoted to its 231,000 Twitter followers and 1.3 million Facebook fans.
As the newest addition to L.A.'s improv schools, Nerdist aims to appeal to veterans of the other schools who want to get in on the ground floor of a program they can make their own. It also intends to attract new talent by being less intimidating than the old guard — and by adopting a different philosophy.
EXPAND Isaac Simpson
In a town where improv schools absorb a large percentage of the massive acting population, it’s a fun indulgence to imagine L.A.'s Big Four dividing Hollywood like street gangs. UCB, the youngest, hottest, most ruthless troupe — the MS-13 of improv, if you will — rules over the northwest sector. O.G.s iO West and Second City duke it out in the central zone, while the west end is occupied by the Groundlings. Only the Groundlings originated in L.A.; the other three originated in Chicago.
The differences among the Big Four troupes are rooted in the history of improvisational theater. The godfather of contemporary improv was Del Close, a writer, director and performer who got his start at Second City in the early 1960s. His methods were experimental, focusing on the importance of structureless, raw performance. Close is best known for developing "Harold," a form of structured improv that most shows, including UCB, iO West and Second City, adhere to today. Harold is an attempt to bring order to chaos.
“It’s like a three-act structure," explains Joe Kardon, a member of Nerdist's original house team, Pilgrim. "Say there's a scene about a doctor that asks way too personal questions. The next beat could be another scene about that doctor or about a traffic cop that also asks way too personal questions.” The opening and the group games are free-form exercises that serve as palate cleansers for the audience.
The format works so well, and is such a good mechanism for both teaching and digesting improv, that it dominates the medium today. Close, though, might not entirely appreciate that it’s become his legacy.
"It’s almost like Christianity and Jesus,” Slocum says. “It sort of became everything he was against. Close is associated with this closed form, when really he was about the opposite.”
Today’s schools are defined in part by their acceptance or rejection of the Harold structure. UCB remains faithful, as does iO West, which named its Hollywood Boulevard theater after Close. IO, however, is less concerned than UCB with conditioning an audience response, emulating Close's more acting-based, experimental work.
Second City is known for its Harold but also for political commentary and scene development. It’s also the most writing-focused of the four — students are taught to use improv as fodder for written sketches.
And Groundlings is the least structured of the lot, focusing primarily on character and audience reaction, which is why it has become a primary feeder for Saturday Night Live. Kristin Wiig and Will Ferrell both developed many of their famous characters at Groundlings.
“I see a ton of shows with groups that can do one scene for 20 minutes," says Johnno Wilson, an actor who’s been performing with Groundlings for four years. "I am in awe of those people. I think it’s a fantastic form of improv. But I think there are a lot of different ways to do improv and I don’t think the Groundlings goes just for the laughs. We get these huge laughs because the audience knows we're truly committed to the character."
Slocum does not teach Harold. While he acknowledges that Nerdist is still finding its niche, he says his mission is to be more acting- and performance-based than the others, more free-form and in line with Close-style experimentation. He wants his improvisers to fall headfirst into the scene and stop trying to make anyone laugh.
“We're doing almost, like, punk improv,” he says. “We definitely don’t stay on the stage. It’s much freer. We do clowning classes to get that raw energy of being in the moment.”
Ultimately, Slocum wants to free his students from the constraints of Harold and audience reaction. It’s much healthier, he says, for them to focus on expressing themselves. He teaches the tricks of the trade but empowers his students to make use of them on their own.
"It’s like Legos,” he says. “If you take Legos and say, 'You can only build this,' you lose the reason why you wanted to build in the first place. But if you say, ‘Here’s the Legos, here's the instructions, now go make whatever you want,' then you can use the kit to express yourself, not to build someone else’s idea of what you’re supposed to do.”AS ISLAMIC State leaders and fighters flee the battle for Mosul, a network of booby-trapped tunnels reveals the extremist group is increasingly living like rabbits underground.
The battle for Mosul has revealed a network of abandoned tunnels and cramped living quarters outside the city, showing the extremist group is increasingly forced to operate, and live, underground amid a punishing air campaign and mounting territorial losses.
In the village of Badana, east of Mosul, two years of IS rule resulted in a network of tunnels, fully stocked, but now abandoned.
When IS fighters moved into the territory around Mosul more than two years ago, the group attacked with convoys that traversed the open desert and held parades in the city centre.
Now, they seek refuge, mount their attacks from underground, and leave booby traps in their wake.
Badana was taken back from IS control on the second day of attacks designed to take Mosul, Iraq’s second-largest city, and it offers a glimpse of the battle still in store.
Above the ground, AP reports, walls are shredded by air strikes and artillery fire, homes are black with soot from the resulting fires, and anything standing has been looted.
Underneath, in the tunnels, bags of fresh vegetables — even eggs beside a makeshift stove — lie abandoned, suggesting IS fighters maintained their supply lines until just days before their defeat, and their hasty exit.
Amid sleeping bags and food, there were even reports of the discovery of a booby-trapped Koran.
In other villages, deep tunnels booby trapped with explosives run under houses, and antipersonnel device mines lie half-buried in roads.
“They spent their lives in these tunnels,” said Tahseen Muhammed Sharif, a Kurdish fighter who said the forces that drove the militants out of the village also found ammunition inside the tunnel network.
“I can’t imagine living like this,” he said.
“There is a definite difference between us and them — their behaviour, it’s outside human behaviour.”
A small unit of Iraqi Kurdish fighters tasked with holding the territory in and around Badana, were camped on Tuesday in a field behind a row of armoured vehicles on the village’s edge. While free of IS fighters, the area is littered with dozens of booby-trapped explosives. Kurdish fighters stick to paths and roads they have already used and walk in single file.
As residents return to check the devastation, they are shocked by what greets them.
War experts warn it will only get worse as the advance on Mosul continues.
When Iraqi forces reach the city, Patrick Martin of the Institute for the Study of War in Washington DC said they should expect to see defences like the tunnel networks and booby-trapped explosives of Badana, but on a much greater scale.
“They’re making sure that whenever the operation to retake the city commences it will be extremely difficult for the security forces to do so,” Mr Martin said, adding that while there were reports of IS fighters fleeing Mosul, the group had shown a willingness to defend the city by using car bombs, suicide bombers and trenches.
Faced with punishing air strikes by the US-led coalition, the IS fighters have changed tactics.
They melt into civilian populations and building tunnels, so they could move without being seen from above.
During the first day of the operation, the most complex for Iraq’s military since the withdrawal of US troops in 2011, Kurdish forces say they retook nine villages and pushed the front line back 8km.
Like Badana, those villages were almost empty of civilians, allowing coalition aircraft to largely clear the territory from the air.
Kurdish Lieutenant Colonel Fariq Hama Faraj said he and his men have received orders they will not advance any further in the Mosul fight.
But he does not believe this will be the last time he fights IS.
“They will come back with a new name and they’ll be more extreme and more barbaric,” he said.
“If you look to the history of these organisations we see that each one is more extreme than the last.”
After a string of victories in the past year, Iraqi ground forces have pushed IS out of more than half the territory the group once held in Iraq, with close support from the US-led coalition. Now, with the launch of the campaign to retake Mosul, the extremists’ main stronghold, Iraqi forces are again operating under coalition air cover.
An estimated 3500 to 5000 IS fighters are dug into Mosul, while tens of thousands of Iraqi forces have massed to recapture Iraqi’s second city.The judge in the George Zimmerman case denied to recuse himself Wednesday, ruling that a defense motion asking him to step down was "legally insufficient."
"The defendant's verified motion to disqualify judge is hereby denied as legally insufficient," Circuit Judge Kenneth Lester ruled.
Zimmerman, the 28-year-old Florida man charged with second-degree murder in the killing of unarmed black teenager Trayvon Martin, asked for a new judge in his case last month, accusing Lester of bias.
Zimmerman alleged in the filing that Lester made "gratuitous" and "disparaging remarks" about him during a July 5 bond hearing and offered "a personal opinion" in the case.
George Zimmerman's wife will not be at arraignment after not guilty plea
"In doing so, the Court has created a reasonable fear in Mr. Zimmerman that this Court is biased against him and because of this prejudice he cannot receive a fair and impartial trial or hearing by this Court," the motion said.
It is unclear whether Zimmerman will appeal the judge's decision.
Reuters contributed to this report.
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Follow US News from NBCNews.com on Twitter and FacebookBuy Photo Ford's new CEO Jim Hackett is introduced during a press conference Monday, May 22, by Chairman Bill Ford Jr. (Photo: Daniel Mears/ The Detroit News)Buy Photo
Dearborn - Ford Motor Co. Executive Chairman Bill Ford Jr. wants the company his great-grandfather started to be a more collaborative workplace that can quickly adapt to the rapidly morphing auto-and-mobility sector. And he sees the new CEO, Jim Hackett, as a "change agent" to drive the automaker there.
"We need to modernize our business. We have to continue to develop and also invent the new businesses," Bill Ford said Monday at a press conference announcing his management shakeup. "Any one of those is a big task, we have to do all three, and I'm very confident that we can and that we will under Jim's leadership. I've never felt more confident in our future."
The automaker's ousting of CEO Mark Fields and reassignment of three senior executives creates a new structure for the company founded more than a century ago. Hackett, a former CEO of Steelcase Inc. and one-time Ford director who now serves as president of Ford Smart Mobility LLC, will become president and CEO of the Dearborn-based automaker, effective June 1.
“We need to re-energize our business and sharpen our execution,” Bill Ford said in an interview with The Detroit News. “The good news is we have the financial resources and the talent to get it done. But what we needed is a transformative leader who has done it before. And who not only has the vision, but also knows how to get the organization to move toward that vision.
“Jim has done this before. And he’s done it at an industrial company. And he’s done it at a company where he redefined it from what it was to what it could become. Jim will bring speed of decision-making. The world in which we are operating in today is very different from even three years ago.”
Hackett plans to borrow elements of CEO Alan Mulally's "One Ford" approach to guiding the Blue Oval through the Great Recession. But the new CEO and his team are likely to depart from core elements of that framework because the Silicon Valley-led mobility revolution is transforming the traditional auto industry at accelerating speed.
"He did this really special thing to get the company to be a community again," he said Monday. "It worked really well, and in fact we're going to use parts of it in the way that we monitor our success. But what it doesn't do as well, is it doesn't handle when there's lots of complex strategy questions. If you thought of strategy like a Rubik's Cube, it's not just solving one side, there's lots of sides to the problem. I'm trying to design a team that's a little closer to Bill and I that allows us to make decisions very clearly for the organization."
The uncharacteristically swift move for Ford comes as large Wall Street investors and small shareholders raise increasing pressure on the automaker. Ford shares have slipped roughly 40 percent since Fields replaced superstar CEO Alan Mulally in July 2014. Ten percent of that slide came in the first five months of this year as the blistering U.S. market shows signs of cooling, weakening Ford’s financial results and raising doubts about its management direction.
Evidence continues to mount, Ford executives say, that the automaker under Fields failed to move quickly enough to realign its business to maximize growth, to boost return on invested capital and to reassure investors that Ford is effectively managing its transition from a century-old automaker to what it calls an “auto-and-mobility company.”
As rival General Motors Co. under CEO Mary Barra aggressively moves to reshape its global market and manufacturing footprint — leaving Russia and India, ending production in Australia and Indonesia, selling its European operations to PSA Groupe SA of France — Ford’s directors found Fields moving too slowly on such things as the Blue Oval presence in India and whether it should withdraw from the small-car segment in the United States, among other things.
“Those things are front and center on the agenda — very quickly,” Hackett, 62, said in an interview with The News, referring to Ford’s presence in India and the future of small cars in the SUV-crazy U.S. market. “There’s a long list of them like that. They were kind of in process. We will address all those.”
Quicker decision-making
The new senior management structure developed by Hackett, Bill Ford and the company’s directors is designed to emphasize quicker decision-making and crisper execution. Jim Farley, 54, head of Ford Europe, Middle East and Africa since January 2015, will become executive vice president and president of global markets. He will oversee Ford’s regions, global marketing and sales and Lincoln Motor Co.
Ford Europe CEO Jim Farley (Photo: Ford Motor Co.)
Joe Hinrichs, 50, head of the Americas since December 2012, will become executive vice president and president of global operations. He will manage global product development, manufacturing and labor affairs, purchasing, and sustainability, environmental and safety engineering.
Joe Hinrichs (Photo: Ford Motor Company)
Marcy Klevorn, 57, vice president of information technology and chief technology officer since January, will become executive vice president and president of mobility. She will oversee Hackett’s Ford Smart Mobility unit, as well as information technology, global data and the work of Paul Ballew, 52, as newly appointed global chief data and analytics officer.
Marcy Klevorn (Photo: Ford Motor Company)
And Mark Truby, 47, head of communications for Ford Europe and, more recently, in the Asia Pacific region, returns to Dearborn to become vice president of communications, effectively immediately. A former auto writer and business editor for The Detroit News, he replaces Ray Day, who will retire at year’s end.
Mark Truby (Photo: Tim Bishop / timbismedia)
Hackett said that there will be more announcements coming later in the week on rounding out his team, which he called a "powerful group of people."
The decision to oust Fields as CEO and replace him with Hackett was finalized in a board meeting Friday, after which Bill Ford told the incumbent CEO he would be replaced by the former Steelcase CEO and the former interim athletic director of the University of Michigan.
Hackett’s biggest accomplishment on his brief return to his alma mater: wooing Jim Harbaugh, fresh from the NFL, back to the sidelines in Michigan Stadium. Bill Ford, who’s known Hackett for some 20 years, said Hackett’s success at Michigan in a relatively short tenure — re-engaging disaffected students and volunteers, hiring Harbaugh and the new athletic director Warde Manuel — demonstrates an “ability to lead in all kinds of circumstances.”
Sense of urgency
Ford’s move against Fields, in the job less than three years, betrays a sense of urgency the company historically has taken longer to muster. But time, Bill Ford signaled, is racing ahead in the global auto industry, and Ford cannot afford to address leadership problem unlikely to get better with time.
A whole new set of Silicon Valley competitors with names like Apple and Google, Intel and Qualcomm is vying for leadership in the next-generation industry that threatens to change fundamentally the auto industry as Detroit knows it. It’s unfamiliar territory for all automakers, not just Ford.
Mulally, a former Boeing Co. executive wooed to Ford in 2006 to rescue the struggling Blue Oval, engineered the rebuild of Ford’s core car and truck business, producing what turned out to be an earnings machine at the top of the auto cycle. Job One: save the company.
Fields, a Ford veteran, was charged with maintaining that momentum amid a downshifting market cycle while simultaneously pushing the automaker into unknown territory labeled autonomy, electrification and mobility. That turned out to be easier said than done, especially when a hot U.S. truck market, an inept communications strategy and bad timing further muddied the company strategy with key interest groups.
“Alan did a really fantastic job — unheralded as you know — to bring One Ford about during this crisis,” Hackett told The News. “The matrix structure that he had to put together so they could understand what was going on together is not the best structure as the edges of this are being disrupted.”
Worse, the Mulally magic is showing unmistakable signs of dissipating. Quality declined and warranty costs rose. Rivals moved more quickly than Ford |
head of the mag crew, and Shia LaBeouf as Jake, her top seller and trainer. But the real revelation is first-time actor Sasha Lane as Star, a runaway who falls for Jake the first time she sees him, and joins his crew’s cross-country ramble to get closer to him. I recently talked to Arnold about her casting and shooting methods, and the night she rescued a drunk kid from the police.
Andrea Arnold’s new film American Honey is a fascinating, immersive trip across the American heartland with a crew of hard-partying 20-somethings, but it’s also one of those projects where the behind-the-scenes story is as compelling as the one on-screen. Arnold, the British director of Fish Tank and Red Road, prepared for her first American movie with an extensive cross-country road trip. Along the way, she looked for the young people she wanted to cast in her film, finding them at beach parties and hanging out in parking lots. Arnold had read a 2007 New York Times article about mag crews — traveling groups of young people selling magazine subscriptions, often for predatory companies keeping them indentured under brutal conditions. She wanted to make a film about a mag crew, but she wanted the performances to be authentic and natural. So she effectively built her own crew out of young people she found while traveling. Then she loaded them into a van and took them on a 12,000-mile road trip, encouraging them to bond and interact naturally while she shot the film around them.
Why did you decide to use non-professional actors for this film? Why was it important to you to find them in their own scenes and parties around the country? I do a lot of my films this way, using people who haven't acted before. But on this one, it seemed even more important somehow to represent the kind of people that join mag crews. Seeing those authentic faces felt really important to me. So from the beginning, I wanted to use real people whose faces summed up that life. I'm always trying to do things as authentically as I can, as much as possible. Doing a real road trip and taking everybody together felt like a way of having a real experience, as opposed to pretending to have an experience. I always wanted, literally from the beginning, for the cast and crew to go on a trip together. There wasn't this usual thing where you might do a couple of weeks filming in one place, and then fly to the next, and somebody will fly in for two days, and fly back out again. I wanted us all to have a real experience. So the crew and all the cast met at the beginning, and we went on the whole trip. We traveled and stayed in the same motel, and had a real experience together. We lived together, we were making the film together, so it was a proper adventure. I think doing that meant that the film has more of a realistic feel. How firm was the script when you started? Are there parts of the movie that you just discovered on the road? "Everyone thinks, 'Oh, is it a documentary, is it a drama?'" There was a script. Everyone thinks, "Oh, is it a documentary, is it a drama?" There was a script, but what I do a lot is, when I learn things, when I cast people, I go back and revisit the script, and I might change it according to what I've learned. I think maybe that's what people are reading. It seems quiet, like it's off-the-cuff. Some of it is improvised. Like the scenes in the van where we're actually traveling, we would film everybody. When we moved locations, as we drove out to the next state, for the next place where we were going to stay, even though that wasn't in the script, we'd film inside the van. So some of those scenes in the van when we're traveling are just what was happening, just us hanging out. I'd give them some notes. With Sasha, who is playing her character, I would definitely give her notes, because I wanted her to be at a certain stage of her journey for each scene. For her, that was quite hard, because they're all partying all the time, and she wanted to party, but I wouldn't let her. That was particularly tough on her, because I always wanted her to be kind of thoughtful or sad, or thinking about Jake. Everyone else is always singing and dancing, and she wanted to join in with them, but I had to sometimes stop her doing that.
What else did you do to help her build that character? I cast quite close to what I'm looking for, so I'm not wanting anyone to be necessarily different from who they are. But at the same time, they're saying my words which I've written, and they're wearing clothes I've given them, and they're standing in locations and taking part in scenes that are nothing to do with who they are as real people. I put them in my situations, then I don't really ask or want them to add much more. Star is a bit more country than Sasha. Sasha is more worldly and had more education and is a bit more urban than Star. And she dresses differently. All I asked was that she dress a bit more country, and not say certain words. And then off we go, really. What kind of cameras did you use? We were gonna shoot on film and video. Robbie Ryan is a fantastic DP, and he's a huge fan of film. So am I. We actually did some testing in London — we have a picture from London of all the 10 different cameras we were going to test. We've got everything from a tiny little camera up to the 35mm cameras. Robbie knows what all the cameras were, but when we were looking at footage, I didn't want to know which cameras went with which shots. I wanted to pick what I thought was right for the film without knowing what the camera was. And without a doubt, what came in completely at the top was 35mm. It gives such a great surface. We didn't have any of the cast at that point, so we just filmed a lad we knew. And the 35mm gave him such presence. I can't really explain it any more than that. More than just, without a doubt, I wanted that. The one after that I like the most is the Alexa, which is what we ended up shooting most of the movie on. When we started off, we were going to do a mix of both, because we couldn't afford just film. We started at the beginning. I had an idea that maybe all Star's close-ups were on film, and the rest of it wasn't, so she'd really feel present in the scene, visually. But then when we got going, it was so challenging. Digital was just much easier — we were getting more out of being able to keep rolling on the digital camera and not having to stop to change [film cartridges]. I would never say there's a downside to using film, but working with non-actors, it's probably easier just to keep rolling. One of the more insightful reviews I've read of the film says people don't really process youth when they're young, so movies like this are more for older people who want to remember an experience they weren't conscious of at the time. Does that idea speak to you at all? I can see that. When we're young, we're dealing with so much. I think that's life. Maybe when you're older and you're looking back at being young, you can see it more clearly. When you're young, you're still going forward, and you don't quite know who you are, and you're not reflecting so much as just being in it. Certainly when I was the age of the people in my film, I would just kind of barge through life, not really reflecting much on anything. Just living in the moment.
How did you end up with the 4:3 aspect ratio? It's an artistic decision. I've done my last three films with the same ratio. It's a ratio I much love. My films are usually about one person and their experiences of the world. So I'm mainly following them around, filming them quite closely. And it's a very beautiful frame for one person. It frames them with a huge amount of respect. It gives them kind of honors, the human in that frame. I was very attracted to it when I first started making films, but I wasn't able to articulate it and understand why I was doing it until later. But now I understand, that respect is what it's about. Shia LaBeouf is intense about method acting, and his recent road-trip art project seems highly compatible with what you did with your own filming road trip. How did his process work with what you did on this film? He fitted in the way I wanted to work just so smoothly. I met him early on and I talked about the way I wanted to work, and he was really, really, enthusiastic about that. He really liked all the things I was saying. I think maybe we're quite similar in the things we care about in that way. We did have a good working relationship. I mean, he had to come into a group of people that were real people, and that must be quite challenging for someone who's done lots of acting, because you know he had to try to be quite real, just to not stand out from all these people who are just themselves. And he did that, which I think is pretty remarkable. Do you have any particularly memorable stories from the period where you were just going to beach parties and Walmart parking lots, looking for people for the film? It was always eventful. I suppose the time I remember the most is being on Panama City Beach during Spring Break, because it was so lively. My absolute favorite thing was to sit in the Walmart car lot on the beach at Panama City, and just watch all the kids come buy stuff and head out to the beach again, or sit in their cars and play music. It was just the liveliest play. I felt like it was such the place to be, there was no better place to be in the whole of Florida than that Walmart car lot. And they're dancing and twerking, amazing kind of twerking going on. [laughs] Fantastic dancing. I could sit there all week and just watch everybody. We were driving around looking for people, and we found so many people in distress, because they were drunk, lying on the road. We ended up as a bit of a rescue service, because we picked people up on the road and took them back to their hotels. That happened quite a few times, because there's an awful lot of drinking going on at Spring Break. We stopped a guy from getting arrested. He was just such a sweet man, but he was completely drunk, running around 7-Eleven. They wouldn't let him in, and the police came and were going to arrest him. We said, "We'll just take them home, he's just pissed." And they said, "What's he pissed at? What's he pissed about? Why is he pissed? What's he been doing?" It took me a while to realize that pissed in America means angry, while in England it just means you're drunk. But we got him home. I remember a lot of drama in Spring Break in Florida. And where else? We were in West Virginia a lot, wandering state fairs, I remember being in Upstate New York, staying at Motel 6, having breakfast in Denny's, then looking for people in state fairs.Where is the world is Chance Comanche? He’s playing in the Drew League, and he is killing it!
Ever since Arizona Basketball power forward Chance Comanche declared for the 2017 NBA Draft and hired an agent, Wildcats fans have been throwing a bunch of shade toward the beloved Wildcat. None of the folks making judgments have any clue what has gone on behind the curtains, and may never find out. One note of advice, you know what they say, if you assume you make an ass out of ‘u’ and an ass out of ‘me’ (Ass-u-me). Chance is having fun playing in the Drew League.
People have different goals in life and not every baller will play in the NBA, or even in the G-League. Many former college players make a career out of playing overseas. Former Laker Derrick Caracter left UTEP to get drafted by the Lakers, after one season, he got injured and ended up going over seas to play. He has played in 15 countries and has seen the world playing the game he loves. He is still playing. He is spending his summer in the Drew League.
The Drew is a league of a combo of players that compete over the summer in Compton California at King Drew High School, high school, college, drew league and NBA (including Stanley Johnson who won the Drew League Championship on BB4L last season). The league is over 40 years old and former Bruin and Clipper guard Baron Davis not only made a movie about it, but he also coaches and plays for two teams.
Caracter is not the only American International basketball player in The Drew League, Patrick Rembert (@PRembert11) who earned Co-MVP honors in the Drew with Frank Nitty Session (@FrankNittyY). Rembert just got back from his second season playing in Lebanon. He plays alongside Frank Robinson (@IamFR5), another Drew League legend who was almost perfect against Comanche’s opponent last Saturday. Both play for LA Loop. Robinson went seven for 11 for 19 points making both three’s and three free throws.
Comanche plays for Clozers in the Drew League. Clozers is made up mostly of college commits and current players, a young team but they can hang with the big boys any day. This was The Chief’s break out game. Both LA Loop and the Clozers records stood and 5-4 before the match up. Players on the team go deep on the roster, so the same players do not play each week. For instance, Arizona freshman Ira Lee along with Oregon State’s Ethan Thompson played for Clozers in the first few weeks before going off to college.
Chance’s teammates included Chimezie Metu (who returned to play another year at USC), Coach Wally’s son and god son Marquis Moore and Louis Rodriguez, both working on getting more scholarship offers. If you watched these two play, you would be totally shocked the Pac-12 has passed on them so far. They do have offers, but we would love to get them some more attention. This is the reason most ballers play in the Drew, attention. From fans, from Nike, from scouts who come to watch, and to make a name in this big boy historic league.
The game was to be sold BUT I TOLD IT! #forfree pic.twitter.com/XakOueMpDO — Dash Harris Sr. (@dashOfwisdom) July 9, 2017
Chance came out like The Chief he is and dominated the game from the first minute. He hit a few successive slam dunks, and he could feel it. That ball was going in, and not just from under the basket where he was planted by Sean Miller. Now free from the Wildcats offensive scheme, Comanche got on the court and balled out. The few minutes he rested, the other team took advantage of.
Keep Grinding Son, prove all the haters & doubters wrong. #hardworkwillpayoff — MELISSA McGEE (@mkmcgee24) July 22, 2017
The Clozers were in it the entire game but ended up losing 85-80 in one of the more competitive games on Saturday. Even though the team lost, Comanche won the day. He went 10-16 for 21 points including a three-pointer, multiple jumpers and a bunch of dunks which still come very easy for him. For the Chief, training has become his top priority, and it shows. He has a few moves I hadn’t seen before, and they worked against an experienced team.
Comanche ended the day with a double-double: 21 points, 11 rebounds, three assists. It was so much fun to cheer him on court side; you could see the confidence in his eyes and his play. Do you remember seeing Chance score many jumpers like this one before?
Crazy how when you throw Pac-12 players together, they step it up. Here Metu dishes the ball off to Comanche for a slam dunk.
Here’s another jumper from Comanche:
@comanche2414 10-16 for 21 pts 1-3 Ft 11 rebounds 3 assists today in the @drewleague against Experienced LA Loop pic.twitter.com/844nxZLqjQ — Shereen Rayan (@SportsCrazee) July 22, 2017
Still another different shot from Comanche of an assist from Louis Rodriguez (give this guy an offer Pac-12):
https://twitter.com/SportsCrazee/status/888924666705858561
Proudly wearing his Arizona Wildcats basketball t-shirt, Comanche sat court side to watch the biggest and most exciting game of the day. The rapper The Game’s team Birdies Revenge (with star Frank Nitty) took on Houdini’s problems. The fans were four rows deep under the basket, and there wasn’t a seat in the house. It was nice to see The Chief have a great time and watch a team, Birdies Revenge with NBA player Christian Wood, that was undefeated in the Drew and will be moving into the playoffs.
This interview of mine with USC star Elijah Stewart will give you a good taste of what it’s like to play with the NBA players Julius Randle (Lakers) and Nick Young (Warriors). Please excuse the Fight On salutation, but when you are a SoCal broadcaster and when you are in Rome…
For now, Comanche is training hard, playing in the Drew (he may switch teams if his team doesn’t make the playoffs) and weighing the options he has on the table right now. As soon as we know, more we will share it with you, just sit tight and think good thoughts for your Wildcat and know he is working hard at his craft for the sport he loves to play.The following press release has been published today by Brillouin Energy, via PRWeb here
Berkeley Clean Technology Company Announces Breakthrough for LENR Power Devices
Controllable-on-Demand, Reproducible, Transportable, Scalable LENR Validated in Third-Party Tests of Brillouin Energy’s most advanced Isoperibolic Hydrogen Hot Tube™ LENR Reactor
BERKELEY, CA (PRWEB) JANUARY 05, 2017
Researchers at SRI International are reporting that they have successfully replicated “over unity” amounts of thermal energy (heat) for Brillouin Energy Corporation’s most advanced Isoperibolic (“IPB”) Hydrogen Hot Tube™ (HHT™) reactor test systems based on controlled low energy nuclear reactions (“LENR”). Researchers at SRI conducted a series of third-party tests of Brillouin Energy’s IPB HHT™ LENR reactor test systems from March to December 2016. Dr. Francis Tanzella, principal investigator and Manager of the Low Energy Nuclear Reactions Program, was assigned to SRI’s testing of Brillouin Energy’s LENR systems and conducted all of the third-party validation work.
In its Interim Progress Report, SRI summarizes its extensive testing of five identical Brillouin Energy metallic reactor cores, which produced the same over-unity controlled heat outputs, turning the reaction heat on and off repeatedly. “Brillouin Energy appears to have achieved its most groundbreaking test results to-date,” the Report states.
Data from the SRI International test runs show LENR heat outputs up to several watts were repeatedly produced from positive coefficients of performance (COPs) in the range of 1.2X to 1.45X. The Report continues that LENR heat being independently validated with positive COPs is significant: “The LENR coefficients of performance (COPs) may be considered low and small scale however, it would be a mistake to discount them, in light of the accuracy of their calorimetry, the consistent repeatability of their production, their controllability, and the reproducibility and refinement of their manufacturing techniques, specifications, and components, all leading to the same repeated results. Moreover, the transportability of the system is another remarkable achievement”.
“By using standard industrial manufacturing processes for our reactor test systems, we have identified an engineering pathway for manufacturing Brillouin Energy’s IPB HHT™ reactor prototypes,” said Robert Godes, Chief Technology Officer and Co-Founder of Brillouin Energy Corp.
In 2017, Brillouin Energy will continue to work with SRI International in the testing process to help it to engineer and develop its IPB HHT™ reactor test systems, with the goal of evolving them towards LENR prototype equipment systems, which potentially may generate commercial scale LENR Heat on demand for industrially useful applications.
“We are on the cusp of a new era of cheap, abundant and reliable power from LENR technologies, at a time when the United States and many other countries are re-defining their commitments to mitigate the impacts from climate change,” said Robert W. George, Chief Executive Officer, Brillouin Energy.
Brillouin Energy’s LENR technology includes a proprietary method of electrical stimulation of nickel-metal conductors using its Q-Pulse™ control system. The process stimulates the system to produce LENR reactions, which generate excess heat and helium. The excess heat produced is a product of hydrogen and a nickel-metal catalyst. The Q-Pulse™ control system stimulation is the key to maintaining the reaction. Other than the heat output, there are no (zero) toxic or CO2 emissions of any kind.
The SRI Interim Progress Report summarizes all of the data and conclusions from SRI International’s nine months of testing of Brillouin Energy’s IPB HHT™ LENR reactor systems. To view the Report, visit http://brillouinenergy.com/science/experimental-results/.
About Brillouin Energy:
Brillouin Energy is a clean-technology company based in Berkeley, California, which is developing, in collaboration with Stanford Research International (SRI), an ultra-clean, low-cost, renewable energy technology that is capable of producing commercially useful amounts of thermal energy from LENR. For more on Brillouin Energy, please visit http://www.brillouinenergy.com.
About SRI International
SRI International (http://www.sri.com) creates world-changing solutions making people safer, healthier, and more productive. SRI, a research center headquartered in Menlo Park, California, works primarily in advanced technology and systems, biosciences, computing, and education. SRI brings its innovations to the marketplace through technology licensing, spin-off ventures and new product solutions.Japan is preparing its missile defense systems to shoot down a long-range North Korean rocket, whose launch is planned for next month, should it threaten Japanese territory, the BBC reported.
Japanese Defense Minister Nokia Tank announced today that Japan is readying Aegis-class warships and PAC-3 surface to air missiles.
More from Global Post: North Korea's rocket launch would defy UN (VIDEO)
It is understood the defense systems could be deployed near the southern island of Okinawa, where Tokyo believes the missile may pass over its airspace.
North Korea has told the UN's International Maritime Organization that the first stage of the rocket will fall in international waters between China and South Korea, while the second stage should land 118 miles east of the Philippines, Agence France Press reported.
Meanwhile China called for restraint, urging all parties to “refrain from actions that would complicate the issue," foreign ministry spokesman Hong Lei told reporters.
More from Global Post: China worried over North Korea missile launch
The move comes as UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon warned North Korea that a rocket launch could discourage international aid donors.
"Such an act would undermine recent positive diplomatic progress and, in its effect on international donors, would likely worsen the humanitarian situation inside the country," Ban said in a speech in Singapore.
North Korea, which has nuclear arms, has said the rocket will be used put a satellite into orbit. It said the event would mark the 100th birthday of North Korea’s late Great Leader Kim Il Sung, the BBC reported.
The United States and South Korea, among other nations, see the rocket launch as a pretext for a long-range missile test banned by the UN.
World leaders, including US President Barack Obama, are due to meet in the South Korean capital, Seoul, on Monday for a summit focused on nuclear terrorism, at which they are expected to discuss the North’s atomic program.
More from Global Post: The Argentine economy's fuzzy math problemLong considered a modern invention, animation has apparently been lying about its age. A 5,200-year-old bowl found in Iran’s Burnt City in the 1970s features a series of five images that researchers have only recently identified as being sequential, much like those in a zoetrope. Giving the bowl a spin, one would see a goat leaping to snatch leaves from a tree, as seen in the video clip below.
The remarkable piece of pottery was unearthed from a burial site by Italian archaeologists, who hadn’t noticed the special relationship between the images that adorned the circumference. That discovery was made years later by Iranian archaeologist Dr. Mansur Sadjadi, who was later hired to direct the excavation of The Burnt City, located 57 kilometers from the city of Zabol in the southeastern Iranian province of Sistan-Baluchestan.
While no one questions the early instance of animation, researchers have been at odds over the significance of the earthenware bowl’s artwork. It was originally thought to depict the goat eating from the Assyrian Tree of Life, but archaeologists now assert that it predates the Assyrian civilization by a thousand years.
Iran’s Cultural Heritage, Tourism and Handicrafts Organization (CHTHO) and director Mohsen Ramezani have created an 11-minute documentary on the discovery. A ceremony celebrating the film’s completion was held on Sunday in Iran.In a rather disruptive, but I think worthwhile, change, we now have different keywords for defining types. Here’s a quick summary:
immutable changes to struct
changes to type changes to mutable struct
changes to abstract changes to abstract type... end
changes to bitstype 32 Char changes to primitive type Char 32 end
The PR that did this: https://github.com/JuliaLang/julia/pull/20418
Kristoffer has a helpful script for the struct part of the change here: https://github.com/JuliaLang/julia/pull/20418#issuecomment-277201589
Hopefully it can be extended to handle abstract and primitive as well.
For now, type and immutable are still allowed without a deprecation warning, since Compat.jl won’t be able to support the new syntax.
Using type... end allows Compat to support the new abstract & primitive type syntax, and also allows us future flexibility to add things inside such definitions. The extra verbosity is considered tolerable since these keywords are used much less often than the struct keywords. It also means that in 1.0, the words abstract, type, immutable, mutable, and primitive will be usable as normal identifiers. The only type-related word that will actually be reserved is struct.
This change allows us to use clearer terminology, where keywords correspond to descriptive terms where applicable:
primitive type: a scalar-like type that’s just a series of bits, no fields
struct: data consisting of named fields
(im)mutable type: a type that can or can’t be mutated
bits type: pointer-free, immutable data (might be either struct or primitive)
type: something that describes a class of values
The preferred default user-defined type is struct. No more telling people to go through and make everything immutable for performance
-JeffVery fine item. This smart watch is an absolutely amazing, when looking at the package you will think the watch cost way over the money spent! After wearing this watch for a month I have had no problems, apps on watch work well, no signs of Bluetooth's problems and it looks way more expensive than it is!
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Features:
-Call people
-Answer calls on it
-Set alarm
-Check temperature
- +Loads more
When using this watch I felt like I was James Bond (Which is a good thing). I also liked the way everything was pretty straight forward and you could use the watch so fluently with no lags or malfunctions.
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Pros:
-Easy to navigate around with
-Feels expensive/Looks expensive
-Do the exact same things as a normal watch
-Bluetooth connectivity
-Applications
-Battery life
- + More
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Cons:
-lack of ability to download applications
- user interface
- Flap in front of charger slot (no point covering port if not watch not waterproof)
- Speaker not clear
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Overall I like the watch very much and if your looking for watches round this price this would be the one to get! One downside about this watch is that it gets boring after using it for a month!
-----------------------------------------------------------------Eight former members of the Vienna Boys Choir have called an abuse hot line set up by the choir to report that they were sexually abused while they were members of the group, according to Tina Breckwoldt, who is overseeing the hot line. The choir opened the hot line after a local newspaper reported last week that two former choir members claimed that they had been sexually abused while in the choir decades ago. The callers who made the claims, which included accusations of sexual and physical abuse, ranged in age from 33 to 72, Mrs. Breckwoldt said. Some of the alleged perpetrators may have been boys in the choir at the time, she said. The eight calls had been received as of Wednesday. In an open letter on its Web site, the Vienna Boys Choir said that any abuse constituted “an injustice that we deeply regret.”U.S. Says North Korea Is 'Begging For War'
Enlarge this image toggle caption Bebeto Matthews/AP Bebeto Matthews/AP
Updated at 3:30 p.m. ET
U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley tells the U.N. Security Council that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is "begging for war," with the latest nuclear test that Pyongyang says is its first fusion device, a much more powerful weapon than it has exploded in the past.
"Enough is enough. War is never something the United States wants. We don't want it now. But our country's patience is not unlimited," Haley told an emergency session of the 15-member Security Council in New York.
She said that incremental sanctions on North Korea imposed by the Security Council since 2006 had failed to stop Pyongyang's march toward more powerful and dangerous weapons. She said Kim appeared to be "begging for war."
"Despite our efforts the North Korea nuclear program is more advanced and more dangerous than ever," she said.
"We must adopt the strongest possible measures," Haley said.
The U.S. is expected to circulate a draft resolution of unspecified new sanctions for a possible vote of the Security Council next Monday.
As NPR's Elise Hu reported on Sunday from Seoul, Pyongyang claims to have successfully tested a hydrogen bomb and said that it had also coupled the the new weapon with one of its long-range intercontinental ballistic missiles.
The U.S. Geological Survey says it detected a 6.3-magnitude "possible explosion" near Sungjibaegam, North Korea, Sunday afternoon that was "located near the sites where North Korea has detonated nuclear [devices] in the past."
Shortly after the announcement out of North Korea, Defense Secretary James Mattis said President Trump wanted to be briefed on the "many" possible military options available to respond.
"We made clear that we have the ability to defend ourselves and our allies, South Korea and Japan from any attack and our commitments among the allies are ironclad," Mattis said. "Any threat to the United States and its territories including Guam or our allies will be met with a massive military response — a response both effective and overwhelming."
As NPR's Geoff Brumfiel reports, North Korea's previous nuclear tests had been in the tens of kilotons range, corresponding roughly to the size of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombs that were dropped on those Japanese cities by American bombers at the close of World War II.
By contrast, early estimates of Pyongyang's latest test "are putting [it] in the hundreds of kiloton range," Brumfiel writes.
Sunday's nuclear test — the first since the start of the Trump administration — follows on a series of ballistic missile launches, the latest on Tuesday when Pyongyang fired a missile into waters off Japan's northern Hokkaido island.
South Korea says there are indications that the North is preparing more missile launches including a possible new test of its ICBM, the Hwasong-14.
A readout released by Seoul of a call Monday between Trump and South Korean President Moon Jae-in, said the leaders "shared views on the fact that the latest provocation was more serious than ones before," and that "the two leaders agreed to rigorously prepare for possibilities of further provocation through the [South Korea]-US combined defense posture in actively seeking response measure to North Korea's provocations."
The German government has also issued a statement saying that Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron "expressed their support for a tightening of EU sanctions against North Korea."Be Your Own Best Friend:
Applying the principles of self-compassion to addiction recovery:
Your inner critic could be putting your recovery at risk.
If you beat yourself up over past drug use — and then relapse to numb feelings of unworthiness — you know how self-criticism can backfire. A wealth of scientific research says it pays to do the opposite: be kind to yourself.
“People who score high in self-compassion are happier, they cope well with stress and have better immune response to stress,” says Dr. Kristin Neff, a pioneer in self-compassion research and an associate professor of human development and culture at the University of Texas.
“Self trash-talk,” Neff says, “is a double-whammy: when we judge ourselves harshly, we are both the attacker and the attacked. And hundreds of research studies show that indulging an inner tyrant ‘has a strong negative link to anxiety, depression and stress.’ For many people, one of their biggest sources of pain is self-criticism, and they don’t even know they’re doing it to themselves.”
The Science of Self-Compassion:
Self-Kindness, Common Humanity, Mindfulness
In her book, Self-Compassion: The Proven Power of Being Kind to Yourself, Neff details three core components necessary for self-compassion. By combining these principles, a person can replace demoralizing thoughts that may lead to addiction relapse. They can also begin to quash destructive patterns of fear, negative self-worth and isolation.
Treat Yourself Kindly
“First, treat yourself as you would a friend you really care about,” Neff says. “If you’re suffering in some way, and give yourself kindness and support and don’t mercilessly judge yourself, then you reduce the negative mind states. But you’re also generating a positive state of feeling cared for, supported and accepted.” Research shows that self-compassion helps decrease levels of cortisol, the stress hormone, and stimulates the release of Oxycontin, the bonding hormone that helps us feel safe and secure, a fact to which Neff makes reference.
Common Humanity
The second component of self-compassion is acknowledging that human nature is imperfect and we all fail. Recognizing this shared humanity helps us feel more connected to others, rather than being isolated by our suffering. “When you fail and make a mistake, remember that this is the human experience,” states Neff, “Often people think something has gone wrong when they fail, as if normal is that everything’s perfect. So what happens is there’s a sense of isolation, thinking everyone else is leading these normal, perfect lives.”
Mindfulness
Third, self-compassion requires us to relate to our situation with mindful awareness — rather than ignoring our pain, exaggerating our problems, or constantly battling negative emotions. “Mindfulness basically says, ‘I see this is really painful right now,’ says Neff, “You need to be aware that you’re suffering in order to be kind to yourself, to open your heart to yourself.”
Self-Compassion Is Not Self-Indulgence
Self-compassion is often misunderstood as self-indulgence, which Neff makes note of, but there is a fundamental difference.
“The dividing line is whether or not behavior is healthy in the long run or harmful in the long run,” she says. “A compassionate, caring parent, for example, won’t let a child get away with unacceptable behavior but will not shame the child. And that translates to how we treat ourselves.”
“A fair amount of research,” she continues, “shows that you’re more likely to take responsibility, if you have self-compassion. It’s safe to admit that you caused harm when you aren’t going to beat yourself up.”
Self-compassionate people may feel guilt, but not shame. Neff says that people think: “I’m not really thinking about you if I feel shame, I’m thinking about what a bad person I am. The self-criticism leads to shame, and shame is unhealthy.”
Instead, people who treat themselves kindly are more likely to forgive themselves and be resilient when they fail. Relating humanely to the self also can improve relationships. Neff comments that “Self-compassionate people apologize more, they’re more likely to take personal responsibility for the mistakes they’ve made. They’re more likely to want to repair those mistakes. Unlike self-esteem, the practice of self-compassion does not depend upon endless comparisons with others. And when things go wrong, self-compassion does not threaten the ego.”
We know that bullying is linked to the quest for high self-esteem,” she says, “Self-compassion is not dependent on judging yourself positively, it’s just dependent on treating yourself kindly and that’s available both when you succeed and especially when you fail.”
Catalyst For Positive Change
Is self-criticism the way to motivate positive change, as many people believe? “The research shows just the opposite,” says Neff, “What happens is, you’re afraid of failure and lose faith in yourself. The solution is to see yourself as someone intrinsically worthy of respect, even in tough times.”
“Self-compassion is a good source for positive change, but the reason you want to change is because you care about yourself and you don’t want to suffer,” she says, “You still want to recover from addiction, but the reason you change is not because you’re an inadequate human being unworthy of love, but because you are a valuable human being.”
Boost Your Self-Compassion
To find out how self-compassionate you are, Kristin Neff provides this free quiz:
http://www.self-compassion.org/test-your-self-compassion-level.html.
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money except at exorbitant rates.
But to understand how Europe got into this mess, how countries like Greece managed to borrow so much money that they couldn’t pay it all back, you need to see this graph from the Organization for Economic Development and Cooperation (OECD). On the right side, you’re seeing the story everyone already knows: The market is charging Southern European countries a lot to borrow. But look at the left side. As recently as 2008, the market was lending to Greece and Germany at pretty much the exact same price. The assumption was that the euro could never break up, and thus everyone in it was as safe a bet as the safest, biggest economy on the euro: Germany.
This allowed some countries to rack up a whole lot of debt. Greece, for instance, now holds more in debt than its entire economy produces. This graph, drawn from European Central Bank data, shows how much more debt European countries are carrying than they did a decade ago. The green bars show countries’ debt-to-GDP ratios in 2000; the blue lines are 2010:
That’s the debtor side of the story. But that debt came from somewhere, and the payments on it are going to someone — or, if they stop, someone’s balance sheet is falling apart. Which brings up to the other side of this crisis. The creditor side.
This is where the easy morality tale — Germany and France were responsible, Greece and Italy weren’t — falls apart. A lot of the debt powering, say, Greece, came from German and French banks, and one of their interests in this whole mess is to make sure that a lot of that debt gets paid back. Otherwise, their banks are insolvent and they’re in a financial crisis.
There’s also the issue of currency appreciation. Germany has had, in certain ways, a very good, and very unusual, decade. Unlike almost every other advanced economy on Earth, it has seen its manufacturing sector boom. Typically, as a developed country becomes more productive and its exports become more popular, its currency appreciates, which makes its exports more expensive, and less popular. Conversely, when weaker countries see their economies fall apart, their currency depreciates, and that makes their exports cheaper and helps them recover.
But Germany’s currency hasn’t appreciated very much, because it’s tied to the euro, which is dragged down by the weak economies in southern Europe. And the southern European countries haven’t seen their currency depreciate very much, because they’re tied to the euro, which is propped up by stronger economies like Germany. The net result has been a big, artificial boost for Germany’s export sector, and a big obstacle to recover for much of the rest of Europe.
As Floyd Norris wrote at the New York Times, “German competitiveness against the rest of the world was probably helped by the fact that the relatively poor performance of other members of the euro zone held down the appreciation of the euro against other currencies.” And vice versa, of course. Here’s the graph Norris drew up:
But whoever is at fault, the bottom line is that the euro is in deep, deep trouble. And the worse it gets, the worse it will be for us. As Brad wrote on Tuesday, the European and American economies’ fates have become increasingly intertwined for a number of reasons. When one tanks, so does the other:
So what can be done? There are basically two components to any solution. One is that the European Central Bank acts as the so-called “lender of last resort.” That is to say, it basically buys as many European government bonds as the system needs it to buy in order to keep bond yields stable. This is, in essence, what the Federal Reserve did for the financial system in 2008. Ben Bernanke lent out as much money as the system needed in order to get through the crisis.
This chart from Bloomberg News shows what that looked like in the case of one bank: Morgan Stanley. The black line is Morgan Stanley’s market capitalization. The orange line is what it owes the Fed on any given day. And the red line is the ratio of the two. As you can see, there was a day in October 2008 when Morgan Stanley owed the Fed more than 750 percent what it was worth. That’s what lender of last resort looks like. That’s what the ECB isn’t doing.
Without that sort of intervention, the euro zone simply won’t survive. And so far, the ECB has said that sort of intervention isn’t in its job description. They’ve said it isn’t even legal for them to undertake it. But they have strongly hinted that they would forget about all that if the euro zone would create a new agreement, a so-called fiscal union in which there are strict controls on the deficits individual countries can run and real enforcement mechanisms that can be used to punish countries that don’t abide by the rules.
That’s a tough lift. Another option is that some of the weak euro zone countries, like Greece and Portugal, leave. Or maybe some of the strong countries, like France and Germany, form a super euro. Or maybe the whole thing collapses. Gavyn Davies has a flow chart of the various options, and it’s our final graph:NATO has Announced the Creation of Black Sea Forces in Bulgaria and Romania
NATO has Announced the Creation of Black Sea Forces in Bulgaria and Romania
NATO has announced the creation of new multinational forces in Romania in order to counteract Russia’s influence in the Black Sea region after the occupation of the Crimea, bTV quoted Reuters as saying.
The Alliance’s Black Sea Forces will initially have about 4,000 Romanian soldiers backed by forces from nine other countries, as well as 900 US troops. Ships and airplanes will be deployed in the region.
In addition to Romanian, Bulgarian, Polish, Italian, Portuguese and German soldiers will be sent to Craiova. British and Canadian fighters will support the Romanian Air Force, while Italians will help Bulgarian fighters (Read the article Italian fighters to temporarily guard Bulgarian airspace).
In addition to NATO’s existing maritime patrols currently in the Black Sea, more marines will be sent to the Bulgarian and Romanian ports.
About a year and a half ago, Prime Minister Boyko Borisov categorically rejected the idea of forming a NATO Black Sea Fleet:
I want to see sailboats, yachts, tourists, peace and love in the Black Sea. I do not want military frigates in our resorts. After all there were such a great deals, so much private capital and state investment in these resorts …
Later, the government said the fleet was a local initiative and would only consider an option within NATO, reminds the BBC.
Romanian President Klaus Iohannis said on the occasion of the new Black Sea Forces:
We are not a threat, but we need a dialogue from the standpoint of a strong defense.
NATO is here, NATO is strong, NATO is united
, said Alliance Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg in turn.A decision by lawmakers to slash funding for the unpopular Real ID national driver's license program has put an already struggling program on life support.
Earlier this week, the U.S. Senate approved a $43 billion budget for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) for fiscal year 2010, which began Oct. 1. The measure included substantial increases in DHS spending in several key technology areas, but slashed Real ID funding by 40%, from $100 million to $60 million in 2010.
That reduction all but ensures that Real ID is going nowhere, said Jim Harper, director of information policy studies at the Cato Institute. But continuing hesitation by Congress to kill the program entirely highlights the somewhat touchy political nature of the program, he said.
"A straightforward repeal of Real ID is too much for our Congress to handle at this point," Harper said. "There isn't any love for Real ID in Capitol Hill. Most in the Senate and the House don't want it."
At the same time, many lawmakers are reluctant to openly reject it for fear of being seen as being too soft on national security issues, he said.
The Real ID Act was approved by Congress and signed into law by President Bush in 2005 as part of the government's effort to combat terrorism. The law requires states to follow a single national standard for identifying and authenticating people who apply for a driver's license. It spells out specific technical and process requirements, including the use of biometric identifiers, for issuing licenses.
But the law has evoked widespread criticism from privacy advocates and civil rights groups who say it would create a de facto national identity card system that would be hard to manage and even harder to secure. Several have expressed particular concern over a Real ID requirement that all state driver's license databases be linked via a central hub for easier information sharing. Even the DHS itself, which is responsible for implementing the Act, has expressed reservations about Real ID security, privacy and logistics.
States, too, have railed against Real ID, largely because it requires them to pay for the program themselves. Many see it as an attempt by the federal government to force costly and unwanted ID standards on them. A majority of states have formally expressed their refusal to participate in the program, including Arkansas, Idaho, Maine, Montana, New Hampshire, Washington and South Carolina.
DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano, in fact, was one of the first to reject Real ID when she was the governor of Arizona -- a fact that many have said makes it especially hard for her to now try and push it on other states.
In a bid to make the idea of a national identity standard more palatable to states, several U.S. senators earlier this year introduced a bill proposing some revisions to Real ID. That "Providing for Additional Security in States' Identification" Act of 2009," or Pass ID Act, has the same goal as Real ID, minus some of its more controversial provisions.
The DHS has also pushed back implementation schedules on numerous occasions in what is seen by some as an attempt to push the issue down the road until someone kills it.
Pam Dixon, executive director of the World Privacy Forum, said that the proposed budget cuts make it impossible for Real ID to move forward in its present incarnation. "Congress is looking at this realistically and saying that states simply do not have the money to implement Real ID," she said. "For all intents and purposes, real ID has been put on the back-burner. But it isn't dead, yet."A new NBC/Wall Street Journal poll gauging American political sentiment ahead of the impending midterm elections found that only 42 percent of respondents are “bothered a great deal” or “bothered quite a bit” by attempts to tighten gun laws.
That’s a lower share than the 77 percent who said they are bothered by political divisiveness; the 65 percent bothered that minorities and foreigners are being made to feel unwelcome in the United States; and the 65 percent bothered by coarse language and behavior in public life.
It’s not surprising that worries about gun grabbing have ebbed since the 2016 campaign, during which the NRA spent record sums to stir fears of new gun laws should Hillary Clinton win the presidency and Democrats claim the Senate.
With Congress, the White House, and a majority of state capitals in the hands of Republicans, the next 18 months are likely to see more efforts to weaken gun laws, rather than to enact new restrictions.
The poll indicates that the role of guns in America continues to be of high interest to many voters. Thirty-five percent of respondents said that gun rights or gun control are “important enough to have an impact on how you vote in election.” That is a higher percentage than said the environment, immigration, or abortion was important enough to influence a vote.
Respondents were roughly evenly split between support and opposition to new “gun control” — although, as The Trace reported two years ago, surveys that ask about the catch-all term “gun control” suggest more opposition to firearms laws than polls that ask about specific policies. Polls typically find that half of Americans may be more concerned with gun rights than gun control in the abstract. But when narrowed to laws like universal background checks, many gun regulations enjoy broad support, including from a majority of NRA members and gun owners.She is a little silly & fun,
but her information seems for the most part correct. There are some IMPORTANT things she either got wrong or did not mention, though, which I will get into in my review.
Several reviews complained that this book is too small. True, but it also makes it more convenient. I would much prefer to bring this around than to lug around Alicia Silverstone's the Kind Mama.
Another book, Vegan For Her says that your calcium needs do not increase during pregnancy, which seems a bit different than what Rebhal says. They both agree that it calcium is crucial, though.
Both Rebhal and Silverstone (in the Kind Mama) recommend chamomile tea. While chamomile tea can be safe in small amounts during the first, and MAYBE second trimester, it gets dangerous in the third trimester. (See nutritionfacts.org, search "chamomile tea" or search for their video on YouTube).
Both Rebhal and Silverstone also recommend eating the placenta. While yes, it may contain nutrients, it also contains toxins. LEAD, mercury, flame retardants, etc. all build up in the placenta to protect the baby as best as possible. When you eat the placenta, you will also eat whatever toxins you may have unknowingly come into contact with during pregnancy. Lead in water, etc. If you choose to breastfeed after eating the placenta, you may transfer some of these toxins to the baby through breastmilk.
Both Rebhal and Silverstone recommend oils. While I think that sometimes oil can be useful during pregnancy, I do not believe there is any such thing as a healthy oil. If you want to use some oil, go with OLIVE over coconut, as coconut has saturated fats. Do not believe biased industry studies, there is NO SUCH THING as "healthy saturated fats." Oils are processed, and they have risks. Use lightly.
Author also recommends drinking kombucha tea. Kombucha tea can be risky for your heart. I would not recommend it for anyone pregnant or breastfeeding, & even after, only in moderation.
Rebhal appears to auto-assume you will be having a hospital birth.
I do like that she discusses this stuff in case of hospital transfer for those who intend to have a home birth.
This is contrasted from the Kind Mama, where Silverstone appears to assume that everyone should have a home birth unless there is an emergency (I am of the belief that this is best, but I would never say someone SHOULD have a home birth if they feel most comfortable, relaxed & safe in a hospital).
Also, a previous reviewer said that Rebhal said that there is no vegan vit. D. In my book, Rebhal does mention ergocalciferol, the vegan version. Maybe in a previous version she was unaware that a vegan version existed.
In terms of nutrition information, although I have not read the Everything Vegan Pregnancy Book yet, I would say, of the books I've read (this 1, the Kind Mama, & Vegan for Her), the most clear & easy to use information came from Vegan for Her. I do appreciate all of these 3 books for different merits.
This book is most helpful for responses to misinformed family members who have good intentions & ultimately care about you and your baby, & I definitely agree with her that anyone who does not truly care, does not warrant an argument.
If you choose to get your omega 3's from only ALAs like walnuts & flax seed, you may not be getting enough, or you may have to eat a LOT. I do think everyone should take a DHA + EPA supplement.
As for sea vegetables, kelp (or kombu) has too much Iodine.
Sea vegetables should be limited to a couple times a week to avoid iodine toxicity.
Hiziki (or hijiki) should be avoided for its high ARSENIC content (This can also be verified through nutritionfacts.org or their YouTube channel).
Unlike apples, the benefits do not outweigh the risks or amount of arsenic.
Also, while no one wants to mention it, breast pumps can lead to breast cancer. It's a toxic petroleum-by product that can leach toxins when exposed to sunlight or heat.
I always appreciate citations in a book!
Also, the author is super cute! I love her silly pregnancy photos.Background
Slim is an outlaw. A third-generation Basilisk soldier. A product of the Mutagen Wars, he and thousands with him volunteered to have their DNA spliced with insects in a desperate attempt to give them an advantage in their rebellion against Sol Hub.
The Rebellion Against Hub
For over a hundred years the four worlds of the Basilisk Nebula got rich off their MutaGenetic™ technology. Their scientists cracked the problems of old age and disease. Those who could afford it gained extended life and proof against harmful bacteria, viruses. Enhanced speed, strength. As long as you could afford it.
Eventually the people profiting from this technology chafed at the yolk of living under Hub’s protection. Specifically, Hub’s taxes. They began to consider independence.
On April 15th, 2358, two of the worlds in the Basilisk Nebula refused to pay their taxes to Earth, declaring “these worlds are, and of a right ought to be, free and independent states.”
The declaration was a long time coming. They’d spent trillions on military infrastructure in preparation. The other Basilisk worlds watched and waited for Hub’s response.
Rumors that CIG9 had infiltrated the rebelling planet’s highest echelons gained credence when, three hours after the Basilisks issued their declaration, days before the message could have arrived, a trio of Sol Guard superheavy frigates emerged from an unknown dive anchor, built and installed by Sol Guard in secret. Three days later, the first rebellion was over.
The Mutagen Wars
Without intending to, Sol Guard delivered a propaganda coup into the hands of the Nebula’s governments. The remaining worlds, untouched by the first rebellion, were incensed. Millions volunteered for service, seeing their cause as righteous; a small underdog fighting for freedom and independence.
With a surplus of volunteers, and no remaining military infrastructure, they looked for a technological breakthrough that would give them the advantage. They began experimenting with their Mutagenic technology in new and dangerous ways. Mixing the human genome with other species, to produce unstoppable supersoldiers.
The first generation of mutagen troopers were hideous monsters. A mongrel hybrid of several different species. They were stronger, faster, possessed extraordinary senses beyond the human experience. But they were prone to self-destructive rages.
Armed with these first-generation mutagen soldiers, another world declared independence, and the first Mutagen War began.
Hope
When Sol Guard arrived, they were dismayed to discover an army of monsters waiting for them. Early victories with mutagenic shock troops gave the Basilisks hope. It seemed the rebellion had a chance. But the ships Hub deployed were only a tiny fraction of their might. Sol Guard trained constantly against the Hegemony. The Basilisk Nebula was, to them, a storm in a teacup.
What’s Larger than a Teacup?
A week later, the first Mutagen War was over, and Sol Hub issued severe sanctions against the Basilisk Nebula. But it was not enough. The storm grew. Their scientists perfected their technology, hitting upon insect and arthropod DNA as a stable and powerful solution to their problems.
The second generation of Mutagen soldiers were the first man-insect hybrids. They had chitinous exoskeletons tough enough to stop bullets, they could survive in the vacuum of space, fight their way onto Hub ships. They could win.
Wave Two
They almost did. The second war lasted six months. More volunteers signed up for the Mutagen treatment. They might die fighting as insect monsters, but their children might be free to govern themselves.
Finding the Basilisk mutant tech a formidable weapon now, Hub developed the ChemTroopers: soldiers armed with caustic chemicals that melted the carapaces of their man-insect enemies. The second war was horrific as a result, but blessedly short.
Even in defeat, even the third defeat in a row, the citizens of the Nebula thought it was worth one last fight.
The Last Mutagen War
The fourth rebellion, the third Mutagen War, was the last, longest, and most grueling for both sides. For four years Sol Guard poured troops into the Basilisk Nebula. For four years the Basilisks fought an asymmetrical guerilla battle. No Hub asset was safe. Any Hub ship larger than a destroyer was vulnerable to the Basilisk soldiers’ swarm tactics.
They fought, unaided, in the vacuum of space, they could rip through a ship’s hull and battle, deck to deck, until the ship was theirs. They didn’t have a fleet. They didn’t need one. They were going to steal Hub’s.
The media buzzed selling the possibility of victory as an inevitability. But historians knew otherwise. Hub’s army was too large. Their only hope was to punish Hub enough, grind them down, take the fight out of them. It almost worked.
For three weeks in 2364, it began to look like Hub would capitulate. Pulling more troops away from the border with the Hegemony would leave them vulnerable to the other galactic superpower, inviting aggression. Pundits in the Basilisk Nebula began to openly wonder if Hub would have to sue for peace.
Treaty
Unfortunately, in anticipation of this, Hub had been working for years on a new trade agreement with the Hegemony. When it was signed in late 2364, Hub was able to concentrate its military might fully on the Basilisks. They pulled half their forces away from the border, and committed them fully to crushing the rebellion, once and for all. Total war. The Basilisk Nebula would not just be beaten, but conquered.
Three months later, the war was over, and the four worlds of the Basilisk Nebula were under permanent Hub occupation.
Outlaw
The Basilisks were a conquered people. Their mutagen technology confiscated by Hub, and the Basilisk soldiers declared illegal. Most Basilisk Soldiers were rounded up and put in prison camps. Forced labor. Some were detained indefinitely in secret locations in the Arm, outside of any formal legal structure.
The rest fled to the Far Arm, the frontier. The high bounties placed on the meant they would forever live, even on the frontier, as wanted men. The war they were designed for, over. The promises made to them, broken.
Slim
Slim was never a patriot, but he was once a dreamer. An idealist. A young, privileged member of a young, privileged world. When the war started, he and his friends signed up imagining a rollicking adventure. They were fighting for independence, freedom. They would return great heroes.
He had a name then, an identity. But the war took these from him. After four years of battling ChemTroopers and Lazarus Men, four years spent hurtling naked through deep space, the world he returned to was broken. A broken world, full of broken promises.
The government that developed the Mutagen Soldiers promised that, once the war was won, they would reverse the process. Return their soldiers to human form. But that government was gone, the technology illegal, and the Basilisk Soldiers stuck in their horrific new bodies.
A Man
Slim considers himself a man. A human. He was born a human being. He’s still alarmed when he sees a mirror, and finds an insect-monster staring back at him. He avoids reflections.
He no longer believes in anything. He wants to be left alone. He was happy living off the land on Shear. When the monsters came, his only fear was that they would bring more attention to his adopted homeworld. More bounty hunters. Maybe even Sol Guard.
When the monsters won, he stopped worrying. No one left on Shear was in any position to collect any bounties. He was now the equal of all of them. Just another desperate survivor, stranded on a doomed world.
A man without a name, on a world without a future.The founders of a local Chicago brewery are bringing together their love for comics with their love for craft beer. The result? A rather unique-looking comic book.
Arcade Brewery will release its first volume of "6-Pack Stories" on Wednesday with the debut of "Festus Rotgut: Zombie Cowboy." The comic is written and illustrated on the beer labels for their new brew, a black wheat ale, and is described by its creators as a western zombie comic.
Arcade co-founder Lance Curran said the team wrote the story first and then brewed the beer to match. Co-founder Chris Tourre, who brewed the beer, said the dark wheat ale was a perfect fit for the story of its protagonist Festus Rotgut.
"Since there are zombies, I immediately thought something dark," Tourre said. "Driving a herd of cattle across the dusty landscape also made me immediately go to a dry wheat beer."
The beer features marshmallow and caramel flavors and has a spicy finish, according to Tourre.
Arcade Brewery employed some big players in the comic book world to write and illustrate "Festus Rotgut: Zombie Cowboy." Comic book writer Jason Aaron, who worked on Thor, wrote the story, and artist Tony Moore, who worked on The Walking Dead comic books, illustrated it.
Festus Rotgut will only be available for a limited time in Chicago-area bottle shops. It can also be purchased online at West Lakeview Liquors, The Beer Temple and Binny's Beverage Depot.
Arcade Brewery will host tastings of Festus Rotgut on Wednesday at Kimbark Beverage Shoppe (1214 E. 53rd St.) from 7 to 9 p.m., Binny's Beverage Depot in Lincoln Park (1720 N. Marcey St.) from 6 to 8 p.m., West Lakeview Liquors (2156 W. Addison St.) from 7 to 9 p.m. and Bottles and Cans (4109 N. Lincoln Ave.) from 7 to 9 p.m.Something interesting happened for Hillary Clinton in the third quarter of fundraising: Her fundraising centers softened.
During the second quarter, Clinton outraised Bernie Sanders handily, thanks to a lot of big-dollar donors. In the third quarter, the two were about tied. But look at how Clinton's donors were arrayed during the third quarter versus the second.
In the second quarter, Clinton received donations from about 5,300 ZIP codes. In the third quarter, that increased to 6,300.
That second quarter, when Clinton wrung a lot of money out of a lot of people, she pulled in a lot of money from Manhattan's wealthiest ZIP codes. In those ZIPs, roughly 10021 through 10028, Clinton raised $2 million from individuals in the second quarter. In the third quarter, she raised $725,000 -- a $1.3 million drop. (The densest area of circles below is Manhattan; you can also see the outline of Long Island to New York City's east.)
Notice how centralized her donations were in the second quarter compared to Sanders's. He got a lot more contributions from outlying ZIP codes.
This is what you'd expect to see from a candidate who got a lot of donors to max out early. Those areas subsequently have fewer donors to hit up.
But you might also have noticed how much better Sanders is doing in the lucrative New York market. Across the country, Sanders dramatically expanded the number of places from which he generated contributions, more than doubling the number of ZIP codes from which he got money from 3,400 to 8,400.
Sanders also saw an increase in how much he raised, versus the decrease Clinton experienced. We return to this chart that we published earlier this month.
Sanders has a lot more people now to whom he can go back for more money.50 Cent announced today that he will sell his new album Animal Ambition for bitcoin through BitPay. As 50 Cent will not be the only artist interested in providing bitcoin as a payment option, BitPay makes it easy for artists to accept bitcoin. 50 Cent is using a Shopify store to sell his latest album and can, through BitPay’s partnership with Shopify, accept payment in bitcoin.
There could not be a better combination of innovation in music and payment. We look forward to seeing which other musicians follow suite. With 50 Cent as the first large independent artist to accept bitcoin as a payment and Tatiana Moroz’s recent launch of her artist coin, we can expect many more musicians to recognize the promise of cryptocurrency in payment for and promotion of their work.
BitPay issued the following press release:
Animal Ambition from 50 Cent will be available for purchase using Bitcoin
ATLANTA, GA — June 3, 2014 — BitPay, world leader in business solutions for the Bitcoin digital currency announces today that 50 Cent’s new album Animal Ambition can be purchased at http://shop.50cent.com with bitcoin.
BitPay makes it easy for artists to accept bitcoin as a form of payment. When a customer checks out of 50’s Shopify store and chooses the option to pay in bitcoin, BitPay processes the transaction accepting the bitcoin from the customer and letting the merchant know the order had been paid. BitPay settles the next business day and offers the merchant the option of depositing dollars, bitcoins or a percentage split between the two.
“We are excited to see high profile independent artists use bitcoin and 50 Cent’s trail as an innovator is outstanding” said Tony Gallippi, Executive Chairman of BitPay.”
As one of hip hop’s most prolific artists, 50 Cent has sold over 30 million records worldwide and is one of rap’s most successful businessmen with SMS Audio, SK Energy, and SMS Promotions among his ventures.Terrorist groups that attempt to undermine the U.S. and its national security will always have some connection to Iran, Florida Republican Rep. Ros-Lehtinen charged Wednesday.Ros-Lehtinen, a member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, told Newsmax TV in an exclusive interview that it was especially "disheartening" the U.S. has yet to hold Iran accountable as the nation marks the 30th anniversary of an Iranian suicide bombing that killed 241 servicemen at a Marine Corps barracks in Beirut."We need to follow the money in every one of these terrorist attacks and you will see that the money always links back to Iran," she said. "They have the financial infrastructure to fund a jihadist organization. Whether it's Hezbollah, whatever it is, any terrorist group that seeks to undermine the United States and our national security interests will have Iran's fingerprints on it.""What we need to do is find the perpetrators and bring them to justice," she said. "We will not give in, we will never give up, and we will find those responsible and hold them accountable."The lawmaker also cautioned the U.S. should not ease sanctions against Iran while negotiations about its nuclear program are ongoing."I believe that sanctions have been effective and... must continue," she said. "We should ratchet up the pressure."She charged that Iranian leader Hassan Rouhani will "do his charm offensive, smile a lot, lie, cheat and steal as a way of trying to get the U.S. to undo sanctions," insisting Iran is not sincere about negotiating on their nuclear program."We should not fall for what I call the Rouhani ruse," she said. "He is the master of deceit, he is the negotiator who built the nuclear program.""If the Saudis see that Iran is going to get away with having nuclear weapons, they in Saudi Arabia have the financial wherewithal to build up such an arsenal and we will have an arms race that will have no end in sight," she added.India’s “gold man” Datta Phuge, owner of one of the most expensive shirts in the world, made exclusively of gold, has been brutally beaten to death. On Friday morning, Phuge was beaten to death using sickles, swords, knives, and stones in Digni, Pune according to the BBC.
Phuge, believed to be in his mid-40s, was lured to a fake birthday party and beaten to death by 12 men in front of his 22-year-old son, Shubham. The son witnessed his father being murdered, but was spared by the alleged killers.
The “gold man” reportedly owed them nearly $2,300, police said.
India's famous gold shirt man bludgeoned to death by gang. https://t.co/ceLayHOYlP pic.twitter.com/9fiaMZ1G08 — Gawker (@Gawker) July 15, 2016
According to the police, one of the prime suspects, Atul Mohite, organized a fake birthday party for 10 p.m. on Thursday night. He called Shubham and told him to come with his father. Further, he asked him to bring ten Biryani parcels to the party.
After conveying the message to his father, Shubham went on to pick up the Biryani parcels with a friend, Rohan Panchal.
After arriving at the party spot, they saw Mohite and others attacking his father. They brandished him with stones and sharp weapons. Shubham screamed for help, but it was too late as Phuge was bleeding profusely; he was breathing his last breath.
Shubham and Panchal called the police control and informed them as the murderers escaped. Later, Phuge’s wife Seema, a former municipal corporate, also reached the spot.
According to the statement of his son, police swiftly apprehended four people. An additional five suspects were arrested on Saturday. These suspects were Pramod S. Dholpuria, 23; Vishal D. Parkhe, 32; Nivrutti alias Balukishan Wakle, 35; Shailesh S. Wakle, 26; and Balli K. Pathare, 24. Whereabouts of the other three remain unknown.
The nine accused were taken to the court where magistrate Khadki ordered they be kept in custody until July 21.
“As per preliminary information, Phuge and his son were invited by one of the suspects, who knew each other, to celebrate a birthday. However, we are investigating how Phuge reached the open ground where he was murdered,” said Dighi station’s police inspector, Navnath Ghogare.
Phuge rose to fame in 2013 when he bought a shirt worth $250,000 made up of 14,000 pieces of 22-carat gold and weighed 7.3 pounds. It took 16 days for 15 craftsmen of Ranka Jewellers of Pune to stitch the shirt and make them ready.
Along with its own matching cuffs, the shirt had a set of rings crafted from the leftover gold. It earned him the name “the gold man.”
He ran the Vakratund Chit Fund Pvt. Ltd. Many people, even those from Bhosari, Vishrantwadi and other places in Pune, had invested money in his company. He also used to lend money. Recently there had been complaints against him of financial embezzlement, and last year a notice was issued by the police as complaints against him were rising.
'Gold man' of India 'beaten to death by mob' in front of his son https://t.co/acaDsrJJKx pic.twitter.com/cR6gEhWZ7G — Daily Mail Online (@MailOnline) July 15, 2016
Phuge loved wearing gold and wore it to attract women. India is the world’s biggest consumer of gold. Purchase of gold is an essential part of religious festivals and weddings. It is also traditionally given as a gift at a wedding ceremony.
“Some people ask me why I’m wearing so much gold, but it was my dream. People have different aspirations. Some elite people want to own an Audi or Mercedes and have big cars. I chose gold,” he told the BBC in 2013.
“Gold has always been my passion since a young age. I’ve always worn gold as jewelry in the form of bracelets, rings, chains,” he added.
Given his glitzy lifestyle, Phuge was always accompanied by armed private bodyguards. But, what remains a mystery is the absence of his bodyguards on that night.
[Photo by Uriel Sinai/Getty Images]The price of solar power is falling faster than many thought was possible. Harvard’s David Keith comes honest with us about solar power: “Facts have changed. I was wrong.”
The unsubsidized electricity cost from industrial-scale solar PV in the most favorable locations is now well below $40 per megawatt-hour and could very easily be below $20 per megawatt-hour by 2020. Compared to other new sources of supply, this would be the cheapest electricity on the planet.
The price of solar power has fallen for multiple reasons – the largest is that the volume of solar power being manufactured has skyrocketed. Of the almost 240GW of solar power installed globally, 85% of it has been installed in the past five years.
If you’re considering solar, get a quote from multiple contractors at understandsolar.com. If you want feedback on the quote you get – either email me at john @ 9to5mac dot com or send a tweet.
And very smart people are predicting that this 240GW of solar power will be only 2% of what will be installed within the next twelve years. That suggests that the price of solar power will continue to fall further.
Now suppose costs for big systems (>100 megawatts) get to $1,000 per kilowatt by 2020, and you install them in the world’s best locations using a north-south oriented single-axis tracker to a capacity factor of 34 percent. These trackers used to add a lot of capex, but disciplined manufacturing and scale has driven cost down to about $100 per kilowatt. (Here is info on the Sunpower C1 tracker.) Under these assumptions, power cost is $20 per megawatt-hour — or $0.02 per kilowatt-hour.
Persons that I talk to in the Solar Power industry tell me that in low cost markets, the Middle East and the Philippines were brought up in the last conversation, we are already installing at $1000 per kW. With an expected 40% price drop in the next two years leading toward 80% of the world being at solar grid parity – one can only assume that some of these predictions of future growth and lower pricing will come true.
Source
Of course – cheap solar power does not fix the most glaring of issues: The Sun only shines for half a day. However, I’d argue that this position is slowly losing power. First off, before we even consider energy storage, we have the ability to get to 70% of grid electricity from solar and wind by installing High Voltage Direct Current (HVDC) powerlines. The Chinese recently floated the idea of installing a global HVDC network (and they’re not the first). With the State of New York recently announcing that they will be building an HVDC |
voters. … He's splitting his base. He's going for the gay community versus the black community where he has thrown them under the bus."
However, the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force hailed the NAACP's decision Saturday.
"This is truly a historic moment," the group said in a statement. "The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force could not be more thrilled."
This gay marriage issue marks the second time in the last year that a decision by the Obama administration has threatened to split the president's base.
The administration has withheld federal approval on the Keystone XL oil pipeline over environmental concerns. The decision has pleased environmentalists but has upset some union members who say construction of the pipeline, from Canada to the Texas Gulf Coast,would create thousands of jobs.
Should the administration grant the permits, Obama could arguably lose the environmental vote.
Democratic strategist Ben Tulchin said earlier this week the question of whether either issue will hurt the president's re-election efforts must be viewed in the context of the 2012 election cycle.
"Two years ago, with the president not having a named candidate, this might have been an issue," said Tulchin, president of the San Francisco-based Tulchin Research. "But is the president's base going to flock to Mitt Romney, absolutely not."
He said the Keystone issue further illustrates the point, considering that states run by Republicans are pushing anti-union legislation.
Democratic voters are saying "we have guys who are trying to protect union rights versus guys who are trying to screw workers."Under new regulations introduced this year, teams are given pretty wide scope to choose which compounds they want to use at each grand prix.
But with a 14-week advance notice period needed for Pirelli to manufacture and ship tyres for flyaway events, there is the prospect that 2017 choices may need to be sorted before next year's cars have run for the first time.
The situation was similar this season, but with no big change in the tyre compounds, it was not difficult for teams to know what to expect.
For 2017 though, with all-new cars set to deliver laptimes that are five seconds faster, there will be no previous data to fall back on.
Totally different
Pirelli motorsport director Paul Hembery thinks that teams have not yet woken up to the huge complication that could come on the tyre front for 2017.
"Next year we have completely different tyres, and I don't think the teams have quite worked out when they are going to see the tyres and when they need to make their choices for Melbourne," Hembery told Motorsport.com.
"We have got to make them in advance, and we can't do it after testing in February. I am sure they are going to wake up to that soon! So we are going to have some fascinating situations going forward next year."
November deadline
Although Pirelli has succeeded in a deal to get 25 car days of testing this year to prepare for 2017, the final specification of tyres will not be nailed down until after the end of the season.
Hembery has suggested, however, that Pirelli may request an extension for supplying the final design to ensure it gets its products spot on.
"While the teams probably will not see the tyres until February next year our technical deadline is actually November," he said.
"If we do not feel we are where we need to be in November maybe we can extend that, but it is certainly a conversation we can have.
"Teams will not have cars ready until February, so we will probably have to find a way of air freighting for the first race, but even then it going to be very, very tight.
"And it depends when in February the first test is. If it is four weeks [before Melbourne], that will be pushing it for the first race."The Finn was knocked out in Q1, finishing down in 18th position, after he failed to set a competitive enough time while the track conditions improved in the dying minutes of the session.
Raikkonen said after qualifying that the team had sent him out too late and had not informed him of a change in plan in his strategy during his final run.
An angry Raikkonen expressed his surprise on the radio after he was informed he had missed the cut, saying "How the f*** is that possible?".
"I got certain information from the team and obviously it was wrong," Raikkonen said after qualifying.
"I was doing the same thing that I had been told when we went out and I never got the information that the the first plan was not even possible and we missed one lap completely.
"I was basically doing the normal thing and I was not told that the plan had changed.
"The point is they sent me out too late and we missed one lap and it cost us a lot.
"There was a mistake at some point and they sent me too late out. The plan changed at one point but I was not told."
The Ferrari driver reckons he now faces a difficult race, especially as he fears there will be trouble in the first three corners.
"It's not ideal. We should be much higher up and in the fight in the front," he said.
"We'll try to do our best. It's a long straight, but also very tricky two corners to be in the middle of the pack, so the chances of something happening are much bigger."Your bowls of Kraft mac & cheese could look a bit different starting next year.
Kraft Foods Group will no longer use synthetic coloring or artificial preservatives in its original Macaroni & Cheese in the U.S., the company announced Monday, and it will also remove synthetic coloring from Kraft Dinner Original meals in Canada.
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Customers have long identified the pasta dish with the iconic orange color, but the manufacturer says it will turn to natural color alternatives derived from sources like turmeric, paprika and annatto.
The company’s announcement called the move an “on-trend update” to the brand and explained that customers “want to feel good about the foods they eat and serve their families, including everything from improved nutrition to simpler ingredients.”
The change is scheduled to come into effect in the U.S. in January 2016.
Contact us at editors@time.com.Andy Henry, who was dismissed from the procedural in 2008 but went on to work on major films like 'The Amazing Spider-Man' and 'Elysium,' has been placed on a leave of absence from his current employer.
Andy Henry, a veteran casting employee on CSI, was fired from the show and his own firm in 2008 after it came to light that he'd urged actresses seeking co-starring roles to disrobe during private, paid auditioning sessions, The Hollywood Reporter has learned. Some of them did so, feeling compelled to please a key gatekeeper for entry-level parts.
The situation has never been publicly disclosed. Henry has gone on to work on major studio films, including as a casting associate on Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief, The Descendants, The Amazing Spider-Man and Elysium.
Five women — who recently found each other and elected to come forward after one posted online about her experience as part of the #MeToo movement that grew out of the Harvey Weinstein abuse revelations — tell THR that they felt preyed on. They say Henry always utilized the same scene from a 2006 episode of the procedural, involving a woman suffering from hypertrichosis, a rare genetic disorder that causes excess hair growth (commonly referred to as "human werewolf syndrome"), and that he manipulated their anxious desire to impress a hiring professional.
In a statement to THR, Henry admits to what he describes as "foolish and foolhardy" behavior, framing it as "a coaching technique" gone wrong, one meant "to explore the vulnerability portrayed in a scene" that was blind to "the potential damage to the human being in the room." He adds both that "I was then, and remain to this day, profoundly sorry about these incidents," and that "I never meant to make anyone feel pressured into doing anything, nor did I ever consciously intend to hurt anyone."
The women describe nearly identical scenarios in which Henry would target female attendees at paid evening audition classes he taught at workshop facilities around Los Angeles, explaining that they showed special promise and he'd be willing to further coach them one-on-one immediately afterward. (The proliferation of such pay-to-play sessions has recently drawn the attention of L.A. City Attorney Mike Feuer, who has indicted more than two dozen casting professionals for illegally conducting them under a state talent scam prevention law earlier this year. The crackdown has so far resulted in a number of plea deals.)
"His line was, 'It's a really challenging scene and I can tell you can handle it, but it definitely requires more work than what we do here. Do you have any time to stay afterward to push a little harder with [the material]?'" says Jenny Kern, who was new to L.A. when she met him at the Sherman Oaks-based Reel Pros. "I was really flattered."
Once alone at the facility, Henry had her repeat the scene several times before telling her he thought it needed "more vulnerability" and suggesting, as an ostensive acting exercise, to remove her bra so she could better access the self-consciousness of the hypertrichosis sufferer. Dissatisfied with the result, he "incrementally asked me to take my clothes off," she says, and she complied, wanting "just to get done." Soon, she found herself wearing nothing but her underwear and Doc Marten combat boots. "He started saying things, improvising as this detective character: 'I can see your tits,' 'I can see you shave your pussy.' He did it until I finally cried," she says. Then he thanked her for her performance.
Tessa Goss says she encountered Henry at Culver City's acting center ITA when she was pregnant with her third child, "excited to burn $45 to get in front of Andy and get called in to read before my baby bump grew and I was out of the game again." She observes of his methodology: "He prefaced by saying, as he'd playact frustration, running his hands through his hair, 'This is going to seem super-crazy, but don't think it's super-weird.' That he works with actresses all the time. His thing was that [the performance] would feel more authentic if you can feel your nipples against your clothes." She continues, "I thought, 'I need to get out of here.' But there's also this sick actor part of me that thought, 'I need to get out of here as friends.'"
Goss left instead of removing her bra. "Lucky for me," she explains, "I was pregnant and didn't want to show my bump." (Goss later emailed ITA about her concern. In a reply she shared with THR, employee Bob Rumnock wrote, "Dear God! Just tell me that no one asked you to disrobe!!!" He didn't respond to a request for comment.)
Already accustomed to the draining endeavor of auditioning, with its relentless exposure and rejection, the women's interactions with Henry left them feeling coerced in the moment as well as undermined in their craft long afterward. Catherine Black rebuffed the request that she shed her attire during a private session at AIA Actor's Studio in Burbank. "It really planted a seed in my head, that maybe I wasn't good enough. Of, what did I do wrong?"
Henry's actions allegedly extended to the casting office where he was employed at the time, Ulrich/Dawson/Kritzer. Then-recent L.A. transplant Jacqueline Mueller, an aspiring actress and intern in the office, explains that during a private coaching session in 2008 on the premises utilizing the CSI scene, he requested she take her bra off, which she did. "Then he asked me to unzip my sweater," she says. "If I'd unzipped it, I would've been topless. I felt disgusted and bamboozled." When she demurred, he offered her whiskey out of a drawer, to loosen her inhibitions. Mueller adds: "I don't remember him reaching out to the men in the office to 'help' them" with their acting aspirations. (Henry responded, "During the time in question, many years ago, I did not have a comparable scene for male actors in which even the potential for nudity would have been relevant.")
The agency tells THR it immediately contacted CBS' human resources department when it fielded an initial complaint from an unidentified third party. "We terminated him the next day," says partner Eric Dawson.
Mandy June Turpin, another professed target at ITA (she claims he touched her shoulders and breasts during their session), recalls of the moment: "I thought, 'Thank God, somebody said something.' You're afraid to speak up. You're someone without credits. And he went on to work again in the business anyway."
Henry notes in his statement that subsequently, "My standing in the entertainment community was greatly lowered, and my career options were severely curtailed."
Since mid-2015 Henry has been employed at Nancy Nayor Casting. Nayor, a three-decade veteran in the business, explains that she was unaware of the 2008 incidents when she hired him, but that after THR recently approached him for its inquiry, he'd in turn alerted her. "He described [the situation] in broad strokes, that something had gone wrong and he'd made amends — at least in his mind," she says. "That that's why he hadn't shared it before." Apprised of the full scope of the women's claims, she responds: "It's truly shocking. It sounds like gross misconduct." Nayor subsequently explains that Henry is on a leave of absence in light of "these serious allegations."
Several of the women recently shared their stories with the Casting Society of America, a professional association where Henry is a member. The organization indicated to them that it's looking into the matter. CSA president Matthew Lessall didn't respond to a request for comment.
Among the most upsetting aspects of the experience for many of the women, as they see it, was how Henry shrewdly leveraged their interest in taking up a supposed professional challenge — accessing vulnerability — to untoward ends in a heavily skewed power dynamic. "He said, 'I think we can really break through with this," says Kern. "He asked me to go further and further. In that moment I knew I wanted to stop. But I didn't. I was outside of my body."
Andy Henry's full statement to THR:
"Nine years ago, I tried what I thought was a coaching technique, but which I learned very quickly was foolish and foolhardy. It was brought to light almost immediately, and as you were correctly informed, I was terminated from my employment in 2008 as a result.
I was then, and remain to this day, profoundly sorry about these incidents. I took responsibility right away for using nudity as a technique to explore the vulnerability portrayed in a scene, without being cognizant of the potential damage to the human being in the room. I was not aware of the allegations of fondling until now, and do not believe or recall that such a thing happened. I never meant to make anyone feel pressured into doing anything, nor did I ever consciously intend to hurt anyone.
My job was gone, my standing in the entertainment community was greatly lowered, and my career options were severely curtailed. I lost my marriage and declared bankruptcy as a result. I was punished for my actions, but I have spent the last nine years rebuilding myself into a person who could never do such a thoughtless and careless thing again. I have formally converted to Judaism, I have dedicated my life to the service of God and to trying to make some repair in this world. And I have striven to live and work every day as honorably and as honestly as possible. I am, again, inexpressibly sorry for the pain that these incidents caused."PARIS — “The 120 Days of Sodom,” by the Marquis de Sade, is one of the most perverse works of 18th-century literature.
It tells the story of four rich “libertines” who lock themselves in a remote medieval castle with 46 victims (including eight boys and eight girls, ages 12 to 15). The men are assisted by four female brothel keepers who arouse their hosts by recounting their outlandish (and embellished) experiences.
The work describes orgies and acts of abuse — sexual and otherwise — including pedophilia, necrophilia, incest, torture, rape, murder, infanticide, bestiality, violent anal and oral sex acts and the use of urination and defecation to humiliate and punish.
Sade called it “the most impure tale that has ever been told since our world began.”
There is nothing erotic about it.Though there's much research to be done, what scholars have already learned is enough for us to pause on our selfie-sticks and reflect.
Dictionaries often describe humility as low self-esteem, self-degradation and meekness. In a 2016 College of Charleston survey, 56% of 5th and 6th graders said that the humble are embarrassed, sad, lonely or shy. When adults are asked to recount an experience of humility, they often tell a story about a time when they were publicly humiliated.
The most humble rarely describe themselves as humble (that seems arrogant to them), but studies have shown that they aren't embarrassed, humiliated or ashamed. No, they're secure in their identity and higher in well-being. The humble are doing just great, thank you very much.
True humility, scientists have learned, is when someone has an accurate assessment of both his strengths and weaknesses, and he sees all this in the context of the larger whole. He's a part of something far greater than he. He knows he isn't the center of the universe. And he's both grounded and liberated by this knowledge. Recognizing his abilities, he asks how he can contribute. Recognizing his flaws, he asks how he can grow.
Humility's benefits turn out to be surprisingly concrete.
In July 2016's Personality and Individual Differences, Duke University researchers reported on a study conducted with 155 participants. At the experiment's onset, some people conceded their opinions weren't always right, and–with new evidence–they'd change their views. The researchers considered them as intellectually humble. Still others were intellectually arrogant: they insisted they were rarely wrong, and they never changed their mind.
During the experiment, everyone completed three tasks. First, they read a list of 40 statements on a range of controversial topics–everything from the military's use of drone strikes, common core curricula in schools, to same-sex marriage. Then they took a survey, measuring how familiar they were with topics such as Susan B. Anthony or Mount Rushmore. Though there was a catch. A third of the topics were bogus–for example, there was a fictitious "Hamrick's Rebellion." Finally, participants read another list of 60 statements. They were to determine which statements were on the first list and which were new. And they reported their confidence in each decision.
The intellectually humble took longer to read the first controversial statements–especially if the information ran counter to their beliefs. At the experiment's end, they were better at identifying new statements, and, when wrong, they had a gut feeling about the mistake.
Meanwhile, the intellectually arrogant skimmed through the reading. They were less accurate at identifying statements as new, and they were sure their wrong responses were correct. And the intellectually arrogant were more susceptible to the fake news items: they didn't know what they didn't know.
In previous studies, researchers observed that the intellectually humble have a constant desire to learn and improve. They embrace ambiguity and the unknown. They like getting new information. They even enjoy finding out when they're wrong. And when in trouble, they're more willing to accept help. Humble college students have been found to be higher in academic achievement. They improved more over the course of a semester, and they got better grades.
The intellectually arrogant are convinced they have the right answers, certain they've heard it all before. They're even threatened by new information. They perceive new facts not as facts, but as a passive-aggressive statement that you think they're ignorant.
Studies have shown that those low in humility overreact during conflicts. They double-down and retrench. They strike out when angered, they plot their revenge. If they're the actual wrongdoers, they refuse to apologize or accept responsibility. Instead, they blame their victims.
The humble, on the other hand, are more pro-social. They build connections. They're more helpful, tolerant, sensitive and accepting of differences. Researchers went to an Ohio shopping mall to give 197 people five dollars–along with a choice of pocketing the cash or giving it to charities. Those higher in humility gave away more of the money. Other research has confirmed that the humble are consistently more fair and generous.
In the romantic context, the humble are rated as more attractive date-potential. The humble are less likely to use sex as a tool of manipulation, and they have lower rates of infidelity. And because they're willing to address their shortcomings, their partners are more forgiving and understanding. All of which adds up to longer lasting relationships.
At work, studies have shown that humble employees behave more ethically. They're more honest during negotiations. They're less likely to do anything to sabotage the work environment.
Humility continues to be an asset at the executive-level. Humble leaders prioritize the organization's success ahead of their own. In a Journal of Management study of 105 computer software and hardware firms, humble CEOs were found to have reduced pay disparity between themselves and their staff. They dispersed their power. They hired more diverse management teams, and they give staff the ability to lead and innovate. Humble leaders have less employee turnover, higher employee satisfaction, and they improve the company's overall performance.
Researchers Bradley Owens and David Hekman have done groundbreaking research studying humble leadership–from the military to manufacturing to ministry. Through interviews, field research and lab experiments, they've concluded that the hallmark of a humble leader is his willingness to admit his mistakes and limitations.
Driven to improve, the humble leader doesn't believe success is inevitable. Therefore, he constantly tests his progress. He revises and updates plans, in light of new situations and information. Acknowledging he doesn't have all the answers, he solicits feedback. He encourages subordinates to take initiative. He prefers to celebrate others' accomplishments over his own.
Importantly, humility doesn't weaken leaders' authority. It gives them more flexibility in how they use their power. For example, a Navy commanding officer might be egalitarian while planning an operation, encouraging junior officers to contribute ideas. However, during the mission, he is more authoritarian. The danger of the mission calls for a single, sure voice. But afterwards, during the debrief, he once again asks peers and subordinates for their opinions on how everything went. He'll make sure to highlight that their contributions were essential to the operation's success.
Because of all this, the humble leader's followers are more motivated and work harder. They know their leader is counting on them–and their input matters–so they rise to the occasion.
Owens and Hekman found that, by contrast, non-humble leaders get their strength from a position of certainty. The non-humble leader promises that he does have all the answers, and he knows exactly what to do. He ignores information that might cause him to re-think his strategy.
A non-humble leader concentrates his power. He removes others with strong abilities, perceiving them to be a threat. He alone gets credit for success, and he never makes mistakes. (Someone else is to blame.) Followers carry out edicts rather than contribute new insight.
When people are afraid and searching for security, Owens and Hekman consider if there's a visceral appeal to the non-humble leader. Perhaps his certitude comforts and inspires.
It just better work. Because he can't deviate from his chosen path. To do so, would mean admitting he'd been wrong all along.
Another lesson learned from the research: both arrogance and humility are contagious. Both can be taught and caught.
When our leaders act arrogantly–when they dismiss the value of learning and development, when they only pay attention to information that confirms their views, when they refuse to apologize–they encourage us to think narrowly. They teach us that the most important thing we need do is protect our ego. They encourage us to be selfish.
When leaders are humble and focus on growth, so do we.
As Owens and Hekman wrote in Academy of Management Journal, "Our findings suggest that humility appears to embolden individuals to aspire to their highest potential and enables them to make the incremental improvements necessary to progress toward that potential."
It isn't empty false praise or inflated self-esteem or tearing others down that pushes us to work to become our best selves. It's humility.
Humility emboldens.
Ashley Merryman is co-author with Po Bronson of two New York Times bestsellers, NurtureShock: New Thinking About Children and Top Dog: The Science of Winning and Losing
Read more from Inspired Life:
Fake news on Facebook is a real problem. These college students came up with a fix in 36 hours
These soldiers at Walter Reed are making masks to reveal the hidden wounds of war. And to heal.
What make you feel envious? The answer may help you achieve your dreams, researchers say
This man launched a website so people can invite refugees to stay in their homes
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Post RecommendsTank AA, 20 mm Quad, Skink was a Canadian self-propelled anti-aircraft gun, developed in 1943-44, in response to a requirement from the First Canadian Army. Due to a lack of threat from the German Luftwaffe, the Skink was cancelled in 1944 after only 3 were built.
Development [ edit ]
The development of a fully enclosed quadruple 20 mm mounting on the chassis of the Grizzly tank (Canadian-built M4A1 Sherman tank) was approved by the Canadian Army Technical Development Board as Project 47 in March, 1943. In keeping with the tradition of giving Canadian armoured fighting vehicles animal names, the proposed tank was named after the skink, Ontario's only lizard.[1]
The Canadian Ministry of Munitions and Supply had the turret designed in-house by its Army Engineering Design Branch (AEDB) with help from the Inspection Board. The Waterloo Manufacturing Co. in Waterloo, Ontario, was given the task of building a preliminary wooden mock-up. This was completed on 18 September 1943. The construction of two welded armour pilot turrets was then authorized. The first pilot turret was demonstrated in mid-December. In January 1944 a pilot turret was successfully tested on a Grizzly chassis. Due to the challenges of welding a turret of such a complex shape from Rolled homogeneous armour plate, Dominion Foundries of Hamilton was contracted to produce a fully enclosed cast turret (One of the largest armour castings ever made in Canada).[2]
Originally it was planned to arm the Skink with four 20 mm Hispano-Suiza cannons and the first prototypes were so-armed. In January 1944, the 21st Army Group in Europe decided that only British 20 mm Polsten guns would be used (the Polsten was a simplified derivative of the Oerlikon cannon) by its units. This required a redesign of the turret, which was completed in April. This change delayed the project by 3 to 4 months, while 21st Army Group's reduction in the number of AA guns to be issued to its units led to a reduction in the number of Skink turrets which were required. This dwindled to zero in late July 1944, when 21 Army Group decided that as the German air force - the Luftwaffe - had been virtually eliminated over North West Europe, there was no longer a requirement for self-propelled anti-aircraft guns. The Skink contract was cancelled in mid-August and only three complete vehicles and eight turret kits were completed.[3]
Design [ edit ]
The Skink’s four 20 mm guns could fire 650 rounds per minute per gun. A modified Oilgear hydraulic traverse with two pumps could rotate the turret at up to 65° per second and - crucially for a quick response- - accelerate from rest to 60° in two seconds. The guns’ elevation was also hydraulically assisted so the guns could move at up to 45° per second in an arc from -5° to +80°. The gunner controlled both elevation and rotation with a joystick, and used a Mk.IX reflector sight. Initially it was planned to build 300 Skink turrets for the Canadian and British armies. One Skink was sent to Britain for evaluation and was then sent to France for field trials with the First Canadian Army.
Combat Use [ edit ]
From 6 February to 11 March 1945, the Skink visited all but one of the Canadian armoured regiments - from Nijmegen to the Cleve area - frequently engaging in actual combat. All units found it to be a valuable asset. However no enemy aircraft presented itself to the Skink's guns and its main function was to flush out stubborn pockets of enemy infantry and force their surrender. The remaining Skink pilots and the completed turrets went into long-term storage in Canada where, at some point, they were scrapped. Only some unfinished turret castings salvaged from the firing range survive.[4]
See also [ edit ]
Notes [ edit ]
^ Lucy, Roger V. (2005). The Skink in Canadian Service. pp.1-5 ^ Lucy, pp.8-9 ^ Lucy, pp.16-17,21 ^ Lucy, pp.22-23
References [ edit ]In my recent column in The Hill titled Obama's health care Katrina I took President Obama to task -- proudly -- for spending years telling Americans they would keep their insurance policies when he knew millions of Americans could not. I called for a solution to help these people and I called on progressives including myself to lead the fight to help them. And now, even more, it is time to do what really needs to be done and fight like hell for a public option, for Medicare for all, for single payer health care, for whatever we call a program that would better bring health and greater justice to all Americans.
Obamacare makes health care better for many Americans and has created problems for other Americans but that is not the major point. The major point, in truth, is this: Obamacare was flawed because when it was passed, the Congress including most Republicans were owned by insurers and special interests, and too many Democrats, especially conservative Democrats in the Senate, were merely rented by insurers and special interests.
In my humble opinion it was a shame, an outrage and a health care infamy that President Obama sold out and traded off the public option. It was shameful. At the moment the law was passed the Democrats controlled a large majority in the House, which courageously included a public option, a large majority in the Senate, which shamefully did not, and a weak-willed president who was never a Kennedy or FDR liberal accepted a bill that was an insurance bill... not a health care bill.. in the sense that the original Medicare was powerful health care reform, and the public option would have been powerful health care reform.
It is time for liberals, progressives and Democrats to charge into the future with the courage and vision and passion to begin a real, true and historic battle for health care reform that is real, true and powerful and that is single payer, or Medicare for All, or a strong public option.
Ladies and gentlemen, one cannot provide true reform, change we can believe in, or dramatically improved health care with bills that are insurance industry productions, passed with political payoffs, compromising our highest ideals.
I supported Obamacare -- though without enthusiasm or illusions.
I support Obamacare today -- though we must fix the problems with integrity and courage for those who are being shortchanged.
But above all -- it is time to wage the battle for what should have been passed when Democrats had a Democratic president and large Democratic majorities in Congress.
It is time for liberals to work like hell to pass single payer health care, or the public option, or Medicare for all and it is time for liberals to fight like hell to elect a Democratic House and Democrat Senate and another Democratic President to make it happen.Ten years after the toppling of the Taliban government was accompanied by Western promises of a new era of women's rights, the justice system remained "stacked against them at every stage", it found.
Virtually all teenage girls held in prison are accused of immorality, either extramarital sex or running away, and around half of adult women inmates.
Imprisonment for immorality has risen steadily since a supreme court ruling that any woman who runs away from her home and does not immediately go to a close relative or the police should be imprisoned.
The report by Human Rights Watch found many inmates had fled a forced marriage, or violent husbands and in-laws.
In some cases women had been charged with having extramarital sex after being raped or forced into prostitution, it said.
Kenneth Roth, executive director, said: "It is shocking that 10 years after the overthrow of the Taliban, women and girls are still imprisoned for running away from domestic violence or forced marriage.
"No one should be locked up for fleeing a dangerous situation even if it's at home. President Karzai and Afghanistan's allies should act decisively to end this abusive and discriminatory practice."
Running away is not an offence under the Afghan penal code, but the supreme court advised in 2010 that women and girls who flee their homes should be locked up as a precaution against prostitution and promiscuity.
The court declined to comment on the report.
The United Nations has estimated around three quarters of marriages in Afghanistan are forced and unmarried girls are also sometimes given, or exchanged, to resolve disputes or stand in place of a dowry.
Few women are able to gain divorces. If they run away instead, the husband's family often press for a conviction of extramarital sex as well, as an extra punishment, the report found.
The 120-page report, called "I Had to Run Away" said significant progress had since been made in schooling for girls and allowing women to enter politics, and there had been a fall in maternal mortality.
However bias against them remained rife in the legal system it said.
"Even the most horrific abuses suffered by women seem to elicit nothing more than a shrug from prosecutors, despite laws criminalising violence against women," Mr Roth said.Satellite image of the mouth of the Amazon river
The Amazon River (also named Rio Amazonas in Portuguese and Spanish[1]) is the largest river in the world by the amount or volume of water it carries. It flows through the tropical forests of South America, mainly in Brazil. Its headwaters are in the Andes Mountains in Peru, on the western edge of South America and flows eastward into the Atlantic Ocean near the equator.
The Amazon moves more water than the next eight largest rivers of the world combined and has the largest drainage basin in the world. It accounts for about one fifth of the world's total river flow. During the wet season, parts of the Amazon exceed 120 miles (190 km) in width. Because of its size, it is sometimes called The Sea. It is not the world's longest river system. The world's longest river is the Nile River, with the Amazon being second-longest.
Size and path [ change | change source ]
The basin of the Amazon, with the most important rivers. Please note the Tocantins is also part of that basin, even if it is not tributary to the Amazon
It is one of the longest rivers in the world. There have been different studies that have tried to measure its exact length. As the studies have come up with different numbers, it is therefore difficult to give an exact number. The length also changes in the rainy season. Several studies from Brazil, Spain and Chile say it is the longest river in the world, longer than the Nile. The Nile has a length of 6,571 kilometres (4,083 mi). The Amazon may have a length of 6,937 km (4,310 mi).[2][3][4] The Spanish daily newspaper El País gives its length at 6,850 km (4,260 mi).[5] In 2007, scientists from Peru and Brazil calculated a length of 6,800 km (4,200 mi).[6]
A study done in 1969 says that the Amazon has a length of 6,448 km (4,007 mi). This was measured from a part of the River Apurimac. Until the 1970s, it was thought that the Marañón River was the source of the Amazon. In 2001, an expedition found that Nevado Mismi was in fact the source of the Amazon.[7] Another document of the Geographic society of Lima gives the length of the Amazon at over 7,000 km (4,300 mi).[8]
The source of the Amazon is in the Andes Mountains of western South America. It flows east from there to the Atlantic Ocean. Most of the huge river and its many tributaries are in the country of Brazil. There are many places on the Amazon where a person on one side of the river cannot see the other side. The Brazilians call the Amazon the "River Sea." The Amazon is navigable from the ocean to Peru. Ocean ships can travel on the Amazon all the way across Brazil, and most of South America, to the city of Iquitos in Peru.
One characteristic of the Amazon river is the Brazo Casiquiare, a water connection to the Orinoco river into Venezuela, that connects the two basins.
A satellite image of the mouth of the Amazon River, looking south
The estuary of the Amazon is about 330 km (205 mi) wide. The width of the mouth of the river is usually measured from Cabo do Norte to Punto Patijoca. Generally, the outlet of the Para River is included. It is 60 km (37 mi) wide, and forms the estuary of the Tocantins. The estuary also includes the island of Marajó, which lies in the mouth of the Amazon. This means that the Amazon is wider at its mouth than the entire length of the Thames river in England.
Along the coastline, near Cabo do Norte, there are many islands partially covered with water. There are also sandbanks. The tides of the Atlantic generate a wave that reaches into the Amazon river. This wave goes along the coast for about 160 kilometres (99 miles). The phenomenon of this wave generated by the tides is called tidal bore. Locally it is known as pororoca. The pororoca occurs where the water is less than 7 m (23 ft) deep. It starts with a loud noise, and advances at a speed of 15–25 km/h (9–16 mph). The bore is the reason the Amazon does not have a delta. The ocean rapidly carries away the large |
entina Shevchenko in the main event of UFC on FOX 2. And while Peña is trying to make the best of a less than ideal situation, you can tell she's still upset with the UFC.
Speaking with ESPN's the 5ive Rounds Podcast this week, Peña explained her unhappiness with the Shevchenko fight and why she agreed to it, despite her very vocal protests.
"I'm not happy about this fight and it has absolutely nothing to do with Valentina and everything to do with me acquiring more of a resume than any female in the 135-pound division. I have beaten everybody that they've put in front of me. I've yet to lose. I've still not been able to fight for a title. These girls coming off of knockouts and they get to fight for the title again. Girls that I've beaten, girls that didn't get past me on The Ultimate Fighter getting to fight for the title. I still have yet to wrap my brain around the fact that I have beaten everybody and still can't sniff a title shot. I don't understand why that is.
"In this case I was offered a main event spot with a little bit of a more sweetened deal and that made me realize that this is the fight that I need to take now. Once I get past this one I can set my sights on the title shot which is what I've been gunning for this whole entire time."
Peña won the women's bracket of The Ultimate Fighter season 18 tournament, defeating Shayna Baszler and Sarah Moras with chokes before stopping Jessica Rakoczy with punches in the finals. Since then she has put together three more wins, her most recent victory being over former title challenger and sixth-ranked Cat Zingano at UFC 200. In the main event that evening, Nunes unseated Miesha Tate to become the new 135-pound title holder, and Peña began lobbying for a fight with her almost immediately afterwards.
Her future opponent Shevchenko is coming off an impressive upset victory over former champion Holly Holm. When the two finally meet, the winner figures to have the next bantamweight title shot guaranteed, or at least that's what Peña says she's been led to believe, and woe betide Dana White if that's not the case.
"That's the notion that I picked up and if not this time I will raise hell. I think Dana knows that I'm a firecracker, and I definitely don't think that he wants see the wrath that will come if I don't get a title shot after this. I would be shocked. I won't say that it couldn't happen because anything can happen, especially in this sport. But I think that he definitely knows that I'm the clear cut answer for getting a title shot. So I don't want to even put that in the universe. If I don't get a title shot, I quit."
However there is certainly the potential that Peña may get passed over even with a win. After all, the UFC announced this week that former champion and Rousey slayer Holly Holm would be fighting Germaine de Randamie for the inaugural women's featherweight championship at UFC 208 in February. Should Holm and Rousey both prove victorious, a rematch between the two with both belts on the line is likely one of the biggest possible events the UFC could put together in 2017. But don't get Peña started on that topic. She's not a fan of Holm getting the opportunity to fight for a title coming off back-to-back losses.
"That's BS. It's ridiculous. I asked to fight Holly. I asked to fight that girl and then she gets another title shot again. It's comical and whatever. That's what I think about that. It's bullshit but whatever. What am I gonna do? I've called them all out. I've asked to fight them. Harmless Holly is not going to be the end all be all to me and my career. I would love to fight her. I feel like I'm talking to a wall sometimes."
And therein lies the rub of being Julianna Peña: she wants to fight these contenders but the risk vs. reward isn't enticing enough compared to other opportunities for the big names. It's a problem of marketing, something Peña says the UFC doesn't do a good job of when it comes to her.
"Absolutely not. I'm the first female to win The Ultimate Fighter, ever, in the history. That's marketing enough in itself. I beat all those girls and I finished them and all the girls I've fought and beat currently. Cat Zingano is still one of the toughest girls in the division in my opinion. I just feel like they definitely haven't marketed me in the way like I feel I should be marketed. And that's unfortunate and it drives me nuts but what am I gonna do?
"I feel like I keep complaining and people are tired of hearing me complain. I'm tired of hearing myself complain. It's like put up or shut up. Just go in there and fight and do your job and let the rest handle itself. Like Dana said, trust the timing of your life."
Julianna Peña fights Valentina Shevchenko in the main event of UFC on FOX 23 on Jan. 28, in Denver, Colo.
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Quick return. Donald Cerrone is fighting Jorge Masvidal at UFC on Fox 23.
Ouch. Andrei Arlovski is set to face Francis Ngannou at the same event.
Double ouch. Vitor Belfort and Kelvin Gastelum will fight at UFC Fight Night 107.
Believe in Phil. Mickey Gall believes CM Punk will lose to anyone that is "UFC caliber."
MEDIA STEW
If you're gonna comeback, fight BJ.
Luke's Live Chat.
TTTHS.
Max's homecoming.
This dude fights this weekend.
LISTEN UP
Heavy Hands.
Press Row.
Fight Society.
TWEETS
Chance to win $10K.
CAPTION THIS! Best caption wins $10,000.00. The winner will be announced on Monday, Dec 19. Stay tuned! #TMT A video posted by Floyd Mayweather (@floydmayweather) on Dec 14, 2016 at 8:51pm PST
Pair Of Titles Until Stripped (shout out Chuck Mindenhall for this one).
Very nice for him.
Don't worry coach! I will retire @bisping under the fairest of conditions #ynuevo https://t.co/NZJM1yCQIh — Yoel Romero (@YoelRomeroMMA) December 15, 2016
Heart of the city pic.twitter.com/EwYTsTuu1O — Max Holloway (@BlessedMMA) December 15, 2016
As someone that cuts a lot of weight to make 185lbs I understand her pain. Body and mind can't recover that fast. Aches all the way through. https://t.co/gdue34WJ1q — The Spartan (@EliasTheodorou) December 14, 2016
I just realized I never fought once in my own backyard during the #kimbo days, I always fought in someone else's #easymoney — Jorge Masvidal UFC (@GamebredFighter) December 14, 2016
Damn. Cookie Monster is an atomweight.
Sign the papers, let's go champ! A photo posted by Mikebisping (@mikebisping) on Dec 14, 2016 at 2:31pm PST
FIGHT ANNOUNCEMENTS
Kai Kara France (12-5) vs. Tatsumitsu Wada (16-8); Rizin World Grand Prix 2016: Second Round, December 29.
Andrei Arlovski (25-13, 1 NC) vs. Francis Ngannou (9-1); UFC on Fox 23, January 28.
Donald Cerrone (32-7, 1 NC) vs. Jorge Masvidal (31-11); UFC on Fox 23, January 28.
Tecia Torres (7-1) vs. Bec Rawlings (7-5); UFC Fight Night Houston, February 14.
Stefan Struve (28-8) vs. Junior dos Santos (18-4); UFC Fight Night Halifax, February 19.
Vitor Belfort (25-13) vs. Kelvin Gastelum (14-2); UFC Fight Night Fortaleza, March 11.
Edson Barboza (18-4) vs. Beneil Dariush (14-2); UFC Fight Night Fortaleza, March 11.
TODAY IN MMA HISTORY
2012: For the first time ever, the UFC ran two events on the same day, the TUF 16 Finale and the TUF Smashes Finale.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Today's the day you prove em all wrong. Take it easy y'all, and see you Monday.
If you find something you'd like to see in the Morning Report, just hit me up on Twitter @JedKMeshew and let me know about it. Also follow MMAFighting on Instagram and add us on Snapchat at MMA-Fighting because we post dope things and you should enjoy them.How to bring your Sketchup 3D Model to WebVR
David Tran Blocked Unblock Follow Following Nov 15, 2017 Unlisted
In one of my previous medium publications I showed you how you can get a basic 3D model from a 2D floor plan. But what if you already put a lot of effort into creating your very own 3D model in Sketchup? Can you still get your 3D Model into Archilogic, showcase it on the web and use it in combination with Archilogic’s furniture library?
In this publication I’m going to show you how to export your 3D model from Sketchup and import it into the Archilogic Editor.
The first thing you need is of course a Sketchup model. For this tutorial you can either use your own Sketchup model or download one from 3D Warehouse where you can find a wide variety of different 3d models all made with Sketchup.
We used an amazing 3D model by 3D Warehouse user ros of Oscar Niemeyers unrealized design, the Federmann House.
3D model of the Federmann House by ros
Archilogic uses meters as its standard units. To prevent scaling issues later on it is therefore a good idea to switch the units of the Sketchup model to meters before exporting.
To change the units of the model click on the Window tab and select Model Info. In the Model Info window select Units and then select Meters from the drop down menu on the upper right side.
Open the Model Info window and set the units to Meters
Make sure to delete the up facing polygons of the roof object if you want to make sure to be able to look into your 3d model from above while still having a ceiling when standing inside the model.
Delete the upwards facing polygons of the roof object
After that you’re basically good to go. Select the objects that you want to export and click on the File tab and select Export 3D Model. If you’re using Sketchup Pro you can comfortably export the model in the OBJ file format. OBJ is currently the only file format that you can use to import your own custom 3D content into Archilogic. Make sure to open the export options before exporting the model and deactivate the Export two-sided faces option. However, if you’re not using the Pro version of Sketchup the process is slightly more complicated.
Switch off the “Export two-sided faces” check box
Without the Pro version of Sketchup you can’t directly export OBJ files, instead you have to export the 3D model in the DAE file format first. After that you can import the DAE file into a 3rd party 3D software like Blender and then convert it into a OBJ file before continuing.
Once you have your OBJ Export ready, make sure to log into your Archilogic account, open an empty scene in the 3D editor and then import the 3D model by dragging and dropping the OBJ File along with the MTL file and all the related texture files into the Archilogic window.
Drag and drop the OBJ files to import them into Archilogic
The importing process may take a couple of moments depending on the size of the model and the number of associated texture files. After the importing process you can start using Archilogic’s furniture library to bring more life into your models. In addition to the furniture pieces you can also use the camera bookmarks tool to create a presentation of your 3D model. The Archilogic editor also allows you to tweak the materials of your model. You can give them a glossiness, a different color hue or even replace the textures of the materials. Select the imported model to adjust the vertical position so that it works well with the standard camera settings of the Archilogic editor. In this case a value around -5.5 meters for the Y position works best. You can try out the steps described above by opening the 3D model in your browser (only desktop/laptop).
Edit the materials of the imported 3D model
Once you’re happy with the changes to your 3D model you can open the lighting menu and switch on realistic lighting to give your 3D model the little extra it needs to look even more exciting.
Switch on realistic lighting
A bit of light and shadow can make a huge difference in how your 3d model looks and feels.
The difference of standard and realistic lighting
Check out the same model with realistic lighting switched on here.
Make sure to save your model once you’ve switched on realistic lighting to keep all your changes.
You can get quite far by just using the features available in the Archilogic 3D editor and transform your imported Sketchup Model into a exciting showcase with its very own story to tell.
Fully furnished and well-lit 3D showcase
Lastly you can check out my previous Medium publication to learn how to bring your Archilogic model into an A-Frame scene with https://3d.io/ to make your showcase VR-Ready.Honda has teased a new sporty electric coupe concept ahead of its debut at the 2017 Tokyo Motor Show. Called the Honda Sports EV concept, the car appears to incorporate retro design themes like the Urban EV concept from Frankfurt, which will also be on display in Tokyo.
Honda says the two concepts share a platform, but that the Sports EV has an “unforgettable silhouette” and “friendly front fascia.”
We can’t see that front end in this single teaser sketch, but we can see the car has a classic coupe roofline, prominent shoulders, and square-shaped taillamps like the Urban EV concept. Honda also says the compact next-generation sports car will incorporate artificial intelligence somehow.
We don’t know much else about Honda’s EV coupe, but this teaser has us excited. Honda’s small sports cars, including the current Japanese-market S660 and the previous Beat, have mostly been forbidden fruit to the U.S.
A production version of the Sports EV concept may be no exception, but given that it will share a platform with a more mainstream EV hatch, a business case for the U.S. market seems less far-fetched.
Honda hasn’t said it will produce the Sports EV, but when the Urban EV concept debuted a few weeks ago, Honda said it previewed a production vehicle coming to Europe in 2019 and that its design language hinted at other electrified Honda models on the way.
Stay tuned for more details from the Tokyo Motor Show beginning October 25.An American Indian leader and outspoken opponent of the Washington Redskins’ team name reportedly dressed up in blackface for Halloween.
Terry Rambler, chairman of the San Carlos Apache Tribe in Arizona, posted a Facebook picture of himself as Jamaican reggae star Bob Marley, complete with a dreadlocks wig and blackface makeup, the New York Post reported.
“I had fun tonight at the Bylas Halloween Carnival,” he wrote in the Sunday post that remained active Wednesday evening. “I joined up with the Bylas Wellness Program and gave out information & candy and set up a ring toss booth. It was so awesome seeing the happy and enthusiastic faces of our children.”
Mr. Rambler recently joined other tribe leaders in signing a pledge opposed to the “racially offensive” name of the Washington Redskins, the Independent Journal reported.
Mr. Rambler is in Washington, D.C., this week for the White House Tribal Nations Conference.
The Apache chairman also met Wednesday with Sen. Bernard Sanders, Vermont independent and Democratic presidential-primary candidate, the Washington Free Beacon reported.
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Earlier this year, in March, Google consolidated more than 70 different privacy policies into a single more unified policy that allowed it to combine user data from all Google properties into a single view. Google argued that it represented privacy simplification for users (which was true). However it also benefited Google with more insight into its users’ activities on the Google network, the ability to deliver more personalized search results and presumably enabled better ad targeting.
The Europeans raised concerns about Google’s new privacy policy at the time and suggested that it might violate their privacy rules. Google went ahead and implemented the policy in Europe arguing the following when the new policy went into effect:
Our approach to privacy has not changed.
Google users continue to have choice and control.
The privacy policy changes don’t affect our users’ existing privacy settings.
We’re not collecting any new or additional data about users.
We are not selling our users’ data.
Our users can use as much or as little of Google as they want.
We will continue to offer our data liberation tools.
Google said back in March (and today) that it was confident its unified privacy policy did not violate European regulations. However the French data protection agency CNIL is reportedly set to say just the opposite. It and other European countries will reportedly ask Google to roll back its privacy policy changes to their previously fragmented state. According to The Guardian, “[The CNIL] have determined that Google’s changes breached EU law because they did not give users any chance to opt out of the changes.”
The Europeans saw Google thumbing its nose at them by not delaying the implementation of the new privacy policy before they could study it carefully and request changes or modifications. Google argued there had been considerable time for that and went ahead anyway. This decision to some degree must be seen as “payback” (although that doesn’t entirely explain it).
The French, on behalf of the larger European Commission, opened a privacy investigation into Google’s new privacy policy as it went into effect in March. Google has been responding to questions and cooperating with the investigation. But according to The Guardian, there will be a press conference tomorrow to announce the decision to roll back the clock on Google’s privacy policy changes. That press event will feature data protection commissioners from multiple European countries.
Assuming The Guardian’s report is accurate, it’s not clear what recourse Google might have in the matter. It’s also not clear whether there are “structural” changes that Google would need to implement (or re-establish) to un-do the new system. Clearly there are global implications here — though I don’t believe US regulators would come to the same position as the Europeans, who have much stricter privacy laws. (See Postscript II below for more detail on the European request.)
We’ve reached out to Google for a statement and will update this post if one is provided. Below is a video produced by Google to explain the new privacy policy earlier this year.
Postscript: Microsoft has essentially implemented the same privacy policy changes as Google but nobody seemingly is raising any objections. One has to wonder whether the Europeans are too focused on Google or whether Microsoft is next to be investigated.
Postscript II: Reuters has some additional detail on what the Europeans will request. According to a letter obtained by the news agency:
Google must spell out its intentions and methods for combining data collected from its various services, and the web search giant must ask its users for explicit consent when bundling their data together, the regulators say in the letter sent to Google.
If this information is accurate it may not be as burdensome for Google to “roll back” its privacy policy changes. However obtaining “opt-in” explicit consent from European users may not be easy. Google will have to sell them on the benefits and not just of simplification of privacy policies. Most likely that would take the form of arguments about the benefits of search personalization and “more relevant” ads.President-elect Donald Trump campaigned hard on the ways in which he was going to help the middle class. But it’s the 0.2 percent of the country that pay the estate tax who are counting on him to get done what others could not: kill the “death tax.”
Under federal law, the tax, which is levied at a 40 percent rate, applies only to estates worth more than $5.45 million for individuals and $10.9 million for couples. Estates worth less than that may be passed on to heirs tax-free. Last year, just 0.2 percent of estates of people who died were subject to the tax, according to estimates by the Tax Policy Center, a Washington-based research group that’s a joint venture of the Urban Institute and the Brookings Institution.
But, by eliminating the tax, many of those who’ve been nominated to serve in Trump’s cabinet, not to mention the president-elect himself, would be able to pass hundreds of millions, and in some cases billions of dollars, on to their estates, free of tax.
Since Trump’s election, House Ways & Means Chairman Kevin Brady and Senate Finance Chairman Orrin Hatch have repeated their desire to repeal the estate tax. House Speaker Paul Ryan and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell have long supported its elimination. Passage in the Republican-led House is assured. In the Senate, a decade-long estate tax repeal can pass with 50 of 52 expected GOP senators under a special mechanism called reconciliation, while 60 votes could end it for good.
So, Dear Middle Class, you keep waiting for Trump to help you out, first on the list though will be his buddies in the administration.Brookdale Closing Early 2/20 Due to Weather Due to the weather, Brookdale will be closing at 11am, Wednesday, February 20. All classes and activities after 11am at all locations are cancelled.
Brookdale closed today 2/12/19 Due to the weather conditions, Brookdale will be closed today, 2/12/19. All activities at all locations are cancelled.
Brookdale LINCROFT campus closing 5pm 11/19/18 Due to a water main break, the LINCROFT campus of Brookdale will be closing early at 5pm on Monday 11/19. All classes and activities on the LINCROFT campus are canceled.
Snow Day Today, all Brookdale locations are closed.
UPDATE: Brookdale Delayed Opening Extended, Thurs., March 22, 2018 Due to unplowed roadways, all Brookdale locations will open at 1 p.m. on Thurs, 3/22/18. All classes with an hour or more remaining at 1 p.m. will be held. Employees report at 1 p.m. The Scholarship Recognition Ceremony will be held today (Thursday, March 22) at 5 p.m. in the Collins Arena.
Delayed opening Tuesday 2/12/19 All Brookdale locations will open at 11 a.m. on Tuesday, February 12, 2019 There will be no classes before 11 a.m. will be held. Employees report at 10:30 a.m.
Brookdale LINCROFT CAMPUS closing 5pm today 11/19 Due to a water main break, the LINCROFT Campus at Brookdale will be closed today 11/19 at 5pm. All classes and activities at the LINCROFT campus are canceled.
Brookdale Closed on Tues. 2/12/19 Due to the weather conditions, Brookdale will be closed on Tuesday 2/12/19. All classes and activities at all locations are cancelled.GUELPH — The City of Guelph is once again considering the contentious issue of merging electricity providers.
The city issued a statement recently related to the Guelph Municipal Holdings Inc. annual general meeting, in which the subject of a possible merger of Guelph Hydro with other providers emerged as a top priority.
In late 2008, city council rejected a proposed merger of Guelph Hydro with Horizon Utilities, following a lengthy and costly process. Mayor Karen Farbridge supported the merger, and at the time called its defeat a mistake, and a lost opportunity to move Guelph's Community Energy Plan forward.
The issue has returned to the forefront in light of the Ontario Ministry of Energy's Distribution Sector Review, which recommends that a number of local energy distributors, including Guelph Hydro, be consolidated into larger regional distributors.'Tom could hardly stand up, let alone sing'
Kasabian have spoken out after they cancelled their gig at Customs House Belfast last night night (Aug 22).
– Exclusive NME offer: Save £10 on Amazon Music Unlimited plans with code NME10
Taking to Twitter to share the news, the band wrote: “It is with great regret, due to illness, we cannot perform at Customs House Belfast tonight. Kasabian.”
However, the band have now explained their decision to cancel the show so close to stage time.
“Absolutely gutted to have to cancel last night’s show in Belfast,” said the band in a statement. “We were all at Custom House Square, ready to go on stage when Tom suddenly went down with sever vomiting and could hardly stand up, let alone sing.
“He was taken to hospital, put on a drip and told to rest up. We had no option but to cancel and we’re sorry to our fans and anyone that travelled a long way.”
The band added: “Thank you so much for all your messages of support. Details on the rescheduled date to follow soon.”
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The band are set to the headline Reading and Leeds festival this weekend. Earlier this month (August 15), Kasabian shared their opinion on their fellow Reading & Leeds Festival 2017 headliners Muse and Eminem – and they’re even hoping for a collaboration in the future.
“One day, I’d love to work with Eminem,” guitarist Serge Pizzorno told NME. “I’ve got bags full that are perfect for him.”
He continued: “Muse are just a juggernaut, aren’t they? I have so much respect for those boys as just unbelievable musicians. All of them just play the shit out of it. It’s great to see a virtuoso guitar player. They’re the real deal.”
Frontman Tom Meighan added: “They’re both fucking amazing. They’re giants. Muse are a fucking amazing live band and just really nice guys, I’ve got a lot of time for them. Eminem is just a fucking genius. He’s probably the best rapper on the planet. He’s so clever. I think Eminem would dig us. I dig Marshall. He’s the Elvis of rap music.”645X363 - No Companion - Full Sharing - Additional videos are suggested - Policy/Regulation/Blogs
Rep. Elijah Cummings Elijah Eugene CummingsFive things to watch as Michael Cohen testifies The Memo: Capitol Hill braces for Cohen fireworks Overnight Health Care: Senators grill drug execs over high prices | Progressive Dems unveil Medicare for all bill | House Dems to subpoena Trump officials over family separations MORE (D-Md.) on Wednesday suggested Secret Service Director Julia Pierson should resign, saying President Obama is not well served under her leadership.
The ranking Democrat on the House Oversight Committee said it was "very difficult for me to sleep last night" after the director's testimony before the committee on Tuesday.
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Cummings said he came away from the meeting "extremely disappointed."
"I've come to the conclusion that my confidence and my trust in this director, Ms. Pierson, has eroded. And I do not feel comfortable with her in that position," he said on MSNBC.
That is a swing from just a day earlier, when he told reporters the "jury's still out" on her tenure.
His comments were even more blunt during a radio interview with Roland Martin on Wednesday.
"I think this lady has to go," Cummings reportedly said, referring to Pierson.
Cummings isn't the only lawmaker calling for Pierson to resign or be fired.
Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah) also said she should go in an interview with Fox on Tuesday night.
"I think it’s time that she be fired by the president of the United States or that she resign," he said.
Rep. Doug Collins (R-Ga.), a member of the Oversight Committee also called on Pierson to resign.
"I do not have confidence, especially given her answers of yesterday and the revelations of Atlanta, and then this continuing series of events, that it is probably best that she does step down," Collins said on MSNBC on Wednesday.
He also criticized Pierson over a press release she admitted approving that failed to disclose how far the intruder made it into the White House.
"I was appalled by her answer to that question," he said. "How could the director of the Secret Service approve a statement that was a lie?"
Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-Va.) said on MSNBC Tuesday that he is not ready to call for Pierson’s resignation, but called the Atlanta elevator incident "jaw-dropping."
"I want to give her an opportunity to complete her review and to provide, I hope, cogent recommendations for reform and corrective action,” he said. “But I have to say, it is an open question at the moment whether frankly she can continue in that job with any kind of competence.”
Pierson received a grilling on Capitol Hill over the security breach Sept. 19, when an intruder jumped the fence and made his way into the White House before being apprehended by agents.
New details emerged Monday about that incident. Cummings said those details have led to an erosion of public confidence in the director.
"No matter how wonderful Ms. Pierson may be, the public's confidence is eroding," he said on MSNBC. "There used to be a time where, if you thought about the Secret Service, you not dare do anything that might even make them think about you harming the president."
Other news emerged after the hearing, including reports that an armed security contractor with a criminal record was allowed on an elevator with Obama during a Sept. 16 trip to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Cummings said it seems the public is learning new stories about the Secret Service every week.
Cummings had expressed concern during the hearing that agents felt more comfortable talking to members of Congress rather than to their superiors.
"That has got to change," he said at the time.
Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have called for an independent investigation into the events surrounding the incident. Cummings and committee Chairman Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) are expected to ask the Department of Homeland Security to investigate.
UPDATE: 10:55 a.m.:
Cummings tweeted Wednesday morning that he has not decided about Pierson, but he is "not comfortable" with Obama's safety.
I have not decided about Pierson, but I'm not comfortable about the safety of the President of the United States of America. #SecretService — Elijah E. Cummings (@RepCummings) October 1, 2014
In a later interview with NPR, the congressman said he has not made a final decision on whether the director should resign. He is expected to talk with Pierson by phone later in the day.
This story was last updated at 12:37 p.m.Cookies and Central Florida Food Blogger Bake Sale
On a shopping trip to World Market not too long ago, I added a bag of kettle corn to the other goodies in my basket. Since it was a little past lunch time and I’d not eaten yet, I opened the bag as soon as I got in the car (you’ve done that before, right?). While enjoying this substitute snack for my lunch, I started wondering what it would taste like to put kettle corn in cookies. Then I thought…hmmm, I could add toffee bits and some butter toffee almonds I’d used in another cookie recipe in the past. When it was time to make a sweet treat for a family potluck a few weeks later, I decided this would be the perfect opportunity to try this new recipe that had been lingering around in my head (and so I could get the cookies out of the house without consuming all those calories…you know how that is). Since I was pressed for time with making other dishes too, I started with a sugar cookie mix as the base to make it easy-on-this-baker.
Let me tell you friends, these cookies turned out just right and are the perfect balance of sweet and salty. They started disappearing before I could pack them up…one here, one there…and so on. Does that ever happen at your house? That just showed my new creation was a total success! Add another recipe to the “keeper” file, thank you.
Since these cookies were such a hit, I’ll be making them again for the Central Florida Food Blogger Bake Sale. Food bloggers all across the country will soon be baking up a storm to participate in the National Food Blogger Bake Sale this Saturday. Every penny raised will be donated to Share Our Strength’s Great American Bake Sale efforts in the fight to end childhood hunger.
The Central Florida Food Blogger Bake Sale will be held from 10:00am to 1:00pm on Saturday, April 28, outside the office of the Winter Park Harvest Festival located at 427 S. New York Avenue in Winter Park. We’re excited to support Share Our Strength with our bake sale again. We raised over $1300 last year and we’re upping our goal this year to $2000! With your help, we can do it!
Please join in this worthy cause by visiting a food blogger bake sale this weekend if there’s one in your area. You can find a list of other National Food Blogger Bake Sale locations by visiting Bloggers Without Borders (click here).
Happy Baking! Enjoy all the goodies!
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Kettle Corn Toffee Cookies Yield: 36 cookies Ingredients 1 pouch (1 lb. 1.5 oz) sugar cookie mix (Betty Crocker)
1/4 cup packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups kettle corn, crushed
1/2 cup toffee bits
1/2 cup butter toffee glazed sliced almonds (Almond Accents) Directions Heat oven to 350 degrees F. In large bowl, combine cookie mix and brown sugar; mix well with wire whisk. Add butter, egg and vanilla; stir until soft dough forms. Stir in crushed kettle corn, toffee bits and almonds. Drop dough by heaping teaspoonfuls 2 inches apart onto parchment-lined cookie sheets.* Bake for 11 to 13 minutes or until edges are light golden brown. Cool 3 minutes. Remove from cookie sheets to cooling rack. Cool completely. Notes *I use a spring-handled scoop that measures 1 1/2 inches across the top to scoop and drop cookies. 3.1
This post is linked to Sweet Treats Thursday, Sweet Tooth Friday, Mingle Monday, Taste and Tell ThursdaysMike Milburn Ph.D. Chief Scientific Officer Metabolon
Kirk Beebe Ph.D. Director of Application Science Metabolon
Researchers Need to Look at the Metabolome to Understand the Dynamic Relationship between the Microbiome and the Human Body
In the past 15 years, scientists have begun to characterize what they consider to be a newly discovered endocrine organ. So far, they have found that it is critical for protecting you against infection and regulating your metabolism, and that it can even affect your behavior. It can be damaged by antibiotics, and it can be restored by swallowing capsules filled with dehydrated fecal matter. What is this unusual yet versatile organ? It is the human microbiome.
The human microbiome is large and complex. It is thought that there are as many indigenous microbes in your body as there are other cells, comprising about 160 species and present throughout your body—including in your mouth, on your skin, and in your intestines. Samples from only 124 European individuals collected by the European MetaHIT consortium contained more than 1,000 different bacterial species with 3.3 million unique genes—150 times more genes than in the human gene complement. Altogether, scientists treat the human microbiome as its own organ with its own unique, but necessary, functions.
To make sense of this vast and diverse population of microbial cells, scientists have revisited an approach that they exploited 20 years ago to understand human cells—genetic sequencing. In fact, the study of the microbiome’s genome, the metagenome, has allowed scientists to characterize and catalog the entire microbiome and gain a general understanding of how it supports human health.
Genomics, however, does not give us all the information we need to understand the link between microbes and health. Approaches like 16S RNA (rRNA) sequencing and metagenomics can, at best, reveal the identity of an individual’s microbiota and give scientists an estimation of microbial activity in the body. But genomic data alone is unable to give scientists a direct peek into how the human microbiome dynamically interacts with its surroundings.
The only way to understand how the microbiome’s presence affects the body at any given time is through studying the comprehensive or global metabolome—the collection of metabolites that the microbiome and host produces and interacts with. Metabolites are the microbiome’s language. By studying them, in addition to the microbes they come from, scientists will reveal an invariably fuller picture of the ever-changing relationship between the microbiome and the human body. For metabolomics to be most effective, many different classes of metabolites, including xenobiotics, bacterial, and host, need to be measured simultaneously. In short, trying to resolve the link between the microbiome and human health without looking at the metabolome is like trying to predict a married couple’s compatibility without observing how they communicate with each other.
Recently, studying this metabolomic “chatter” has led to discoveries in all areas of disease research that could not be achieved by characterizing the metagenome itself:
• While studying the microbiome and metabolome of infants at risk for asthma and allergy, scientists discovered distinct predictive biomarkers for these conditions. Researchers recently compared the microbiomes and metabolomes of infants with varying levels of susceptibility to asthma and allergy; and among the most susceptible infants, they found deficiencies of several native bacterial species in the gut. Interestingly, this cohort also displayed high concentrations of pro-inflammatory T-cells and relatively low concentrations of T cells that protect against asthma and allergy. These immunological differences suggest that, in conjunction with the gut microbiome, an infant’s metabolome can be used as a biomarker to predict one’s susceptibility to allergy and asthma.
• Metabolites have also been found to link |
as smooth as possible. We have the ideas, but we need more people to bring them into reality. Plus, more characters means more VA (voice actors/acting) and costs go up, up, up, yet a much better experience Max Impulse will be.
With more resources, we can support the game post launch, and with features like the track creator, there could be unlimited amounts of content for you. Everybody on the team will be overjoyed if we break that $20,000 mark, but I could bet money that at least one person on the team will faint with excitement if we make even more! (Then we will sell pictures of them for 5 bucks a pop, of course backers will receive one for free) (*Disclaimer* THIS IS A JOKE AND SHOULD NOT BE TAKEN SERIOUSLY)
Album Cover Art
Track List
Music Samples
Gates of Olympus
Dexus Days
With a donation of $1, you will get your name in the credits of Max Impulse. No matter how much people are willing to give, we want everyone to be recognized for it.
With a donation of $5, you will receive a digital copy of Max Impulse at launch plus a pack of *Exclusive* Hi-resolution wallpapers like the one featured above. These wallpapers are only for Kickstarter backers and will not be available anywhere else!
( + Previous rewards: Your Name in the Credits)
With a donation of $10, you will receive a digital copy of Max Impulse’s heart pounding soundtrack! While some of these songs are available out there now, we will keep making more and more exclusive tracks to be added to the soundtrack! All music for the game is composed and recorded by Sam Simpson. (+ Previous Rewards: Your Name in the Credits, Digital Copy of Max Impulse, Hi-Res Wallpapers)
With a donation of $15, you will receive a digital art book of Max Impulse’s concept art, drawings, digital paintings, and digital renders. See how we went from a few scratchings on paper to the final product. (+ Previous Rewards: Your Name in the Credits, Digital Copy of Max Impulse, Hi-Res Wallpapers, Digital Copy of Soundtrack)
With a donation of $20, you will be given the chance to feature your ideas in our game. In the in-game digital gallery and library, any people who pledge this amount or more can submit one piece of concept art or description of a concept idea that will be featured in the Max Impulse digital gallery and library. *One piece only (if you submit more than one, we will pick our favorite, Items depicting or relating to: Sexual Content, Realistic depictions of Violence, unrelated or copyrighted materials, or basically anything that can be taken as offensive WILL NOT BE USED*) (+ Previous Rewards: Your Name in the Credits, Digital Copy of Max Impulse, Hi-Res Wallpapers, Digital Copy of Soundtrack, Digital Artbook)
With a donation of $25, you will receive a beta access key, which means you will have Max Impulse in your hands before everybody else, albeit a Max Impulse with a few unpolished parts. The more people who play the beta version, the more bugs we can snag for the final launch! (+ Previous Rewards: Your Name in the Credits, Digital Copy of Max Impulse, Hi-Res Wallpapers, Digital Copy of Soundtrack, Digital Artbook, Create a Concept)
With a donation of $35, you will be invited join our Backer’s Club, which will give you access to a private section of our forum to hang out in plus some meets-ups with the development team on Google Hangouts (or a similar service). It will be a great chance for questions and answers or submitting suggestions if you have any. (+ Previous Rewards: Your Name in the Credits, Digital Copy of Max Impulse, Hi-Res Wallpapers, Digital Copy of Soundtrack, Digital Artbook, Create a Concept, Beta access)
With a donation of $50, you will receive a digital copy of Max Impulse’s prequel novel written by the game’s writer, Matthew Burke. While not yet named, it will detail some events during the War with the Yu (we will release more information about that race later). (+ Previous Rewards: Your Name in the Credits, Digital Copy of Max Impulse, Hi-Res Wallpapers, Digital Copy of Soundtrack, Digital Artbook, Create a Concept, Beta access, Backer’s Club Access)
With a donation of $65, you will have the opportunity to create your own easter egg for Max Impulse. For the non-gamers out there, an easter egg is something developers will put into a game as a secret, like a reference to another game or pop-culture entity. The same rules apply to this as the concept art listed above, just use common sense! (+ Previous Rewards: Name in Credits, Digital Copy of Max Impulse, Hi-Res Wallpapers, Digital Copy of Soundtrack, Digital Artbook, Create a Concept, Beta access, Backer’s Club Access, Digital Copy of Prequel Novel)
With a donation of $80, instead of the usual one copy of the game, you receive 5 copies for you and your friends, along with 5 Beta Keys (of course, your friends should have donated too *hint hint* so these can be for the people who just happened to miss Kickstarter). (+ Previous Rewards: Your Name in the Credits, Digital Copy of Max Impulse, Hi-Res Wallpapers, Digital Copy of Soundtrack, Digital Artbook, Create a Concept, Beta access, Backer’s Club Access, Digital Copy of Prequel Novel, Easter Egg)
With a donation of $100, you will have the opportunity to submit a world concept to the development team that will be featured in-game. The galaxy is big place and we need help fleshing it out. Who knows, maybe we will pick one to place a track on. (The same rules apply to this as for the concept art submission.) (+ Previous Rewards: Your Name in the Credits, Digital Copy of Max Impulse, Hi-Res Wallpapers, Digital Copy of Soundtrack, Digital Artbook, Create a Concept, Beta access, Backer’s Club Access, Digital Copy of Prequel Novel, Easter Egg, 5 Beta Keys for your Friends)
With a donation of $150, you will receive digital character booklets. These will feature much more fleshed out info on your favorite racers, such as who they were before they became racing legends, what makes them tick, etc. In addition, it will provide insight on how we came up with the species or their anatomy. (+ Previous Rewards: Your Name in the Credits, Digital Copy of Max Impulse, Hi-Res Wallpapers, Digital Copy of Soundtrack, Digital Artbook, Create a Concept, Beta access, Backer’s Club Access, Digital Copy of Prequel Novel, Easter Egg, 5 Beta Keys for your Friends, Submit a World)
With a donation of $200, you will receive a digital copy of the Max Impulse design bible. A design bible is essentially every design decision made in the early days of a game’s conception to now: writing, screenshots, and even some early builds of the game. (Some of those early builds are ridiculous!) (+ Previous Rewards: Your Name in the Credits, Digital Copy of Max Impulse, Hi-Res Wallpapers, Digital Copy of Soundtrack, Digital Artbook, Create a Concept, Beta access, Backer’s Club Access, Digital Copy of Prequel Novel, Easter Egg, 5 Beta Keys for your Friends, Submit a World, Character Booklets)
With a donation of $500, you will get to chat with us throughout the whole rest of development. Help us make key decisions as they come up, essentially YOU can be on the team! You will also receive an exclusive printed poster. (+ Previous Rewards: Your Name in the Credits, Digital Copy of Max Impulse, Hi-Res Wallpapers, Digital Copy of Soundtrack, Digital Artbook, Create a Concept, Beta access, Backer’s Club Access, Digital Copy of Prequel Novel, Easter Egg, 5 Beta Keys for your Friends, Submit a World, Character Booklets, Digital Design Bible)
With a donation of $750, you will receive an exclusive custom made Max Impulse T-Shirt, one of intricate and interesting design. Wear some extremely exclusive swag. (We mean it, there will be no additional copies made but the one on your own back!) (+ Previous Rewards: Your Name in the Credits, Digital Copy of Max Impulse, Hi-Res Wallpapers, Digital Copy of Soundtrack, Digital Artbook, Create a Concept, Beta access, Backer’s Club Access, Digital Copy of Prequel Novel, Easter Egg, 5 Beta Keys for your Friends, Submit a World, Character Booklets, Digital Design Bible, Help throughout, Printed Poster)Plasmablastic lymphoma (PBL) is an aggressive lymphoma commonly associated with HIV infection. However, PBL can also be seen in patients with other immunodeficiencies as well as in immunocompetent individuals. Because of its distinct clinical and pathological features, such as lack of expression of CD20, plasmablastic morphology, and clinical course characterized by early relapses and subsequent chemotherapy resistance, PBL can represent a diagnostic and therapeutic challenge for pathologists and clinicians alike. Despite the recent advances in the therapy of HIV-associated and aggressive lymphomas, patients with PBL for the most part have poor outcomes. The objectives of this review are to summarize the current knowledge on the epidemiology, biology, clinical and pathological characteristics, differential diagnosis, therapy, prognostic factors, outcomes, and potential novel therapeutic approaches in patients with PBL and also to increase the awareness toward PBL in the medical community.
In this article, we added to our experience in diagnosing and managing patients with PBL by performing a comprehensive review of the literature that included epidemiologic information, pathogenesis, clinical and pathologic features, prognostic factors, outcomes, and emerging therapeutic options for patients with PBL.
The diagnosis of PBL is challenging because it has features that overlap with those of myeloma and with lymphomas that have plasmablastic morphology. This complexity reveals that PBL cannot be readily classified as a B-cell lymphoma or a plasma-cell neoplasm. The challenge of diagnosing this disease is compounded by its aggressive, relapsing clinical course, which poses management and therapeutic challenges, and also by high rates of disease progression and fatality despite the use of state-of-the-art treatment modalities. 8 Given its rarity, no standard of care has been established for PBL. However, with a better understanding of the biology of PBL, there is promise for improved outcomes.
Plasmablastic lymphoma (PBL) is a clinicopathological entity that was initially described in 1997 1 and is now considered a distinct subtype of diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) seen more commonly in patients with HIV infection. 2 In the original report by Delecluse and colleagues, 1 15 of 16 patients were infected with HIV, 1 was an elderly patient, and all the patients had involvement of the oral cavity. In the last decade, several case reports and case series have been published on PBL among HIV-positive and HIV-negative individuals. 3 ⇓ ⇓ ⇓ - 7 However, no prospective studies have been undertaken.
Methods
To provide the most detailed background information on PBL, we conducted an extensive literature search by looking for articles in any language using PubMed/Medline, EMBASE, and Google Scholar published from January 1997 through October 2014. The main search terms used were “plasmablastic lymphoma” and “PBL.” Each article was acquired in full, and reference articles were examined in an effort to eliminate previously included cases. Our search included all cases of PBL diagnosed according to the World Health Organization classification and with relevant clinicopathological information. We excluded reviews and laboratory experiments without original cases, unpublished abstracts, and cases associated with human herpesvirus 8 (HHV-8) or large B-cell lymphoma arising in HHV-8-associated multicentric Castleman disease (MCD).
Our initial search rendered 612 articles. The number of PBL publications has increased in recent years, which could be a reflection of an increasing awareness of PBL among clinicians and pathologists. In effect, 320 articles were published between 1997 and 2009 (13 years), and 292 articles have been published since 2010 (<5 years). After reviewing the full-text articles, 177 were selected, and data from 590 individual cases of PBL were collected and analyzed.
Epidemiology The incidence of HIV-associated PBL has been estimated at approximately 2% of all HIV-related lymphomas.9 In addition to a strong association with HIV infection,1,3 PBL has also been reported in patients with other causes of immunodeficiency such as iatrogenic immunosuppression in the context of solid organ transplantation or in elderly patients.4,10 Cases of HIV-negative PBL may also arise from previously existing lymphoproliferative or autoimmune disorders.4,11 A number of cases have been described in otherwise immunocompetent patients.11 However, the actual incidence of both HIV-positive and HIV-negative PBL is unknown. On the basis of our review of 590 cases, PBL has been reported in patients of all ages (range, age 1 to 90 years), although with only a minority of pediatric cases described to date. The sex distribution in PBL cases shows a male predominance (75%).
Pathogenesis and cell of origin One of the most important functions of the germinal center (GC) reaction is to produce clones of B cells with the highest affinity against a specific antigen.12 Within the GC, B-cell clones migrate from the “light zone” to the “dark zone” and vice versa, outcompeting each other not only for the limited amounts of antigen presented by follicular dendritic cells but also for survival signals from helper T-cells (Figure 1, upper panel). B-cell clones acquire somatic mutations (ie, somatic hypermutation) as a mechanism of affinity maturation.13 In addition, B-cell clones undergo DNA class switching recombination to immunoglobulin A (IgA), IgE, or IgG, increasing antibody diversity. Autoimmune or anergic B-cell clones are deemed to undergo apoptosis. Figure 1 Proposed biology of PBL. The GC reaction occurs in the primary follicle. Naïve B cells gain exposure to antigen, and B-cell clones undergo selection by alternating between the dark and light zones of the GC (upper panel). EBV infection could play a role in preventing apoptosis via several mechanisms such as induction of NF-κB, through Syk/Src mediation, and induction of BAX/BAK (left lower panel). Conversely, MYC translocations could allow B cells to escape the inhibitory influence of BLIMP-1 favoring plasmablast development but then inhibiting further plasmacytic differentiation by downregulating PAX5 (right lower panel). T H, T helper cell. As expected, a large proportion of B cells will undergo apoptosis during the GC reaction. Apoptosis in the GC can be triggered by B-cell receptor (BCR), T-cell growth factor β (TGF-β), or Fas-mediated processes.14 Both BCR and TGF-β signaling induce apoptosis via activation of proapoptotic members of the BCL-2 family resulting in an increase in BH3-only proteins and loss of BCL-XL, which leads to mitochondrial depolarization and intrinsic apoptosis. Rarely, GC B cells undergo apoptosis via FAS. The FAS death induction signaling complex is naturally inactive but gets activated by the lack of survival signaling from T cells and follicular dendritic cells, inducing activation of caspase 8 with subsequent extrinsic apoptosis. The fate of selected GC B lymphocytes is long-lived memory lymphocytes or plasma cells.13 A subset of lymphocytes become plasma cells through stochastic mechanisms, without the need for antigenic stimulation.13 Signaling that leads to plasma cell differentiation involves inactivation of PAX-5 and BCL-6 transcription factors through the plasma cell transcription factor BLIMP-1. Morphologically, centrocytes transform to plasmablasts before becoming mature plasma cells, and phenotypically, cells express CD38, interferon regulatory factor 4/multiple myeloma 1 (IRF-4/MUM-1), and lose CD20 while maintaining CD19 expression. The cell of origin in PBL is thought to be the plasmablast, an activated B cell that has undergone somatic hypermutation and class switching recombination and is in the process of becoming a plasma cell.2 The presence of plasmablasts is noted in reactive processes associated with viral infections such as Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), and HIV among others. The pathogenesis of PBL is incompletely understood; however, recent studies have identified the presence of MYC gene rearrangements in addition to the association with EBV infection as important pathogenic mechanisms. PBL is associated with EBV infection, and EBV infection is associated with prevention of apoptosis in B cells by several mechanisms related to EBV antigens (Figure 1, left lower panel). LMP-1, which mimics constitutively active CD40 and provides the necessary T-cell–like survival help, signals through nuclear factor κB (NF-kB) inducing the expression of FLIP and protects B cells from FAS-mediated apoptosis.15 LMP-2A mimics the function of the BCR by associating with Syk and Src, protecting infected B cells from BCR-mediated apoptosis.16 Preventing apoptosis through modulation of the TGF-β pathways is a multilevel endeavor during EBV infection. LMP-1 suppresses the induction of ATF3, a transcription factor associated with TGF-β, and inhibits BAX activity by inducing NF-κB activity.17 EBV produces BHRF-1, a viral BCL-2 homolog, which binds to BAK and the BH3-only proteins PUMA, BID, and BIM. By targeting these BAX/BAK activators, BHRF-1 prevents TGF-β–mediated apoptosis.18 EBNA-3A and EBNA-3C not only regulate BIM protein levels at a transcriptional level but may also prevent MYC-induced apoptosis.19 MYC is the oncogene more commonly dysregulated in human cancer20 and was initially described in Burkitt lymphoma, where it partners with the Ig heavy chain gene. MYC gene rearrangements involving the κ and λ light chain genes and other non-Ig genes have also been described. MYC dysregulation, however, is not sufficient to cause lymphoma, because low levels of t(8;14)(q24;q32) have been detected in healthy individuals by using highly sensitive polymerase chain reaction.21 MYC is a transcription factor that regulates cell proliferation, cell growth, DNA replication, cell metabolism, and cell survival and acts as an activator (amplifier) of the transcribed genes associated with these processes.22 MYC is expressed in B cells initiating the GC reaction at the dark zone of the GC and in a subset of B cells in the light zone of the GC. The activated B cells in the light zone have upregulated NF-κB, and a subset expresses IRF-4/MUM-1 but loses BCL-6. These cells are considered precursors of plasmablasts with the subsequent induction of BLIMP-1. BCL-6 is a repressor of MYC in the GC B cells, whereas BLIMP-1 is a repressor of MYC in terminally differentiated B cells. However, in PBL, MYC dysregulation mediated by translocation or amplification allows MYC to overcome the regulatory effects of BCL-6 or BLIMP-1 (Figure 1, right lower panel). A less well-understood function of MYC is the induction of apoptosis.23 MYC translocations may allow PBL cells to escape apoptosis. Along with the cell cycle dysregulation induced by MYC translocations, the impairment of the DNA damage response, through loss of p53,24 may also play a critical role in the pathogenesis of plasmablastic transformation of low-grade B-cell lymphoproliferative disorders.25
Clinical features Patients were categorized on the basis of their immunologic status as follows: HIV-positive PBL (n = 369; 63%), HIV-negative PBL (n = 164; 28%), posttransplant PBL (n = 37; 6%), and transformed PBL (n = 20; 3%). Selected clinical features according to immunologic status are shown in Table 1. Table 1 Most common sites of involvement in PBL (literature review from 1997 to 2014) HIV-positive PBL Of the 369 HIV-positive patients with PBL, 286 (78%) were male with a median age at presentation of 42 years (range, 1 to 80 years). Extranodal presentation was the most frequent (95% of patients), 48% of which involved oral cavity/jaw, 12% gastrointestinal tract, and 6% skin. PBL was the initial presentation of HIV infection in approximately 7% of the patients. More than 65% of patients presented with advanced clinical stage (ie, PBL stage III or IV). Furthermore, bone marrow involvement and B symptoms occurred in almost 40% of HIV-positive individuals. HIV-negative PBL HIV-negative PBL affects a relatively higher proportion of female patients (34%) in contrast to HIV-positive PBL and occurs in older patients with a median age at presentation of 55 years. Although oral involvement is common (40%), PBL in immunocompetent individuals seems to be more heterogeneous in terms of sites of involvement. Advanced clinical stage, B symptoms, and bone marrow involvement are relatively less common (25%) than in HIV-positive patients with PBL. Posttransplant PBL We identified 37 cases of PBL in transplant recipients, 28 (76%) were men with a median age at presentation of 62 years. From these cases, 38% were seen after heart, 27% after kidney, 14% after hematopoietic stem cell, 11% after lung, 8% after liver, and 3% after pancreas transplant. Interestingly, lymph nodes were a common site of involvement (30%), followed by skin (22%). Advanced clinical stage has been reported in about 50% of patients with posttransplant PBL. Transformed PBL Twenty patients in whom PBL evolved from another hematologic disease were identified in the literature, of which 18 (90%) were male with a median age at presentation of 62 years. Ten (50%) evolved from chronic lymphocytic leukemia and 6 (30%) from follicular lymphoma. Pediatric cases PBL was reported in 21 pediatric cases, of which 18 were male (85%) with a median age at presentation of 10 years (range, 1 to 17 years). Eighteen cases were HIV-positive and 3 were HIV-negative. More than 80% of pediatric PBL cases presented with advanced stage. The oral cavity (33%) was the most common site of involvement.
Pathological features PBL is a high-grade neoplasm with cytomorphologic features such as large immunoblasts or large plasma cells that express plasma cell markers and lack B-cell markers.2 The diagnosis can be challenging because the tumor cells may be indistinguishable from plasmablastic myeloma or from lymphomas with plasmablastic morphology. The tumor has a diffuse growth pattern, and it effaces the architecture of extranodal or nodal sites. A “starry-sky” pattern, with frequent tingible body macrophages is common. The neoplastic cells are large with abundant cytoplasm and central oval vesicular nuclei with prominent nucleoli as noted in large immunoblasts. When PBL occurs in the oral mucosa of HIV-positive patients, the neoplastic cells appear as large centroblasts and/or immunoblasts (Figure 2A), whereas a more apparent plasma cell differentiation with basophilic cytoplasm, paranuclear hof, and eccentric large nuclei (Figure 2B) occurs more in extranodal sites different from the oral mucosa in HIV-negative patients. Necrosis, karyorrhexis, and increased mitotic figures are common.26 Figure 2 Histopathologic features of PBL. (A) This high magnification shows the cytologic features of a case of PBL in an HIV-positive patient. It displays large cells with an immunoblastic appearance, with central oval nuclei with prominent nucleoli and moderately abundant cytoplasm. (B) Cytologic features of a case of PBL in an HIV-negative patient with extranodal involvement away from the oral mucosa show plasmacytic plasmablasts with abundant bluish cytoplasm, paranuclear hof, and large nuclei. Hematoxylin and eosin stain; magnification, ×1000). The immunophenotype is similar to that in plasma cell neoplasms, positive for CD79a, IRF-4/MUM-1, BLIMP-1, CD38, and CD138.26 The neoplastic cells are negative for B-cell markers CD19, CD20, and PAX-5; however, a subset may be dim positive for CD45. Some cases express T-cell markers CD2 or CD4.5 Immunohistochemistry with the antibody MIB-1, which detects the proliferation marker Ki-67, shows that most or all neoplastic cells are positive. MYC is expressed in about 50% of cases and correlates with MYC translocations or amplification. About 70% of cases express EBV-encoded RNA (EBER), which is the most sensitive methodology for detecting EBV infection within the malignant cells. In a recent study, EBV infection based on EBER expression was more commonly seen in HIV-positive patients (75%) and in patients with PBL arising in the posttransplant setting (67%) than in immunocompetent patients (50%).5 EBV LMP-1 is usually negative in most studies, and the latency pattern type I is most common; however, latency pattern type III can be observed in patients with HIV infection and in those patients with posttransplant PBL. Additional pathological details and a representative profile of a patient with PBL are shown in Table 2 and Figure 3, respectively. Table 2 Selected pathological features of PBL (literature review from 1997 to 2014) Figure 3 Immunophenotype of PBL. Immunohistochemistry with hematoxylin counterstain shows lack of expression of CD20 and CD10 and positive expression of IRF4/MUM1, Ki67, and MYC (magnification, ×400). Detection of EBER by in situ hybridization shows that neoplastic cells are positive; nuclear reactivity (×400). Molecular genetic testing reveals that about two-thirds of cases have MYC rearrangements, and a minor subset have MYC amplification.3,27,28 Comparative genomic hybridization shows that PBL is genomically more closely related to DLBLC than to myeloma.29 Differential diagnosis The main differential diagnosis of PBL is plasmablastic or anaplastic multiple myeloma that may be morphologically and immunophenotypically identical to PBL.26 Features that favor PBL include association with HIV infection and EBER positivity in neoplastic cells. Features favoring myeloma include the presence of monoclonal paraproteinemia, hypercalcemia, renal dysfunction, and lytic bone lesions. However, the distinction may be impossible and is clearly arbitrary in rare cases. The median age of PBL patients without underlying immunodeficiency is 64 years,5 which coupled with their frequent association with EBV infection, overlaps with EBV-positive DLBCL of the elderly, which is usually CD20+.30,31 Primary effusion lymphoma usually manifests as pleural or pericardial effusion and rarely associates with lymphadenopathy or mass, but it shows a strong association with HHV-8.32 Plasmablastic microlymphoma arising in MCD can be distinguished by recognizing underlying MCD, IgA or IgG λ light chain restriction and strong association with HHV-8.33 Anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK)-positive DLBCL is considered to arise from unmutated IgM-expressing B cells and shows plasmablasts that express CD138 and IRF-4/MUM-1 and lack PAX-5 and CD20.34,35 The expression of ALK usually results from t(2;17)(p23;q23) in which ALK partners with CLTC. DLBCL associated with chronic inflammation is associated with EBV infection and usually involves body cavities or narrow spaces.36 The latency period between chronic inflammation and the development of the lymphoma is more than 10 years. Localized tumors associated with medical devices or associated with cardiac myxomas are included in this category.37 Selected details on the differential diagnosis of PBL are shown in Table 3. Table 3 Differential diagnosis of PBL
Survival and prognostic factors The prognosis of patients with PBL is poor. A systematic review of 112 HIV-positive patients with PBL showed a median overall survival (OS) of 15 months and a 3-year OS rate of 25%.38 Similarly, a systematic review of 76 HIV-negative PBL patients showed a median OS of 9 months with a 2-year OS rate of 10%.39 A more recent systematic review of approximately 300 patients with PBL showed a median OS of 8 months. The median OS in HIV-positive patients was 10 months, 11 months in HIV-negative immunocompetent, and 7 months in posttransplant PBL patients.5 Similar poor outcomes were seen among 50 HIV-positive PBL patients who received combined antiretroviral therapy (cART). This was a multicenter, retrospective case series from 13 institutions that reported a median OS of 11 months and a 5-year OS rate of 24%.3 A German study from 30 centers that included 18 HIV-positive patients with PBL treated after 2005 reported a median OS of 5 months.6 The AIDS Malignancy Consortium presented data in abstract form from 9 centers that included 19 HIV-positive patients treated after 1999; the 1-year OS rate was 67%.40 Although encouraging, it is difficult to draw firm conclusions given the preliminary nature of the report. An Italian study showed 3-year OS of 67% in 13 HIV-positive PBL patients treated with cART.41 The reasons for the better outcome are unclear, although the patients had a CD4+ count >0.2 × 109/L. Comparative studies showed that HIV status did not appear to affect outcomes in PBL.5,42 However, there was a suggestion that immunosuppression among HIV-negative patients was associated with worse outcomes.10 The International Prognostic Index (IPI) scoring system is the most commonly used risk stratification tool for aggressive lymphomas, and it includes age, performance status, lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) levels, number of extranodal sites, and clinical stage to prognosticate survival.43 A series of retrospective studies have shown that the IPI score has prognostic value in patients with PBL.3,6,41 However, the prognostic value of the IPI score in PBL appears to heavily rely on advanced stage and poor performance status as indicators of worse outcome.3,6,44 Age, LDH levels, and bone marrow involvement did not appear to affect outcomes in a retrospective case series3; however, age and LDH levels were associated with adverse outcomes in another study.6 The prognostic value of EBV-related antigens expression in PBL cases is unclear. Some studies have shown that EBV expression is not associated with outcome in HIV-associated PBL.6,42,44 However, other studies have associated EBV with a better outcome in immunocompetent patients with PBL. Of note, EBV expression is commonly determined by the expression of EBER in the malignant cells. EBER is not a quantitative test, however, and does not allow stratifying subsets of infection. More recently, the presence of MYC gene rearrangements has been shown to be associated with shorter OS time in patients with PBL. In a systematic review that assessed 57 patients with PBL in whom MYC status was evaluated, patients with MYC gains or translocations had a worse OS than patients with a normal MYC.5 Specifically in HIV-positive patients with PBL, MYC gene rearrangements were associated with a sixfold increased risk of dying from any cause.3 The expression of CD20 or CD45 has not been associated with outcomes in patients with PBL.39,42,44 Conversely, a series of studies have suggested a worse outcome in patients with Ki-67 expression >80%.3,39,42,44 A smaller study did not show prognostic value for Ki-67 expression.6 In HIV-associated PBL, CD4+ counts <0.2 × 109/L were not associated with worse OS3,41 but appeared to associate with shorter progression-free survival time.3,6Almedalen 2017 + FÖLJ
Syndikalisternas tält i Almedalen vandaliserat
avJonathan Jeppsson
SAMHÄLLE 8 juli 2017 13:58
Fackföreningen Syndikalisterna har fått sitt tält i Almedalen vandaliserat.
Någon har vänt upp och ner på tälttaket och slängt omkull saker inne i tältet.
– Det känns jävligt obehagligt, säger en representant för fackföreningen.
1 av 2 | Foto: Lotte Fernvall
Fackföreningen Syndikalisterna fick sitt tält vandaliserat någon gång under natten.
– Någon vänt på det helt och hållet, lyft på det och kastat omkull våra grejer som stod inne i tältet. Allt material har stått i regnet – böcker, tidningar och t-shirts. Det är saboterat, säger en företrädare för fackföreningen.
Senare under förmiddagen genomförde NMR en aktion under Gustaf Fridolins pressträff i Almedalen.
– Några kamrater rörde sig mot Almedalen. Då hörde de några från NMR skrika något i stil med: ”Det gick inte så bra för ert tält, eller hur?”.
Så sent som i går kom föll domen mot tre medlemmar i NMR, bland annat för ett bombdåd mot Syndikalisternas lokal i Göteborg.
– Det känns jävligt obehagligt. Historiskt är det så att det är vi som blir attackerade av nazister, säger fackföreningsmedlemmen.
Syndikalisterna skriver i ett pressmeddelande att de förvarnat polisen om att attacker mot organisationen skulle kunna ske.
– Angreppen har skett trots att vi påtalat för polisen att det finns ett direkt påtagligt hot mot vår organisation med tanke NMR:s närvaro, tidigare bombdåd mot vår rörelse och direkta provokationer av nazister på plats.
Händelsen är polisanmäld.
8 juli 2017 13:58Magnus Paajarvi (STL) an interesting name on waivers today — Elliotte Friedman (@FriedgeHNIC) September 30, 2015
It’s not everyday that a former top ten draft pick hits waivers, so Paajarvi’s second ride on the waiver wire is certainly noteworthy (He cleared last December). The 24 year old 6’3 Swedish winger has had his challenges, he struggled on a bad Oilers team, and he hasn’t been able to earn a place in a very deep Blues top nine forward group, though to be fair, he’s been leapfrogged a number of times.
The Leafs on the other hand aren’t exactly short on forwards who are huge question marks, and at this point there’s no reason to believe that Paajarvi simply needs a change of scenery, so is it a good idea to claim him? I’m going to make the argument that yes they should.
The case for Paajarvi begins with the fact that the Leafs forward group has struggled mightily so far through training camp.
via NHL.com
Leafs regulars like Bozak, Komarov, Matthias and Panik have all been held pointless in their combined 10 games. Further to that, Bozak, Komarov, Arcobello, and Hyman have not been able to exceed 1 SOG/gm in the preseason.
While the preseason isn’t the best predictor of future results, it isn’t such a deep group that adding someone else to challenge them isn’t a bad idea.
The fact that Paajarvi only earns $700k and is on a contract that is expiring this season he’s not a huge commitment beyond taking up one of the remaining few players contracts. If he doesn’t work out, he’s either:
A) Going to be claimed on waivers and nothing has really been gained or lost
B) He’ll make it to the Marlies and his contract wouldn’t impact the salary cap. He’d also be beneficial to the Marlies as a nearly point per game player in the AHL who can play in any situation.
via Eliteprospects.com
via War-On-Ice.com
The numbers story on Paajarvi is really that he’s not particularly a standout. He’s been heavily sheltered in the past two years as a member of the Blues, and has the numbers that you’d expect a sheltered player on a strong possession to have. Given his situation, and his linemates it seems likely that his Points per 60 would improve away from enforcer linemates and away from a conservative Ken Hitchcock system, but again, it’s all about taking a chance on Paajarvi.
Right down to age Panik and Paajarvi synch up. It’s not really that Paajarvi is anything special, it’s just that he’s the same kind of lottery ticket that Panik was last season, and well worth the low risk move. If you’re bringing him in, are you heart broken about waiving Spaling or Panik to take a chance? (Waiving Lupul seems even better to me, but that’s another post.)
From Jonathan Willis on Paajarvi when he was waived last December:
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for all that stuff,” [Bush] said in New Hampshire on Wednesday, according to a video recorded by grassroots environmental group 350 Action. “I don’t think we should pick winners and losers,” Bush added, saying: “I think tax reform ought to be to lower the rate as far as you can and eliminate as many of these subsidies, all of the things that impede the ability for a dynamic way to get to where we need to get, which is low-cost energy that is respectful of the environment.”… When pressed by the activist on whether he would get rid of all fossil-fuel subsidies, Bush replied: “All of them. Wind, solar, all renewables, and oil and gas.”
Eliminating fossil fuel subsidies has long been a goal of environmentalists and climate activists, but if Bush’s proposal were to become law, the subsidy-dependent renewable energy industry would take a hit as well. Quantifying energy subsidies is a bit complicated, but according to one measure from the Energy Information Administration, renewables received upward of $15 billion in government support in 2013, compared to just $2.3 billion for oil and gas and $1.1 billion for coal. The wind and solar power industries received $5.3 billion and $5.9 billion, respectively.
As Andy Kroll explained in a Mother Jones magazine story last year, the relatively recent clean energy subsidies are much more defensible than the oil tax breaks, which have been enshrined in the tax code for decades. “The difference is that renewables are at the stage where oil was a century ago: a promising yet not fully developed technology that needs a government boost to come to scale,” Kroll wrote. “That’s what motivated the original tax giveaways to what would become Big Oil.” The wind industry in particular has relied on a federal tax incentive called the Production Tax Credit. Congress has allowed it to expire several times in recent years, and in each instance, wind investment has plummeted. The PTC expired again at the end of last year.
Michael Dworkin, an environmental law professor at Vermont Law School, praised Bush’s comments. “If he really means it, great,” said Dworkin in an email. “Just lets be sure that it’s ALL of the traditional energy subsidies, not just a few symbolic ones.”
I also reached out to various energy industry groups to get their reaction. The American Wind Energy Association, which is calling for the PTC to be renewed, declined to comment. But the Alliance for Solar Choice, which represents rooftop solar companies such as SolarCity, embraced Bush’s proposal. “Bush is right—we shouldn’t pick winners and losers,” said TASC spokesperson Evan Dube in statement. Of course, the solar industry isn’t ready to disarm unilaterally. “We would welcome the phase out of all energy incentives,” added Dube, “but until that happens, the solar ITC [Investment Tax Credit] goes a small way to level the playing field against decades of fossil fuel subsidies.”
The American Petroleum Institute didn’t respond to requests for comment.FBI believes Kemp and Jones were acting on behalf of a bigger gang with the stolen gems even being sent abroad
Kemp was arrested on January 8 along with her boyfriend and alleged accomplice Lewis Jones, 35
FBI affidavit says she trained for the robberies learning how to handle a gun, tie up victims, secret code words and what to steal
Court documents show she was in and out of police custody since she was 19 years old, arrested seven times for underage drinking, drugs, battery
Abigail Lee Kemp, 24, faces 20 years in jail if convicted of six armed robberies where more than $4million worth of jewels were stolen
An aspiring model - dubbed the Diamond Diva - allegedly trained for months before stealing over $4million worth of jewels in a series of armed robberies.
Abigail Lee Kemp, 24, is accused of carrying out six raids on jewelers across five states - Georgia, Florida, South Carolina, North Carolina, and Tennessee.
But authorities say she did her homework before allegedly carrying out the crimes - learning how to handle a gun, zip tie a victim and even secret code words, AJC reports.
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Abigail Lee Kemp, 24, is accused of carrying out six armed robberies on jewelers in five states - Georgia, Florida, South Carolina, North Carolina, and Tennessee
In plain sight: Surveillance cameras capture Kemp in the alleged act of robbing six jewelry stores in five different states in the US
The first took place on April 28, 2015, when she allegedly walked into Jared's Vault jewelry store at a Woodstock outlet mall, accompanied by a man authorities say was her boyfriend Lewis Jones III, 35, and pulled out a gun.
Employees were ordered into a bathroom where their hands were tied together and Kemp acted as a look out while Jones stole jewelry, officials say.
From then on, Kemp was trained how to carry out the robberies solo by Jones and two others, Michael and Larry Gilmore, 46 and 43 years old, respectively, an FBI affidavit seen by AJC.com states.
'They routinely practiced at Buckhead Window Tinting until they believed Kemp was ready to commit the robberies,' the affidavit said.
'Michael, Larry and Jones reviewed layouts of the target jewelry stores with Kemp; instructed her on the proper way to manipulate a handgun, how to secure the employees with zip ties, and what merchandise to steal from the store; and gave Kemp various code words to use when communicating during the jewelry store robberies,' it continued.
Zeroing in: FBI reveals friends, who recognized Kemp, called a FBI hotline while agents analyzed records from cell phone towers near the robberies
On camera: Jones was already wanted by the FBI for two violent bank robberies before he was arrested at the Georgia apartment with Kemp
Alleged accomplice: Lewis Jones, 35, may have taken part in the jewel raids and is suspected of being the mastermind of the robberies. He and Kemp were dating
'Furthermore, they decided what clothes/disguises Kemp would wear during the robberies and then purchased the items for her.'
Kemp and Jones' crime spree ended last month, on January 8, when the two were arrested by the FBI at a $1,000 a month apartment in Smyrna, which was only registered to Kemp.
Lewis was already wanted by the FBI for two violent bank robberies.
Authorities say that Kemp kept in touch with the men during the robberies via an earpiece connected to her cellphone.
The multi-state crime spree began in April last year when police say Kemp raided jewelers in Woodstock, Georgia.
According to an FBI affidavit, she pretended to be an innocent bystander when her alleged accomplice entered the store.
She laid down on the floor along with staff after being threatened but later sprang to her feet.
While the man rifled through glass display cabinets snatching diamonds and other jewels Kemp acted as a lookout.
As with all the other alleged robberies Kemp made no attempt to conceal her face.
She allegedly struck twice in August - first at a jewelers in Dawsonville, Georgia and days later in Panama City Beach, Florida.
Wealthy upbringing: This is the former home of Kemp's father Stephen in Marietta, Georgia. Kemp grew up in a $1 million home set on two acres
Mother's house: Connie, Kemp's mom, lives in this home in Smyrna, Georgia. Friends tell Daily Mail Online, 'Abby never paid attention to anyone and did what she liked'
Kemp was again captured on CCTV cameras as she reached into a display case to grab jewels.
Police say the wannabe model used a handgun to force staff into a backroom where she used zip ties to bind their hands - then snagged the gems.
Jones would generally then pick up Kemp after the robbery, and take a trash bag of stolen jewelry, a gun and Kemp's clothes which he would leave with the Gilmores while she drove away, the FBI say.
She would then meet Jones a few days later to pick up her share of the stolen goods, the affidavit said.
In September, law enforcement reveals Kemp hit a store in Blufton, South Carolina and then one in Sevierville, Tennessee in October.
On December 30th, Kemp attempted to raid a store in her native Georgia but was foiled when a customer walked in, police say. The last raid was in Mebane, North Carolina on January 4.
Her alleged accomplice was spotted on CCTV cameras at three of the locations and FBI agents believe he was outside acting as a lookout during the raids.
The day after the raid in North Carolina the FBI issued photos taken during the robbery, which clearly showed Kemp's face.
Friends, who recognized her, called a FBI hotline while agents zeroed in on her by analyzing records from cell phone towers near the robberies.
FBI agents noticed that in many of the robberies the female suspect appeared to be talking to another person through a microphone attached to an ear piece.
Troublemaker teen: Documents show Abigail Lee Kemp was arrested seven times prior to being accused of a multi-state crime spree in which more than $4 million in jewelry was stolen
Master of'mugs': Kemp was picked up by police for offenses ranging from underage drinking, drug possession, DUI and battery
By analyzing what phones were in use at the time of the robbery they came up with a number that was registered to Kemp.
Court records filed by the FBI detail how investigators found a photo of a maroon Honda Civic on her social media accounts that matched the description of one seen in surveillance video.
The maroon colored car had been sprayed black but was registered to the Smyrna address of her mom.
Publicity from the release of photos from the North Carolina robbery also led several friends to tip off the FBI about her name.
An FBI spokesman tells Daily Mail Online within hours of the photos showing the suspect in a jogging suit they began receiving 'credible' calls.
'Some citizens further advised that during recent contacts with Kemp, she was wearing expensive jewelry that some of the callers believe she could not afford,' explains the court affidavit.
'Some citizens also advised that Kemp possesses a black handgun and recently had her car painted black.'
The affidavit states Kemp stole $900,000 in jewelry during a robbery three months ago in Tennessee, and $938,352 from a North Carolina store.
The total haul is estimated at more than $4.3 million and none of the jewels have been recovered.
FBI Special Agent Lawrence Borghini says he believes Kemp and Jones were acting on behalf of a bigger gang with the stolen gems even being sent abroad.
School days: Kemp attended Kennesaw High School until her senior year when she was expelled. Friends tell Daily Mail Online she would always talk back to teachers
Rough crowd: Friends say Kemp (second from left) was pretty wild and mixed with people that girls of her background would not be seen with
Employment: Abigail worked at Twin Peaks and Hooters. While working at Hooters she was arrested for battery after attacking a co-worker
'They definitely have some connection with the ability to get these items to a place which can sell them or get them on the market and turn them into cash.'
Kemp appeared calm when she made her first court appearance before a federal judge in Atlanta.
Federal Magistrate Judge Linda. T. Walker who denied her bond called her a danger to the community and labeled her a flight risk.
Kemp's lawyers argued she's was not a flight risk since her family lives in Cobb County and said they wanted her out on bond so that she could look to her family for guidance.
Her parents Connie, 67 and Stephen,65, were in court together with three female and two male friends.
Kemp began to cry when Marshalls slapped handcuff on her and led her out of the courtroom.
She is due in court in Panama City - and if convicted, she faces up to 20 years in jail.
Long before Kemp became one of the most wanted women in America Daily Mail Online has learned she was already well known to law enforcement.
As these series of mugshot photos, obtained exclusively by Daily Mail Online, show - Kemp was in and out of police custody since the age of 19.
Police and court documents lay out Kemp's long list of run-ins with the law that include seven arrests for charges ranging from underage drinking to drug possession to DUI and battery.
Arrest: Kemp and alleged accomplice, Lewis Jones, were arrested on January 8 by the FBI at the apartment complex where the two were living
Home: Kemp and Lewis were dating and living together at this Smyrna, Georgia apartment complex but the apartment was on listed in her name
But the trouble first started for Kemp back in high school when she was expelled at 17 years old.
Friends Daily Mail Online spoke to describe her as a'spoiled rich kid' and a 'bad girl gone worse'.
'Abby would just talk her way into trouble,' says former best friend Stephanie Godfrey.
'She would just give so much back chat to the teachers and be rude.'
Kemp grew up in a $1 million home set on two acres with her older sister Kaitlin, 28, and parents Connie and Stephen in Marietta, Georgia.
But as soon as she hit her teen years Kemp began to rebel, according to friends.
'She was a great athlete and a very good basketball player but never made the team because she was always rude to the coach,' recalls Godfrey.
'She would mouth off and the teachers, I guess, just got tired of it.'
That led to her getting kicked out of Kennesaw Mountain High School her senior year.
Kemp then attended Hillgrove High School in Smyrna, Georgia where she met Godfrey, now 24, and the two became close friends.
'I guess I was her only friend. I was outgoing and we got on well, but she was always getting into trouble.'
Godfrey reveals Kemp would often travel from the suburb of Marietta to downtown Atlanta where she mixed with a'sketchy crowd.'
Another friend says: 'Abby was pretty wild and was mixing with people that girls of her background would not be seen with.
'I think she liked danger. Abby never paid attention to anyone and did what she liked.'
That rebellious streak led to her first arrest in 2010 for underage drinking.
Kemp pleaded guilty after and served ten days community service.
She was also banned from leaving the state and forced to attend a drinking control program.
A year later, she was arrested again for underage drinking after police were called to a party at 5 a.m.
A police report shows Kemp and others had 'glassy bloodshot eyes' and a strong odor of alcohol coming from their breath.
She was released into the custody of her parents and officials at Cobb County State Court decided against any prosecution.
Kemp got a job at Hooters in 2011 but before the year was out she was arrested for battery.
In court documents, it's explained that she attacked another woman she worked with.
Michelle Butler claimed she was attacked from behind by Kemp, who hit her in the face and kicked her.
The victim said she suffered a cut to her lower lip and bruising around her left eye.
Again, the case was dropped before it came to Cobb County state court.
Kemp appeared to be keeping out of trouble last year while she was working at Twin Peaks, another restaurant known for its scantily dressed woman.
Later that year she is alleged to have begun dating Jones.And a-one, two, three... Choo choo! Hell train is leaving! The only way to reach the end station is to be as bold as the four horsemen. We're looking for four fearless artists! Four big competitions at four different levels! Regardless of whether you're an experienced or inexperienced musician, there's a suitable level for you. More details can be found in the forum: 2320390.1 Apply for Megastars! Apply for Super Stars! Apply for Idols! Apply for Headliners!
This Week in Real Life #24
2/14/2019 No major changes or implementations saw the light of day this week. We've been resting to make sure we have enough strength left to celebrate Valentine's Day properly this evening. Remember people, all you need is love, but a little chocolate now and then doesn't hurt. Read more » In between naps, we did manage to get some work done on upcoming new features. This week we focused mainly on parties and the new heist which we hinted at in last week's twirl. If all goes well this new heist will be available for top criminal crews to try within a week or two. It's been a long time since we added a new heist to the game so we're looking forward to getting it out there.
However, the most exciting thing to happen this week, at least if you ask the author of this text, is that we purchased a new Adobe Illustrator licence for making illustrations to the game. The last one we had was 12 years old and it wasn't really cutting it anymore. Working in Illustrator is always a tricky affair when you don't do it on a regular basis, and working with a new version even more so. But it's fun, and if you ever get a chance to try it out please don't miss it! If you're curious about what we actually created with it you can see the final result somewhere in Nashville at the end of the rainbow.
In addition to this we also had a productive meeting about the general state of the game and in what order we're going to roll out the new things we're planning for 2019. Despite a slightly lower player count than last year we're confident that the game will remain online for a long time to come and we look forward to spending this time with you.
Happy Valentine's Day everyone!The Word Problem for Free Groups
The word problem for free groups is in DLOG
Zeke Zalcstein worked, before he retired a few years ago, on the boundary between mathematics and computational complexity. He started his career in mathematics, and then Zeke moved into computational complexity theory. His PhD advisor was John Rhodes who is an expert on many things, including the structure of semigroups; Rhodes has recently worked on the P=NP question himself; more on that in another post. The picture is John Rhodes since Zeke is camera shy.
I have known Zeke since I was a graduate student at Carnegie-Mellon and he was faculty there. Later, Zeke worked at a number of universities, including Stony-Brook, and then spend the latter part of his career as a program director at CISE/NSF.
Zeke loves to laugh, he is funny, he knows tons of mathematics–especially algebra, but he is a character in the best sense of the word. For example, he is very particular about what he eats and drinks, even his water cannot be just any water. When Zeke was at Stony-Brook he discovered that there was a water source in a certain open field that had the best water in the world. Not just Stony-Brook, the world. The water source was a faucet coming out of the ground, in an otherwise empty field. I asked Zeke where the water came from, the faucet was simply connected to a pipe that came out of the ground, no label, no sign, nothing. Did it come from a spring, from a well, or from the city water main? Zeke said he just knew it was great water.
Unfortunately, one day Zeke fell and broke his arm so it was impossible for him to drive for several weeks. While Zeke was incapacitated, a certain graduate student was kind enough to make periodic trips out to the faucet, fill up plastic jugs with the special water, and deliver them to Zeke.
I was once telling this story to John Hennessy, who is the President of Stanford University. He started to laugh, and confirmed the story: John had been the graduate student who was kind enough to help Zeke.
Enough, on to the main topic of today’s post. Zeke and I worked together on a number of problems over the years, and today I will talk about one that has a curious history, a neat proof, and a interesting application that never really happen.
The Problem and Our Results
The problem is: what is the space complexity of the word problem for the free group on two letters? This is not how we first heard the problem, but it is equivalent to what we were asked. The free group on two letters “a” and “b” is the group where the only relationships are:
It is called the free group since these are the minimal relations that can hold in any group. As usual the word problem is to determine given any word over whether or not it equals. For the rest, when we say word problem, we mean “the word problem for the free group on two letters.”
Zeke and I proved:
Theorem: The word problem is in.
Actually we can proved more:
Theorem: A probabilistic log-space machine that has a one-way read only input tape can solve the word problem with error at most, for any.
There is a simple linear time algorithm for the word problem. The algorithm uses a pushdown store, which is initially empty. The algorithm processes each input symbol as follows: If the top of the pushdown is and, then pop off the top of the pushdown; if not, then push onto the pushdown. Then, go to the next input symbol. When there is no more input symbols accept only if the pushdown is empty. The algorithm clearly runs in linear time, and it is not hard to show that it is correct.
This algorithm uses linear space: a string that starts with many ‘s will, for example, require the pushdown to hold many symbols. Thus, the goal is to find a different algorithm that avoids using so much space.
My on-going agenda, in these posts, is to explain the role people play in doing research. In the next two sections I will explain the “curious history” of the question: who I “think” first asked the question, and why they may have asked the question. Then, I will explain the how we solved the problem and proved a theorem. You can skip the next two sections and get right to the proof method. No history. No background. But, I hope that you find the history and motivation interesting. Your choice.
Who Asked the Question?
My memory for technical conversations is usually pretty good, but this question on the space complexity of the word problem has a murky history. My version is that at a STOC conference, years ago, Juris Hartmanis mentioned a related problem to a number of us over a coffee break. I instantly liked the problem, and during the next few months Zeke and I worked on the problem, until we found a solution.
At the next conference, FOCS, we told Juris our solution to “his” problem. Juris said that he liked the problem, liked our solution, but he had never asked us the problem. Who knows. At least we did not call the paper: “On a Conjecture of Hartmanis.” I still believe, sometimes, that maybe Juris told it to us, but I must be confused. Anyway I think you will like the method we used to solve it.
Why Did They Ask It?
The problem that someone asked us, was not what is the space complexity of the word problem for the free group on two letters. Instead we were asked a more “language” type question that is the same as the word problem. We were asked: what is the space complexity of a certain language?
Before defining it may help to explain where comes from. Define the following language over the alphabet that contains two types of parentheses: “ ” and “ ” and “ ” and “ ”. A string is in provided the application of the following rules eventually lead to the empty string:
Thus,
is in the language, but
is not. Note, is closed under concatenation.
The language consists of expressions with two types of parentheses that are well nested: sometimes it is called the Dyck language. Each must have a matching and also each must have a matching. Moreover, the two types of parentheses must not get in each others way, thus
is not in.
The Dyck language is a context-free language, and is central to the theory of context-free language theory. Thus, another way to define is by the following context free grammar: (The symbol is the empty string.)
The following is an easy theorem:
Theorem: The language is in.
I will now explain how to prove this theorem; to do this we need the notion of matching parentheses. In a string say that matches provided and as we count left-to-right is the first time that starting with that the number of and are equal. There is a similar definition for the parentheses and. We call and left parentheses and and right parentheses.
Call a string good provided it satisfies the following:
for every left parentheses of either type there is a matching right one of the same type; for every right parentheses of either type there is a matching left one of the same type; if matches and matches, then and are disjoint intervals or one wholly contains the other.
The last means that there is no overlapping matches. It should be clear that checking whether or not a string is good can be done easily in log-space.
Lemma: A string is good if and only if is in.
It is easy to see that all strings in are good. So suppose that there is a good string that is not in. Select the shortest possible string. The first symbol of must be a left parentheses by (2). So assume that. There must be a right parentheses in by (1) so assume that is the first one. Clearly,. Suppose that. Then, the previous must equal ; otherwise, would not be the shortest possible counterexample. Thus,
where are all left parentheses. By (2) the matches some earlier, but the matches some later and this contradicts (3).
Next suppose that. Then, the previous must equal ; otherwise, would not be the shortest possible counterexample. Thus,
where again are all left parentheses. By (2) the matches some earlier, but the matches some later and this contradicts (3).
Now let us finally define the language It is a variation of the Dyck language that allows a different type of pairing of the symbols. This difference makes proving that it lies in harder. This is the question, someone asked us–I guess not Juris. Sometimes is called a “two-sided” Dyck language.
A string is in provided the application of the following rules eventually lead to the empty string:
and
The point of is that the parentheses have a type but no “direction.”
The trouble with is there does not seem to be a counterpart to the notion of matching; a string of the form:
could have the match with a that comes earlier. This is why I do not know a direct counting method to recognize. I guess this is why someone asked us the question. I wish I could remember who.
Our Solution
Zeke and I knew two insights, one trivial and the other based on a classic result from group theory. The first is that is really the same as accepting the words from a free group on two letters.
and
The second insight is that the free group on two letters has a faithful representation over integer valued matrices; this result was proved by Ivan Sanov in 1947.
Theorem: There are two integer matrices so that the mapping and is a faithful representation of the free group on.
Actually we can construct the matrices explicitly. Consider the following two matrices: is
1 2 0 1
and is:
1 0 2 1
Both matrices are invertible and further their inverses are also integer matrices The map that sends
defines a mapping from the free group on two letters, to : the latter is the matrices over the integers with determinant This mapping is a group isomorphism.
That means that we can replace the word problem by: does a sequence of matrices over equal the identity matrix. This transformation of the word problem into a problem about matrices is the key to our results. For example,
Here is how Zeke and I use this transformation to prove the our theorem. We show how to check whether or not
is equal to where each is from. The obvious way to do this is to compute matrix and see if it is equal to. The difficulty with this approach is that the matrix may have entries that are too large and cannot be stored in log-space.
We solve this with the Chinese Remainder Theorem. Suppose that is a prime with at most bits. Let. A log-space machine can pass over the input and compute the product : this means that we do all the arithmetic modulo, but we still are multiplying matrices. Then, the machine checks whether or not. If it does not, then clearly, and we can reject the input. The machine does this for all primes of the given size. If all, then the machine accepts.
We claim that this algorithm is correct. The insight is that if is not equal to, then has some non-zero entry, which cannot be too large. Then, by the Chinese Remainder Theorem we have a contradiction, and so the algorithm is correct. This uses the well known fact that
where the product is over primes and.
Finally, the probabilistic result follows in essentially the same way. The only difference is that now the machine randomly selects one prime to check. We then argue that the non-zero entry of is unlikely to be divisible by a randomly selected prime. This relies the simple fact that the non-zero entry can only have a polynomial number of prime factors. Thus, as long as we randomly select the prime from a large enough set, it is unlikely that the non-zero entry will be modulo the prime.
Karp-Rabin
What does the Karp-Rabin pattern matching algorithm have to do with our result on the word problem? Indeed. Dick Karp and Michael Rabin are both famous for so many things, but one of my favorites of their results is their randomized pattern matching algorithm.
Rabin has told how they first thought of their algorithm. They needed a way to hash strings that had a certain property, and our mapping from the free group to matrices modulo a prime worked perfectly. So at one time they were using the same technology that we used to solve the word problem in log-space.
Unfortunately for Zeke and I, they quickly got rid of the matrix ideas and replaced them by a much simpler method. But Michael has repeatedly told me that the matrix ideas played a role in his initial thinking.
Open Problems
Our proof method could handle a larger class of word problems, than just the word problem for free groups. Suppose that is any linear group over the rationals. Then, the word problem for this group can also be solved in. One can even prove more, but see our paper for the details. Thus, many infinite groups have word problems that can be done in log-space.
The power of matrix representation theory is something that you may be able to use to solve other problems. I believe that we have not made as much use of the power of representation methods in other parts of computer science as perhaps we could. In any event the mapping may itself be useful to you.
Now if I could only recall who initially asked me the problem
AdvertisementsThe Trump administration’s announcement that it would rescind the Obama administration’s DACA program, which has protected about 800,000 undocumented immigrants brought to the U.S. as children from deportation, has split Trump’s Religious Right supporters.
In an open letter released this week, Evangelicals for Biblical Immigration repeated anti-immigrant groups’ rhetoric about undocumented criminals stealing American jobs—complete with a thinly veiled swipe at philanthropist and right-wing bogeyman George Soros—and marshalled biblical support for a border wall.
Evangelicals who oppose comprehensive immigration reform sometimes cite Bible verses saying that national boundaries are set by God. The new letter from Evangelicals for Biblical Immigration said that God condemns “the destruction of borders and indigenous culture.” It would be interesting to ask what they mean in this context by “indigenous”:
It is easier to speak publically of mercy, as we, and many do. And, while loving mercy, who will also stand for justice to those citizens who cannot find a job due to cheaper foreign labor? Who will speak of the real cost of illegal immigration to our states? And while many non-citizens are good neighbors, who will stand for justice for Americans victimized by people here illegally who do not uphold our values and laws? And who will prevent more needless crime and death? … While some faith groups use selective Bible words for open borders and amnesty, we consider the whole counsel of Scripture. We find that the Bible does not teach open borders, but wise welcome. We are to welcome the lawful foreigner, who, like a convert, comes as a blessing (eg.s Ruth and Rahab). We also find Nehemiah building walls to protect citizens from harm. In Isaiah 1, we see God condemn the destruction of borders and indigenous culture. All lives matter. The lives of North, Central and South Americans matter. The lives of Africans, Asians, Europeans and people form the Middle East matter. In Scripture, we learn that God placed us each in a family, a land, an epic story of creation, the fall and redemption. The Bible envisions a world of beautiful and unique nations, not a stateless “open society” run by global oligarchs. Each of us is called to be a blessing where God has placed us in the world.
The Evangelicals for Biblical Immigration letter’s signers include “historian” David Barton, Family Research Council Vice President Jerry Boykin, American Pastors Network’s Sam Rohrer, and Vision America’s Rick Scarborough, Virginia activist and GOP politician E.W. Jackson, Reclaiming America for Christ’s Paul Blair, conservative radio hosts Steve Deace and Eric Metaxas, commentator John Zmirak, the National Religious Broadcaster’s Jerry Johnson, and anti-immigration activist Maria Espinoza.
Their take on the issue is not shared by some of Trump’s other ardent Religious Right backers, including members of the apostolic POTUS Shield and Hispanic evangelical leader Samuel Rodriguez, who had urged Trump to show that he has a “heart” for the DREAMers and embrace a more “compassionate immigration” policy. Members of Trump’s evangelical advisory board were quick to put the best face on the decision, taking credit for the six-month delay before DACA is formally rescinded.
Rodriguez had urged Trump not to “break his promise to us to protect these children” and warned that if he did, the administration “should be prepared for a mass exodus of the administration’s Hispanic support.” After Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced plans to rescind DACA, Rodriguez, as the Washington Post noted, expressed his disappointment and “put the onus on Congress,” saying “the President has provided Congress a six month window to legislate a more permanent and legally defensible solution for DREAMers.”
Rodriguez, who recently described his access to Trump as “God-ordained and God-given,” was in the White House last week with other leaders pleading the DREAMers’ case. Rodriguez had initially been extremely critical of candidate Trump. But he also told voters that getting a conservative Supreme Court justice was more important than immigration reform. And once it was clear that Trump would be the GOP nominee, Rodriguez and his colleagues at the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference threw immigrant families under the Trump train.
Here’s the text of the Evangelicals for Biblical Immigration letter to Trump, McConnell and Ryan:A top FBI official who came under scrutiny last year over his wife’s campaign contributions from a Hillary Clinton ally did not list those 2015 donations or his wife’s salary in financial disclosure forms, according to records reviewed by Fox News.
The records, obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request, show FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe left the box blank for wife Dr. Jill McCabe's salary, as a doctor with Commonwealth Emergency Physicians. And there is no documentation of the hundreds of thousands of campaign funds she received in her unsuccessful 2015 Virginia state Senate race.
As first reported by The Wall Street Journal, Clinton confidant and Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe urged McCabe’s wife to run for statewide office shortly after news reports were published that Hillary Clinton used a private email server and address for all her government business while serving as secretary of State.
For the reporting period of October through November 2015, McCabe's campaign filings show she received $467,500 from Common Good VA, a political action committee controlled by McAuliffe, as well as an additional $292,500 from a second Democratic PAC.
Asked why the deputy director did not list his wife's salary or the campaign contributions on the "Executive Branch Personnel Public Financial Disclosure Report" (OGE Form 278e) for 2015, an FBI spokesman said the forms were certified as "in compliance with applicable laws and regulations." The spokesman added Office of Government Ethics regulations do not stipulate that a spouse's salary or contributions received by a spouse's political campaign must be declared.
After this story was first published, an FBI spokesman provided an on-the-record statement to Fox News defending how McCabe's disclosure forms were handled:
"The rules instructing filers how to complete the OGE 278e form are published by the independent Office of Government Ethics (OGE) in a document titled 'The Public Financial Disclosure Form (July 2016).' The form does not require that an employee spouse's salary be disclosed; only the employer name and type of income required. Nor does the form require or contain a line for campaign contributions, which are not considered income. Rules governing campaign donations are overseen by the Federal Election Commission.
Each form submitted by an FBI employee to the OGE is certified by FBI's chief ethics officer, who heads the Office of Integrity and Compliance. Mr. McCabe consulted with this office upon his wife's decision to run for political office."
The document was filed by Andrew McCabe on July 8, 2016, after he received a 44-day filing extension. He filed three days after FBI Director James Comey's public statement where he recommended against criminal charges in the Clinton case.
According to the OGE website, despite the box on the form for spouse income, it is not mandatory to fill in the blank, and it is not required to include contributions to a political campaign because there is a lower level of disclosure for the spouse.
The chief of policy for Issue One, which describes itself as a "bipartisan organization dedicated to reducing the influence of money in politics," said this is another example of how the disclosure system is flawed.
"The OGE itself and operates as a ‘compliance’ agency -- taking the information given to it by the covered government official and working with that. I have not heard of the office doing any further investigation to assess whether the information provided by the official is actually correct, unless that information is uncovered by outside forces like the media," Meredith McGehee told Fox News, adding that her group is discussing possible changes with Capitol Hill offices.
"There is a need to strengthen OGE's authority -- from clarifying its power to conduct investigations to giving it authority to conduct random audits to having it play a larger role for matters involving high-ranking executive branch officials,” she said.
"If it's not required, then why is there a spot on the form for spouse's income?" retired FBI agent Jeff Danik said. Danik filed the FOIA requests with the FBI, and shared the financial disclosure forms with Fox News.
"Isn't it particularly |
from one of the boys, so he brought his friends to discipline her."
After reading about Liz's ordeal, Nebila Abdulmelik, a women's rights activist in Nairobi, launched an online petition with the international campaign group Avaaz that has attracted more than 660,000 signatures. "Letting rapists walk free after making them cut grass has to be the world's worst punishment for rape," she said. "There is a silent epidemic in Kenya. It's not as loud as in Congo or South Africa, but the statistics are high."
As many as eight out of 10 Kenyan women have experienced physical violence and/or abuse during childhood. A report from Kenya's national commission on human rights in 2006 found that a girl or woman is raped every 30 minutes.
Orchestrating rape is also among the charges facing Kenya's president, Uhuru Kenyatta, who goes on trial on 12 November at the international criminal court accused of organising the violence that killed at least 1,300 people after a 2007 disputed election.
Abdulmelik notes that, under Kenya's Sexual Offences Act, Liz's assailants should face prison sentences of not less than 15 years. The same legislation stipulates that the expenses incurred by victims of such attacks, including surgery and counselling, should be borne by the state. "This is the government's responsibility," she said. "There is impunity from top to bottom, and meanwhile our president takes an entourage to the Hague at taxpayers' expense."
Avaaz and the African Women's Development and Communication Network (Femnet), of which Abdulmelik is a member, plan to picket the ministry of justice and police headquarters in Nairobi on Wednesday, where volunteers will cut the grass in protest at the handling of Liz's case.
The outcry over the fate of the 16-year-old last week prompted Kenya's director of public prosecutions, Keriako Tobiko, to order the arrest of the six suspects and promise an inquiry into police failures. However, the investigating officer in Busia, Shadrack Bundi, said he had received no such directive and could not take any further action.
Rasna Warah, a Kenyan commentator, said women were being failed by the country's leaders, male and female, who often left it to foreign-funded NGOs to raise awareness. "The Busia rape case is symptomatic of our society's attitudes towards women. Violence against women has become so normalised it almost constitutes a sort of 'femicide'."LATEST:
THE Gold Coast man at the centre of controversy after a photo of him and his friend'surfing' a turtle on Fraser Island went viral, has spoken out.
The 26-year-old Ricky Rogers has told how he is actually an animal lover that wouldn't even kill a spider.
Mr Rogers had spoken out after the post condemning him for his behaviour was shared more than 14,000 times and commented on thousands of times, mostly from outraged people.
EARLIER: The men photographed posing while standing on a turtle on Fraser Island could face fines of up to $20,000 if found to be interfering with a natural resource, according to the Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service.
The initial Facebook post showing the two men standing on top of the sea turtle has now been shared more than 9000 times and has more than 1000 comments, mostly from outraged people.
But it could a costly mistake for the young men.
A spokesperson from the QPWS said rangers were investigating the incident.
"There is some evidence to suggest that this turtle was deceased at the time of the photo," the spokesperson said.
"QPWS are taking this matter seriously and investigating further."
The Chronicle has reached out to the alleged poster, Ricky Rogers, for comment.
Ricky Rogers has made headlines for all the wrong reasons after he took a photo'surfing' on a turtle on Fraser Island. Facebook
EARLIER: RSPCA Queensland spokesperson Michael Beatty has slammed the actions of the two men as "complete idiots".
Mr Beatty said the RSPCA would look into the incident if there was any information that the turtle was harmed, and said Biosecurity Queensland could also launch investigations under the Nature Conservation Act.
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"These guys are just complete idiots - there's no way they should be doing what they were doing," he said.
"Per usual, they've been idiots and posted it on Facebook...(and) hopefully people on Facebook will let them know what idiots they were."
While Mr Beatty said it is not illegal to approach turtles, the actions of the two men could have seriously harmed the animal.
"I hope they get their comeuppance on social media," he said.
The photo of the two men'surfing' on the back of the turtle, which was posted to social media.
EARLIER: A GOLD Coast man has landed himself in hot water after posting a photo of himself and a friend'surfing' a beached turtle on Fraser Island.
Ricky Rogers posted the photo to his Facebook account of himself posing with the animal - mistakenly referred to as a tortoise - while visiting the island yesterday.
"Surfed a tortoise on zee weekend.. gnarly duddddeeeee (sic)," the caption read.
The post was shared by another user - who wished to remain anonymous - with the incident also reported to the Department of Environment and Heritage Protection.
"When your brain is the size of a peanut, your thought process is ridiculous. Share this around and let's see if we can get this fool a nice hefty fine.#fraserisland," his post read.
So far, the photo of Mr Rogers standing on top of a turtle has been shared more than 2400 times and has garnered more than 700 comments of mostly outraged people.
"Are people really that stupid," Nathan Douglas wrote on the post.
"This is appalling. Omg. So upset," Jeanie Nash also wrote.
It is unknown whether the turtle was alive or dead at the time of the photo.
"A few people including myself have reported them to EHP (Department of Environment and Heritage Protection). Will see what happens," the user wrote in his original post.
The EHP confirmed with the Fraser Coast Chronicle that the Department was investigating a complaint made in relation to the incident.
The user said he wasn't expecting the post to gain as much traction as it has, but shared the post to let others know of what the men were doing.
"I thought to share it because I'm big into conservation. It's...when people do stupid things with animals, and half the time they just get a slap on the wrist," he said.Until last week, any computing futurologist would tell you that cloud computing is where it's at. You don't need to know where your data is being stored; it's just on a computer, or more likely computers, Out There On The Internet. Thus Amazon, with its EC2 ("Elastic Cloud Compute") service, or Microsoft with its Azure service, or the most familiar example, Google, with its GoogleMail and Google Docs services, which are used by thousand of companies around the world. (Disclosure: the Guardian uses Google Docs and Mail, and Amazon's EC2 system for its API.)
Indeed, the prestigious Pew Research Center said in June that "solid majority of technology experts and stakeholders participating in the fourth future of the internet survey expect that by 2020 most people will access software applications online and share and access information through the use of remote server networks, rather than depending primarily on tools and information housed on their individual, personal computers" and that "most users will perform most computing and communicating activities through connections to servers operated by outside firms".
We already do, to a large extent: Google's search index lives in the cloud; lastminute.com, TripAdvisor, toptable.com, they're all a "cloud" service. What has been changing in the past few years is that individuals and companies have been able to upload their own content onto those computers – hence the explosion in size of Facebook, Flickr, YouTube and Twitter, none of which generate their own content. It all lives in the cloud, where one organisation offers the servers and another offers the software that interfaces to the content.
Last week though the premise behind cloud computing began looking a bit creaky. On Wednesday, Amazon dropped the contents of WikiLeaks that had been hosted on its EC2 service. In a very po-faced message, Amazon said that it wasn't the hackers' DDOS attacks that had prompted the move ("those were successfully defended against") but that WikiLeaks was "not following" its terms of service.
Terms of service? Since when did Amazon have the time to decide whether every one of the companies it offers is following its terms of service? And why were the WikiLeaks warlogs all right to be hosted on Amazon EC2, yet cables aren't?
Since then every DNS, which offered a free service so that if you typed "wikileaks.org" into a browser it would direct your computer to the site, has dropped WikiLeaks too, citing the DDOS attack – though strangely it didn't find that a problem while the service was hosted on Amazon. Other American companies, and one Swiss bank, have rattled after them.
Is that it, then, for cloud computing? Has WikiLeaks shown that cloud computing will eventually rain on any sufficiently authority-challenging parade?
The reality is that anyone who manages to get under the skin of governments as effectively as Julian Assange and the WikiLeaks team have done will test the limits of government, and hence commercial tolerance. To see how, do some thought experiments around WikiLeaks. First, imagine that it was leaking /Chinese/ diplomatic cables, telling us what the Chinese thought of the world around them – the wars, the mineral buyups in foreign countries, the hacking attacks against American search engines.
Would you be happy with that? You probably would. Now imagine that the leaks were being hosted on servers controlled by Baidu.com, which in China has a larger share of the search market than Google. Still OK?
It might be uncomfortable for Baidu, because the Chinese government licenses every web company. But we'd be enjoying the discomfiture of the Chinese, wouldn't we?
Next imagine that Baidu takes them down, saying that they break its terms of service, which are that you can't have content that the government deems harmful to the state. Spineless Baidu! Wicked Chinese!
That might come to pass. But in the meantime, precisely that – though involving American, rather than Chinese, content – has come to pass. The list of American-owned companies that have shunned WikiLeaks this week is astonishing, added to today by Visa and Mastercard.
It doesn't mean that cloud computing is a bust; more and more companies will continue to move their data to the cloud, urged on by Google and Microsoft (the latter is preparing a strong push to move clients cloudwards next year). But it does mean that it has not broken free of politics; and possibly the net never will. The interesting next move would be whether the Chinese government will offer to host the WikiLeaks cables – a move that Assange and his team may think goes slightly too far.
In the meantime, though, the cables will continue to circulate on file-sharing systems, especially Bittorrent – which are the ultimate in cloud computing, consisting of an ad-hoc network of users' PCs which have a copy of the main file and pass anyone who wants it a little piece, so that they can't be shut down. Commercial cloud computing is what it says it is – commercial, and so vulnerable to political and commercial pressures. But file-sharing is turning out to be the really resistant form where, as John Naughton points out, the only way to stop it is to turn off the internet. And not even the American, or even Chinese governments, seems ready to countenance that just yet.
This article contains affiliate links, which means we may earn a small commission if a reader clicks through and makes a purchase. All our journalism is independent and is in no way influenced by any advertiser or commercial initiative.
The links are powered by Skimlinks. By clicking on an affiliate link, you accept that Skimlinks cookies will be set. More information.Perhaps inspired by recent reports that the world is sinking faster than we thought, local blogger and amateur cartographer Burrito Justice whipped up this hypothetical look at San Francisco's coastline 60 years in the future. What would San Francisco look like in 2072, after sea level rises some 200 feet? A little less like a peninsula and a little more archipelago. Observe:
While our colleagues in the Financial District and SoMa will be taking BART Submarines to work on their oil rig offices or whatever, 60 years in the future SFist's Western Branch Office on Divisadero will suddenly become waterfront property. And can you image the homes on Nob Island? The Tonga Room could actually be on a beach and Top of the Mark will have to be converted to a lighthouse. (Apologies to the submerged Outerlands, who nobody really liked all that much to begin with.)
Anyhow, the 2072 San Francisco is still rife with red tape and NIMBYs, apparently. Read on over at Burrito Justice to see how Bernal Islanders and Noe Beach residents preserved their Victorians, and what groups like the Submerged Historic San Francisco Preservation Association have to say about offshore developments.How much do you hate the establishment?
That’s the question Donald Trump’s campaign is asking today as they trot out disestablishment figure Sarah Palin. Since 2008, when the John McCain campaign selected Palin from relative obscurity, only to throw her under the bus as a radical liability, Palin has built a grassroots movement shredding the Republican political establishment. Those who hate the establishment – those who believe that Republican establishment types would rather go along with the left than fight them – became fond of Palin as she used her support to push conservatives to primary victory, including one Ted Cruz of Texas. We disliked her enemies, because they were smug elitists; we disliked them because their elitism wasn’t restricted to Palin’s Alaskan accent or her Melvilleian sentence structure – it extended to Palin’s conservative politics. We thought the media’s attacks on Palin were for the most part unjust, because they were. We liked Palin because support for Palin meant a backlash against those who deserved to be smacked politically.
As Donald Trump rose to the forefront of the 2016 race, many of those same backlash dynamics came into play. Trump’s defenders felt the same way about Trump that Palin supporters felt about Palin. They felt, rightly, that many of those who attacked Trump didn’t do so on the basis of his insufficient conservatism, but on the basis of his polarizing language, on the basis of his blue collar appeal and his accent. They felt that the establishment GOP wanted to stop Trump because they couldn’t control him.
The Trump/Palin backlash was disestablishmentarian in nature. It remains so now.
But there is one problem.
There is one crucial difference between Trump and Palin: Palin was actually far more conservative politically than Trump. She didn’t shilly-shally on abortion. She didn’t waver on same-sex marriage. She didn’t believe in bailouts; she railed against crony capitalism; she hasn’t spoken about the need to maintain entitlement programs; she hasn’t endorsed campaign finance reform; she never spoke about the glories of single-payer healthcare. It was easier to get behind Palin’s movement than Trump’s without compromising principle.
No longer.
Palin’s endorsement of Trump now puts Republican voters to the test: are they disestablishmentarians, or are they conservatives? Will they side with Trump and Palin just to slap at the establishment? Or will they side with conservatism, even if it means breaking support for some of those who fight establishment elitists?
Count me with the conservatives. I hate the establishment Republican Party, but not merely because they are elitists – I despise them because they join with the left in compromise rather than standing on principle, and attempt to destroy anyone who won’t back their play.
But that doesn’t mean I’ll sacrifice my own principle to destroy them. I’m a conservative before a disestablishmentarian. So call me a devotee of antidisestablishmentarianism – I’m not for dumping the establishment over just for its own sake. It’s only worthwhile replacing our dictators if we can replace them with something better. And, thankfully, we do have that choice, with Cruz – or even with Marco Rubio, to an extent (remember, the establishment supported Crist over Rubio in his Senate Race).
I’m not convinced that Donald Trump is an upgrade from Mitch McConnell, John Boehner, John McCain, or Mitt Romney. And Sarah Palin’s endorsement doesn’t change that for me. Conservatism isn’t just about the backlash. It’s about the principle.VIRAL VIDEO: Texas Woman Gives Amazing Gospel Performance at Harvey Shelter
The state of Texas might be battered and bruised, but its spirit is not broken. Proof of this is a viral video showing a Texas woman’s amazing gospel performance at a Harvey shelter in Conroe.
FOX News reports:
A Texas woman’s gospel performance inside a shelter for Tropical Storm Harvey evacuees has gone viral after the impromptu performance lifted the spirits of people stranded away from home. Although it is difficult to understand the full extent of damage from the monster storm until flood waters fully recede, at least 10,000 people have been rescued, more than 30,000 are in shelters and 20 people are reported dead. Part of the 21-minute long performance was posted on Facebook by Joni Villemez-Comeaux, a volunteer at the Lone Star Convention and Expo Center north of Houston in Conroe. The video has been viewed over seven million times. So this just broke out in the shelter… Posted by Joni Villemez-Comeaux on Tuesday, August 29, 2017 Victoria White, who works as an admissions counselor at Sam Houston State University, belted out songs with a few other evacuees, at one point singing “Spirit Break Out,” which was widely shared on social media.
Not only does Texas have incredibly strong, brave residents, but they also have great neighbors. As Texans help one another, lifting each other in spirit and prayer, the ‘Cajun Navy,’ a large group from Louisiana, is in Houston armed with trucks and boats to carry out rescue missions.
WAFB reports:
One year after the Cajun Navy fleet deployed to pluck stranded families from the flood waters that overwhelmed southeast Louisiana, the volunteer rescuers have mobilized again. The group made it into Houston early Monday morning, poised to assist with rescue efforts in a region devastated by flooding due to Tropical Storm Harvey. The Cajun Navy is blasting social media with messages for help as neighbors in Texas face the same devastating flooding.
The Cajun Navy has been around for over a decade. The group formed following Hurricane Katrina and has been helping save live during natural disasters ever since.
USA Today reports:
Formed 12 years ago after Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans, the so-called Cajun Navy, which has saved thousands of stranded people, by some estimates, is already helping rescue stranded Texans, one member said Sunday. “There’s no telling how many are already over there,” said 39-year-old Joey Hains of Lafayette, La. “Basically everybody that’s wanting to go help out” is going or has already arrived, he said.
Hains said he planned to head to Houston, his boat in tow, at first light Monday. “The reality of the Cajun Navy is everybody out here with a boat that isn’t devastated gets out and helps others,” Clyde Cain, who runs the Facebook page Louisiana Cajun Navy, told USA TODAY last August. A ragtag group from the beginning, the Cajun Navy has long been nothing if not unstandardized: Guys with hunting boats, shallow draft duck hunting boats with mud motors, airboats, pirogues, kayaks. “You name it,” said member Timmy Toups. “Everybody was wide open, going at it.”Via John Aziz of Azizonomics,
Here’s the status quo:
These figures are staggering; the advanced nations typically have between three and ten times as much total debt as they have economic activity. In the United Kingdom — the worst example — if one year’s economic activity was devoted entirely to paying down debt (impossible — people need to eat and drink and pay rent, and of course the United Kingdom continues to add debt) it would take ten years for the debt to be wiped clean.
But the real question is why? Why are both debtors and creditors willing to build a status quo of massive unprecedented debt?
From the side of the creditors, I think the answer is the misconception that debt is wealth. Debt can be used as collateral, or can be securitised and traded on exchanges (which itself can become a form of shadow intermediation, allowing for a form banking outside the accepted regulatory norms). To keep the value of debt high, and thus keep the debt illusion rolling along (treasury yields keep falling) central banks have been willing to swap out bad debt for good money. But debt is not wealth; it is just a promise, and in today’s world carries huge counter-party risk. Until you convert your debt-based promissory assets into real-world tangible assets they are not wealth.
From the side of the debtors, I think the answer is that debt is easy. Why work for your consumption when instead you can take out a home equity loan or get a credit card? Why buy the one car that you can afford when instead you can buy two with debt?
But there is another side in this world: the side of the central planners. Since the time of Keynes and Fisher there has been an economic revolution:
Deflation has effectively been abolished by central banking. And so we get to where we are today: the huge and historically unprecedented outgrowth of debt. Deleveraging necessitates economic contraction, which produces the old Keynesian-Fisherian bugbear of debt-deflation, which the central planners abhor. So they print. Where once deflation often made debts unrepayable, and resulted in mass defaults, liquidation and structural transformation, today — thanks to money printing — debtors get their easy lunch of cheap debt, and creditors get their pound of flesh, albeit devalued by the inflation of the monetary base. It has been a superficially good compromise for both creditors and debtors. Everyone has got some of what they want. But is it sustainable?
The endless post-Keynesian outgrowth of debt suggests not. In fact, what is ultimately suggested is that the abolition of small-scale deflationary liquidations has just primed the system for a much, much larger liquidation later on. Bad companies, business models and practices that might otherwise not have survived under previous economic systems today live thanks to bailouts and money-printing. This moral hazard has grown legs and evolved into a kind of systemic hazard. Unhealthy levels of leverage and interconnection that once might have necessitated failure (e.g. Martingale trading strategies) flourish today under this new regime and its role as counter-party-of-last-resort. With every rogue-trader, every derivatives or shadow banking blowup, every Corzine, every Adoboli, every Iksil, comes more confirmation that the entire financial system is being zombified as foolish and dangerous practices are saved and sanctified by bailouts.
With every zombie blowup comes the necessity of more money-printing, and with more money-printing to save broken industries seems to come more moral hazard and zombification. Is that sustainable?
Already, central bankers are having to be clever with their money printing, colluding with financiers and sovereign governments to hide newly-printed money in excess reserves and FX reserves, and colluding with government statisticians to hide inflation beneath a forest of statistical manipulation. It is no surprise that by the BLS’ previous inflation-measuring methodology inflation is running at a much higher rate than the new:
Worse, in the modern financial world, we see an unprecedented level of interconnection. The impending Euro-implosion will have ramifications to everyone with exposure to it, and everyone with exposure to those with exposure to it. Not only will the inflation-averse Europeans have to print up a huge quantity of new money to bail out their financial system (the European financial system is roughly three times the size of the American one bailed out in 2008), but should they fail to do so central banks around the globe will have to print huge quantities of money to bail out systemically-important financial institutions with exposure to falling masonry. This is shaping up to be a true test of their prowess in hiding monetary inflation, and a true test of the “wisdom” behind endless-monetary-growth fiat economics.
Central bankers have shirked the historical growth cycle consisting both of periods of growth and expansion, as well as periods of contraction and liquidation. They have certainly had a good run. Those warning of impending hyperinflation following 2008 were proven wrong; deflationary forces offset the inflationary impact of bailouts and monetary expansion, even as food prices hit records, and revolutions spread throughout emerging markets. And Japan — the prototypical unliquidated zombie economy — has been stuck in a depressive rut for most of the last twenty years. These interventions, it seems, have pernicious negative side-effects.
Those twin delusions central bankers have sought to cater to — for creditors, that debt is wealth and should never be liquidated, and for debtors that debt is an easy or free lunch — have been smashed by the juggernaut of history many times before. While we cannot know exactly when, or exactly how — and in spite of the best efforts of central bankers — I think they will soon be smashed again.India's defeat at The Oval was their second heaviest against England in terms of runs
India captain Mahendra Dhoni hinted he may stand down as skipper following his side's 3-1 Test series defeat in England.
The innings-and-244-run loss in the fifth Test at The Oval extended India's run of away form to only one win in 19 Tests.
Asked if he had taken the team as far as he can, Dhoni said: "Maybe, yes.
"You'll have to wait and watch. If I'm strong enough or not strong enough, you'll have to wait and get the news."
The 33-year-old wicketkeeper took charge of the Test side in 2008 after leading India to the inaugural World Twenty20 title in 2007.
He has led India in a record 58 Tests and overseen a record 27 wins.
India lost only one of Dhoni's first 13 series in charge, winning eight - a run that saw them top the world Test rankings from late 2009 until the summer of 2011, a period in which Dhoni also led his team to victory in the World Cup.
However, India surrendered their number one ranking with a 4-0 whitewash in England, a result that began their poor run away from home.
This latest defeat came in a dramatic slide from a 95-run win in the second Test at Lord's, which gave the tourists a 1-0 series lead.
Former India captain Sunil Gavaskar on BBC Test Match Special "I don't know what to say. What can you say? You can get angry, say harsh things, but what good will it do? If you do not want to be playing Test cricket for India, quit. Just play limited-overs cricket. You should not be embarrassing your country like that."
But, following a 266-run loss in the third Test at Southampton, India were twice beaten by an innings, failing to reach 200 in five consecutive attempts that culminated in being bowled out for 94 inside 30 overs on the third afternoon at The Oval.
"The last three Tests, we were not up to the mark," said Dhoni, who has scored 4,808 runs in 88 Tests. "We never competed.
"Today's batting was a reflection of a loss of confidence. It's disappointing.
"Right from the start, our batsmen haven't performed - it was the lower order. Later on in the series, when the lower order didn't perform, we saw there wasn't enough runs on the board."
Listen to Jonathan Agnew and Geoffrey Boycott review each day's play on the TMS podcast.The India-UAE relationship is a ‘strategic partnership’. In case there were still any lingering doubts about the matter, the joint statement signed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan mentions this upgraded relationship status no less than six times. But what does it actually mean?
India has established over 20 strategic partnerships over the years with countries that include Russia, the US, France, Japan and China. The final name on that list should be proof enough that this sort of bilateral partnership is not a one-size-fits-all alliance that “bind(s) nations to support each other on all strategic issues in all situations”, rather a bespoke agreement to collaborate in areas of common interest. In terms of the actual content of these partnerships, they comprise a variety of areas ranging from defence and space research to bilateral trade and investment.
This sort of deal has a two-fold advantage: It allows India to maintain its sense of strategic autonomy in areas where interests may not necessarily converge, and simultaneously, keep open lines of communication for further diplomatic engagement on military and defence issues should the need arise.
While trade, investment and energy appear in the India-UAE joint statement, the dominant theme of the agreement by far, is security and counter-terrorism.
As has already been noted by numerous media outlets and publications already, the statement reads like it was drafted with India’s concerns about Pakistan in mind. Specifically, parts of sections II and III from point 11:
“II. Coordinate efforts to counter radicalisation and misuse of religion by groups and countries for inciting hatred, perpetrating and justifying terrorism or pursuing political aims.
III. Denounce and oppose terrorism in all forms and manifestations, wherever committed and by whomever, calling on all states to reject and abandon the use of terrorism against other countries, dismantle terrorism infrastructures where they exist, and bring perpetrators of terrorism to justice.”
The growing threat and capacity of the Islamic State in West Asia, and the chaos engulfing Yemen and Libya means that jihadi terror is now in the UAE’s neighbourhood, if not yet at its doorstep. If properly implemented, the benefits of the agreement to counter terrorism and its infrastructure, financing networks and host nations will be massive for India — a frequent victim of terror attacks and perhaps the most vocal advocate of a Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism at the UN. This is especially so because a crackdown on fund-raising activities, facilitated by intelligence-sharing and half-yearly meetings of national security advisers (NSA), could severely deplete the coffers of numerous groups and entities that target India.
But why would the UAE — Pakistan’s largest trade partner, and its biggest source of investment among Gulf countries — sign off an agreement that targets a country with which relations were said to be “emerging into trust-worthy strategic partnership”? As a matter of fact, Pakistan was the first country to formally acknowledge the UAE as an independent country in 1971. So what went wrong?
Look no further than April this year when Pakistan’s Parliament chose not to intervene militarily in the Yemen crisis and rejected Riyadh’s invitation to join the Saudi Arabia-led 10-nation military alliance. The decision, although well received in the Pakistani media, evoked a caustic response from the UAE’s Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Anwar Gargash, who accused Islamabad of taking an “ambiguous stand”.
“The vague and contradictory stand of Pakistan… (is) an absolute proof that Arab security — from Libya to Yemen — is the responsibility of none but Arab countries”, stated Dr Gargash, adding that Pakistan would have to pay a “heavy price” for taking this position.
Tweeting that “the moment of truth distinguishes between the real ally and the ally of media and statements”, he summed up Pakistan’s relations with the six-country Gulf Cooperation Council saying, “Though our economic and investment assets are inevitable, political support is missing at critical moments”. Clearly Abu Dhabi did not take Islamabad’s refusal to join the battle in Yemen well.
Sure enough, investment and trade continued through the 21st Century, but a trust deficit was palpable between the leadership of the two countries. According to a July 2009 cable made public by Wikileaks, the Crown Prince referred to then President Asif Zardari as “dirty but not dangerous", while Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif was described as “dangerous but not dirty”, adding that he “cannot be trusted to honor his promises”.
But the UAE has apparently been wary of Pakistan for a while, judging by 2005 cable leaks that “US forces had made use of Sheikh (Crown Prince) Zayed's private airstrip in Balochistan” allegedly as a base for American drones. Considering the (arguably legitimate) outrage in Pakistan about drone strikes, it’s no surprise the UAE wanted a tight lid on the details. Support to US drones targeting terrorists (and unfortunately, many civilians) in Pakistan was an early indication of Abu Dhabi’s lack of faith in Islamabad’s ability to crack down on terrorism.
The joint statement reflects an amplification of this very lack of faith.
A decade ago, Sheikh Zayed was quoted in a leaked cable as saying that “a new personality (leader of Pakistan) may emerge but for the time being the UAE position was to play a helpful role by supporting the PM”. Whether the UAE continues to take this position, after Pakistan decided not to intervene in Yemen, remains to be seen.
But as it presently stands, India is assembling a dossier on Dawood Ibrahim ahead of NSA-level talks between India and Pakistan on 23-24 August. Intelligence shared by the UAE in this regard could be critical in building a solid case, and could very well be the “heavy price” alluded to by Dr Gargash.
Firstpost is now on WhatsApp. For the latest analysis, commentary and news updates, sign up for our WhatsApp services. Just go to Firstpost.com/Whatsapp and hit the Subscribe button.In a statement to POLITICO Rep. Marcy Kaptur said she never meant to suggest that women are to blame for harassment they experience. | Manuel Balce Ceneta/AP Democratic lawmaker: Women's clothing an 'invitation' to harassment 'I saw a member yesterday with her cleavage so deep it was down to the floor,' Rep. Marcy Kaptur tells fellow Democrats at a private meeting.
A female Democratic House member shocked fellow lawmakers Wednesday when she said that the revealing clothing that some members and staffers wear is an “invitation” to sexual harassment.
Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D-Ohio) made the comments during a private Democratic Caucus meeting Wednesday to discuss sexual harassment issues, according to two Democratic sources in the room.
Story Continued Below
“I saw a member yesterday with her cleavage so deep it was down to the floor,” Kaptur said, according to the sources present. “And what I’ve seen … it's really an invitation.” The comments left many others in the room stunned, the sources said.
Kaptur said women on Capitol Hill should have to abide by a stricter dress code, like those adopted by the military or corporations.
“Maybe I’ll get booed for saying this, but many companies and the military [have] a dress code,” she said. “I have been appalled at some of the dress of... members and staff. Men have to wear ties and suits.”
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In a statement to POLITICO later Wednesday, Kaptur said she never meant to suggest that women are to blame for harassment they experience.
“When I was first elected to Congress my office and I became a refuge for female staffers who had been mistreated by their bosses. Some of them in tears many days. It is something I carry with me to this day and something I brought up during our Caucus meeting," she said. "Under no circumstances is it the victim's fault if they are harassed in any way. I shared the stories from my time here in the context of the ‘Me Too’ legislation and how we can elevate the decorum and the dress code to protect women from what is a pervasive problem here and in society at large.”
Two Democratic sources said other members and staffers present in the meeting were so surprised that no one knew what to say. “Nearly everyone in the room’s mouths were wide open aghast,” one of those sources said.
Kaptur, 71, has served in Congress since 1983. She’s the longest serving member of the Ohio delegation, representing a northern district that borders Lake Erie.
The dress code for female members, staffers and reporters has been relaxed in recent months after Ryan moved to modernize the rules following outcry about women not being able to wear sleeveless dresses in and around the House chamber. Both women and men are still expected to dress professionally, but the sergeant-at-arms isn't as strict in enforcing rules about women's shoulders being covered when present in the House chamber or Speaker's lobby.
Kaptur’s comments come as Congress continues to reckon with a raft of sexual harassment allegations within its ranks.
Three members — Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.) and Reps. John Conyers (D-Mich.) and Trent Franks (R-Ariz.) — resigned last week over sexual misconduct allegations.
Rep. Ruben Kihuen (D-Nev.) has also been accused of sexual harassment but has rebuffed calls from House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and others to step down. And Republican Roy Moore lost the Alabama Senate race — the first time a Democrat won a Senate seat there in 25 years — after being dogged by allegations he sexually pursued teenagers while in his 30s.
Congressional leaders are bracing for more allegations against other members to surface at any time. Meanwhile, lawmakers have begun the arduous process of overhauling Capitol Hill’s arcane policies for reporting and policing sexual harassment.
Lawmakers in both chambers are pursuing bipartisan legislative solutions that would make the reporting process more friendly to victims. But those efforts are expected to take months to come to fruition.
In the meantime, congressional leaders have struggled with how to respond to sexual harassment allegations roiling Capitol Hill in the present. Congressional leaders have declared a “zero tolerance” policy for sexual harassment but that has proven difficult to define when it comes to long-term enforcement measures.
It took Pelosi several days to call for Conyers — the longest serving House member — to resign. And Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) hasn’t said Rep. Blake Farenthold should step down despite reports of a hostile workplace in the Texas Republican’s office and news that Farenthold used taxpayer funds to settle a sexual harassment complaint in 2014.
Pelosi did call for Kihuen to resign hours after an accusation that he sexually harassed a campaign staffer was reported. And Ryan quickly forced Franks out after learning the Arizona Republican allegedly asked two female staffers to carry his child via surrogacy.
The House Ethics Committee is taking another look at the Farenthold allegations. House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) said Tuesday |
."
Canada could partner with other agencies
But Garneau remained hopeful that Canada could partner with other programs from other space agencies to get its astronauts "back up there."
"After a big high like Chris Hadfield's flight, people are saying: 'well, what's next?' and it's a little hard for us to wait, but if people are patient, I think they'll see that we're going to get back there — eventually."
Right now, the only way for any international astronaut to get to the space station is by hitching a ride on a Russian Soyuz spacecraft.
But that could change as private U.S.-based companies continue to develop space capsules to ferry astronauts up to the space station.
Canada's two astronauts may even have a choice of their space bus when their turn finally comes.
"Our current plan is to continue to use the Soyuz until Boeing, Sierra Nevada or SpaceX — one of the three companies that we have on the U.S. side that are developing vehicles to visit the space station — are kind of ready to take us there instead," Behnken said.
"We don't yet have the contracts in place to specify what dates those vehicles would be out there, but it's in the 2017 time frame."Quantity: Change country: -Select- Albania American Samoa Andorra Australia Austria Belarus Belgium Bermuda Bosnia and Herzegovina Bulgaria Canada China Cook Islands Croatia, Republic of Cyprus Czech Republic Denmark Estonia Fiji Finland France French Polynesia Germany Gibraltar Greece Greenland Guam Guernsey Hong Kong Hungary Iceland Ireland Italy Japan Jersey Kiribati Latvia Liechtenstein Lithuania Luxembourg Macedonia Malta Marshall Islands Micronesia Moldova Monaco Montenegro Nauru Netherlands New Caledonia New Zealand Niue Norway Palau Papua New Guinea Philippines Poland Portugal Romania Saint Pierre and Miquelon San Marino Serbia Singapore Slovakia Slovenia Solomon Islands Spain Sweden Switzerland Taiwan Thailand Tonga Tuvalu United Kingdom United States Vanuatu Vatican City State Vietnam Wallis and Futuna Western Samoa There are 62 items available. Please enter a number less than or equal to 62. Select a valid country.
ZIP Code: Please enter a valid ZIP Code. Please enter 5 or 9 numbers for the ZIP Code.After years of skirting along the fringes of Calgary’s sports culture, the city’s road bike racing scene is threatening to do something unusual this year: draw attention to itself.
It’s been a tight, dedicated community for years — you’ve got to be dedicated to spend perfectly good summer weekends castigating your thighs on backwoods prairie highways — but has been somewhat scattered. Different clubs hosted their own events throughout the season, and, while that approach made for some great events, it made it difficult to draw racers from other cities, and interest from the wider public.
This year, a big idea that has been bouncing around for years has brought a few of those clubs together. The result is Alberta Cycling Super Week, a plan to pack an August week so full of road racing events they will be impossible to ignore.
“For the first time ever, we have enough events in Calgary to make it worthwhile for people to come in to Calgary to race, ” said Steve Waters, a member of Speed Theory Cycling Race Team, one of three volunteer racing clubs behind the idea. “We hope it gets some attention.”
Super may be an apt title. The three local racing clubs, Speed Theory, Crankmasters and Niklas Group, are packaging some of the best and most well-known bike races in the province — including the beloved Tour de Bowness and the downtown Jason Lapierre Memorial — into a week-long series.
Organizers hope the approach will offer a few advantages. For racers, all the events will be packaged as a week-long stage race, created some fierce competition that includes longer road races, hill climbs and criteriums ( shorter, spectator-friendly circuit races).
For bike racing fans, organizers hope Super Week creates a big, easy-to-market event, a kind of weeklong racing festival that will bring out new fans, and new racers.
Here are some of the highlights of Alberta Super Week, scheduled for Aug. 3 – 12:
Tour de Bowness: This long-standing event organized by Bow Cycle & Sports transforms everyone’s favourite former small town into a cycling haven, including a road race, hill climb and the colourful criterium that takes over the streets of the community (check out some photos from last year’s race here).
The Jason LaPierre Memorial, which includes the provincial time-trial championships, a road race, and a very cool criterium through the streets of downtown Calgary. And don’t forget the kids race.
A hill climb up the Paskapoo slopes of Canada Olympic Park.
The Horse Creek Road Race.
A time trial out of Airdrie, and more.
More details of the events will emerge in the coming weeks. Stay tuned.
Follow me on Twitter, Google Plus, or subscribe to my posts on Facebook. Email me at tbabin@calgaryherald.com.
Note: An addition was made on March 12 to clarify the Tour de Bowness as being organized by Bow Cycle & Sports./ FERRAN NADEU
En els 40 anys de vida del Grec només en una ocasió el seu director es va escollir per concurs públic. Va ser el cas de Ricardo Szwarcer que el 2006 va ser escollit per dirigir el gran festival d’arts escèniques de Bar-celona entre 20 candidats. El 2011, el seu substitut, Ramon Simó, va ser nomenat a dit per Jaume Ciurana, llavors tinent d’alcalde de Cultura, cosa que va encendre les crítiques de l’oposició perquè no va comptar amb un jurat qualificat i perquè va ignorar les bases d’una convocatòria que ja tenia redactades el Consell de Cultura.
El govern d’Ada Colau promet ara que totes les renovacions de càrrecs d’equipaments i programes culturals que depenen de l’Institut de Cultura (Icub) seran seleccionats per concursos públics en els quals s’introduiran mecanismes participatius i grups d’experts amb mirada independent. En un període d’un any aquest canvi afectarà a més a més del Grec, el Centre de Cultura Contemporània, el Mercat de les Flors, la Virreina, el Museu Picasso, el Museu Etnològic i el de les Cultures del Món.
SENSE RESPONSABLE
Es dóna la circumstància que en aquest moment hi ha dos centres que no tenen director. De manera que ben aviat es resoldrà, a través de convocatòries públiques, qui seran els responsables de la nova programació de la Virreina Centre de la Imatge i del Born Centre de Cultura i Memòria, que ara depèn del comissionat de Programes de Memòria de Barcelona, l’historiador Ricard Vinyes.
Berta Sureda ComiSsionada de cultura És una aposta per la transparència i per l'ètica i per la posada en marxa de codis de bones pràctiques
Berta Sureda, comissionada de Cultura, assegura que l’objectiu és democratitzar les institucions municipals. «És una aposta per la transparència i per l’ètica, i per la posada en marxa de codis de bones pràctiques. Per això de manera sistemàtica convocarem concursos públics després de reunions de treball amb especialistes que definiran el rol de cada equipament per no duplicar programes», explica Sureda. Una de les seves prioritats és reordenar el mapa de centres culturals. «L’objectiu és consolidar els ja existents dotant-los de més independència, més que continuar ampliant la llista de noves infraestructures», determina la comissionada, per a la qual és vital potenciar el teixit creatiu de la ciutat.
Ramon Simó director del grec Jo no vaig entrar per concurs públic. Ciurana va fer una ronda de converses amb set professionals del sector i després va decidir
FUTUR MODEL
Simó continuarà dirigint el Grec fins al pròxim 31 d’agost, ja que va ser escollit per un període de quatre anys, prorrogable a un. No obstant, el mes de març es publicarà la convocatòria que s’ha pactat en diverses plataformes amb professionals del sector en les quals s’ha debatut Quin Grec volem?, per dissenyar el futur model del festival. Hi han participat Magda Puyo, directora de l’Institut del Teatre i autora de la controvertida cerimònia dels premis Ciutat de Barcelona, i els directors teatrals Àlex Rigola i Lluís Pascual, entre més persones vinculades al món teatral. Simó meditarà si es presentarà al concurs. «Ho he de valorar. Dependrà de les condicions, però cinc anys ja són anys», explica l’actual director del Grec. De la seva etapa, Simó valora l’increment de la projecció internacional. «Jo no vaig entrar per concurs públic. Ciurana va fer una ronda de converses amb set professionals del sector i després va decidir», confessa.
Vicenç Villatoro DIRECTOR DEL CCCB El 2017 he decidit que no em presentaré. Em sembla improcedent ajudar a preparar les bases d'un concurs i després optar al càrrec, encara que estic satisfet d'haver establert un contracte programa que aporta solidesa i llibertat de decisió
L’escriptor Vicenç Villatoro va ser nomenat director del CCCB l’any 2014 l’endemà que Marçal Sintes anunciés que abandonaria el càrrec un any abans del que s’esperava. La decisió del relleu la va prendre el Consell General del Consorci del CCCB, òrgan presidit per la Diputació de Barcelona i amb vicepresidència de l’ajuntament. «El novembre de l’any passat se’m va renovar el contracte per dos anys amb el consens de les dues administracions. I el 2017 he decidit que no m’hi presentaré. Em sembla improcedent ajudar a preparar les bases d’un concurs i després optar al càrrec, encara que estic satisfet d’haver establert un contracte programa que aporta solidesa i llibertat de decisió», argumenta Villatoro, que té una trajectòria vinculada a CiU. Va ser director general de Promoció Cultural de la Generalidat (1997-2000), director de la Corporació Catalana de Ràdio i Televisió (2000-2004) i entre 1999 i 2002, diputat al Parlament.
ETAPA DURA
El Museu Etnològic prepara una nova era amb la fusió del Museu de les Cultures del Món. Per al seu actual director, Josep Fornés, l’última etapa ha sigut molt dura per tot el procés de remodelació i per la lluita per assentar un museu social i cultural. «El Govern municipal és presoner de l’estructura tècnica, una cosa que vam heretar del mandat de Joan Clos com a alcalde i que va incrementar Ciurana. Tot i així, em presentaré al concurs perquè estic a favor de la transparència. La llibertat i la confiança són importants, però no he d’agrair res a ningú. No m’han regalat mai res. I en aquests moments estic cosint sense fil i agulla dos museus amb només nou treballadors en plantilla per arreglar totes les destrosses que va fer l’anterior govern», exposa Fornés, antropòleg i màster en gestió cultural.
Bernardo Laniado-Romero va ser designat director del Museu Picasso per un concurs internacional. «No sóc nebot de ningú», ironitza. Per a ell, el problemes de les institucions públiques barcelonines és que no hi ha costum d'avaluar els treballadors. "Al Picasso hi ha persones que no treballen i unes altres que van desbordades. I això genera mal ambient", diu amb sinceritat. Ara com ara, encara no ha decidit si tornarà a presentar-se. "El meu contracte expira al final de juliol. Del que se sent més orgullós és que des del 2012 el Picasso és una fundació en la qual l'ajuntament manté la titularitat de la col·lecció del museu i dels edificis. "La gestió ha canviat radicalment. Va ser un canvi positiu que agilitza els tràmits i aporta independència", resumeix.
Bernardo Laniado-Romero DIRECTOR MUSEU PICASSO No sóc nebot de ningú. Al Picasso hi ha persones que no treballen i altres que van desbordades. I això genera mal ambient
Francesc Casadesús, director del Mercat de les Flors, assegura que va ser designat perquè va presentar un projecte el 2005. "L'ajuntament va valorar cinc propostes i van triar la meva. Després, el juny del 2007, amb Jordi Hereu com a alcalde, es va crear el consorci". Es mostra totalment a favor que el seu successor s'elegeixi a través d'un concurs públic. "Encara no sé si m'hi presentaré", expressa. Per a ell, els processos participatius són complicats. La part més difícil és encertar la "representativitat i que després els polítics tinguin en compte el que diuen els experts del sector".A 22–year–old man is in custody after allegedly shooting a dog in the Kennebecasis Valley on Saturday.
A bystander called police after they witnessed a car "screeching to a halt," then crashing into a snowbank in front of the Dolan Road Irving, according to Sgt. Peter Breen of the Kennebecasis Regional Police Force.
The dog had wounds to its neck, but otherwise seemed to be "in good shape" according to Sgt. Peter Breen of the Kennebecaisis Regional Police. (Submitted by the Kennebecasis Regional Police) The man was then seen going into the woods off Highway 1, where he was walking a pitbull mix.
When he emerged from the woods, the dog was no longer with him, witnesses told police. The man then left in a cab.
Police searched the crashed car and found a BB gun and a small quantity of drugs.
When officers tracked down the cab, the man was found to be carrying a concealed handgun.
'He had a bullet in him'
X-rays revealed the dog "had a bullet in him," according to Sergeant Peter Breen - the dog has received medical care and remains with the SPCA. (Submitted by the Kennebecasis Regional Police)
Police searched the area for the dog for about three or four hours on Saturday night without success, said Sgt. Breen.
At 6 a.m. Sunday, the dog was spotted wandering near the top of Fox Farm Road, according to police.
X–rays revealed the dog "had a bullet in him," according to Sgt. Breen, but otherwise seemed "in good shape."
The suspect is facing charges of carrying a concealed weapon, cruelty to animals and drug offences. He is expected to appear in court on Monday.
Police say the dog received medical care and is staying with the Saint John SPCA.AMMAN: Residents in Syria’s Kurdish-majority northern territories are heading to the polls on Friday to elect representatives at the neighborhood level in the first local elections to take place under the semi-autonomous federal system there.
The local elections, which will include three separate rounds over the coming months, represent the latest move by Kurdish authorities to consolidate control over northern Syria after the dominant Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD) and allies voted to form a federal system last year.
Kurdish-controlled territories are divided into three cantons governed by the Self-Administration—Jazirah, Afrin and Kobani. The territories are home to nearly five million residents, including significant Kurdish, Arab, Syriac and Turkmen populations.
Voters in the first round of elections on Friday will elect representatives to communes, a designation referring to assemblies that oversee political, economic and social issues in individual neighborhoods.
PYD supporters in Qamishli march in favor of the local elections on September 17. Photo courtesy of PYD.
Communes are the base unit in the democratic confederalist system proposed by Abdullah Ocalan, the jailed head and ideological leader of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in Turkey. The Kurdish PYD in Syria maintains close ties to the PKK and shares Ocalan’s vision of democratic confederalism.
Ocalan’s theory of democratic confederalism envisions a grassroots governing system that rejects the traditional structure of a nation state, instead leaving decision-making processes and powers with local communities through institutions such as the commune.
Networks of communes form councils at the city or regional level, which, in turn, represent those areas at higher levels of the administration.
Friday’s election will be followed by an election for town, city and regional councils in November and, next January, an election for the region’s highest office, the People’s Democratic Council, which is currently dominated by the Democratic Union Party (PYD).
The third round of the elections, which will replace current representatives who were appointed by the Self-Administration, will also include a vote for legislative councils in each of the three cantons.
The Kurdish National Council (KNC), the primary political opposition to the PYD, called for a boycott of the elections on Monday, considering them “a flagrant violation of the will of the Kurdish people.”
The KNC considers PYD rule over Kurdish territories to be illegitimate, accusing the party of taking control through “the use of force.”
“I won’t be participating in the elections because I don’t believe in the Self-Administration’s project” Farhad, a KNC supporter from the city of Amouda in northern al-Hasakah province told Syria Direct on Thursday.
The Self-Administration is “trying in every way to impose themselves, such as through elections and alliances with the west,” the shopkeeper added.
The United States is currently backing the PYD’s armed wing, the Syrian Democratic Forces, in the fight against the Islamic State in eastern Syria.
In its call for a boycott, the KNC also accused the PYD of “attempting to deflect attention” from a separate referendum on independence for Kurds in Iraq scheduled to take place on Monday.
The KNC is an ally of the ruling Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) in Iraqi Kurdistan.
PYD officials first announced preparations for the local elections at the end of August, following meetings that included representatives of Kurdish, Arab, Syriac and other groups in the region.
But not all residents of the Kurdish-controlled territories are permitted to fully participate in the three election rounds that begin tomorrow.
Thousands of Arab residents who were relocated by the Syrian government to majority-Kurdish areas in the 1970s will be barred from the third and final round, Syria Direct reported in August.
Arabs “will have limited participation due to their special status,” Fouzah Youssef, co-president of the Democratic Federation of Northern Syria’s Executive Committee told Syria Direct at the time.
Despite Arabs being barred from full participation, Rouj Mousa, a journalist from the Afrin canton who spoke with Syria Direct on Thursday, says he does not “see preferential [treatment] of the Kurds over the Arabs in the federalist project.”
The journalist says the elections hold “great importance in the hearts of all those who live in this region,” adding that they represent the “first step to total confederalism covering all constituencies and components of the Middle East.”
“In order to build, one must begin from the foundations, which are these elections that will be held tomorrow,” he said.When Kenneth P. Thompson was a young federal prosecutor in Brooklyn in the late 1990s, he was assigned to one of the biggest cases the office had ever handled, that of the police officers accused of beating and sodomizing Abner Louima, a Haitian immigrant.
The officers were white, Mr. Louima black, and the harrowing episode rekindled racial tensions and anger at the police in New York City in 1997.
So Mr. Thompson was taken aback when Loretta E. Lynch and another senior prosecutor in the case, which went to trial in 1999, told him he would be delivering the much anticipated opening statement. “That tells you a lot about Loretta,” Mr. Thompson, now the Brooklyn district attorney, said of Ms. Lynch, the United States attorney for the Eastern District of New York, who was nominated by President Obama on Saturday to be the nation’s next attorney general.
The Louima trial is perhaps the clearest gauge of Ms. Lynch, 55, as a prosecutor, associates say: a calm, under-the-radar lawyer who could also fight hard when it helped her cause. During that case, she was willing to work in the background when needed, and she relied on a keen sense of courtroom tactics rather than rhetoric. Though race was a bitter undercurrent of the entire case, she rarely focused on it — until the defense tried to. Then she and her team took the potentially explosive issue head on.Like most thinking primates, I am sometimes baffled by my own behavior and reactions. As a result, I generally take an interest in research that explains otherwise puzzling behavior, particularly research involving subconscious influences. One type of study examines the effect of small, perhaps seemingly inconsequential, external events that prime people to behave in a certain way. The technical term for this is behavioral priming, and all sorts of fascinating results have been offered in recent decades. People who have been exposed to words associated with old age walk more slowly when leaving the psychology lab than those who have not, for example, and people who were asked to hold a warm drink as part of a lab experiment judged others more favorably than people who were handed a cold drink.
However, this work has been encountering problems lately, chiefly because it is hard to replicate, as described in this article by Tom Bartlett in the Chronicle of Higher Education. (You might also find an earlier article by Bartlett about the reproducibility of psychological research interesting.) Thus, the answer to the question in the title is that the jury is still out. Stay tuned.That's a sa'angreal, not an Oath Rod. But dang this Todd Lockwood painting is cool.
The “Spin the Wheel” series on Tor.com gives readers a chance to choose which entries from the The Wheel of Time Companion encyclopedia, coming get revealed in these sneak peeks and it looks like our first randomly generated pick is a big one! Congrats to Comment #49 dragontrainer for selecting “Oath Rods – historical and current use of”!
And congrats to Wheel of Time readers, because that means they get the entirety of the substantial “Oath Rod” entry, along with a bonus entry for “Nine Rods of Dominion.”
Oath Rod — A ter’angreal used by the White Tower to bind an Accepted to the Three Oaths on becoming Aes Sedai. A smooth white rod about as thick as a woman’s wrist or a little slimmer, and approximately one foot long, it looked like ivory, but felt smoother, not quite like ivory, not quite like glass, and was very cool to the touch; not cold, but distinctly cool. It was very hard, harder than a steel bar, though no heavier than the ivory it appeared to be, and was unmarked except for a flowing symbol incised in one end; this was a numeral, as used in the Age of Legends, and represented the number three. Some thought the numeral stood for the Three Oaths. The rod was simply held in the hand while a little Spirit was channeled into the numeral. What ever was promised, even if not in the form of an oath, was then binding on the person holding the rod until they were released.
The Oath Rod was a relic of the Age of Legends, although the Aes Sedai of
the Third Age did not know that. Binders, as they were called then, were used in the Age of Legends to bind people who were incorrigibly violent, because of personality flaws or madness. If the person being bound could not channel, an Aes Sedai had to power it, but the effect was the same. The older one was when bound, the more it restricted. That is one reason it was used relatively seldom and only if nothing else would work. It was used instead of a death penalty, too—though in a way, in the terms of the Age, it was a death penalty—to bind someone not only not to commit their crime again but to spend the rest of their lives, if necessary, making restitution.
There was a perception of pressure with each oath taken; this pressure was
uncomfortable at first, as though one was wearing a garment that covered one from the top of one’s head to the soles of one’s feet and was too small, or as if one’s skin was too tight. This pressure faded over a period of months, usually taking about a year to vanish entirely, but while it existed, it seemed quite real, and in a way was quite real. That is, an injury or bruise taken while the pressure existed would hurt more, just as if there really was pressure on it. It was the cumulative effect of three oaths taken together that produced the strong feeling of one’s skin being too tight. One oath by itself would produce some of the same effect, but not quite as intense and not lasting so long. If oaths were removed and then retaken, the physical effect was the same as for taking them for the first time. Swearing again to an oath already taken and not removed produced only a momentary feel of pressure which faded immediately.
It was the Three Oaths, taken on the Oath Rod, which actually produced the ageless look of Aes Sedai. The ageless look did not come on immediately. Its progression was only very roughly in proportion to strength in the Power, with considerable variation among people of the same strength. For someone who was very strong, it would take at least a year, and as much as three or four was not at all uncommon. The average Aes Sedai took five or so years, while the weakest to reach the shawl could take as long as ten or more.
It was possible to be broken free of the oaths with the use of the Oath Rod. This was a very painful process, which had various side effects, most if not all temporary, but all unpleasant in one way or another. They included temporary physical weakness and loss of will, a temporary inability to channel and considerable pain; being released from one oath was very painful; being released from all three at one time was agonizing. This breaking was done by the Black Ajah prior to inducting a woman into their ranks, and the Oath Rod was also used by them to bind themselves to their own three oaths. Being stilled or burned out also removed oaths sworn, although that fact was not generally known.
Without the Oath Rod, a channeler’s age was somewhat in proportion to
strength, though it wasn’t an exact proportion. Stronger channelers lived longer, up to more than eight hundred years for a Forsaken-class channeler. Aging occurred at a rate that would take channelers from the age at which one slowed to the apparent age of sixty or so. This relatively young maximum apparent age was an artifact of the healthful effects of the One Power. With the Oath Rod, Aes Sedai lifespans were capped at about three hundred years maximum.
Nine Rods of Dominion — Nine individuals in the Age of Legends who served as regional governors of the world at the time. Ishamael said that Lews Therin had summoned them, which was an indication of Lews Therin having had ultimate authority.
The Gathering Storm ebook cover art by Todd Lockwood
Watch for more Wheel of Time Companion and Spin the Wheel coverage through this tag.When it comes to studying chromatin structure and histone modifications, a new technique proves that sometime less really is more, ChIP-less that is.
Antibodies for individual histone post-translational modifications (PTMs) have long been the star of chromatin technology, but PTMs often act in concert to form a dynamic histone code whose combinations can interfere with antibodies attempting to bind a single mark in a sea of post-translational mods.
To better tackle the complex histone code, a crack team from the University of Wisconsin has developed and “efficient, quantitative, antibody-free, chromatin immunoprecipitation-less (ChIP-less)” technique that makes use of reader domains to decipher the combos that can elude classic ChIP analysis. Employing recombinant chromatin reader domains as affinity reagents to target unique combinations of PTMs, the researchers were able to isolate and investigate distinct chromatin states, rather than just one histone mark at a time.
With this new tool on their bench, the Badger team put it to use:
The scientists found, using specially designed histone peptide microarrays, that their three reader domains have a greater specificity towards PTM combos than their corresponding individual antibodies.
The chromatin reader-based affinity enrichment platform known as Matrix-assisted reader chromatin capture (MARCC) was born to take advantage of the readers ability to recognize specific PTM combos.
MARCC was employed to capture unique chromatin states that were then quantified/coerced by mass spec to reveal their intimate interconnections and found a novel signature associating with one of their readers.
The authors envision that their new technique will be a huge boon for the study of combinatorial histone PTM patterns that have in the past been difficult to probe using antibodies. Compatibility with a number of downstream analytics methods should also enable the interrogation of the PTM patterns in specific genomic loci, as well. When it comes down to it, this chromatin reader-based technique has a lot to offer to our understanding of how chromatin states and reader domains affect the regulation of gene expression.
Take a combinatorial crack at the histone code in Epigenetics and Chromatin, April 2014Today I completed 2 more models for the large 17 model Wedding commission! This time around, I worked on the requested Skyrim models!Dragon:This miniature model is fashioned after the several different types of Dragons/Wyrms that show up during your adventures through Skyrim!He measures 3in tall and is entirely handmade from polymer clay. I tried to add a variation of colors and details to fully capture these iconic game dragons, and I'm super pleased with how he turned out!Dovahkiin:This miniature model is based on the iconic cover-art and classic representation of the Dovahkiin of Skyrim!He is exactly 2in tall, which made getting lots of detailing on him a bit difficult, but I think I captured him quite well all things considered. I posed him in a half-kneeling stance with his sword and shield in a defensive position for his battle against the DragonFind me on Etsy: TheTallGrass.Etsy.com/ Like me on Facebook: www.facebook.com/TheTallGrassS… Follow me on Instagram: www.instagram.com/thetallgrass…Sheffield United today announced that it has relieved first team manager David Weir of his duties along with his assistant Lee Carsley.
Overseeing the team on an interim basis for Sunday's televised fixture against Coventry will be U21 coach Chris Morgan, goalkeeping coach Darren Ward and head of academy coaching Travis Binnion.
The club aims to appoint a new management team on a permanent basis as quickly as possible
Chief executive Julian Winter said: "First and foremost all at SUFC, from the board right the way through the club, wish David and Lee all the best for the future. None of us wanted to be in this position at this point in the season. David's appointment was made as part of developing a new phase at the club.
"Chris Morgan has been asked and agreed to take an interim role in charge of Sunday's team. He knows the players and, with Darren and Travis, will be doing his upmost to get a return to winning ways," added Mr Winter.
Chris Morgan said: "The club have made me aware of the situation and I am happy to step in and work with the players for the Coventry game."
The club will be making no further statement until the appointment of a new manager.For the first time in 195 straight weeks, the Montana Grizzlies have dropped out of the Championship Subdivision Top 25 poll just released Monday morning.
After their second straight league loss on Saturday night in Cheney 32-26 to Eastern Washington, the Griz now stand at 0-2 in Big Sky Conference play, and are 2-3 overall. The Griz have wins over South Dakota and Liberty, with losses to Appalachian State, Northern Arizona and eastern Washington.
Montana head coach Mick Delaney was not surprised by the poll, saying any team losing their first two conference games should not be in the top 25. Delaney says turning the ball over twice inside the 20 yard line makes winning on the road nearly impossible, despite gaining over 400 yards on the ground against Eastern Washington. He says all the Griz can do is work to eliminate their mistakes, and try to win the rest of their games.
The Montana State Bobcats are ranked number 4 in the poll, followed by Eastern Washington at number 7, Cal Poly at number 12, and Northern Arizona at number 16.
The North Dakota State Bison are the number one ranked team.
Up next for the Griz, a Saturday road game at Northern Colorado.
Montana head coach Mick DelaneyWhen the federal government first set national standards for organic farms in 1990, there wasn’t all that much consumer demand for fruits, vegetables and grains grown without synthetic fertilizers and insecticides, and meat from animals that don’t do hormones. Finding new non-chemical methods
Today organic farmers are rotating crops, composting, finding new ways to make pesticides passé, and doing about $55 billion in annual business. But big agribusiness still rules. Only 1 percent of America’s cropland is organically farmed. The Ohio Ecological Food and Farm Association’s annual conference drew about 1,100 participants last month, about 100 more than last year’s event. They came on a snowy mid- February weekend from all over Ohio and neighboring states and included farmers, research scientists, food producers, distributors, backyard gardeners and foodies of all kinds. The root of the matter
Kitty Leathem led a workshop on root vegetables. “I’m known around here as the green chef.” That’s what they call her at Granville’s farmers market, where it’s easy to find her. Just follow the bee-line to her turnip and rutabaga pies. The Green Chef calls her workshop “Out of the Dirt and On to Your Plate” "Because where do root vegetables live?" In the dirt. “And of course if you put chemicals on, where’s it going to go?" Into the plants. “Right into the plants. Try and eat organic root vegetables.” There are 90 workshops at the conference; 10 have the word “organic” in the title. Willing to pay for healthier choices
On average, eating organic costs about 20 percent more. But consumers who have read the works of Michael Pollan and Joel Salatin and seen the movie Food, Inc. don’t mind paying the difference. “There’s a better environment for organic foods, which is a big part of it,” says George Siemon. He runs the largest organic farm cooperative in the nation. Organic Valley represents farmers in 31 states including 174 in Ohio. A food system that needs organics
Siemon’s keynote speech at the ecological food conference is titled, "Organic: Changing a Broken System.” “Part of the broken food system is the amount of control that certain parties have in D.C. So I don’t feel the farm bill is really an honest process that serves our bigger community.... Organics just got hurt badly in the recent farm bill. Anything that was extra, like research on organic farming and other things. got cut to zero.
"Of course we get very little anyway, but that’s the beauty of organics. It’s been very self-starting.... It’s a grass-roots movement, and we’ve done well without the government’s help.” Siemon’s organic cooperative is in its 25th year. It recently reached $1 billion in annual sales. Improving but still needs fixing
But he says the system remains broken. “We have a lot of food-related illnesses and environmental issues and cultural issues that are related to our agricultural practices, and I think it needs to have a better conversation than we have. Organic farming is a wonderful answer for financial viability and care for the land and producing healthy food,... so it’s a real solution.” But Stanford University came out in September with a report that said organic doesn’t make a real health difference. “I could challenge that study all day long," says Siemon. “And of course, we have people who are opposed to us.” More funding in the pipeline for organic farmers
He believes more financial organizations are willing now to fund organic farms, because of demand from consumers. |
of other weapons. Trump bemoaned that our nuclear arsenal was falling behind Russia in the first debate (he was wrong) and repeatedly called for increased military spending on the campaign trail. This stock’s gains are especially troubling as nuclear weapons, if used, could lead to the destruction of humanity as we know it.
Corrections Corporation of America, up 43.1%, and The GEO Group, up 21.3%
These two companies run private prisons and immigration and detention centers. There is extensive documentation of abuse and mistreatment of inmates and a host of other issues. Trump has called for detention and deportation of millions of people residing in the United States who are not yet citizens and this could require use of additional private facilities. Law enforcement already disproportionately locks up black men. There is also evidence that law enforcement will racially profile POC and arrest them on bogus charges, only to hand people over to ICE for deportation. However, unfair targeting of people of color could get even worse. Trump has said he wants to bring back Stop and Frisk, appoint Rudy Giuliani, a proponent of racial profiling, and appoint Steve Bannon, a known white supremacist.
Weatherford International Plc, up 33.2%, Alliance Resource Partners, up 17.2%, and Energy Transfer Partners, up 11.1%
photo by Kerstin Langenberger
There were actually more than twenty fossil fuel stocks that had double digit gains on November 9th. They operate in coal, oil, natural gas using mining, fracking, and offshore drilling for resource extraction. Trump believe climate change is a hoax and wants to pull out of an international agreement to combat it. However, even the Pentagon has said that climate change will pose great risk to global security with increased threats from terrorism, global poverty, crop failure, and disease.
Huntington Ingalls Industries Inc, up 11.4%
USS Gerald R. Ford, a nuclear aircraft carrier. Photo: Huntington Ingalls Industries
This company builds ships for the Navy and specializes in nuclear powered aircraft carriers. These aircraft carriers cost about 13 billion dollars and are behind schedule. Trump outlined a promise during his campaign to increase the number of navy ships to 350 vessels. While not all new ships will be carriers, they have huge problems in terms of cost, mobility, and are big easy targets.
Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, up 11.3%
Photo from Kratos.
Kratos builds missiles, surveillance tools, and military drones. They recently received a contract to build a drone fighter jet. Drone strikes have become a way for the US Government to assassinate people overseas without trial. Many experts believe that Trump will increase the use of drones, and it appears Wall Street does too.
American Public Education, up 21.9%
Photo from their website
This for profit educational company specializes in college courses for members of the military. And like all credible education institutions they list their stock price on their homepage. They run the American Military University. This and other for profit university stocks are rising because the market thinks Trump will ease regulations on them. Easing regulation is probably the wrong move, as many of these companies are under investigation for bad business practices. The majority of students that start don’t even graduate.
Arotech Corporation, up 21.3%
Video of Arotech’s simulation product
Arotech makes training simulations for military and police, including the MILO range shown above. The use of deadly force by police in America far outpaces other countries, and this program doesn’t seem like it trains restraint or deescalation based on the video. Police in the US killed more people in the first 24 days of 2015 than the police of England had killed in 24 years. Police are far more likely to kill people of color.
Where do we go from here?
As bleak as this is, you can make a difference.
Call your representative and tell them to oppose Trump’s policies.
Donate to orgs that will fight Trump.
Fight back, resist, and think of new ways to make a difference.
Take care of your self and others.
❤
Notes
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List of all companies with double digit gainsThis transcript has been automatically generated and may not be 100% accurate.
... sunlit father stay in the main house so when you're growing up... you said you are given brown socks... bone generally did the best it's was interview I was a pagan who live it can ago together back then... has been going there... when you come to the mother of the game from some correction in my memory is of a... father's day is those they tried to make it to... make it a... good day for Mayo back then though JetBlue the... Baseball Hall was Noah's heart... and played a lot of baseball when using... the involve in some tournaments somewhere with a fondness for pumping whose fathers of... the agreement... sometimes Father's their mother stays about making up for maybe how you behaved... the rest of the year... when used as cannon from all or are they generally... good sounds pretty good but you know and didn't go so long way and then now reborn as of... the unknown that don't get in the thing sometimes they did and always shows up... too long love that my to go added low they competed the locked in various those sportsters things going all men... may have to correct them there but all in all they were... though the those who did the ISM's funded bring these as of then and now... I can sit back and I'll watch grandchildren go to dinner... that's pretty good stuff to that area... that they aren't good having Benjamin is out of the of school under a newly is better than the UK which is true that... they're considering U S casualties has gone on or stencils how hard is it for all of you to get together and how often able to... grow are... a lot of people just they don't think they say... of one or about Thanksgiving and I would never together Thanksgiving has been the guy didn't come at Christmas time thing that they're still... in their season so it really is hard to... pull everyone together um the live indie here... and in the area this weekend... for Father's day with the law and his family a... will so the... when I was at Denver now Longo to see seperate and his group and Cooper Cooper has famine revenue was up... one time we get to live by together is about a month we have begun our twentieth annual Manning pass and can become an up and... these guys come back with any guarantees is four days to go slow... so you right now you have three daughters were all under the age of four... what's that house like I imagine it's basically a princess cast yes below address so... lucky parties in this part is the same thing in song so it's a lot different than than the household were I grew up words more... of sports and and a... yellow footballs in baseball the little ball and basketball games on time but... of but here we get outside of it and so it's great to have my bed here... this weekend and I get to spend Father's day with him and also... it's good that you have Father's day with with the with my three girls and looking for his finger presents from them and I'm sure... a nice drawing... of my keys but the... common on Sunday and a... you know I got a strong for my dad as well that I drew for him... but he might appreciate the roots of the... so is there any intensive parenting is or want things to learn from your father that during a visit with her daughter's you know I I think just the league to give him lots of hugs and you notice... they take advantage of every... in all their free there I get to spend with with... my three girls and enjoyed being with them in... um you know being outside and run around and in the seven fund I think the... in Oklahoma that has a lot of home videos to the head... of us going off and sit on... the alert from that's the thing a lot of home videos of... of of of of three girls interact with each other swim in Urdu and activities in... Adobe usual great to go back and dark eyes and sees the role... of the... videos were brought up to try to do the same thing...When the Rev. Robert H. Schuller decided in the mid-1970s that his congregation was outgrowing the drive-in, low-slung Garden Grove church that Richard Neutra had designed for him 15 years earlier within earshot of Interstate 5, and that he needed a purpose-built cathedral to accommodate his increasingly popular “Hour of Power” televised sermons, he flew to New York to visit the architecture firm run by Philip Johnson and John Burgee.
On the face of it, Schuller and Johnson were a very strange match, the self-made Orange County televangelist and the smoothly moneyed New York architect who was also an atheist and gay. But at heart they were both salesmen.
Johnson, who always knew how to make headlines, once said, “Whoever commissions buildings, buys me. I am for sale. I am a whore. I am an artist.” Schuller described his Garden Grove compound as “a 22-acre shopping center for Jesus Christ.”
Together, between 1977 and 1980, they produced one of the triumphant landmarks of Southern California kitsch, at 415 feet wide, 207 feet deep and 128 feet high bigger than Notre Dame in Paris. A giant asymmetrical mirrored-glass iceberg of a building, equal parts Bruno Taut’s 1914 Glass Pavilion in Cologne, Germany, and Superman’s Fortress of Solitude, it was immediately dubbed the Crystal Cathedral.
The Rev. Robert H. Schuller inside the Crystal Cathedral in 1980. (Los Angeles Times)
So maybe it was oddly fitting, a kind of historical rhyme, when in the wake of the Schuller ministry’s messy bankruptcy, the buyer that came swooping in to pick up the remains of his empire in 2012 turned out to be the Roman Catholic Diocese of Orange.
For the fire-sale price of $57.5 million the diocese acquired a property that had grown in the intervening years to 36 acres and that included not only the Neutra and Johnson buildings (and their adjacent towers) but a cylindrical, four-story visitor center from 2003 by Richard Meier & Partners.
It then hired Scott Johnson of the L.A. firm Johnson Fain to lead a redesign of the cathedral. Though he’s not related to Philip Johnson, he did work in the Johnson Burgee office as a young architect and was assigned briefly to the Garden Grove project.
Here, to put it mildly, was another classic odd-couple pairing: the Catholic Church cast as architectural savior for a building whose power flows directly from its cheekiness, its irony, its willingness to flout convention, its telegenic savvy and perhaps most of all its understanding of what postwar Southern California was making possible in terms of cultural innovation and individual freedom. It would be an understatement to say that those are not qualities one associates with many chapters in the long history of Catholic architecture.
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I was surprised, amused and briefly heartened when I arrived for a news briefing a few weeks ago inside the stripped-down, renamed Christ Cathedral to find diocese media officials handing out virtual-reality headsets. Were Johnson Fain and the Catholic Church ready to embrace the same kind of trippy futurism that Philip Johnson and Robert Schuller had? Was this another strange combination of client, building and architect that would in the end pay exhilarating dividends?
No such luck. What we all saw when we strapped those headsets on was a digitized version of the remade cathedral interior that is heavy, earthbound and handsome to a fault. It is a design more suggestive of the offices of a high-end law firm than the kinds of early experiments in postmodernism — including the AT&T tower on Madison Avenue in Manhattan, with its pediment famously copied from a Chippendale chest of drawers — that Johnson was beginning to pursue when he met Schuller.
The Christ Cathedral proposal, which is expected to cost $72 million and be completed in 2019, is a streamlined version of one floated a few months earlier with a price tag of $108 million.
Though the mezzanine that fills three corners of the cathedral’s original four-pointed design will be maintained, at ground level Johnson Fain plans to change quite a bit. Schuller’s pulpit will be replaced by an altar. The new pews, in dark walnut, will be aligned in a radial pattern.
The fountain that ran through the center of the cathedral, splashing audibly until it died down just as Schuller began to speak, is already gone. New interior walls, 14 feet high, will be wrapped in fluted limestone. Other details will be in brushed stainless steel, dark bronzed steel, marble and cherry wood.
Another view of the Christ Cathedral design proposal by Johnson Fain. (Shimahara Illustrations)
Some of this updating is to be expected, of course, given the differences between Catholic services and the kind Schuller led (and the fact that the cathedral no longer operates as a giant television studio). According to Scott Johnson the toughest challenge was to make Catholic services, which rely heavily on a processional choreography along a lengthy axis from the main entrance to the altar, work in a building that is much wider than it is deep. It’s also true that some regular churchgoers found the interior a bit stuffy on hot days.
But some of the alterations are unnecessary even given the pressures of what the church refers to as “liturgical compliance.” The redesign put the fundamental spirit of the building at risk, aiming for the sort of well-appointed tastefulness that Philip Johnson spent much of his career, especially in its latter stages, gleefully skewering.
The biggest change is the proposed addition of a new fixed layer of translucent panels, each in the shape of a quatrefoil, hanging from the cathedral’s existing space-frame of white-painted steel tubes. The system is an effort to bring additional shade to a piece of architecture that was already kept from being excessively bright by the reflective mirrored-glass panels on the exterior.
What Johnson created inside the cathedral, as he and Burgee put it in a monograph of the firm’s work published in 1985, was “a hushed, underwater atmosphere.” Going from that treatment of light to an imitation of a dark European cathedral is an impossible journey. The whole point of the building is to be a container for sunlight — muted sunlight, but sunlight nonetheless.
As Schuller once said, referring to the importance of an interior washed in sunlight, “If a two-by-four comes between your eyeball and the changing edge of a cloud, something is lost.” The quatrefoils will blot out not just some of the sunlight but any clear picture of what Johnson and Schuller wanted the cathedral to suggest architecturally.
Which, when you consider the new ground-level look of the building, is likely part of the point; to sit on Johnson Fain’s dark-walnut pews and look up directly into the white tubular space-frame dreamed up by Johnson and Burgee would have been in essence to occupy to two different works of architecture at the same time.
The redesign aims for the sort of well-appointed tastefulness that Philip Johnson spent much of his career gleefully skewering.
Still, it’s worth remembering that the original version, soon to be covered up, is one of the great ceilings in postwar American architecture, the seemingly endless Jeffersonian grid lifted off the map and into the air and made luminous by the California sun. It was the kind of ceiling a structural engineer and a seeker of God could admire in equal measure. It was aerospace, Walt Disney, a revival tent and Joseph Paxton’s Crystal Palace in London spun into one.
To their credit, both the Diocese of Orange and Johnson Fain think about the additions they are proposing not as major surgery to an existing building as much as a new container of space that can be slipped inside the cathedral’s mirrored-glass shell without damaging or radically restructuring it.
As Scott Johnson puts it, “It was unimaginable to consider any significant change to Philip Johnson’s exterior design.”
All the same, it’s clear that a central goal of the redesign is to bring some gravitas to the sanctuary — a sense of weight underscored by expensive and muscular materials. It’s hardly shocking that the Diocese of Orange would ask the architects to try to move in that direction. It’s also possible that the church never looked particularly deeply into the unorthodox architectural history of the cathedral when it decided to buy the compound, never truly understood what it meant as a cultural as well as religious landmark.
The reasons for the purchase, after all, would seem to have had mostly to do with demographics. Orange County represents a growth opportunity for the Catholic Church, especially among Latino and Asian parishioners, at a time of declining membership around the country; the Diocese of Orange, with 1.2 million members, is the 10th largest in the country and the second-biggest west of the Mississippi.
But it is surprising that any architect — and especially one with as much understanding of Philip Johnson’s basic philosophy as Scott Johnson — could support the idea that gravitas and the Crystal Cathedral are even the slightest bit compatible. The building has far more in common with the nearby Matterhorn at Disneyland, the Biosphere in Arizona or the domes of Buckminster Fuller than with any cathedral in Europe.
Quite simply it is gravitas-proof.
christopher.hawthorne@latimes.com
Twitter: @HawthorneLAT
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What a big Ed Ruscha exhibition misses about Southern CaliforniaThe first thing you notice about Alvin Kamara is that he isn't always easy to tackle.
With his combination of elusiveness, strength and balance, tacklers often bounce right off him. After seeing it happen time and again, it becomes clear this isn’t a fluke. It's the running back's game.
There’s an image that comes to mind when you hear the term “satellite back,” which was repeatedly used after the Saints traded up to select Kamara in the third round. You think of a guy who attacks the edges and provides some elusiveness. You might not expect to see a player who can run through tackles.
But then you watch Kamara play against Vanderbilt and see him catch a screen and run through five tackles, with guys missing high and low, on his way to a touchdown. Then you see him run through an array of tackle attempts on his way to two scores against Kentucky.
That’s when you realize the stereotypes often aren't fair. Kamara might fit the mold of a "satellite back," and possess those tools, but he brings others traits to New Orleans.
Pass-catching backs have always played a big part in Sean Payton’s offense, dating to 2006, when the team drafted Reggie Bush. The plan might not have been to feature the role so prominently, but when it became apparent the Saints were going to be able to draft Bush, the coaching staff started cooking up new ways to use him.
“That wasn’t something we were planning on that happened relatively late to the draft,” Payton said. “I can recall the next week, just staff meeting after staff meeting on offense, changing, adding, tweaking things that fit him and maybe he and Deuce McAlllister.”
With the role part of the offense, it created mismatches Drew Brees could exploit in the passing game. After Bush came Darren Sproles, who took the role to new heights. New Orleans tried to replace Sproles with C.J. Spiller in 2015, but it never worked out, and Travaris Cadet has manned the position since.
The offense has become more dependent on the other skill positions in recent years, but that’s likely due to the personnel more than a change in philosophy. That doesn't mean it still isn't important. Last season’s Week 1 game against Oakland serves as an example. During the two-minute drill to end the first half the Saints ran three plays to Cadet — two on out routes — and could shift formations without changing personnel due to his ability to move around.
It’s easy to see Kamara stepping into that role. In a game against Georgia last year, he caught an out route about 5 yards down the field, kept his feet in bounds while breaking a tackle, and took it the rest of the way for a touchdown. He also ran three out routes from the slot against Alabama.
The fit seems natural in those moments.
The interesting thing, however, is that in the five games reviewed for this article, Kamara didn’t run many receiver routes. Most of his catches came from routes out of the backfield. The Saints brought up Bush and Sproles when discussing Kamara, and Payton had him run a bunch of routes during a private workout, so it’s clear they envision him doing much more. It just didn’t happen in Tennessee’s offense, where he oddly only received 143 touches on offense last season.
It will be interesting to see how New Orleans uses Kamara in the running game. He ran between the tackles as well as outside in college. The running back was also very effective on draws from shotgun formations. He’ll likely continue to do a little bit of everything here, though he will be behind Adrian Peterson and Mark Ingram on the depth chart as a standard runner.
But there’s no question the Saints will figure out a way to use him and help him level up. The team targeted this player and moved up the board to draft him. He fills a need, and Kamara lands with a team that will know how to get the most out of his talents.
In theory, it's a win-win situation.Lisa Rinna may have achieved national fame during the 1990s through her roles of Billie Reed on Days of Our Lives and Taylor McBride on the original Melrose Place, but these days she’s best known for portraying herself on The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills.
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And though she seems a natural fit for reality with her memorable (and meme-able) one-liners, (literally) glass-shattering altercations and up close and personal onscreen bikini waxes, Rinna said her younger self never would have imagined she’d be on a show like Housewives.
“Reality TV was never really part of the plan,” Rinna told me over the phone. “I studied to be an actor and that was that.”
Yet, when Kathie Lee Gifford left Live! With Regis and Kathie Lee in 2000, Rinna said she was called in frequently to cohost with Regis Philbin. Though ABC in the end decided to replace Gifford with Kelly Ripa in 2001, the experience of simply being herself on TV led to another opportunity for Rinna.
The producer of Soap Talk saw Rinna on the Live! With Regis and called to ask if she would be in interested in doing the SOAPnet talk show. Rinna said she went in for a meeting, and by 2002 she and co-host Ty Treadway were officially on-air.
The pair received four Daytime Emmy Award nominations during the show’s run, but in 2006 SOAPnet announced that they were going to cancel the show due to low ratings.
Rinna could see that the media entertainment landscape was rapidly changing, and in 2006 she competed on the second season of Dancing With The Stars.
Though she didn’t emerge the winner, Rinna caught the reality bug; in 2008, it was announced that she and her husband, Mad Men actor Harry Hamlin, would have their own TV Land reality show, Harry Loves Lisa. The show only ran for six episodes when it came out in 2010.
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But, unknown to the public, during this time period Rinna had also auditioned for the first season of The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, which had also premiered in 2010. Rinna said the show’s executive producer, Andy Cohen, originally and emphatically didn’t want actresses on the reality show.
By the show’s fifth season Cohen had a change of heart, and in 2014 Rinna and fellow soap opera actress Eileen Davidson officially became Housewives.
Rinna said Cohen’s initial aversion to having actresses on the show is fascinating to look back on because of the reception she’s gotten from the show’s viewers.
“People say to me and to Eileen Davidson that even though we’re the actors on the show it feels to them that were actually more real,” Rinna said. “I think viewers might feel that way because these other girls have now created a character, which is a version of themselves, that they rely on. And why wouldn't they after being on the show for six years?”
Rinna said that because she and Davidson play dramatic characters for a living, they come on the show solely to be their authentic selves.
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Though Rinna is adamant that the show is completely unscripted, she said there are definitely some similarities between soap operas and reality TV.
“Reality has become the new soap opera,” she said. “It’s become the new nighttime soap opera, it's the new Dynasty, it's the new Dallas, and it’s the new paradigm of escapist television.”
She also said that the filming of Real Housewives is entirely different from scripted soap operas, and that none of her acting experiences could have ever totally prepared her for being on the show.
“To me it’s like doing improv with fast balls being thrown at your head,” she said. “It’s an interesting combination of being out of control, where as an actor I like being in control, but it’s also fun because I love being myself and I love improvising. For me it’s so unknown, and you can never predict what’s going to happen and that's the real thrill.”
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Rinna said that she’s actually been getting more acting roles since joining the Housewives cast. She attributes this rise in demand to being exposed to a more expansive demographic, both on the show and on social media.
“In this day and age, social media has changed everything whether you’re an actor or on reality television it doesn’t really matter anymore,” she said. “You need real estate somewhere, I mean it can even be on YouTube now, it can really be anywhere, but you need real estate and you need followers.”
Rinna told me she’d just had a similar conversation with her husband, Harry Hamlin, about the power that comes with a strong social media following for someone in the entertainment industry.
“I’ve always said that having a place where people can see you makes a huge difference,” she said. “And now having people see me as who I am really has changed my business a lot, because now people know me for me, and not necessarily a character.”
For an entertainer like Rinna, who prides herself on essentially saying ‘yes’ to most everything – from Lifetime movies to Celebrity Apprentice; from Depends commercials to a Playboy photo-shoot while pregnant – crossover performing is the name of her game.
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“I’d love to do Broadway again,” Rinna said, referencing her 2007 performance as Roxie Hart in Chicago, alongside Hamlin. “I’d like to continue going back and forth between acting and reality and talk and everything.”
For this sharpshooting firecracker whose current Real Housewives tagline is, “My lips are made for talking, and that’s just what they’ll do,” what’s the logical next step?
You guessed it: Her very own talk show for NBC, for which she’s shooting the pilot this month.
“It’s a pop-culture panel show and I’m super, super excited about it,” she said. “The group is really good and it’s really the perfect job for me because I love pop culture, and I love talk, so keep your fingers crossed because you never know.”For other battles at Veracruz see Battle of Veracruz (disambiguation).
The United States occupation of Veracruz began with the Battle of Veracruz and lasted for seven months, as a response to the Tampico Affair of April 9, 1914. The incident came in the midst of poor diplomatic relations between Mexico and the United States, and was related to the ongoing Mexican Revolution.
Background [ edit ]
The Tampico Affair was set off when nine American sailors were arrested by the Mexican government for entering off-limit areas in Tampico, Tamaulipas.[9] The unarmed sailors were arrested when they entered a fuel loading station. The sailors were released, but the U.S. naval commander demanded an apology and a 21-gun salute. The apology was provided, but not the salute. In the end, the response from U.S. President Woodrow Wilson ordered the U.S. Navy to prepare for the occupation of the port of Veracruz. While awaiting authorization from the U.S. Congress to carry out such action, Wilson was alerted to a delivery of weapons for Victoriano Huerta, who had taken control of Mexico the previous year after a bloody coup d'état (and was eventually deposed on July 15, 1914), due to arrive in the port on April 21 aboard the German-registered cargo steamer SS Ypiranga. As a result, Wilson issued an immediate order to seize the port's customs office and confiscate the weaponry. The weapons had actually been sourced by John Wesley De Kay, an American financier and businessman with large investments in Mexico, and a Russian arms dealer from Puebla, Leon Rasst, not the German government, as newspapers reported at the time.[10] Huerta had usurped the presidency of Mexico with the assistance of the American ambassador Henry Lane Wilson during a coup d'état in February 1913 known as la decena trágica. The Wilson administration's answer to this was to declare Huerta a usurper of the legitimate government, to embargo arms shipments to Huerta, and to support the Constitutional Army of Venustiano Carranza.
Part of the arms shipment to Mexico originated from the Remington Arms company in the United States. The arms and ammunition were to be shipped to Mexico via Odessa and Hamburg to skirt the American arms embargo.[10] In Hamburg, De Kay added to the shipment. The landing of the arms was blocked at Veracruz, but they were discharged a few weeks later in Puerto Mexico, a port controlled by Huerta at the time.
Initial landing [ edit ]
American ships at Veracruz.
On the morning of 21 April 1914, warships of the United States Atlantic Fleet under the command of Rear Admiral Frank Friday Fletcher, began preparations for the seizure of the Veracruz waterfront.
At 11:12 hrs, consul William Canada watched from the roof of the American Consulate as the first boatload of Marines left the auxiliary vessel USS Prairie.[11][12]
By 11:30, with whaleboats swung over the side, 502 marines from the 2nd Advanced Base Regiment, 285 armed Navy sailors, known as "Bluejackets," from the battleship USS Florida and a provisional battalion composed of the marine detachments from Florida and her sister ship USS Utah also began landing operations.
As the landing party moved toward pier 4, Veracruz's main wharf, a large crowd of Mexican and American citizens gathered to watch the spectacle. The invaders encountered no resistance as they exited the whaleboats, formed ranks into a Marine and a seaman regiment, and began marching toward their objectives. This initial show of force was enough to prompt the retreat of the Mexican forces led by General Gustavo Maass. In the face of this, Commodore Manuel Azueta encouraged cadets of the Veracruz Naval Academy to take up the defense of the port for themselves. Also, about 200 line soldiers of the Mexican Army remained behind to fight the invaders along with the citizens of Veracruz.
Battle of Veracruz [ edit ]
Damaged entryway to a high school adjacent to the Veracruz Naval Academy
Three Navy rifle companies were instructed to capture the customs house, post, and telegraph offices, while the Marines went for the railroad terminal, roundhouse, and yard, the cable office and the power plant.[13]
Arms were distributed to the population, who were largely untrained in the use of Mausers and had trouble finding the correct ammunition. In short, the defense of the city by its populace was hindered by the lack of central organization and a lack of adequate supplies. The defense of the city also included the release of the prisoners held at the "La Galera" military prison, not those at San Juan de Ulúa (some of whom were political prisoners), who were later attended to by the U.S. Navy.[14]
Although the landing had been nearly unopposed as U.S. forces marched into the city, Veracruz quickly became a battleground. Just after noon, fighting began with the 2nd Advanced Base Regiment under Colonel Wendell C. Neville becoming heavily involved in a firefight in the rail yards. While the forces ashore slowly fought their way forward, Admiral Fletcher landed Utah's 384-man bluejacket battalion, the only other unit at his disposal. By midafternoon, the Americans had occupied all of their objectives and Admiral Fletcher called a general halt to the advance, initially hoping that a cease fire could be arranged. That hope rapidly faded as he could find no one to bargain with and all troops in the city were instructed to remain on the defensive pending the arrival of reinforcements.
On the night of April 21, Fletcher decided that he had no choice but to expand the initial operation to include the entire city, not just the waterfront.[15] Five additional U.S. battleships and two cruisers had reached Veracruz during the hours of darkness and they carried with them Major Smedley Butler and his Marine Battalion which had been rushed from Panama. The battleship's seaman battalions were quickly organized into a regiment 1,200 men strong, supported by the ship's Marine detachments providing an additional 300-man battalion. These newly arrived forces went ashore around midnight to await the morning's advance.
At 07:45 April 22, the advance began. The leathernecks adapted to street fighting, which was a novelty to them. The sailors were less adroit at this style of fighting. A regiment led by Navy Captain E. A. Anderson advanced on the Naval Academy in parade-ground formation, making his men easy targets for the partisans barricaded inside (the cadets had left Veracruz the night before, after suffering a few casualties [16]). This attack was initially repulsed; soon, the attack was renewed, with artillery support from three warships in the harbor, Prairie, San Francisco, and Chester, that pounded the academy with their long guns for a few minutes, silencing all resistance.
That afternoon, the First Advanced Base Regiment, originally bound for Tampico, came ashore under the command of Colonel John A. Lejeune, and by 17:00, U.S. troops had secured the town square and were in complete control of Veracruz. Some pockets of resistance continued to occur around the port, mostly in the form of hit-and-run guerrilla tactics, but by April 24 all fighting had ceased.
A third provisional regiment of Marines, assembled at Philadelphia, arrived on May 1 under the command of Colonel Littleton W. T. Waller, who assumed overall command of the brigade, by that time numbering some 3,141 officers and men. By then, the sailors and Marines of the Fleet had returned to their ships and an Army brigade had landed. Marines and soldiers continued to garrison the city until the U.S. withdrawal on November 23, which occurred after Argentina, Brazil, and Chile (the three ABC powers, the most powerful and wealthy countries in South America) were able to settle the issues between the two nations at the Niagara Falls peace conference.[17]
Aftermath [ edit ]
José Azueta is considered a Mexican hero for his actions during the battle
U.S. Army Brigadier General Frederick Funston was placed in control of the administration of the port. Assigned to his staff as an intelligence officer was a young Captain Douglas MacArthur.[18] While Huerta and Carranza officially objected to the occupation, neither was able to oppose it effectively, being more preoccupied by events of the Mexican Revolution. Huerta was eventually overthrown and Carranza's faction took power. The occupation, however, brought the two countries to the brink of war and worsened U.S.-Mexican relations for many years. The ABC Powers held the Niagara Falls peace conference in Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada, on May 20 to avoid an all-out war over this incident. A plan was formed in June for the US troops to withdraw from Veracruz after General Huerta surrendered the reins of his government to a new regime and Mexico assured the United States that it would receive no indemnity for its losses in the recent chaotic events.[19] Huerta soon afterwards left office and gave his government to Carranza. Carranza, who was still quite unhappy with US troops occupying Veracruz,[19] rejected the rest of the agreement.[19] In November 1914, after the Convention of Aguascalientes ended and Carranza failed to resolve his differences with revolutionary generals Pancho Villa and Emiliano Zapata, Carranza left office for a short period and handed control to Eulalio Gutiérrez Ortiz.
During this brief absence from power, however, Carranza still controlled Veracruz and Tamaulipas. After leaving Mexico City, Carranza fled to the state of Veracruz,[20] made the city of Cordoba the capital of his regime and agreed to accept the rest of the terms of Niagara Falls peace plan. The US troops officially departed on November 23.[19] Despite their previous spat, diplomatic ties between the US and the Carranza regime greatly extended, following the departure of US troops from Veracruz,.[19]
After the fighting ended, Secretary of the Navy Josephus Daniels ordered that fifty-six Medals of Honor be awarded to participants in this action, the most for any single action before or since. This amount was half as many as had been awarded for the Spanish–American War, and close to half the number that would be awarded during World War I and the Korean War. A critic claimed that the excess medals were awarded by lot.[21][22] Major Smedley Butler, a recipient of one of the nine Medals of Honor awarded to Marines, later tried to return it, being incensed at this "unutterable foul perversion of Our Country's greatest gift"[citation needed] and claiming he had done nothing heroic. The Department of the Navy told him to not only keep it, but wear it.
Lt. Azueta and a Naval Military School cadet, Cadet Midshipman Virgilio Uribe, who also died during the fighting, are now part of the roll call of honor read by all branches of the Mexican Armed Forces in all military occasions, alongside the six |
's Bild daily she was aghast at the "misunderstandings, urban myths and outright lies in the debate" on the merits or otherwise of the treaty.
Suspicion is running high in Germany over the accords. "In Europe, they need to put people first... that's why we must stop TTIP," said Berlin rally coordinator Axel Kaiser, representing a group of small- and medium-sized firms opposed to the deal.
A recent Ipsos survey found some 28 percent of respondents doubted if free trade could really bring benefits. More than half (52 percent) say it would lead to weaker standards and spawn increasingly inferior products.
Peter Gauweiler, who left the CDU and resigned as an MP in protest over Merkel's stance in the euro crisis, went as far as to call the proposed treaties "a danger for democracy".
Writing in the Sueddeutsche Zeitung, he denounced the proposed special court as a "form of secular sharia of capitalist managers".
But conservative daily Die Welt was more positive. "Before money can be distributed (to the population), it must first come in," wrote its columnist Daniel Eckert. "A further lowering of tariff barriers, the dismantling of bureaucracy and international standardisation are rather cost-effective methods to create greater wealth that future generations can benefit from," he argued.Today's post is from Lauren, updating you on her plans for her Russian project, and discussing how she's planning to start learning the Russian cases. This is the last update in her project, since I surprised her with a proposal in Paris. It's why a goal of reaching around A2 by the two-month point was
It's why a goal of reaching around A2 by the two-month point was such an important milestone to aim for – it was the real main one! I'm so proud of how she did, and you can see it in her last video update below.
Over to you, Lauren!
Here's the video from my month 2 point (recorded in New Zealand in April, and uploaded now because Benny and I have been “otherwise occupied” 🙂 ):
It's been well over 3 months since I started the Russian project, so it’s time for me to regroup and reflect.
In the end, I was able to make 2 months worth of video updates before I got tied up attending the amazing polyglot gathering and then getting a really big surprise – both wonderful things! – And both cutting into my plans to regularly speak Russian on Skype, so the project ultimately ended up being a 2 month one.
With my 2 months of earnest work, I reached a solid A2 level, which you can see in action in my 2-month video from April below. I'm extremely proud of it. Especially since I started out such a nervous mess…
But now, I can keep a conversation flowing, I can conjugate my verbs, I can use the past and future tenses, and I can even talk about a range of topics (travel, work, even the Russian language itself) in Tarzan Russian!
But I haven't reached level B1. And it's mainly for two reasons (other than not having truly begun month three yet).
1) I still can't comfortably cover a wide range of conversations (with a patient speaker) due to lack of vocabulary, and, 2) I still haven't learned how to use the six Russian cases.
So the next time I get back into Russian, I'll have a new goal 🙂
I've realized that I love learning Russian. It's so much more than a project for the blog for me now. It's a passion. And I want to stick with Russian for the long haul: In my next intensive project, I'll be aiming for fluency.
And from my experience over the past few months, I'm now absolutely 100% sure that I can reach that goal.
What’s next: Here's the new mini-mission I'll be tackling next on my journey from A2 Russian to B2 Russian. And it's a big one.
Learning the Russian Cases (And Why It Feels Like Such a Pain in the Ass)
The very first time I told someone I wanted to learn Russian, they grimaced and said “you know it has six cases, right?”
And I said yes, but that was a lie, and in fact I didn’t even know what cases were.
This has been the problem with learning Russian cases for me. I don't speak “grammar-ese”. Learning cases is such a different beast from learning other Russian vocab and phrases, partly because you have to learn a whole subset of English terms first!
I cringe at overly technical wording, and learning cases means dealing with lots of it. Who can get excited about terms like Accusative, Nominative, or Indirect Object? The idea of sitting down to learn them seems so boring. It feels intimidating, confusing, and painful.
BUT, I finally bit the bullet and started to learn one of the Russian cases. And after feeling totally despondent for a few hours, I had an “aha” moment, and found a system that works for me and makes me feel excited and confident about getting through the “hardest part of learning Russian.”
So here’s the technique I'm using to learn the Russian cases.
In this post I’ll avoid thinking about it too technically, and I'll lay it out for you in plain language the best I can, because that's what works best for me.
As my example, I'm using the Prepositional Case (the one you use to talk about where you are), since that's the case I've learned so far. But I plan to use this technique to learn all the other cases as well.
Here goes!
(By the way, if you haven't already learned Cyrillic, make sure you tick off that box before you start learning the Russian cases.)
Don't Memorize the Grammar Rules. First Learn Off Phrases So You Can See the Cases in Action
I've read articles that scared me away from cases by explaining it something like this:
“To form the accusative case, simply learn this long list of word endings. If a words ends in X, Y, or Z, change the ending to W. If a words ends in X, Y, or Z, change the ending to W. Now remember this long list of exceptions. Repeat this process five more times for the other cases, with a totally different set of rules, and exceptions for word endings for each. Now you know the Russian cases!”
Um, no! No I don't know them! And now I'm questioning all my life choices!
But luckily, words don't exist and shouldn't exist in a vacuum. You can learn all of the many word-ending changes required for cases… but please don't start by trying to memorize lists that will have little to no concrete meaning for you.
Try this instead:
Think about what each of the cases does – what it allows you to talk about in Russian. Then list some example words or phrases for each of those talking points that you know you'll want to use when you're speaking Russian. After you've looked at a few phrases that use the case in action, you'll get a feel for how the words change without having to memorize. Once that happens, then take a closer look at the rules, after you already have a good understanding of feel of each case.
Here's an example of what that looks like.
Step 1: Create a few phrases in English that use the words you're looking for
The case I’m looking at here is the “Location Case” (formally known as the Prepositional) case, and it is used to talk about location: where you are, where something is, etc. So you’ll need to use words like “in” (в) and “at/on” (на). It's also used to describe what you're talking or thinking “about”, (о/об/обо).
To get started, you can find sample phrases with a quick Google search, but I recommend you create your own list. That way, you're likely to use them in conversation and you can practice them often to build muscle memory! Then, to translate the phrases to English, I use Google Translate or ask my Russian teacher.
Here's my list of phrases:
On the website – на сайте
In the blog – в блоге
In the room – в комнате
On the street (outside) – на улице
At university – в университете
In class – в классе
At the store – в магазине
In the city – в городе
In a group – в группе
In Australia – в Австралии
In America – в Америке
About my family – о своей семье
About travels – о путешествиях
About grammar – о грамматике
About Russia – о России
So this is what the Prepositional Case looks like in action… but to really understand it, you need to look at how exactly using the case has changed the words inside the phrase.
Step 2: Look up the regular or “dictionary form” of all your nouns and compare them to how they look in your phrases
Russian cases are all about changing the endings of the words, but memorizing a list of the rules for when to change what won't do you any good if you don't already know what the basic form of the words look like!
So take a look at my list now:
Blog – блог In the blog – в блоге
Website – сайт On the website – на сайте
Room – комната In the room – в комнате
Street – улица On the street (outside) – на улице
University- университет At university – в университете
Class – класс In class – в классе
Store – магазин At the store – в магазине
City – город In the city – В городе
Group – группа In a group – в группе
America – Америка In America – в Америке
Australia – Австралия In Australia – в Австралии
Family – семья About my family – о своей семье
Travels – путешествия About travels – о путешествиях
Grammar – грамматика About grammar – о грамматике
Russia – Россиия About Russia – о России
This Russian case involves changing the ending of thing you're talking about. This means we're looking at the nouns in this list and how they change.
From a quick glance, you'll notice that most of the nouns end in -e, (but not all of them). This is pretty much the gist of the Prepositional Case!
But to really understand it, take a look at Step 3 to figure out when you should end the noun in e, and when you should end it in something else.
Step 3: Now is the time to take a look at those rules.
When the first thing you do to learn the Russian cases is look at a long list of “when a word ends in X, change the ending to Y,” it creates a lot of questions in your mind, and it's super overwhelming.
But now that we're working with a concrete list of words we want to use, we can ask more concrete questions like “Why does “блог” change to an е ending, whereas “Россиия” changes to an ии ending?”
Taking a look at the rules governing the case will answer your question.
So now, review the rules for the Prepositional Case, and then look back up at the list above to see them in action.
To form this case…
For most masculine nouns (ending in a consonant, й, or а), change the ending to е.
For masculine nouns ending in ий, change the ending to и.
For most neuter nouns (ending in о or е), change the ending to е.
For neuter nouns ending in ие, change the ending to и.
For most feminine nouns (ending in а or я), change the ending to е.
For feminine nouns ending in ь or ие, change the ending to и.
For feminine nouns ending in -ия, change the ending to ии.
Plural nouns take the endings ах or ях (see more here.)
So that’s why most of the words end in е, because most of the rules require the word endings to change to this form. And this also answers the question of why words like Russia, Australia, and travels don’t conform to the others.
Makes sense, yes?
Step 4: Create a list of verbs (action words) that correspond to the case
Do you feel like you fully know how to use the Prepositional Case now? Of course not! Because understanding the rules is one thing, but being confident in being able to use them requires practice.
So now we’ll get you using that new case so that you’ve really learned how to use it, not just “learned the rules.”
Certain cases lend themselves to using particular verbs over and over again.
For example:
Live in
in Sit on
on Talk about
about Think about
So I like to start my practice by making a list of verbs I'm likely to use with this case. Then I combine them with the nouns I also know I'll want to use.
I've found this is a great way to get my brain and my mouth used to forming the cases in full sentences when I'm speaking.
Here's my list of verbs for the Prepositional Case:
To live (in) – жить
To stand (on/in) – стоять
To sit (on/in) – сидеть
To study (at/in) – учиться
To buy (at) – покупать
To lay (on/in) – лежать
To write (on/in) – писать
To hang (on/in) – висеть
To talk (about) – говорить
To think (about) – думать
And now that you have your list of verbs….
Step 4: Practice using your verbs and new-found knowledge of the case to form and practice your own sentences!
I love this method because it really gives me the opportunity to apply my knowledge of the way the case is formed rather than just memorizing rules. And this technique also gives you practice in conjugating those Russian verbs. A double whammy!
Here’s an example of some sentences I built using my list of verbs to form the Prepositional Case.
I live in New York – Я живу в Нью-Йорке
The book is (sits) on the shelf – Книга стоит на полке
I write about travel – Я пишу о путешествиях.
I want to talk about my family. – Я хочу поговорить о своей семье.
Tell me about Russia. – Расскажи мне о России.
I’m reading about Russian culture. – Я читаю о русской культуре.
And that’s it!
There’s a lot you can do with this system. You can take your first list of phrases and add them to your Anki decks, or you can create Anki decks using the full sentences you created. The possibilities are endless!
I realize this sounds like a lot of work. And that's because learning the Russian cases is a lot of work. But I think it helps a lot to have a process, a place to start and an idea of where you'll want to go from there.
So here's the process I've conjured up. I hope it serves you well!
—
Are any of you procrastinating on learning the Russian cases? What's the hardest part for you? Please tell me your thoughts over in the comments!
Lauren Speaks: View all posts by LaurenWelcome to DOGE Hotel in the heart of the Venetian port of Chania.The15th-century, Venetian-style Doge Hotel is in Chania’s centre 50 metres from the Venetian Harbour. It features free Wi-Fi, a rich breakfast and self-catered rooms with romantic décor. Air-conditioned rooms feature traditional wrought iron or dark wood furnishings. All rooms are equipped with LCD satellite TV and kitchenettes include fridge and coffee-making facilities. Some units of Traditional Doge Hotel offer a dining area. Breakfast is served in the guest rooms or in the hotel’s café with views of the scenic, cobbled street and old market. There is an on-site gift shop with handcrafted souvenirs and jewellery. The hotel offers information about famous Samaria Gorge. Traditional Cretan restaurants, museums and bars are within a 5-minute walk from Doge Traditional Hotel. Chania Airport is 17 km away, while Souda Port is at 7 km.
Read moreWhat the developers have to say:
Why Early Access?
Approximately how long will this game be in Early Access?
How is the full version planned to differ from the Early Access version?
Early Access Feature List
Detailed, Realistic World to Explore - Episode One Region
Quick Role Play Menu - Build camps, go fishing, pass time
Totem System - Charm State, Level your totem for buffs & bonuses!
Physics based Decorator/Grab System
Activators - Sit, Sleep, Open Doors/Chests
Voiced, Lip Synched Non-linear Dialogue - WIP
First Five Chapters of the Main Story PLUS Side Quests
Rich Cultural Histories & Lore Books to Discover
Fauna, Flora, & Enemy Spawns
Basic Player Character Customization - M/F Blackclaw Race Only
Basic Combat - Shield/Sword, Paw to Paw, Bow/Arrow
Time of Day - Basic Weather
Equip Weapons & Armor - Multiple Types
Collectible Craft Materials
Potions & Inventory Items
Storage Containers
WIP HUD and UI Menus
Customize Settings Menus
Basic Mercantile System
Basic Save/Load - Functional but Still in Active Development
Basic Cinematics and Load Screens
Base Skills/Traits - WIP
Planned Features List
Fully Developed Open World + Dreamworld
Totem System - Spirit State, Summon your totem to solve puzzles & fight for you!!
Totem System - Companion State, Bring a companion totem into the physical world!
Symbiotic Magic - Use Druid technology to tap into the magic of creation!
Additional items, characters, and discoverable locations
Additional Puzzles with Totem Co-Op Solutions
Advanced Combat - Dual Wield, Staves, Blunts, and Archery
Stealth & Scouting System
More Weapon & Armor Types per Race
Advanced Player Character Customization - All Races
Improved Character/Creature Models
Recruit Companions & Allies
Additional Dungeons & Unique Rewards
Additional Save/Load Features
Improved Menus, HUD, and UI
Remappable Keys & Settings
Improved Optimization
Advanced Skill and Trait Systems
Improved Trading/Bartering
Mod Support
What is the current state of the Early Access version?
Will the game be priced differently during and after Early Access?
How are you planning on involving the Community in your development process?
A Community of Creative Minds
A Public Roadmap
Live Development Streams
Developer Meet Ups
“Developing on Early Access is a way to offset some of the challenges we face as a startup indie team, working remotely from around the world, and on such an ambitious title. To begin with, Early Access gives us the ability to break development into stages which speeds up our content delivery to players and helps us keep our targets reachable on a smaller scale/budget. It’s also a huge asset to interact with YOU, the players, to get regular suggestions/feedback, to keep our finger on the pulse of what you want to see in the game, and to help us make our game the very best rpg it can be. Perhaps most importantly, it allows you to become our benefactors and partners, potentially bringing in a new source of funding to support the continued development of the game.”“Witanlore: Dreamtime will be in Early Access for approximately 6-8 months to complete the core game. It is our commitment to you, our players, to maintain active development and regular content/patch updates during this period to prevent the game from ever languishing in Early Access.”“These bullet lists outline what is finished as of Day 1 on Early Access, and what features we would like to implement as we work through Early Access together over these months ahead. The majority of gameplay systems have at least some foundation in the current version at various levels ofbut this should give you a good idea of what’s playable and where we’d like to go next.“The Early Access version of Witanlore: Dreamtime is the core game which contains the building blocks for all of the game's gameplay systems present and future. The current state of the game is beta playable. As outlined above, many features are still in development and will continue to be changed and expanded on with the collaboration of our players. The main quest is incomplete but new chapters will be regularly added in.”“Yes. In Early Access, the core game will sell at a 70% reduced price which will increase to full price once the game ships in the main store.Future DLCs will be priced based on the level of content added and will also be reduced for Early Access.”“As veteran modders we're quite accustomed to developing content hand in hand with the players who are as passionate about our projects as we are! This is a trend we would love to carry forward as developers on Early Access.We have an active community where players can join in discussions about Witanlore with other fans and the development team, hop in the chat to connect with other players, share their thoughts, post bug reports/questions for answers straight from the team. Because we really do care about our fans, every month, we’d like to showcase our players’ screenshots, artwork, fanfic, and content on our community as a way of giving back and showing our appreciation for the creativity and passion of our fan base which is such an inspiration for us.A public Trello board will provide a place where our players can more closely track our development progress, see what's planned for upcoming patches, leave notes for the team, and get an overview picture of the game’s development as a whole.Our developers will take turns jumping onto our Twitch channel every month to share a new stream where players can tune in to watch the game develop live, offer feedback, interact with a developer in real time, and catch sneak peeks at upcoming content as it's rolled into the game.Regular live chat meet-up events will continue to be scheduled every couple months to let players and developers gather together in a chatroom to get to know the team, ask questions, make suggestions, talk about all things Witanlore, and influence the direction of the game.”By Rocket Baby Doll
A blue and red minion sit next to each other, staring up at a full moon. Shyvana gives her friend, the dragon, a little cuddle. Galio does his best to woo a turret.
Summoner’s Rift is usually a dangerous place, full of skirmishes and bloodshed. But, as Valentine's Day approaches, champions lay their bows, bolas, clubs or axes aside, take some time out from facechecking brushes, pushing lanes and melting faces and enjoy this time of the year when it's all about cuddles.
We’re excited to announce a recent collaboration with the incredible community artist Inkiness, who designed five unique Valentine’s greeting-card designs for you to enjoy and share.
Spread the love this Valentine’s Day!
Download the images for your printable postcards by clicking here.Mainland China will soon be launching their own version of Korea’s popular reality show, We Got Married, this April, starring Kris (Wu Yifan).
There will be three newlyweds chosen for the show, including singing sensation Lu Xu, Chinese fashion model Wen Liu paired with Taiwanese actor Jerry Yan. Kris’ bride-to-be will be Chinese actress Yan Tang, who is now pursuing solo activities, starring as the lead actor in the recently released film, Somewhere We Only Know.
Nevertheless, Kris is in the spotlight again with fans’ anticipation for his appearance in the TV show. Netizens have been playfully mocking the paired stars (Kris and Yan), as she is known to be a ‘Male God Specialist’, due to her previous collaborations with top male stars, including Hong Kong actor and recording artist Wallace Chung, Hong Kong actor and singer Hawick Lau and Chinese actor, singer and model Li Yi Feng.
The program will by broadcast through Jiangsu Satellite TV and renamed, We Love Each Other. It will include the original segments from the Korean We Got Married, such as visiting friends and relatives, parents, etc. However, it will infuse aspects of traditional Chinese culture so that the Mainland audience will be more able to relate to the show.
There was also recent controversy for the young actor and singer surrounding the leaked photos of himself together with his alleged ex-girlfriend, although those rumors were later disproved. Luhan has also expressed sadness with the alleged cancellation of his reunion with Kris.
Previously, Jiangsu Satellite TV stated that Korean actor and model Kim Woo Bin and Lee Jong Suk were included in the lineup of guests. However, the two celebrities have denied those rumors. Woo Bin was recently seen in a video wearing suits for Sieg Fahrenheit campaign. Jong Suk was also shooting a “Millet” CF with Korean actress Park Shin Hye as a couple.
Source: Yahoo TaiwanMuch of Courier country is basking in sunshine today but forecasters of warning of heavy rain to come.
Torrential downpours and thunderstorms are due to reach us by the early hours of Friday, with warnings that up to a month’s worth of rain could fall in a matter of hours.
The wet front will reach the south of the UK today, with the risk of intense thundery downpours.
Senior forecaster Gareth Harvey said: “There are some quite active thunderstorms in the English Channel and they will move towards the south coast during the night. There is quite a cluster of storms heading for Hampshire and the Isle of Wight.
“These showers will push north through Thursday, with some really heavy downpours in places. It will reach Scotland, with heavy rain in the east – parts of north-west Scotland might escape most of it.”
Warm air moving in from the south today is expected to make it feel very humid across central and southern areas of the UK, with heavy rain.
A spokesman said: “As we have already seen this summer, this type of weather situation has the potential to cause sudden, localised surface water flooding and hazardous travelling conditions.”
The weather system is expected to clear away to the east during Saturday, with drier, fresher weather following everywhere, with some sunshine.Fabio (left) scored for Cardiff in their 3-1 loss at Middlesbrough in February 2016
Former Manchester United defender Fabio Da Silva has joined newly-promoted Middlesbrough from Cardiff City.
The 26-year-old Brazilian's Bluebirds' contract included a release clause understood to be around £2 million.
"We'd like to take this opportunity to thank Fabio for his contribution during his two and a half years at the club and wish him the very best for his future," Cardiff said.
Bluebirds boss Paul Trollope confirmed yesterday a deal was close.
"He's in talks with them and within the next 24 to 48 hours that might be concluded," he told BBC Radio Wales after the 1-0 defeat by Bristol Rovers.
Cardiff chief executive Ken Choo has already said players are likely to leave the Cardiff City Stadium before others are brought in.
"We could see a lot of movement in the last week of August, when the transfer window is about to close," said Choo.
"Everything is still up in the air.
"We have a few targets to go but it really depends on players leaving as well, players who we feel should move on."
The Bluebirds are closing in on a deal to sign Wales midfielder Emyr Huws.
Find all the latest football transfers on our dedicated page.Changing to the new ZB Commodore look next year will cost Holden teams more than $40,000 per car.
Updating from the existing VF shape will require around 30 new body panels and parts to reskin a GM V8-powered chassis.
Teams that make the switch will need to buy a set of production panels from Holden and a racing body kit from Triple Eight Race Engineering.
Speedcafe.com has discovered that the Holden parts will cost around $10,000 per car and the Triple Eight kit will be priced at more than $30,000 each.
Of the 16 VF Commodores running this year, up to 12 are expected to be converted to ZBs, adopting an exaggerated racing version of the styling of next year’s new fully imported road car.
Production of the last locally designed Commodore ends on October 20, with the German-made ZB to be launched next February.
Triple Eight, which is the homologation team for the ZB, will re-body its pair of factory backed cars for Jamie Whincup and Shane van Gisbergen, and also Craig Lowndes’s new-look third entry.
Walkinshaw Racing, Garry Rogers Motorsport, Brad Jones Racing and Erebus Motorsport are also planning to update their cars or build new ones to optimise the improved aero kit.
Developed by Triple Eight, the ZB-shape Commodore racer is due to run for the first time later this month at a secret test location, as revealed by Speedcafe.com two weeks ago.
As part of the deal with Holden to design the Supercars version of the ZB, Triple Eight retains the rights to the bespoke composite racing body panels and aerodynamic appendages.
The squad will be the exclusive supplier of the racing-specific body kit to other Holden teams to recoup the cost of design, tooling and production.
There are three sets of panels or pieces required to transform a Supercars chassis – the specifications of which are common to all cars – and mechanicals into a ZB Commodore.
A limited number of production panels are supplied by Holden’s spare parts division. They include the bonnet, side frames, inner door structures and frames, driver’s door outer skin and bulkheads.
However, unlike the VF, the standard roof panel and boot lid – or in the five-door hatchback ZB’s case, tailgate – have been replaced by T8-made composite items.
Along with the limited availability of imported panels, the production top can’t be used because the road car’s is a panoramic roof containing a large expanse of glass, while for practical purposes the rear lift-gate is a plastic composite piece engineered by T8 to operate like the road car’s hatch.
The other Triple Eight-made composite body parts include the three other door skins, quarter panels and fenders, plus the front bar and splitter, side skirts, and rear wing.
The ZB’s aero kit will be finalised in November following the Supercars-run aerodynamic straight-line airfield parity tests, measured against the existing VF, FG X Falcon and Nissan Altima downforce and drag numbers.
The final package is the aluminium and steel components needed to attach the ZB body bits to the chassis.
Technical drawings for those parts will be supplied to customer teams free-of-charge to produce themselves or they can buy them from Triple Eight.
A senior executive of another Holden team confirmed that the price of ex-factory panels and parts will be around $10,000 per car.
Triple Eight chief Roland Dane told Speedcafe.com that while the cost of the racing body kit had not been finalised, he forecast the bill for each set would be more than $30,000.
Holden teams that swap to the ZB will continue to run the Holden Motorsport five-litre V8 – which is actually a heavily modified version of a GM Racing NASCAR motor – while Triple Eight develops the Supercars version of the GM Racing twin-turbocharged 3.6-litre V6.
Holden has helped fund development of the motor to align the next racing Commodore with the VXR performance model, which is powered by a normally aspirated version of GM’s 3.6-litre HFV6.
The Red Bull Holden Racing Team will field a TT V6-powered ZB as a wild card entry at selected events next year before a planned wholesale move to the blown engine in 2019.
The twin-turbo V6 will be made available to the other Commodore squads from ’19 on an annual lease deal with GM Racing in Detroit.
The motors will be serviced by long-time T8 engine supplier KRE, which is assisting with the development of the Supercars version of the LF4.R powerplant used in the GT3 Cadillac ATS-V.R in USA racing.
Triple Eight will run the TT V6 for the first time in public during the October 5-8 Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000.
The twin-turbo 3.6-litre V6-powered Red Bull Racing ‘Sandman’ used for initial local development will perform daily demonstration runs in the hands of four-time Bathurst champion Greg Murphy.Laura Plummer reportedly faces the threat of Death Penalty or a 25-year imprisonment, months after she was taken into custody for possession of prescription ‘drugs’ which she brought for her husband's backache.
A shocking story is all over the global news, according to which a 33-year-old British tourist, Laura Plummer, has been locked up in prison for more than a month after the Egypt police caught her with some pills of Tramadol and Naproxen. It was October 9, when Laura reached the Hurghada airport only to be held by the authorities. The family claims that Laura was made to sign an Arabic statement of 38-pages which the officials had given to her, but instead of freeing her, she was put behind bars.
The family has been telling the media that Laura only intended to bring medication for her Egyptian husband, who had been experiencing back pain since an accident he had met earlier. Laura’s brother added that she used to visit her husband about four times a year and she thought it was a ‘good deed’ for her husband.
Plummer has been kept in a 15′ by 15′ cell with 25 more women that are in with her. A lawyer has told the family that Laura might have to face 25-years in the jail or even a death penalty. She is to appear in court for the trial again this Thursday.
Laura's mother and sister managed to visit her, and according to them, she was "unrecognizable." Her brother said to the press," She has a phobia of using anybody else's toilet, so let alone sharing a toilet and a floor with everybody else.” He feels that Laura might not be tough enough to survive the cell there.
It is important to note here that although Tramadol is a commonly prescribed pain reliever in different countries, its use is restricted in Egypt as it is one of the most abused drugs there. According to the local news there, drug trafficking is a severe offense in Egypt and guidelines mention that any citizen or tourist committing such a crime might even be punished with a death penalty.A San Jose man's two cars were stolen while he visited his sick wife in the hospital. The crime hit him extra hard as the man also drives for a living. Ian Cull reports. (Published Monday, Oct. 13, 2014)
It’s been a few really bad days for Daniel Stewart and his family: a day after his wife, Jennifer, was diagnosed with a rare form of multiple sclerosis, both of his cars were stolen as he visited her in the hospital.
The string of bad luck is almost unbelievable for Stewart, who uses his car for his job as a driver.
Stewart says he lost his keys between the car and his wife’s hospital room at Good Samaritan Hospital in San Jose on Sunday. When he went back out to the parking lot, his black Chevy Cruze was missing. The key to his other Chevy Cruze, parked at his home, was on that key chain. And his wallet was in the car - with information on where he lived.
When he returned home, his second car was gone, too.
"I figured if someone recovered the keys, more than likely they would try and steal the car. So, that's pretty much what happened,” Stewart said.
The cars aren't just transportation for Stewart. He takes his kids to school and his wife to her doctor’s appointments. Stewart says he also drives for Lyft.
Stewart finally received some good news on Monday night. Someone saw a car parked in an awkward position a few miles away from Stewart’s house and called police.
“They felt it was suspicious enough to call and report to the police,” SJPD Officer Christian Camarillo said. “The caller provided the license plate of the vehicle, which we then verified was one of the outstanding stolen vehicles of the victim at Good Samaritan hospital,”
Now, Stewart has at least one of his cars back. He’s hoping his luck is starting to change.
"It's not about catching the people so much, it's above recovering the cars," he said. "It's not about the value of the car; it's about what the car enables us as a family to do."While a pair of madras trousers might display one’s daring sartorial choices, they also communicate another bold statement—namely that the wearer lives beyond the basics. Since he obviously has an already hearty selection of garments in solid tones, he is at liberty to venture into the realms of pastel and plaid, we might once have thought. Now though, the hallmarks of preppy dressing—bold colors, kitsch characters and wild patterns—are being injected into the everyday wardrobes of those who may not have the storied lineage (and bank accounts) of an iconic preppy family such as, oh, the Kennedys. Preppy has gone mainstream.
In True Prep, the 2010 reprise of The Official Preppy Handbook, first released 1980, author Lisa Birnbach notes, “It just so happens that almost anyone can assimilate into our world of prepdom. The desire to be prep is the most important factor.” Over the past decade, said “desire” has grown rapidly, and morphed into an aspirational style beyond the must-haves—a navy blazer or repp tie—and into the delightfully wacky weekend items now creeping into everyday wardrobes.
“The look that used to be worn strictly on weekends and holidays is now going into the office,” Ms. Birnbach told the Observer during a chat over the phone. “(Preppy) Weekend wear is making its way to the office and the working day has changed. It may be four hours at a desk, then a coffee place or drinks for a meeting. It’s not an eight-hour, sit-at-your-desk day necessarily.”
The result is an ensemble that toes the line of rebellion. “You’re finding more patchwork and whimsy day-to-day,” she added. “I’ve seen women wearing Lilly Pulitzer at the office, and guys during the summer wearing Bermuda shorts with a shirt and tie. Ten or five years ago, you wouldn’t have seen that. Maybe in Bermuda for the weekend, or for cocktails in Newport, but not on Madison Avenue or Hudson Street—and especially not on the trading floors of Goldman Sachs.”
The clothes are fun, bright and never too serious, and Ms. Birnbach credits one company in particular, Vineyard Vines, |
Joy is functional because computation consists of the evaluation of expressions.
Joy is concatenative (and not applicative) because
The elementary well-formed expressions of Joy are monadic functions of a nameless data stack.
If X and Y are well-formed expressions, then the concatenation of X and Y is well-formed.
If Z is the concatenation of X and Y, then the value of Z is the composition of the values of X and Y.
For a rigorous exposition of Joy, and for examples of its use, the reader should consult the FAQ, language reference manual, tutorial, and related materials on the official Joy website.
In this note to my interview with Joys inventor, Manfred von Thun, I describe tcK, a tiny concatenative language modelled on Joy and written in K.
A tiny concatenative K
tcK is a pure, concatenative, functional, array programming language.
tcK is a tiny version of cK: syntax and display are untranslated K, and the interactive environment is the plain K console.
The primitives of tcK are those of K: the twenty dyads
~! @ # $ % ^ & * - _ = + | :, <. >?
and their monadic counterparts
~:!: @: #: $: %: ^: &: *: -: _: =: +: |: ::,: <:.: >:?:
The atoms of tcK are those of K, minus lambdas (defined functions): integers, floats, characters, symbols, null, dictionaries, and lists.
Since tcK is concatenative, everything primitives, atoms, and lists is a monadic function of the nameless data stack. For example, the number 12 is a function which takes a data stack and returns it with 12 as the new top element. The stack diagram showing the action of the 12 function is:
-> 12
+ is a monadic function which takes a stack whose top two elements are X and Y and returns it with X and Y replaced by X+Y:
X Y -> X+Y
Evaluation in tcK uses two stacks, implemented as K lists. The data stack
(..;Z)
has Z as its top element. The program stack
(X;..)
has X as its next element.
Since the program stack is a concatenation of monadic functions, it denotes a composition. For example,
(2;+;*)
is the composition times of add of 2 of the data stack. Applied to
10 20 30 40 50
it returns
10 20 30 2080
That is,
10 20 30 (40 * 50 + 2)
Computation consists of evaluating the program stack on the data stack to obtain a new data stack.
Quotations and Combinators
A program in tcK is a list, or in Joy-speak, a quotation. Quotations are monadic functions of the stack (everything is), so, applied to the data stack, it returns that stack with itself as the top element.
A combinator is a function which expects one or more quotations on the data stack, and applies those quotations in a particular way to the remainder of the stack. Combinators resemble APL operators, or K adverbs.
The simplest combinator is i, which expects a quotation as the top item of the data stack. The action of this combinator is to evaluate the quotation on the remainder of the data stack:
(10;20;30;40;50;(2;+;*);i) 10 20 30 2080
Recursive Combinators
Joy contains several combinators which abstract common patterns of recursion. One such is linear recursion, which expects four quotations I, T, E, and F on the data stack. The combinator evaluates the predicate I. If it leaves true on the stack, it evaluates T, else it evaluates E, recurses, and then evaluates F. For example, in Joy the factorial function can be written:
[0 =] [1 +] [dup -1 +] [*] linrec
and in tcK:
((0;=);(1;+);(dup;-1;+);,(*);linrec)
Definitions
Joy allows us to create associations between a name and the contents of a quotation:
sqr == dup *
The effect of the definition is to add the word'sqr' to the Joy vocabulary. Note that == is not assignment.
The tcK analogue of Joy definition is the function-definition function d. A tcK definition is a projection of d onto a quotation:
sqr:d[(dup;*)]
The result is a monadic function of the stack which can be used in subsequent evaluations as though it were a primitive of tcK.
An implementation of tcK
The tcK evaluator E is the following dyadic function:
E:{*(a.)/(x;y)}
E is applied to a data stack x and a program stack y. It calls (a.) repeatedly, initially on (x;y), and thereafter on the result of the previous application, until that result either matches (x;y) or is the same twice in a row.
For convenience, evaluation on the empty data stack is defined as the projection
e:E[()]
For example,
e(10;20;30;+;-),-40
The application function a is:
a:{:[~#y;(x;y);(4:*y)_in 4 7;(f[x;*y];1_ y);(x,1#y;1_ y)]}
Again, x is the data stack and y the program stack. If y is empty all program elements have been processed then a returns (x;y), which causes E to terminate evaluation and return the final data stack. Otherwise, if the next program element *y is a function or a symbol, f is called to compute the new data stack and *y is dropped from the program stack. Otherwise, the next program element is appended to the data stack and dropped from the program stack.
The function-evaluation function f is:
f:{:[(#k)>i:k?y;(v[i]_ x),,y. v[i]#x;y x]}
where x is the data stack and y is a single program element to evaluate. k is a list of the forty K primitives, and v is a vector of the corresponding valences, negated for convenience. For example, the dyadic k primitive of equality is k 32, and v 32 is -2.
If y is a K primitive, then the new data stack is constructed by dropping valence-of-y-many elements from the data stack, and appending the result of applying y to those elements.
If y is not a K primitive, then it is either a tcK primitive or a tcK definition.
The tcK primitives are monadic K functions which model the stack operators and combinators of Joy, and the adverbs of K. For example, the Joy operator dup which duplicates the top element of the data stack is written:
dup:{x,-1#x}
and the K adverb over is written:
over:{(-2_ x),,{{*e(y;z),x}[y]/x}.-2#x}
The vocabulary of Joy is quite large. Since the purpose of tcK is primarily pedagogical, I've implemented only those operators required by the demonstration problems:
dup X -> X X duplicate top of data stack cons X [..] -> [X..] insert X at head of [..] swap X Y -> Y X swap top two items of data stack
i [P] -> P evaluate P linrec [I] [T] [E] [F] -> if I then T else: E, recurse, F
right X Y [F] -> X [F]/:Y X F/:Y, X F each-right Y over X [F] -> [F]/X F/X, F over X converge X [F] -> [F]/X F/X, R:F X, then R:F R until R ~ X or R ~ previous R
Three problems
Transitive closure 1
A K implementation of the classical or. and APL solution:
tc:{x|x(|/&)/:x}/
tc is the converge of the monadic function
{x|x(|/&)/:x}
the noun-verb-adverbsyntax of which is:
nvn(vav)an - v
That is, x is a noun, | and & are transitive verbs, / and /: are adverbs, and the expression (|/&) parses to a transitive verb. In keyword K, tc is:
{x or x (or over and) right x} converge
We can easily implement tc in prefix form, where expressions involving adverbs are explicit projections of higher-order functions:
or:| and:& over:{x/y} converge:{x/y} right:{y x/:z}
tc:converge[{or[x]right[{over[or]and[x]y}][x]x}]
A concatenative language does not have variables. Instead, operators such as dup and swap are used to move items on the data stack into argument position:
tc:d[((dup;dup;(&;,(|);over);right;|);converge)]
e(3 3;0 0 0 1;#;tc),(0 0 0 1 0 0 1 1 0)
Paul Graham poses the following problem:
Write a function foo that takes a number n and returns a function that takes a number i, and returns n incremented by i.
We cannot write foo in K, since K lambdas have no state. But tcK programs are lists, and lists have parts which can be used to keep state:
acc:d[((+;`acc);cons)] / accumulator (recursive, must use `acc instead of acc) foo:d[(`acc`i;cons)] / generator (can use acc and i instead of `acc and `i)
e(3;foo) / generate a 3-accumulator,(3;`acc;`i) e(3;foo;4;swap;i) / and accumulate 4,(7;+;`acc) e(3;foo;4;swap;i;5;swap;i) / then accumulate 5,(12;+;`acc)
Quines 3
A quine is a function which prints its own code.
The standard approach is to design a function which indirectly constructs a text-representation of its code. In K (and in many other languages) the ultimate constituents of text are characters. But the ultimate constituents of programs are terms, so we might expect that a language in which programs are directly available as lists of first-class terms would present the opportunity for a more direct solution.
In tcK, we can define the following quine:
(`dup`cons;`dup;`cons)
Evaluation begins by pushing the program `dup`cons on the data stack:
,`dup`cons
Next, dup is evaluated, leaving two items on the stack:
(`dup`cons;`dup`cons)
Finally, cons is evaluated, which inserts `dup`cons at the head of the list `dup`cons, leaving
,(`dup`cons;`dup;`cons)
which is the original program.
1 Adapted from code posted by Greg Heil on the K mailing list.
2 Joy solution by Martin Young.
3 Joy solution by Manfred von Thun
// tcK - 1 stack / verbs k:,/+{.:'(x,":";x)}'"~!@#$%^&*_-+=|:<,>.?" / F1,F2 = (~:;!:;..;~;!;..) v:-&0 20 20 / valences / stack operators dup:{x,-1#x} / X -> X X cons:{(-2_ x),,{(,x),y}.-2#x} / X [..] -> [X..] swap:{(-2_ x),|-2#x} / X Y -> Y X / combinators i:{E[-1_ x;*-1#x]} / [..] ->.. linrec:{{[x;i;t;e;f]:[E_[x;i];E[x;t];E[_f[E[x;e];i;t;e;f];f]]}[-4_ x].-4#x} / t if i else: e, recurse, f / adverbs (k combinators) right:{(-3_ x),,{x{*e(y;z),x}[z]/:y}.-3#x} / X Y f2 -> X f2/:Y over:{(-2_ x),,{{*e(y;z),x}[y]/x}.-2#x} / X f2 -> f2/X converge:{(-2_ x),,{{*e(,y),x}[y]/x}.-2#x} / X f1 -> f1/X / apply a:{:[~#y;(x;y);(4:*y)_in 4 7;(f[x;*y];1_ y);(x,1#y;1_ y)]} / apply if program-stack not empty f:{:[(#k)>i:k?y;(v[i]_ x),,y. v[i]#x;y x]} / apply k or tck0 program / eval E:{*(a.)/(x;y)} / evaluate y on x E_:{*-1#E[x;y]} / last of evaluate y on x e:E[()] / evaluate y on () / trace T:{(a.)\(x;y)} / trace evaluation of y on x t:T[()] / trace evaluation of y on () / define program P:d[(..)] (metalinguistic) d:{E[y;x]} / evaluate x on yThe article goes on to suggest that Nintendo is also prepping popular GameCube lifestyle sim Animal Crossing for the Virtual Console. It seems as though the company is also looking into making the console compatible with the Wii U's GameCube controller adapter.
Given Super Smash Bros Melee's evergreen popularity at fighting game tournaments and the Switch reveal trailers focus on eSports, its inclusion is an easy win for Nintendo.
The GameCube emulator is rumored to be developed by Nintendo's European Research Department - the people responsible for this year's Christmas sell-out, the NES Mini. While the NES Mini has a few issues, its game emulation runs flawlessly, meaning that if true, GameCube emulation on the Switch looks rather promising indeed.
Frustratingly, it looks like old Virtual Console purchases won't transfer over to the Switch, requiring users to pay a small 'upgrade' fee to unlock the rom on Switch. In an age where account purchases on mobile transfer seamlessly to your next handset, if true, it's hard not to see this as a cheap cash grab.
While none of this has been officially confirmed, Eurogamer's previous rumors about the system proved to be true. With Nintendo holding a press event revealing more about the Switch next month, we won't have long to discover how much truth is in this reports.Universal has three weeks left to make its final marketing push for the Tom Cruise film, which is expected to be a far bigger player overseas.
Universal's The Mummy reboot is projected to open to $40 million-plus in North America in what would make a modest start for the event film starring Tom Cruise.
At the same time, Universal has yet to make its final three-week marketing push for the film, which opens June 9. According to two people with access to prerelease tracking, one major service has the opening at $40 million; another has it at $42 million.
These projections do not include international. The Mummy, costing roughly $125 million to make before marketing, should do substantially more business overseas than in North America and will have the advantage of opening day and date in almost every major market around the globe, including China.
Directed by Alex Kurtzman, The Mummy stars Cruise as Nick Morton, who wakes up without a scratch after a plane crash. He's told by Dr. Jekyll (Russell Crowe) that he's been cursed by an ancient evil, The Mummy (Sofia Boutella).
The Mummy launches a shared universe for Universal featuring its monsters, with Crowe's Dr. Jekyll potentially playing a role similar to Samuel L. Jackson's Nick Fury in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Javier Bardem is on board for a future Frankenstein film, while Johnny Depp has signed on for The Invisible Man.
Courtney B. Vance, Annabelle Wallis and Jake Johnson also star in The Mummy.
In 1999, The Mummy, starring Brendan Fraser and Rachel Weisz, earned a rousing $155.4 million domestically and $416 million globally. The Mummy Returns debuted to $68 million domestically in May 2001 on its way to grossing $433 million worldwide. After a long hiatus, Fraser returned to star in The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon. The threequel, opening to $40.6 million in August 2008, disappointed with a domestic total of $102.5 million. Globally, it grossed $401.1 million.
The Mummy opens in a very competitive corridor, coming two weeks after Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales and Wonder Woman.Unless you’ve been living under a heavy rock, you are aware that the Atlanta Falcons are in search of a pass rusher for their young, athletic defense. In a draft that has a nice collection of quarterback chasers, the Falcons have an opportunity to add a vital component to the defense.
Recently, Falcons head coach Dan Quinn has held private workouts for Youngstown State’s Derek Rivers and Villanova’s Tanoh Kpassagnon. Both are athletic specimens and will be available in case the Falcons choose to target a pass rusher in rounds two or three.
Sitting at 31st overall, there’s a number of edge rushers the Falcons may have a crack at. One in particular fits what the Falcons need on this defense: a versatile pass rusher who has distinctive athleticism. UCLA’s Takkarist McKinley fits the criteria in Atlanta. His selection at 31st overall can give Atlanta another athletic freak to team with Vic Beasley Jr. and hunt quarterbacks.
Let’s break down McKinley’s skill set.
Takkarist McKinley Scouting Report
Height: 6’2
Weight: 250 lbs
Strengths: McKinley has an impressive, athletic frame, especially given his ‘freakish’ ability and skill set. While he timed a head-turning 4.59 40-yard dash, it was his 10-yard split of 1.61 that had the scouts talking. During his senior season in 2016, McKinley raked in 10 sacks plus 18.5 tackles for loss, six pass deflections and three forced fumbles. When viewing his tape, you can’t miss his constant hustle and relentlessness. His burst off the ball threatens opposing linemen who are flat-footed and/or unable to get their hands properly on him. Once he is locked on his target, McKinley has a closing burst that gets to the ball carry in a hurry.
In this GIF, McKinley displays his ability to maneuver around a wide chop block by the tackle with good balance and awareness. His ability to recover pays off as he closes in on the QB to cause a key turnover.
McKinley also shows proper bend around the edge and can covert from speed-to-power. Exceptional arm length at 34 3⁄ 4 inches pays off when he is able to cause strip-sacks even when he’s unable to fully get to the quarterback. On run defense, the quickness by McKinley can disrupt run plays and can chase down run plays heading opposite his direction. What is be scary about McKinley is that he may just be scratching the surface of his potential.
Weaknesses: Even with his obvious athleticism, his overall technique is off. Small things such as high pad level and lack of active hands are things he needs to tighten on at the next level. It seems he almost depends on his speed and athleticism on every play. His lack of pass rushing techniques holds him back as a defensive end. He has the room to improve his overall strength, which can hinder him tremendously in the NFL.
His recent shoulder surgery will keep him out for some time, roughly six months at the most. Taking him at 31st is a real possibility with his draft stock sliding slightly because of the surgery. Many also question his production. Granted, he started off the JUCO route. However, he only has two seasons of reliable work.
Conclusion: It’s understandable if some question if McKinley is worth a long-term position on their team. He does not have a ton of production, with his senior year (in which he earned first team All-Pac 12 honors), being his only resume building stat sheet thus far.
However, the Combine showed a glimpse of what McKinley has to offer. There is no mistake about it, he is very athletic and has considerable upside.
He is also capable of being a piece at both the LEO and base defensive end position. The potential tandem of McKinley and Beasley can allow Quinn and the defensive staff to have two freakish athletic pass rushers on the field at once. Something Atlanta did not quite have last season. His technique needs polish and his shoulder surgery needs monitoring. Yet, taking McKinley at 31st overall will bring the Falcons a unique dynamic to the table. If he is there, it is a possibility that Atlanta is the next destination for McKinley.One of President Trump ’s attorneys on Sunday insisted “there is not an investigation of the president of the United States, period.”
He was responding to reports that a Justice Department investigation has expanded to investigate potential obstruction of justice related to the president’s decision to fire FBI Director James Comey, as well as apparent confirmation by the president himself.
“Let me be clear here,” said Jay Sekulow, a member of the president’s legal team, on NBC's “Meet The Press.” “The president is not and has not been under investigation for obstruction."
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Last week, multiple reports said special counsel Robert Mueller’s ongoing investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 elections has expanded to include allegations that Trump obstructed justice by firing Comey, who had been leading the investigation.
“I am being investigated for firing the FBI director by the man who told me to fire the FBI director,” Trump tweeted Friday, in an apparent dig at Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, who wrote a memo criticizing Comey and subsequently appointed Mueller to lead the investigation.
According to Sekulow, the president’s tweet should not be taken as confirmation he’s under investigation.
“The tweet from the president was in response to the five anonymous sources purportedly leaking info to the Washington Post,” he said.
“He's not afraid of the investigation — there is no investigation,” Sekulow added. "There has been no notification from the special counsel's office that the president is under investigation."
Although he sidestepped a question about whether the special counsel would be legally bound to inform the president he's under investigation, the attorney insisted "I can't imagine a scenario where the president would not be aware of it."
Making the rounds on the Sunday shows, Sekulow also insisted on CNN's "State of the Union" the Trump's tweet was in response to The Washington Post story. “That response on social media was in response to the Washington Post piece. It’s that simple. The president is not under investigation,” he told CNN’s Jake Tapper.(KUTV) A milestone in Mormon history is being celebrated in Provo during the next few days.
The Mormon History Association -- dedicated to studying the complexities of the LDS faith -- is marking 50 years.
The group is also getting a new leader -- one you might not expect.
"I'm really interested in Mormon history," said Laurie Maffly-Kipp, the organization's incoming president, as the group's annual conference kicked off Thursday evening in Provo. "I've been studying Mormons and Mormonism for the last 16 years."
But Maffly-Kipp is unique. She's not a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
"It's one of the few places really where active members, church leaders, ex-Mormons, sort of unsure Mormons all come together," she said of the Mormon History Association.
Spencer Fluhman, a BYU professor and active member of the faith, agrees. He said the organization serves a crucial mission.
"I think this is a period of real kind of intense scrutiny and meaning making for Latter-day Saints," Fluhman said.
Recently, the LDS church has drilled down into some thorny issues in its history -- how long it took for African-American men to receive the priesthood, the number of wives taken by church founder Joseph Smith, and the differing accounts of his first vision.
"I think what we are seeing over the past year is a religious community coming to grips with kind of the full complex picture of its past," Fluhman said.
But that's not all that's happened.
"This has been the year of a couple of excommunications," said Maffly-Kipp. One of the most notable examples is that of Kate Kelly, founder of Ordain Women.
During this conference which runs through Saturday, no issue is taboo as these scholars hope to shed more light on this worldwide faith.
"All the more reason to study history, I guess," said Maffly-Kipp.
For more information about the Mormon History Association, click.
_________
Copyright 2015 Sinclair Broadcast GroupHere's the letter we'll send to Clear Channel on your behalf. You can add a personal comment using the box to the right.
Dear Clear Channel CEOs Bob Pittman and William Eccleshare,
I am writing to demand that you take down the billboards that have cropped up in Black and Latino neighborhoods in recent weeks and that employ tactics meant to scare people away from voting. While you may not have crafted the message, your company is in fact the messenger.
These billboards, which read "Voter Fraud is a Felony," are clearly designed to intimidate voters of color and keep those communities away from the polls. That these billboards did not appear in white or suburban neighborhoods is proof of their discriminatory nature.
Allowing an anonymous advertiser to create an atmosphere of fear around voting just as the early voting period begins is unacceptable. I ask that you remove these billboards at once. I know that in the past, you have rejected billboard ads when leadership in your company deemed the content to be politically charged. This campaign of misinformation fits that criteria and is a dangerous disservice to the Black and Latino communities in which they are placed.
Please remove these billboards immediately.
Sincerely,
[Your name]On last week’s community hangout, Greg told us that the joint venture with our partners at wewowwe.com made some major steps forwards.
Wewowwe.com is a sports-based social network and market place plugged into Synereo. Users are rewarded with AMP’s directly when other users like their content.
Greg told as that the wewowwe.com project has now API functionality and is able to work with outside networks, so that users can now be compensated automatically with AMPs for their contributions to their social network.
We also learned from Greg that the components of the Synereo ecosystem are starting to converge and reveal a detailed picture of its capability. He went on to give deeper insights about Synereo’s use of the term, “social contracts”, rather than “smart contracts”, to highlight the difference between Ethereum and Synereo’s inner workings.
On a few other fronts, Ed shared the latest edition of the awesome Architecture document in our Slack channel (you should join it if you haven’t already), and Eric said that the Dev landing page is up on the new website. Rogayeh informed us that she has been working through user experience stories, to further prepare for the Synereo Alpha release.
That’s it for this time. The full hangout can be viewed here.
And you’re always invited to
Get involved in the Synereo community
Get AMP bounties for open tasks, or submit your own proposal!
See our Slack channel for details.An NBC 5 investigation spanning seven months reveals the locations in North Texas where data indicates drivers are more likely to be involved in alcohol-related crashes. (Published Monday, Nov. 11, 2013)
NBC 5 Investigates spent seven months analyzing statewide data obtained from The Texas Department of Transportation to pinpoint crash zones where people are more likely to be hit by a driver who’s been drinking.
The investigation determined one zone along I-35E in Lewisville is among the areas where alcohol related crashes occur more frequently, specifically in zip code 75067.
Data revealed that in 2011 and 2012 combined there were at least 176 alcohol-related crashes in that 75067 zip code. Many of the crashes were clustered near I-35E and the Sam Rayburn Tollway and near I-35E and Business state Highway 121.
To get those numbers NBC 5 Investigates obtained TxDOT’s database of all statewide crash reports for 2011 and 2012 and zeroed in on all crashes where an officer indicated a driver that had been drinking or an intoxicated driver contributed to causing the crash.
TxDOT uses the same methods to generate a yearly report of alcohol-related crashes by city. NBC 5 Investigates went a step further, taking the information down to the neighborhood level. Almost 90 percent of all alcohol-related crash reports over the last two years include GPS coordinates, pinpointing the crash location. Using those coordinates, NBC 5 Investigates plotted the crashes on a map allowing us to see zip codes with higher concentrations of alcohol-related crashes.
For example, the 75240 zip code in Dallas had a least 167 crashes in two years. Those collisions were mostly clustered along I-635 just east of the Dallas North Tollway.
The Dallas Police Department told NBC 5 Investigates they are aware of problems there and are focusing DWI efforts on that zone.
In Lewisville, Erin Causey witnessed one of the worst drunk driving crashes along I-35 back in 2010.
Causey was driving home on I-35 when she saw a speeding driver crash into a car carrying a family of five. Autumn Caudle, 13, and her mother, 33-year-old Kandace Hull, were killed in the crash. Hull's husband and two other children survived. Causey held one of the girl's hands until rescuers arrived.
The driver of the speeding car was found to have been travelling more than 130 miles per hour at the time of the crash, and was convicted of murder and intoxication assault.
“The things you see on TV and in movies, it doesn’t prepare you,” said Causey.
Lewisville police told NBC 5 Investigates they knew I-35 was their biggest challenge, but had never seen all of the alcohol-related crashes in their city broken down and mapped out by zip code.
Police said they already heavily patrol the I-35 corridor looking for intoxicated drivers.
“We’ve got two full-time DWI officers. Anytime we have increased manpower on patrol we assign them to DWI enforcement,” said Capt. Kevin Deaver, with the Lewisville Police Department.
Lewisville’s DWI officers already work six nights a week.
On a recent Friday night, NBC 5 Investigates rode along with Lewisville police officer Chris Clements. By 8 p.m. he already had a report of a crash involving a suspected drunk driver. Last year, Clements personally made 130 DWI-related arrests. As a department, Lewisville police made 736 arrests last year.
Lewisville police are now considering more ways to target the hot spots NBC 5 Investigates pinpointed.
“We’ll take the information and look at it and the traffic sergeant will evaluate it,” said Deaver.
The Denton County District Attorney’s office also plans to share the data with other police departments in the county.
“It’s certainly helpful to actually see, you know, individual dots upon dots on a map. Yeah, it’s very telling,” said investigator Brent Robbins, with the Denton County District Attorney’s Office.
Investigators with the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission have expressed interest in the zip code maps as well.
“We can combine that with new information, other forms of information and make it even more effective,” said Lt. John Graham, with the TABC.
The TABC believes it could help them zero in on bars over-serving people in or near those crash zones.
“I’d like to follow up with you at a later date and confirm some of the things that we’re able to do with it,” said Graham.
The hot zone map created using the data obtained by NBC 5 can be seen below:
See entire map here.
Mothers Against Drunk Driving thinks the maps could also help people make informed decisions about where to drive.
“It helps so the average person can know areas to avoid, possibly, because those may be danger zones for them,” said MADD Executive Director, Jeff Miracle.
Police can’t do it alone. Ultimately, alcohol-related crashes come down to personal decisions that can ultimately end lives and change the lives of others forever.
“It’s hard. It’s hard. I’ll never forget it. It’s an image you can’t get out of your head, for sure,” said Causey.
To learn more about the methodology behind how we pinpointed alcohol-related hot spots, read this article.
Monday night at 10 p.m., NBC 5 Investigates will debut a map showing alcohol-related crash data for the entire state and also reveal how one of the biggest alcohol related crash zones in North Texas happens to be in one of the area's largest entertainment districts.What do you think, how many guys had more than 30 rebounds in the last 33 years? Who had the most zero-rebounds per game?
How many 25-rebounds had Dennis Rodman?
Kobe Bryant will surprise you. Also, Tim Duncan and Charles Barkley are on the list.
Thanks to Reddit User osskjc, you can check the list of players who had the most x rebound games in NBA History.
Unfortunately, Basketball Reference only has full game logs available from 1983 forward but I still think it’s interesting to see how more modern players stack up. So just to re-emphasize, these stats are only from 1983-2016. If there’s interest I can do this for other stats too (assists, blocks, steals, etc.). Also, if you click on the players name you get the rankings for that number of rebound games (so you can see Avery Johnson had the second most # of 0 rebound games, etc.)
TLDR: Rodman was a beast.
Credit: osskjc
NEXTInspired by a reader’s comment on our Angry Birds post, we’re thinking about books where the non-underdogs—a.k.a., those little round pigs with the helmets—wind up on top.
So, we asked our book experts here at NYPL to recommend some books where The Man comes out victorious.
Orwellian Oppression
The most obvious choice is George Orwell’s Animal Farm, in which the pigs and The Man quite literally win. There is a great revolution on a farm, led by the pigs. At first it is successful, and all the animals are free of the oppression they knew under the rule of the human farmer, but eventually, the pigs take on human ways and turn out just as oppressive as the humans, who are now their allies... and at the end, the animals “looked from pig to man, and from man to pig, and from pig to man again; but already it was impossible to say which was which.” —Kathie Coblentz, Rare Materials
Big Brother in George Orwell’s 1984 is The Man-iest Man there is, and there’s simply no fighting it. By the ambigious ending of the book, it doesn't even matter if our protagonist, Winston, is alive or dead: “But it was all right, everything was all right, the struggle was finished. He had won the victory over himself. He loved Big Brother.” —Gwen Glazer, Readers Services
Feminism
The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood. Offred—as in “of Fred”—remembers how the world used to be with her husband and daughter, back when she had a job and was allowed to read. But, after a failed revolution, that world is gone; she’s enslaved to “The Commander,” and she’s only as valuable as her reproductive system. —Chantalle Uzan, Francis Martin
Kate Chopin’s The Awakening. Protagonist Edna literally drowns in societal norms that ignores the happiness of women and reduces their role solely as wives and mothers. —Jhenelle Robinson, Morrisania
Perhaps this is a liberal and light take on The Man, but I always thought the oppressors (duty & aristocracy) won in Frenchman’s Creek by Daphne du Maurier. Dona, Lady St. Columb, is tired of her boring, aristocratic lifestyle and meets a swashbuckling pirate with whom she falls in love. They go on numerous adventures on the coast of Cornwall, and this reader hoped Dona would run off to France with her pirate! But alas, Dona must remain with her husband and children and maintain her place as Lady St. Columb. —Alexandria Abenshon, Yorkville
Technology
In Dave Eggers’ The Circle, “The Man” is a tech startup eerily similar to Facebook and Google. In the very near future, their amazing products and do-gooder sensibility lead to a world without corruption and violence, but with sinister side-effects: privacy is nonexistent, the court of public opinion is unavoidable, democracy is compulsory, and technology is worshiped with religious fervor. The striking part about this scenario? You don’t realize it’s dystopian until it’s too late. I couldn’t put this one down! —Nancy Aravecz, Jefferson Market
This question made me think of Max Barry‘s novels — Company in particular. He satirizes “The Man” quite scathingly and humorously, although the employees ultimately come out on top… or do they? —Jenny Baum, Jefferson Market
Classics
The Chocolate War by Robert Cormier. I read this title years ago and to this day, it still haunts me. It is one of the first books that showed me that good doesn’t always triumph over evil and sometimes, life just isn’t fair. These sentiments have never been truer than in this novel. Who knew that one student’s refusal to sell chocolate in his prep school would unleash so many terrible repercussions? —Sandra Farag, Selection Team
Another classic of the genre: In The Trial by Franz Kafka, Joseph K. struggles to escape The Man (or, rather, The Law) and is ultimately destroyed. —David Nochimson, Pelham Parkway-Van Nest
A Marker to Measure Drift by Alexander Maksik. This book follows the exile of a 24-year-old Liberian woman fleeing the violence of her home country. While she may escape her country, she will never |
SLS launch. And with orbital refueling, a single BFR spacecraft could deliver 150 tons to the surface of Mars, compared to 20 to 40 tons with the SLS rocket. It is also notable that the nearly 9m wide fairing of the BFR rocket is comparable to the large 8.4m fairing of the SLS rocket.
But will the Trump administration listen? Phil Larson, a veteran of SpaceX who is now an assistant dean at the University of Colorado Boulder’s College of Engineering and Applied Science, said he isn't sure. "With the upcoming first meeting of the council chaired by Vice President Pence, it will be interesting to watch if the policies being discussed will accelerate or stagnate ambitious private sector ideas like this that could lead to new jobs and industries of the future."
Even so, NASA doesn't offer the only pot of money. Later this year, the US Air Force is expected to begin soliciting bids for up to three prototypes of next-generation launch vehicles. Potentially, billions of dollars might be available over the next decade to provide the military with modern, US-made rockets to launch its assets into space. The timing of these awards could be fortuitous for Musk, SpaceX, and the BFR.
Certainly, even the most ardent fans of Musk and his ambitions in the Adelaide audience cannot really believe the BFR will land humans on Mars seven years from now. We don't. But on Friday, Musk took a step forward by beginning to ground his Mars plans in the real world. It seems foolhardy to entirely count him out.As computers become more advanced, the microprocessors inside them shrink in size and use less electrical current. These new, energy efficient chips can be crammed closer together, increasing the number of calculations that can be done per second, therefore making the computer more powerful. But even the mighty supercomputer has its Achilles heel: an increased sensitivity to interference from charged particles originating beyond your office. These highly energetic particles come from space and may cause critical hardware to miscalculate, possibly putting lives at risk.
Foreseeing this problem, microchip manufacturer Intel has begun devising ways to detect when a shower of charged particles may hit their chips, so when they do, calculations can be re-run to iron out any errors…
Cosmic rays originate from our Sun, supernovae and other unknown cosmic sources. Typically, they are very energetic protons that zip through space close to the speed of light. They could be so powerful that on impact with the upper atmosphere of the Earth it has been postulated that they may create micro black holes. Naturally these energetic particles can cause some damage. In fact, they may be a huge barrier to travelling beyond the safety of Earth’s magnetic field (the magnetosphere deflects most cosmic radiation, even astronauts in Earth orbit are well shielded), the health of astronauts will be severely damaged during prolonged interplanetary flight.
But what about on Earth, where we are protected from the full force of cosmic rays? Although a small portion of our annual radiation dose comes from cosmic rays (roughly 13%), they can have extensive effects over large volumes of the atmosphere. As cosmic rays collide with atmospheric molecules, a cascade of light particles is produced. This is known as an “air shower”. The billions of particles within the air shower from a single impact are often highly charged themselves (but of lesser energy than the parent cosmic ray), but the physics behind the air shower is beginning to grow in importance, especially in the realms of computing.
It seems computer microprocessor manufacturer Intel has been pondering the same question. They have just released a patent detailing their plans should a cosmic ray penetrate the atmosphere and hit one of their delicate microchips. The problem will come when computing becomes so advanced that the tiny chips may “misfire” when a comic ray impact event occurs. Should the unlucky chip be hit by a cosmic ray, a spike of electrical current may be exerted across the circuitry, causing a miscalculation.
This may sound pretty benign; after all, what’s one miscalculation in billions? Intel’s senior scientist Eric Hannah explains:
“All our logic is based on charge, so it gets interference. […] You could be going down the autobahn [German freeway] at 200 miles an hour and suddenly discover your anti-lock braking system doesn’t work because it had a cosmic ray event.” – Eric Hannah.
After all, computers are getting smaller and cheaper, they are being used everywhere including critical systems like the braking system described by Hannah above. As they are so small, many more chips can occupy computers, increasing the risk. Where a basic, one processor computer may only experience one cosmic ray event in several years (producing an unnoticed calculation error), supercomputers with tens of thousands of processors may suffer 10-20 cosmic ray events per week. What’s more, in the near future even humble personal laptops may have the computing power of today’s supercomputer; 10-20 calculation errors per week would be unworkable, there would be too high a risk of data loss, software corruption or hardware failure.
Orbital space stations, satellites and interplanetary spacecraft also come to mind. Space technology embraces advanced computing as you get far more processing power in a smaller package, reducing weight, size and cost. What happens when a calculation error occurs when a cosmic ray hits a satellite’s circuitry? A single miscalculation could spell the satellite’s fate. I’d dread to think what could happen to future manned missions to the Moon, Mars and beyond.
It is hoped that Intel’s plan may be the answer to this ominous problem. They want to manufacture a cosmic ray event tracker that would detect a cosmic ray impact, and then instruct the processor to recalculate the previous calculations from the point before the cosmic ray struck. This way the error can be purged from the system before it becomes a problem.
There will of course be many technical difficulties to overcome before a fast detector is developed; in fact Eric Hannah admits that it will be hard to say when such a device may become a practical reality. Regardless, the problem has been identified and scientists are working on a solution, at least it’s a start…
Source: BBCVegan Blueberry Scones
I have an ongoing need for vegan baked goods of all varieties. The working day is long and there is so much coffee to drink! Who doesn't love something flaky and sweet with their caffeine? Although Toronto is currently enjoying an explosion of vegan bakeries, there are none around my office, so I find myself looking for ways to make my own. Watch this space for more ideas in the future.
This recipe is a bit of a Frankenstein's monster with bits and pieces from two others. I started with Martha Stewart's decidedly non-vegan blueberry scone recipe and mated it with a a lovely vegan biscuit recipe from Ceara's Kitchen. After a couple of tweaks, I got the recipe below. Martha may disagree, but I thought they turned out pretty darn well, even with no hint of dairy or eggs. (The blueberries are the star of the show anyway.) Enjoy!
Ingredients
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 Tbl baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/3 cup sugar + more for sprinkling on tops
3/4 cups blueberries, picked over and rinsed
1/2 tsp lemon zest
1 1/4 cup chilled full fat coconut milk + more for brushing tops (put the can of coconut milk in the fridge the night before)
1 Tbl vinegar
Note about coconut milk: "Full-fat" is a bit of a nebulous concept when it comes to coconut milk. The brand I use comes in a can and has 11 g of fat per 1/4 cup. Yep, pretty fatty, but it's a pastry :)
Directions
Preheat oven to 425°F and line a baking tray with parchment paper or (better) a silicone mat.
A microplane grater, available from better dollar stores everywhere, is great for collecting zest from a lemon.
Mix dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl.
Gently mix in blueberries and lemon zest.
Pour coconut milk into a food processor or blender and blend until homogeneous. Measure out 1 1/4 cups coconut milk and add vinegar to measuring cup. Mix well in measuring cup. Save remaining coconut milk for brushing tops.
Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients.
Add coconut milk/vinegar mixture.
Gently mix together with a fork until it just comes together. Do not overmix.
Turn out onto a kneading board and gently hand knead until somewhat smooth. Shape into a 6" square, around 2" thick.
Cut into quarters, then cut each quarter into two triangles.
Lay scones out on the baking tray.
Brush each scone with extra coconut milk and sprinkle with sugar.
Bake 15 minutes or so, until lightly brown on top. Let cool on a wire rack.
Now, take a break. I'm sure you've earned one!
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Posted: Tuesday, October 11, 2016David Duval thought someone sold him bad marijuana, reports say.
He told police he smoked it and then felt jittery and sick, so he gave the guy who sold it to him three options: fight, call the cops or hand over cash, according to an arrest report.
Julian Narchet — who told deputies he smoked the same marijuana without feeling sick — tried the third option first, by giving Duval more than $500, the report states. Duval wanted more, though, and started a fight, Narchet told police.
University of Central Florida police arrested Duval after the incident at the Knights Circle apartment complex across from campus.
Duval is facing charges of extortion, battery, false imprisonment and robbery and was held in the Orange County Jail on $8,250 bail, records show.
Narchet has not been charged with any crime.
Narchet told police that within a few hours of selling the marijuana, Duval called saying he gave him "bad" drugs, according the arrest report. Narchet denied Duval's claims, the report states.
After a few days of harassing phone calls, Duval showed up at Narchet's apartment Friday, Narchet said. He got scared and told police he gave Duval $150 from his wallet. Duval demanded more, the report states.
Narchet then drove to an ATM, withdrew more than $300 and dropped it off at Duval's apartment, according to the report. But Duval wanted even more, so the pair started arguing.
Narchet said he tried to leave, but couldn't get past Duval, the report states. Duval then started "physically hitting and pushing" Narchet, police said. His only way out was to call police and jump over a third-floor balcony.
Police said Narchet declined medical attention.
Duval later acknowledged to threatening Narchet, police said. Officers said they found more than $500 under his bed.
sallen@orlandosentinel.com or 407-420-5417Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Prime Minister Pedro Passos Coelho: "I won't abandon my country"
Portugal's Prime Minister Pedro Passos Coelho has said he will not stand down, despite the resignation of two key members of his government in as many days.
He said he would not abandon his country, hours after Foreign Minister Paulo Portas announced his resignation.
On Monday, Finance Minister Vitor Gaspar stepped down, pointing to public opposition to austerity measures.
Portugal's borrowing costs rose and stock market fell 6% on Wednesday.
Portugal is struggling to meet the terms of the 78bn-euro bailout it negotiated in 2011, and the markets apparently fear that political uncertainty could throw efforts to consolidate its finances off course.
"I won't give up on my country," the Social Democrat PM said in a televised address on Tuesday.
He also said he had not accepted the resignation of Mr Portas, whose CDS-PP party is a junior member of the centre-right coalition.
The outlook for the government now looks bleak - not to mention that for the economy Resignations rock government
Political commentators immediately responded with scepticism to the idea that the foreign minister could stay on in government, BBC Lisbon correspondent Alison Roberts reports.
Mr Portas was given the task of overseeing budget cuts when the finance minister resigned on Monday.
"The prime minister chose to follow the path of continuity at the finance ministry," Mr Portas said in his letter of resignation on Tuesday.
"I respect this choice but I disagree. I expressed this view to the prime minister who nevertheless confirmed his choice."
Anti-austerity sentiment
The coalition has found it difficult to meet the terms of the bailout agreed in 2011 by the former Socialist government, with austerity measures blamed for causing Portugal's worst economic crisis since the 1970s.
Portugal has been in recession for two years and the economy is expected to contract by 2.3% this year.
Unemployment stands at over 17.5%, with thousands of higher-educated people seeking work abroad.
The government has also become increasingly isolated with the country's two main trade union federations joining forces to organise a general strike last week, which brought public transport to a halt.
Business confederations have called on the coalition to ease austerity measures.
The coalition came to power two years ago in early elections following the collapse of the Socialist government, which requested the bailout from the IMF and EU after admitting their own policies had failed.
Mr Gaspar, the man seen as the architect of austerity in Portugal, said in his resignation letter that he was leaving because of the growing erosion of public support for austerity measures.O.J. Simpson wins small parole victory, still faces at least 4 more years
CARSON CITY — Former football star O.J. Simpson, who has served five years behind bars, has cleared the first hurdle for his release from prison.
The state Parole Board announced today that it is paroling Simpson, 66, from his sentences for kidnapping, robbery and burglary. But he still has a minimum of four years to serve on other weapons charges resulting from his Las Vegas conviction.
Four of the seven members of the board said the reason for approval included that Simpson had no prior or minimal criminal conviction history, he still must serve other consecutive sentences and he has had a “positive institutional record.”
Simpson, incarcerated at the Lovelock Correctional Center about 90 miles from Reno, told the Parole Board last week that he has not had any disciplinary actions filed against him in prison.
He said he has been involved in work programs cleaning rooms and mopping floors and has counseled other inmates to keep them out of trouble.
In 2008, Simpson, along with others, entered the hotel room of memorabilia dealers Bruce Fromong and Al Beardsley at Palace Station in Las Vegas. He said he wanted to reclaim items stolen from him.
At his parole hearing, Simpson said he has made peace with the dealers and has put the incident behind him.
Parole Board Chairwoman Connie Bisbee and Commissioners Susan Jackson, Adam Endel and Tony Corda voted for parole.
Still pending is a petition by Simpson to overturn his convictions on grounds that his trial lawyer failed to mount an adequate defense. Clark County District Court Judge Linda Bell has not ruled on that petition for a new trial.Sony Worldwide Studios Boss Shuhei Yoshida Apologizes for PS4 Game Delays, Explains Why It’s Happening
At this year’s E3, PlayStation LifeStyle had the fortunate chance to have a sit down video interview with none other than Sony Worldwide Studios boss, Shuhei Yoshida. In the interview, Yoshida was asked about the games being pushed back for the PlayStation 4 from this year to the next, and how it looks like 2015 is the year when the PS4 will finally bloom.
So I apologize for some of the games we pushed back, but when people ask me “We’ve been saying the PS4 is very easy to develop for, why are teams taking time?” The reason is, it’s very easy to develop games on the PS4, except that PS4 can do so much, that a team’s ambition is much higher. What they are trying to achieve, they are challenging, y’know, something new. More realistic graphics, social connectivity, or seamless integration of single-player and multiplayer. And they are encountering new kinds of challenges, so they have to take more time than they anticipated. But luckily, more people are now more understanding and more accomodating for the needs of the development team. And they (gamers) say they’d rather wait to play the best game the team can make rather than play a rushed title; because each development is such a big effort.
With how The Order: 1886 and Uncharted 4 have looked so far, I don’t think Yoshida needs to apologize much. Unless you’d rather studios release games that were rushed, in which case, a whole new can of worms will be opened.
Stay tuned for the entire video interview in the coming days for more insight on what many people perceive as the PS4’s main public figure.
Do you agree with Yoshida’s sentiments? And does he even need to apologize for giving games more time to cook?
[Image source: j_vanderschuit]Like most U-Haulers, shortly after my girlfriend and I moved in together, we started discussing our future and whether or not we wanted to get married, move to the suburbs, have children, etc. Having been raised in pretty conservative households, we both decided that we definitely wanted a traditional wedding for our family and friends.
About six months after we moved in together, I was having dinner with a straight friend and the marriage topic came up. I mentioned to her, that I had been thinking about popping the question. While she was extremely excited for me and wanted to help, she didn’t totally understand the whole situation. Her main question was how it was decided that I was going to propose, instead of the other way around.
In my experience, it seems that many heterosexuals, unless the gender roles are visibly recognizable, have a hard time compartmentalizing the complexity of a lesbian relationship. (Hell, sometimes we don’t even understand our own.) In my friend’s mind, I’m just a girl that she grew up with and had always pictured someone (probably a dude) proposing to me. And to tell you the truth, for a long time, I pictured the same thing (including the guy), except mine usually accompanied a mini-breakdown and anxiety attack.
As a self-aware control freak, by nature and technically by trade, it just made sense for me to make the decision to propose and plan out every detail. The idea of being completely surprised by someone and expected to make a quick decision, without first weighing out every pro and con, would have sent me into a state of utter panic. It wouldn’t have mattered that I knew without a doubt I wanted to marry my girlfriend; it would have been having to make that on-the-spot decision, one that would change the rest of my life, that would have been terrifying.
Since getting engaged, my fiancée has mentioned that before we get married, she wants to propose back to me so that neither of us loses out on the experience of asking or being asked. While having to give up some control of the situation is going to be challenging for me, the pressure of the decision is off and I’m surprised to say I’m actually looking forward to the surprise.
It hadn’t even occurred to me at first that we could both propose or that I wanted that, but perhaps that was because I had held onto the narrow-minded image of marriage that most of us were raised with. As no two couples (gay or straight) are the same, neither are their experiences.
Everyone has their own story to tell and on The L Stop, we encourage you all to share your story! Email your proposal story, engagement pictures, or Civil Union/Wedding pictures to ashley@thelstop.org to have your love featured on The L Stop!
You May Also Like:There’s been a little buzz building around Marvel’s efforts to buy up any loose end comic book characters that have already had films made about them, because it is believed that the comic book empire and film studio wants to be able to cram as many characters as possible into future projects. The best example of this is Daredevil, which Marvel Studios recently secured from Fox so that the blind lawyer from Hell’s Kitchen is now a free agent and the No. 1 rumored character to be included in The Avengers 2, even though there’s nothing to base that on.
That said, of course Marvel’s ultimate M.O. would be to have one gigantic epic film franchise that could combine all of their heroes into one colliding plotline, like… oh I’m just reaching here, but The Infinity Gauntlet comes to mind. So put on your loose underwear, because the nerd boners are about to Hulk up.
Now that The Avengers has done so well, it seems like the other studios with Marvel properties can see the advantage of making a deal. Can you see a world where this generation of X-Men could be in an Avengers movie? [X-Men Producer] Lauren Shuler Donner: I would love it. I would love it. I personally have close ties to Marvel because of Kevin Feige, because Kevin worked for me. But to take our characters and mingle them in the way that they were written, yeah, absolutely. (Via Crave)
With The Avengers earning an amazing $1.5 billion to date, it’s safe to say that, yes, Fox would be willing to come to some sort of an agreement in creating an X-Men/Avengers film, because who the hell wouldn’t want a piece of that sweet action? Obviously Marvel would love it, because it already forced Sony into sh*tting or getting off the Spider-Man pot, and as IFC pointed out earlier this year, Marvel really wanted Spidey in The Avengers.
So here’s the problem – you’ve got Fox and Marvel (Disney) and dozens of A- and rising B-list actors who will all want to be paid, and you’ve got a loyal but limited fan base that will certainly go bonkers over a film like this, but eventually those wallets run out. Where does the money come from to fill so many hands? Short of raising ticket and IMAX prices… sh*, I’m just going to stop right there.When I first started running large online surveys of gamers in the days of EverQuest, I was a 20-year-old undergrad psych major. I remember looking at the age distribution of those online gamers where about 20-30% were over the age of 30 (and a fair number above 40), and thinking to myself, wow those gamers are old.
The Gamer Generation Grows Up
Well, now I’m “old” and still gaming. And so are many other gamers who, like me, grew up with video games and have no plans to ever stop gaming. According to the ESA, the average gamer is now 35 years old. And that average will keep rising as the first gamer generation gets older.
There’s a generation of people who grew up with gaming and they have no plans to ever stop gaming.
In both the gamer and game research communities, we talk a lot about how men and women like different kinds of games or what games for women ought to look like. And yet, even though the 35+ gamer crowd is clearly growing bigger each year, it’s much less common to see discussions about how gamers change as they grow older.
The data we’ve collected from over 140,000 gamers via the Gamer Motivation Profile allows us to see how gaming motivations vary by age.
Want to see how you compare with other gamers? Take a 5-minute survey and get your own Gamer Motivation Profile.
Competition is More of a Youth Motivation than a Male Motivation
Among the 12 motivations we measure in our model, the interest in Competition changes the most with age. In our framework, Competition is the appeal of competing with other players in duels, matches, or team-vs-team scenarios.
The gender difference in Competition is large at first among younger gamers, but then disappears with age. As gamers get older, the appeal of Competition declines, but this happens more rapidly for men than for women. Thus, by the time we’re past 45, the difference between men and women largely disappears.
The gender difference in Competition is large at first among younger gamers, but then disappears with age.
There’s another interesting take-away here. The biggest gap between men and women (among younger gamers) is smaller than the difference between the youngest and oldest men in our data. So age in fact explains a bigger portion of the variance in Competition than gender does.
Strategy is the Most Age-Stable Motivation
We then looked for the motivation that changed the least with age. In our model, Strategy is the enjoyment of gameplay that requires careful decision-making and planning. You might think that strategic gameplay appeals more to older gamers than young gamers, but we found that the appeal of Strategy is the most stable motivation overall.
The data also showed that there is a fairly consistent gender difference in Strategy, with men indicating a higher enjoyment of Strategy in gaming compared with women independent of age.
Do Any Motivations Increase with Age?
In our data, we found that, overall, motivations decline with age. We think this is happening for 2 reasons.
First, as gamers get older and have a broader range of responsibilities and pursuits, they are less likely to rate any particular gaming activity as “extremely important/enjoyable”. Thus, their overall gaming profiles might appear deflated, but the relative order of their motivations would still be revealing.
Second, lower scores on these motivations aren’t necessarily “less” of a motivation. For example, low Excitement implies a specific kind of gameplay, and calm/stress-free gameplay is no less valid than fast/stressful gameplay. The same is true for preference for solo play (as opposed to highly social play). The appeal of solo play isn’t any “less” of a gaming motivation than social play.
What About You?
There’s always a risk of extrapolating longitudinally from cross-section age data. After all, there may be generational cohort effects that are separate from the effects of aging. But what’s interesting is that our data shows consistent age trends in both the pre- and post- 35 age groups. In other words, the changes in motivations after age 35 are consistent with how motivations are changing prior to age 35.
What’s changed the most in terms of your gaming habits and preferences as you’ve grown up?
But enough about us and our data. If you’re a 35+ gamer, we’d love to hear how you perceive your own gaming habits and preferences to have changed as you’ve grown up with gaming. What’s changed the most for you?Please enable Javascript to watch this video
SAN DIEGO – A former San Diego State University student who was apparently wrongfully accused of sexual assault now plans to file a lawsuit against the school.
In December, Francisco Sousa was immediately expelled from the university after he was suspected of assaulting a female student at a party near the campus. Administrators sent an email to campus and nearby residents detailing his arrest.
Charges were never brought to court and after more than six months, Sousa was cleared of any wrongdoing.
Sousa, who had spent three semesters at SDSU pursuing a business degree after arriving from Portugal, said his reputation was tarnished and he felt forced to leave San Diego.
"It destroyed my family very much,” Sousa said. “It was very hard on them, more than I realized. My grandfather was taken to the hospital when he found out the news, just from the shock.”
Sousa's attorney, Dominic Lombardo, said the school should have never arrived at the conclusion without seeking more evidence.
"They prejudiced the case. They gave him the punishment well before the trial,” Lombardo said. “Stunningly, they had failed to complete any meaningful investigation at all.”
San Diego State administrators refused to comment about the case.
Sousa said he is filing a lawsuit in hopes of getting the school to change the way it investigates possible assaults and other crimes and to get the school to publicly apologize.
"They sent that email to everybody before asking me any questions whatsoever, before there was any proper investigation and they labeled me as a criminal and a bad guy," Sousa said.
Sousa is now attending a university in the Los Angeles area.“Everything comes gradually and at it’s appointed hour.” — Ovid
For soccer goalkeeper Olivia de Goede, the patient wait for her reward was more glacially slow than gradual, a six-year journey that was finally, and symbolically, realized at 5 p.m. on Sept. 5.
That day, she started the UBC soccer team’s opening game of the 2015 Canada West regular season. It was her first Canada West start and it came, appropriately enough, in her hometown of Victoria. It was at UVic where she spent four seasons without seeing a single minute of league game action.
After earning a BSc Honors in Biology at UVic, she moved to UBC in 2013 to continue her studies. As a transfer, she sat out that season, then played just 25 minutes as a substitute in 2014 before earning the Thunderbirds’ starting job this summer.
“It was kind of special that that was my first game, kind of poetic,” she said of the 1-0 win in Victoria.
“A bunch (of the Vikes) are people I’ve played with in the past, so it was kind of comfortable, almost like you’re playing with your friend. But at the same time there was definitely a desire to prove myself and send a bit of a message. Then to get a shutout, that felt good.”
Yes, good things do come to those who wait.
The just-turned 24-year-old is the oldest player on the roster of the No. 4-ranked ‘Birds, who completed a 11-1-2 regular-season with a 0-0 draw Saturday against Trinity Wester. It was de Goede’s Canada West-leading seventh shutout. And she has a shot to win a national title on home turf with UBC hosting the CIS championship tournament in mid-November.
“That would be unbelievable,” the engaging de Goede said in a recent interview. “I never would have dreamed the season would go this way, particularly for me as a player. I love this team so much. It would be wonderful if we could pull off a win.”
Her patience is just one intriguing aspect of de Goede’s story.
The well-liked teammate is also a masters’ student at the off-campus Robinson Lab, part of UBC’s department of medical genetics. She is studying, according to the Lab website, “the DNA methylation profiles of immune cells in cord blood and their relationship to neonatal immunity.”
Now that’s a medical mouthful. The field is epigenetics, and, in simple terms, her main project is studying the immune system of newborns and how gene regulation in pre-term babies is either lacking or different.
She hopes to complete her masters by May.
“Once the season is over, then it will be pedal to the metal to sort of wrap up and write a thesis.”
Then it’s on to her PhD. She’s already applied to Stanford and the University of Washington.
“Right now, I’m planning to stay in academia, maybe one day become a professor,” says de Goede, whose tumbling blonde locks fall past her shoulders. “I think that would be really cool. But you never know. Industry is always more appealing because it’s steady money.”
She says she hopes to continue playing soccer at the club level, as she has in school off-seasons. “I can’t see myself leaving it behind any time soon. I have so much fun doing it.”Yesterday we brought you news about the first episode of the seventh season of BBC’s Top Gear TV series which aired last night featuring the Paramount Group’s Marauder. The South African-built armored vehicle was driven by TG presenter Richard Hammond in its native country.
However, “driven” is an understatement, since Hammond made the Marauder flatten cars, smash through walls and defy lion attacks. He also took a bright red one for a drive around Johannesburg, creating quite a fuss.
But if you think that’s the end of it, you’re mistaken. In the final test, the Marauder and a Hummer suffered explosions simulating the roadside bombs the military faces in places such as Iraq or Afghanistan. The Hummer was destroyed, while the Marauder was barely scratched and Hammond drove off into the sunset…
10 things you didn’t know about the Marauder [From Paramount Press Release]: 1. Marauder is actually three vehicles in one. It can be produced as an infantry patrol vehicle, a command centre and even an ambulance! 2. With long range fuel tanks added it can travel an extra 500km – making it ideal for long range patrols. 3. Marauder can survive explosions of 14kg of TNT under its wheels and 7kg under its hull – making it one of the world’s toughest vehicles. 4. Whether sitting in the boiling heat of +55°C or the freezing temperatures of -32°C, occupants can stay cool or warm with the ultra modern climate control system. 5. Marauder can literally swim! It has a fording depth of half the vehicle – making it ideal for rugged and wet terrain. 6. It has special ‘run flat’ tyre inserts which means that the tyres can be perforated by 12.7mm bullet rounds and still keep rolling for at least another 50km! 7. Marauder weighs around 15 tons but can be loaded up to 18 tons when fully laden! 8. The vehicle can be fitted with an IED jammer – making it the enemy of terrorists worldwide. 9. Anti blast seats protect troops from roadside bombs and rocket attack – keeping them safe from the huge force of explosions, without just protecting the vehicle. 10. With a maximum speed of 120 Km/h the Marauder is no slow coach.
PHOTO GALLERYThree teen burglary suspects were shot and killed Monday by a homeowner's son armed with an assault rifle in Oklahoma -- which has a "stand your ground" law -- and the alleged getaway driver in the case was arrested on felony murder and other charges, authorities said.
Authorities said they had not determined if the shooter, who was armed with an AR-15, would face charges. Oklahoma law presumes homeowners have a fear that justifies use of defensive force just by virtue of someone breaking into a home.
A decision on charges for the shooter as well as formal charges for the alleged getaway driver, would be determined in the coming days, prosecutors said.
“And at that time, there’ll be a final decision -- I know there’s questions that have been posed regarding Stand Your Ground law as well as the application of the felony murder rule," said first assistant district attorney Jack Thorp. "We hope to be able to answer those questions with our formal filing decision when we reach that decision.”
According to Deputy Nick Mahoney of the Wagoner County Sheriff's Office, deputies got a call around 12:30 p.m. Monday about a possible home invasion with shots fired.
Today, Chief Deputy Les Young identified the 911 caller as Zach Peters, the son of the homeowner. They said he told the dispatcher that people had entered his home and that he'd discharged his weapon.
Mahoney said that when police arrived, they found three deceased male teenagers, ranging in age from 16-18.
Two were in the kitchen area of the house, Mahoney said; one appeared to have run from the home after being shot but had died in the driveway.
"These three individuals came to this residence, which we believe, with the intent to break in, to burglarize the home," he said.
Hearing of retired cop who shot moviegoer puts Florida's controversial'stand your ground' law back in the spotlight
Mahoney said the males were dressed in black, wearing masks and gloves, when they allegedly forced their way through a glass backdoor. He said, there, the three allegedly encountered Peters, who was armed with a rifle. Police said today that multiple shots were fired.
Mahoney said Peters and his father, the homeowner, were in the home at the time but were not hurt. Police said Peters went to the Sheriff's Office and was interviewed by investigators.
Mahoney said two of the deceased were considered armed. One had brass knuckles, he said. Another had a knife. Mahoney said the third suspect had not yet been searched by police.
Police with the Wagoner County Sheriff's Office said today they'd arrested an alleged getaway driver who they identified as Elizabeth Marie Rodriguez.
Mahoney said that Rodriguez, 21, had turned herself in to authorities after the shooting, allegedly saying that she had information about the incident. He said she was interviewed and taken into custody. Police said today that Rodriguez had identified the three dead males in the house.
Rodriguez was arrested on three counts of felony first degree murder (for deaths that occur during the commission of a felony), one count of first degree burglary and one count of second degree burglary. Police said the last count was because the four had allegedly gone to the same home earlier in the day and then returned. She has yet to be formally charged.
Mahoney said he did not know whether Rodriguez had dropped the suspects off at the home or had planned to pick them up. Police said that the investigation was ongoing and that they did not know whether the burglary was random. They would not release the names of the three killed until they contacted relatives.
Rodriguez was scheduled to appear in court April 5.
ABC News' Rachel Humphries contributed to this story.Finally, see “Climate Hustle” in Australia — Melbourne, Brisbane, Sydney.
Don’t miss this if you can get there :- ) (And don’t forget to sign that Petition to get Australia out of the Paris Agreement too).
U.S.-based CFACT, along with its Australian partners, is hosting a showing of its new groundbreaking documentary, Climate Hustle, and you’re invited! Following each event, join film director CFACT Executive Director, Craig Rucker and film host and publisher of ClimateDepot.com Marc Morano, for a question and answer session. Get the behind the scenes scoop on both the film and the US’s decision to withdraw from the Paris Climate Accord.
This could be the antidote to the Al Gore effect. As Tim Blair says “Get out of Melbourne while you still can — the notorious serial chiller is coming. Let’s see if Al can break Melbourne’s 2015 July chill record.”
We are pleased to be working with the following organizations:
Australian Institute for Progress | Galileo Movement | Australian Environment Foundation | Australian Taxpayers’ Alliance
July 12- Melbourne, Australia
Village Roadshow Theatrette- State Library of Victoria
Doors open at 5:30 PM, film to start at 6:00 PM
Reception and Q/A session to follow
Get Melbourne TICKETS here
July 15- Brisbane, Australia
Sponsored by the Australian Institute for Progress
New Farm Cinema
Doors open at 4:30 PM |
contaminants in order to explain the anomalous oxygen, and this is something that would have been obvious in computer tomography scans (CT scans) due to the density differences between materials. In addition, fragments of the contaminant should also have been present, and yet none were seen. This evidence was used to rule out the contamination theory.
If the meteorite came from an un-sampled part of Vesta, it would imply that Vesta is heterogeneous, meaning the composition varies across the asteroid. However, there is no evidence, based on the HED meteorites, to suggest that Vesta is heterogeneous as all have the same oxygen isotope composition. This means that the oxygen composition was homogenous across Vesta prior to the formation of the basalt that the eucrites come from. Therefore, Vesta cannot be the parent body of Bunburra Rockhole.
This leaves standing the theory that a previously undiscovered, differentiated asteroid is the most likely origin of Bunburra Rockhole.
“The bulk chemical composition of a meteorite tells a lot about how much thermal or aqueous alteration it has experienced,” explained Benedix. “This is because heat and water tend to move different elements around at different rates. So if a body has been differentiated, like Earth, it will separate into a metal rich core, a dense mineral rich mantle and a light mineral rich crust because of the elements that make up those minerals.”
Bunburra Rockhole is a basalt meteorite, which indicates that melting occurred in the parent body as the layers became separated and the asteroid differentiated. If the parent body hadn’t differentiated, then more metals would have been present.
As the bulk composition of Bunburra Rockhole and Vesta are similar, it is likely that the Bunburra Rockhole’s parent body and Vesta formed within a similar part of the Solar System. However, it is currently impossible to pinpoint which asteroid Bunburra Rockhole originated from.
“All the larger asteroids in the belt and in near Earth space are classified,” explained Benedix. “So either there is another big asteroid that we haven’t found yet or the asteroid that Bunburra Rockhole originated from has evolved over time through space weathering and impact processing.”
The parent asteroid would have been a similar size to Vesta, although slightly smaller. Rare earth elements and bulk major elements in the meteorite show similar levels of partial melting, as Vesta does, but the variations in the oxygen isotopes in the meteorite are consistent with quicker cooling than Vesta, indicating a body around 100 kilometers smaller.
Interestingly, another strange meteorite, called Asuka 881394, has similar oxygen and chromium isotope abundances to Bunburra Rockhole (though there are enough subtle differences to indicate that it is not the same parent asteroid), which suggests that there could be yet another differentiated body out there that would have formed around the same time and in the same region as the Bunburra Rockhole parent. Analyzing Asuka will be a future project for the team of scientists.Bronze Tango
This Bronze routine is much more complex than the Beginner Tango Routine, and is intended for dancers who are comfortable enough with their own dancing that they can begin to dance more complex combinations. The Natural Promenade Turn into the Rock Turn in particular shows rotation better than any other combination in Tango, reminiscent of a Natural Spin Turn in Waltz, it closely approaches Natural Pivots found in advanced routines. The Open Reverse Turn is used twice, as it is extremely strong for showing progression down the floor.
N.B. The Commencing Alignments given are those of the Man. From this alignment and the figure itself, the Lady's alignment can be inferred.
At a corner:
1 Man steps strongly forward on any Progressive Link, ending facing DW of new LOD 2 Turn less during between the Natural Promenade Turn and the Rock Turn, taking step 2 of the Rock Turn backing the new Center 3 Under turn the Natural Twist Turn by 1/4 to end facing DW against the new LOD 4 End the Back Corte facing DW of the new LOD
Even though the Closed Promenade ends Facing LOD, turn 1/8 to L before the Open Reverse Turn to take step 1 DCMedia playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Stephen Fry suggests athletes make a symbol to display their objection to the anti-gay laws
The prime minister has rejected a call from broadcaster Stephen Fry to strip Russia of the 2014 Winter Olympics because of its new anti-gay laws.
In an open letter on his website Fry said Russia was "making scapegoats of gay people".
David Cameron said he shared his "deep concern about the abuse of gay people in Russia", but did not back a boycott.
Fry later acknowledged the Games would go ahead in Sochi, but suggested athletes could hold symbolic protests.
A Russian law, passed in June, prescribes heavy fines for anyone providing information about homosexuality to people under 18 - but Moscow denies it is discriminatory.
Fry was among several hundred people who gathered in Westminster to demonstrate the against the law.
He was among those calling for the Games to be moved to a different country, but others at the protest were urging athletes to refuse to attend.
I think it is realistic to call for it and to create moments like this where people think really hard Stephen Fry
The Games are due to take place in the Black Sea resort of Sochi in southern Russia in February next year.
Speaking to the BBC, Fry said it was "probably not realistic to call for a move or a boycott at this stage in terms of it achieving its objective".
He added: "But I think it is realistic to call for it and to create moments like this where people think really hard."
Fry called on athletes attending and make a symbolic protest, suggesting it could be a gesture such as crossing their hands in front of their chest, which he went on to demonstrate.
He said: "It's inevitable it will happen, but I hope people will agree with me that all our athletes and all the athletes in the Games should find a symbol whether during the performance of their piece or at the end of it.... and definitely on the medal podium."
Fry said he hoped such a move would "show solidarity, to take some of sweetness of victory out of [Russian president Vladimir] Putin's mouth to show they are thinking of the gay people of Russia who are being tormented and brutalised every day - and indeed are committing suicide more and more".
'Absolute ban'
Image caption The Sochi Winter Olympics are set to take place in February next year
In his letter, which was published on Wednesday, Mr Fry compared the situation to the decision to hold the 1936 games in Nazi Germany.
It was addressed to Mr Cameron, International Olympics Committee (IOC) President Jacques Rogge and British Olympic Association chairman Lord Coe.
Fry wrote of Russia: "Beatings, murders and humiliations are ignored by the police. Any defence or sane discussion of homosexuality is against the law."
"It is simply not enough to say that gay Olympians may or may not be safe in their village. An absolute ban on the Russian Winter Olympics of 2014 is simply essential," he also said.
"Stage them elsewhere in Utah, Lillyhammer [sic], anywhere you like. At all costs Putin cannot be seen to have the approval of the civilised world."
He urged Mr Rogge and his fellow committee members to "take a firm stance on behalf of the shared humanity it is supposed to represent".
Writing on Twitter, Mr Cameron said that while he did not support a boycott, "I believe we can better challenge prejudice as we attend, rather than boycotting the Winter Olympics".
International sport is not an inhibitor of social change, it actually has quite strong catalytic effects Lord Coe
In a response to the prime minister's comments, Fry later tweeted: "PM, you may be right. Would that have been true in 1936? But is there nothing we can DO? Putin grows and grows in confidence".
Meanwhile, Lord Coe spoke about the issue while attending the World Athletics Championships at Moscow's Luzhniki Stadium - the scene of his win in the 1,500 metres at a 1980 summer Olympics boycotted by the US over Russia's invasion of Afghanistan.
Lord Coe said the issue of gay rights in Russia "needs to be addressed" but said he was "against boycotts".
"They only damage one group of people and that is the athletes," he said.
"I believe that coming to Moscow in 1980 was the right thing... International sport is not an inhibitor of social change, it actually has quite strong catalytic effects."
'Over the top'
Mr Rogge said he had asked Russia to explain how its new law might affect the Games.
He said Russia's written reassurances over the Winter Olympics needed clarification.
Russia will welcome all sportsmen and guests of Sochi Olympics regardless of their sexual orientation Russian Federation statement
"We are not clear about the English translation of the Russian law and we want clarification of this translation to be able to understand what has been communicated to us," Mr Rogge said.
He stressed that, under the Olympic charter, sport was a "human right and should be available to all regardless of race, sex, sexual orientation".
A press release on the website of Russia's UK embassy says "any form of discrimination" is prohibited under the Russian constitution.
It says reports of a "wide-scale violence campaign against LGBT [lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender] activists after the adoption of the new law is simply not true".
"Russia will welcome all sportsmen and guests of Sochi Olympics regardless of their sexual orientation," it adds.
"At the same time, we hope that our foreign guests will respect the laws of the host-country according to the basic principle of the Olympic movement (the Russian legislation prohibits only LGBT propaganda among children)."
Former Kremlin adviser Alexander Nekrassov told BBC Breakfast the new law was designed to protect children against all forms of sexualisation.
He said Fry's comparison of Russia with Nazi Germany was "over the top" and "went against" the interests of the gay community.The Department for Transport has confirmed that sections of the M20 will be used to park lorries before Manston airport, despite this evening's announcement.
Yesterday we revealed the owners of Manston airport are set to sign a contract to use the site as an emergency lorry park during Operation Stack.
But this evening The Department for Transport told KentOnline that before lorries are parked at Manston, sections of the M20 will be closed to house the queues.
The plan will make Operation Stack a thing of the past. Stock picture
And North Thanet MP Roger Gale said he had assurance from Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond MP that "Manston will only be used if absolutely necessary."
Work vans from construction firm Balfour Beatty have been seen entering Manston, where it is understood engineers are preparing the site to house lorries.
"I believe this to be a profoundly bad and impractical proposal. You do not solve a problem by moving it from A to B" - North Thanet MP Roger Gale
Mr Gale also confirmed Mr Hammond had assured him that any damage done to the potential of Manston as an airfield "will be rectified."
Finally Mr Gale questioned the impact of the necessary diversions on domestic tourist traffic in east Kent.
He said: "I believe this to be a profoundly bad and impractical proposal. You do not solve a problem by moving it from A to B, which is effectively what the leader of Kent County Council and the Highways Agency are seeking to do.
"To divert traffic across country roads at the height of the tourist season across twenty miles of Kent`s highways is, I believe, quite wrong when there are other alternatives such as the park at Ebbsfleet and Kent County Showground, which lies between the M20 and the M2, available."
South Thanet MP Craig Mackinlay also said he was "unconvinced" by the plan.
Mr Mackinlay said: "I am bitterly disappointed at this decision; I hope it will be short-lived.
"Given the M20 crisis and the true misery experienced by residents and businesses along that corridor, I respect the government's reasoning in seeking a variety of alternatives for the greater good of wider Kent but am unconvinced that this one will work.
"The route of this crisis starts thousands of miles away, but French authorities need to do significantly more to keep this fundamental border running smoothly."
New plan confirmed by the government for #OperationStack. Manston Airport to be used as emergency lorry park next time Stack is enforced. — Damian Collins (@DamianCollins) August 4, 2015
Folkestone and Hythe MP Damian Collins welcomed the plan, and said Manston would be used next time Op Stack was brought in.
Mr Collins said: "We have to find a solution that takes lorries off road and Manston does that. This is a massive step towards taking pressure off Kent.
"This is a site where 2,000 lorries can be held. Clearly in the long term there will have to be a permanent solution but the major advantage of this solution is that it takes HGVs off the road."
He added the government was also working to ensure a contra-flow option was also available, having been rejected initially by Highways England.
"The hope is to find away of keeping the M20 open in both directions."
Kent County Council leader Paul Carter said: “We welcome the decisive action taken by the Government on this issue in trialling the new initiative.
“Our principal concern throughout this difficult period has been that we need to keep Kent moving for local residents and businesses.
“It is particularly important we endeavour to keep the M20 open in both directions as far as is possible, and we will continue to impress upon our partner agencies the need to help make this new initiative a success.”
A Balfour Beatty van enters the Manston site
Kent Police’s Deputy Chief Constable Paul Brandon said: “We are pleased to support any measures that will ease the pressure on the M20 and those communities and businesses who have been adversely affected by Operation Stack in recent weeks.
"We have been in a critical situation in Kent since the middle of June and, in that time the situation in Kent has been acknowledged as a very real, national issue.
“Following work by the Department for Transport and Highways England, the option to divert freight bound for Europe to Manston Airfield, whilst very challenging, has become more feasible in terms of resourcing and logistics."
Queues between junction 4 and 5 on the M20. Picture: Mike Mahoney
The news comes just days after it was announced around a thousand lorries were to be held at Ebbsfleet International Station in a bid to ease Operation Stack tailbacks.
Transport minister Andrew Jones made the announcement at a meeting at county hall in Maidstone.
But in a dramatic U-turn, it's been revealed the plan is no longer on the table.
Sources have told KentOnline the owners of the Manston airport site were ready to sign a three-month deal with the Department for Transport, with the option of it being renewed on a monthly basis.Get the biggest football stories by email Subscribe Thank you for subscribing We have more newsletters Show me See our privacy notice Could not subscribe, try again later Invalid Email
John Carver blocked the sale of Papiss Cisse to the Arab League.
Cisse was being tempted by a massive financial offer to join Al Ahli in the UAE a fortnight ago.
But the striker, who returned from Senegal duty at the Africa Cup of Nations, saw the proposed deal killed after Carver insisted he was needed.
(Image: Action Images)
Cisse is Newcastle’s top scorer with ten goals and Carver said: “I wanted to keep hold of him and I was supported 100% from Lee (Charnley, MD).
"It was a relief to be supported, to be honest, as it’s a good sign.
“I said before he went off to the African Nations that he was our top goalscorer and the only way you win matches is by scoring goals.”Hillary Rodham Clinton wants to make substance abuse and mental health key issues of her campaign. (Scott Olson/Getty Images)
This post has been updated.
Hillary Rodham Clinton's policy advisers held discussions with stakeholders in Iowa and New Hampshire who are involved in helping people dealing with substance abuse and mental illness, as Clinton looks to make those issues a large part of her 2016 presidential campaign.
Clinton senior policy advisers Ann O'Leary and Maya Harris participated in Google hangouts Thursday and Friday with treatment providers, law enforcement officers, local politicians and others in Iowa and New Hampshire, a Clinton aide said. The groups discussed the scourge of opiate addiction, which is decimating New Hampshire and is a growing problem in Iowa, and the use of methamphetamines in Iowa.
Clinton's campaign said she has asked her policy advisers to come up with creative ways to reach out to stakeholders in Iowa and New Hampshire about substance abuse and mental health issues and plans to use the information to develop policy proposals in the coming weeks and months.
[Hillary Clinton sets June date for official campaign announcement rally]
Clinton has been asked about substance abuse by voters. Pamela Livengood of Keene, N.H. -- who has guardianship of her 5-year-old grandson because her daughter, who is struggling with addiction, can't care for him -- asked Clinton about substance abuse.
“This is a quiet epidemic, and it is striking in small towns and rural areas as much as any big city,” Clinton said.
She also brought up the issue at a house gathering in Mason City, Iowa.
“The drug epidemic, meth, pills in Iowa, and then I got to New Hampshire and at my very first coffee shop meeting I heard about the heroin epidemic in New Hampshire,” Clinton said. “This is tearing families apart, but it is below the surface. People aren’t talking about it, because it’s something that is hard to deal with,” she said.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, deaths involving heroin increased from 3,041 in 2008 to 8,260 in 2013, the latest statistics available.
A Clinton adviser said the candidate thinks that treatment facilities must be adequately funded and insurance companies should approach treating addiction as they would any other chronic disease. This person said that Clinton's conversations on the trail and her advisers' discussions with people working on the issue have made the subject a priority for her campaign.
People with addiction have found that treatment facilities are full and insurance companies won't cover the cost. The Affordable Care Act mandates that insurance plans make substance abuse and mental health treatment essential benefits, but treatment is often hard to come by and barriers to accessing it remain. A report issued last month by the National Alliance on Mental Illness showed that patients are continuing to be denied care.
[Getting mental health services can be hard, despite law requiring parity]
Marti Anderson, an Iowa state representative who is a social worker, said the four participants on the Iowa hangout with O'Leary were asked to talk about their concerns and what they think can help.
"I think the overarching discussion was that there needs to be more treatment," Anderson said. "It was more of a listening post."
Anderson said the group talked about helping low-level drug offenders who are in prison.
"We’ve been doing a war on drugs since I was a teenager, and frankly I’m an older woman now," said Anderson, 64. "And it’s not working."
Tym Rourke, chairman of New Hampshire Gov. Maggie Hassan's (D) Commission on Alcohol and Drug Abuse Prevention, participated in the New Hampshire call with Harris and six others. He thinks Clinton and the campaign are surprised by how much substance abuse has affected Americans.
"I sense they were surprised," Rourke said, "with the depths of the problem and how lacking we are with treatment access."
This article has been corrected; Clinton's policy advisers held hangouts Thursday and Friday, not just Friday.The three tier system that arose in the United States after the passage of the 21st Amendment has, to be understated, some foibles and frustrations. If you aren't well-acquainted with this system, essentially there are three groups: producers, distributors, and retailers. Producers, well, produce, and then sell their products to distributors. Distributors then take these products who sell them to retailers. Retailers, in turn, sell products to consumers. One frustration, not just with the three tier system, but with markets encountering scarce resources in general, is that allocation of product can be contentious. This is especially true with consumables like limited release beers. On Wednesday, Nick Anderson, @The_Beermonger on Twitter and the long-time beer buyer for Arrowine in Arlington as well as ARLnow's Your Beermonger colum, broadcast through Twitter some of his concerns and frustrations with beer distribution. To call it a rant would be to cheapen the passion and experience behind the tweets and also disregard the important knowledge contained therein. We've captured Nick's tweets in a Storify below, and DCBeer's John Fleury catches up with Nick for a clarifying interview afterward.
John Fleury had the chance to catch up with Nick Anderson in a short interview via email. What follows is a lightly edited version of that interview.
DCBeer: First, I would ask if you have anything you'd like to expand on. I know you answered some questions from people on Twitter. Is there anything you'd like to add, clarify, or extrapolate on?
@The_Beermonger: That I'm not as much "sad for the future of craft beer" as I am "sad for the future of independent craft beer retailers."
DCBeer: What do you think about the growth of craft inevitably going towards box stores? On the one hand -- much like music -- we all want X to grow past cult status. But when it gets bigger, it gets taken to the masses, and the little guys who pushed the craft gospel now are cut out of the loop by those cashing in on the popularity the little guy started. How do you combat this as the "early adopter"? Any ideas how to "share the wealth" between box stores and little guys?
@The_Beermonger: We can't 'keep' craft beer for ourselves. Frankly I enjoy seeing brands like Bell's, Dogfish Head, Lagunitas, Flying Dog, Ommegang, Boulevard, Brooklyn, etc., in grocery stores. Folks who are discovering craft today through their local Giant or Safeway and really getting into it are going to end up at specialty stores like Arrowine at some point. The more the merrier. My concern specifically is with the rarities/special releases; people don't know how the business works. All they see is that maybe Giant/Total/Whole Foods has something, and I don't, or they got more of something than I did, and [consumers decide] that therefore [these stores] must be 'better.' Rarely is beer a zero-sum game, but it is with releases like these; you discover your place awful quick when that happens.
DCBeer: The whole situation seems very High Fidelity to me. Do you see any comparisons?
@The_Beermonger: I was talking to a reporter who called today and made the analogy to bands "selling out." I'm not of a mind to automatically get up-in-arms when a brand jumps to that level; every situation is different. Drink what you like, and if you have to live in a bit of a gray area so be it--life is full of those.
DCBeer: If the distributors don't care, why should the consumer? Do you think the consumers -- especially here in DC/MD/VA -- actually have the power to change the way business as usual is run for the specialty beers like Hopslam?
@The_Beermonger: Distributors care, but they only have to care so much, because at the end of the day they're getting my money no matter what. The consumer has to decide for themselves if it matters to them or not. I'm only offering my opinion. In the end, short of an effort to amend VABC regulations, I'm not sure how much can be done about it--distributors, breweries, retailers are all businesses, and at the end of the day, we have to make money. Voting with your wallet is fine and good (and encouraged), but when a massive chain decides to open their checkbook, it can drown out a lot of voices with a quickness. Retail is very post-Citizens United; alcohol retail especially so since it's so hard to actually make money doing it.
DCBeer: Any final thoughts? Like I said: anything that you weren't able to touch on via Twitter that you may have thought about afterwards or simply didn't have the room for?
@The_Beermonger: Yes: please bear in mind that my opinion is heavily skewed and biased because of my position and experience as a buyer at the retail level. I'm not claiming to be right, nor am I demanding more Hopslam or anything like that. I fear that big boxes cornering the market on special releases and shutting out small, independent stores is the first step to shutting them out completely. There are many ways in which the distributors here in Virginia are great to work with, and I have a lot of friends at these companies. They're good people, and without them I wouldn't be able to offer any of the cool things that I do on a regular basis. I have a philosophic disagreement with how they go about handling some of their products and where their priorities lie. This was just me venting after becoming increasingly frustrated about things over the past few months is all.Trump's Lawyers Deny He Has Russian Income Or Debt, 'With A Few Exceptions'
Enlarge this image toggle caption Brendan Smialowski/AFP/Getty Images Brendan Smialowski/AFP/Getty Images
In a letter released Friday, President Trump's lawyers said a decade's worth of his tax returns show that he doesn't owe money to Russian lenders and that he has received no income from Russian sources, "with a few exceptions."
The exceptions include this: "In 2008, Trump Properties LLC sold an estate in Florida, that it had acquired in 2005 for approximately $41 million, to a Russian billionaire for $95 million."
That buyer was Dmitry Rybolovlev, who never moved into the 62,000-square-foot mansion before tearing it down.
Another exception was the $12.2 million made from holding the Miss Universe pageant in Moscow in 2013, according to the letter signed by attorneys Sheri A. Dillon and William F. Nelson.
The lawyers also noted that Trump very likely has received undisclosed payments from Russians for hotel rooms, rounds of golf and Trump-licensed products, such as wine, ties and mattresses.
The March 8 letter was addressed to Trump, who passed it along to Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C. Trump mentioned it during his Thursday NBC News interview with Lester Holt, saying he had "nothing to do with Russia. I have no investments in Russia. None whatsoever."
Without copies of Trump's tax returns, the claims by his lawyers cannot be verified. The lawyers did not define "Russians." Many companies based in Russia use subsidiaries in other places, such as Cyprus or the British Virgin Islands, to conduct transactions overseas.
In an interview with The Economist this week, Trump dismissed calls for his tax returns. Asked whether he would release them, he replied: "I doubt it. I doubt it. Because they're not going to... nobody cares about my tax return except for the reporters. Oh, at some point I'll release them. Maybe I'll release them after I'm finished because I'm very proud of them actually."
In recent days, the Trump administration has been caught up in an intensifying swirl of questions about potential financial ties involving Russians, Trump and his associates.
The lawyers who wrote the letter about his finances are with the firm Morgan Lewis & Bockius, which was named "Russia Law Firm of the Year" for 2016 by Chambers & Partners, which ranks lawyers.A potentially large oil leak is reported at the scene of a Canadian Pacific train crash in Watertown, Wisconsin. At least 10 carriages derailed at the spot where track repairs had recently been made. The situation alarmed people living in the “blast zone.”
The rail company later confirmed that about 1,000 gallons of crude oil spilled after one of the tank cars was punctured in the accident. A total of 13 cars have derailed, Canadian Pacific added.
Earlier, a spokesperson for the railroad, Andy Cummings, told 27 News that the train derailed around 2 pm local time, adding that some of the oil was leaking.
UPDATE: 35 homes evacuated in Watertown as crews investigate train derailment #news3https://t.co/XPsQkxpXlFpic.twitter.com/N4eb28PvGW — WISCTV News 3 (@WISCTV_News3) November 9, 2015
“Canadian Pacific is taking this incident extremely seriously,” Cummings said. “We have officials enroute to respond to the incident scene to coordinate with local officials.”
At least thirty-five Watertown residents have been evacuated from the area, Watertown officials said.
The company said it has reserved hotel rooms for the families that have had to evacuate. The residents won’t be allowed back to their homes until at least Monday.
Nearby Dodge County and Jefferson County emergency crews are helping out the Watertown Police Department at the scene.
Canadian Pacific officials were conducting repairs in the same area the derailment occurred just several days ago, according to activist Sarah Zarling from the Citizens Acting for Rail Safety (CARS) group in Watertown.
“Just had the alarming recall that this derailment happened right where Canadian Pacific crews had been working just days ago. These were pictures I took of them working in the No Trespassing Canadian Pacific property area,” the activist posted on the group’s page.
Just had the alarming recall that this derailment happened right where Canadian Pacific crews had been working just days... Posted by CARS- Citizens Acting for Rail Safety- Watertown, WI on Sunday, November 8, 2015
“I live less than a block from the tracks in a blast zone, and let me tell you it’s not too comforting knowing you’re living in a blast zone. You never know when or where a derailment will happen. I don’t want to be one of those 47 people who blow up and die,” Zarling told FOX6 News.
There are currently no fires or injuries being reported. Canadian Pacific said it has dispatched teams to the site.
This is the second freight train derailment in two days in the Midwestern state of Wisconsin.
Less than 24 hours ago, a freight train derailed near Alma, Wisconsin, spilling thousands of gallons of ethanol.About This Game
Bad times came for the inhabitants of the underwater domes.
Now it’s time for you to shine.
Explore stations through the eyes of the drone.
All this, and even more, in SEABED PRELUDE by MythicOwl!
The year 2022 wasn’t the best year for humanity. As a result of ecological catastrophes, most of the land were sent underwater. Many died, but a fraction of the people hid inside the city-domes built by The Constructors.Hundreds of years passed since those events. Every half a year, makers visits the cities, and with them - the mythical bathyscaphe full of fuel needed for the survival of the city. But today, the bathyscaphe is empty.You got the package with the key to this underwater vehicle and you hit the tour de Constructeur!Save our city from extinction! Find a new source of power for generators!Reveal the secret of extincted city-domes!Learn the rules of the staff and distinguish between similar notes!Discover nooks and crannies of the abandoned stations.Scan objects and uncover the mystery of constructors' outposts.Ironic deaths are the stuff of legend when it comes to the craziest deaths imaginable. For starters, the owner of the Segway died in a Segway accident and a Green Party candidate was killed by an SUV. Some of the most ironic deaths of recent memory have been gathered here on this ironic death list.
Ironic deaths are both easy and hard to define; unlike the Alanis Morissette song, there's a little more subtlety to calling a freaky death "ironic." Some of the most tragic deaths in history, however, were true cases of irony and life finding a way to turn death into something simultaneously funny and fascinating. These crazy deaths and stupid deaths feature stories of people who died in ways you might not expect.
Sure, a lot of funny deaths in history are extremely tragic and unfortunate, but very few are actually "ironic." Feel free to debate the irony of these freaky deaths and ironic passings and if you can't get enough of the craziest deaths ever reported, check out the list of most ironic deaths in history - volume 2The Top Twelve Awful Twilight Tattoos
Oh, Twilight. I tease because I love.
Ha, ha. Just kidding. I hate you and you’re terrible.
12) The Shiny Edward Cullen Leg Tattoo
Source
Sparkly Edward Cullen meets The Terminator meets holy hell, you got permanently etched on your skin on purpose?
11) The Cullen Family Crest Tramp Stamp
Source
Uh. You left your heart here? Like, maybe in a nearby crevice?
10) The Cullen Knuckle Tattoo
Source: BMEzine.com
Dude, please tell me your name is Cullen.
9) Long Twilight Passage Back Tattoo
Source
Listen, lady, if I wanted to read the book…
No, scratch that. I’ll. Never. Want. To. Read. The. Book.
8) The Creepy Edward Cullen Portrait Back Tattoo
Source
“Mommy, why is there an angry European soccer fan on your back?”
7) Jacob Black Quote and Werewolf Claw Marks Tattoo
Source
Two guaranteed ways to alienate men: (1) an unhealthy obsession with Twilight and (2) photo-realistic tattoos of bloody, gaping wounds across your wrists.
6) Twilight Logo Foot Tattoo
Source
That looks inflamed and infected. I think there’s a metaphor here.
5) His and Hers Lamb and Lion Tattoos
Source
I think it’s sweet that these two souls have bonded over their shared lack of good taste.
4) Twilight Vampire Bite Tattoo
Source
And for the rest of his life, anyone who saw his wrist wondered if he had rabies.
3) The Edward Cullen(ish) Arm Tattoo
Source: The Internets
Edward Cullen… or one of the Hardy Boys? We’d never know if not for that trademark Twilight apple and quote.
What we do know is that he attended the There’s Something About Mary school of hair design. (Pointy! And full of protein!)
2) Twilight Mom’s Back Tattoo (Peekaboo!)
Source: PeopleofWalmart.com
Oh, you think that’s bad?
Check this out…
1) Terrible Twilight Cast Back Tattoo
Source
I had thought that every horrible thing that could be said about Twilight moms has already been said. But this picture was indeed worth another 1,000 words. Of horror. In my head.
Find Twilight t-shirts on EbayJust a few weeks ago, West Virginians passed a law overriding the cruel, barbaric raw milk prohibition that’s plagued the state for years. To mark the occasion, these same dairy-loving lawmakers downed what else but a tall glass of milk—raw and dirty just like god intended. In totally unrelated news, a bunch of West Virginia lawmakers are now suffering from a severe stomach illness.
While some claim that it’s “just a coincidence,” health officials have launched a probe looking into the situation after an anonymous complaint was filed at the state Department of Health and Human Resources.
Delegate Pat McGeehan is one of those claiming that mere poor timing has given his precious, unpasteurized white gold a bad rap. He also just so happens to be the man you see incapacitated and moaning above. From WSAZ:
“There’s definitely...some other colleagues that have similar symptoms that I’ve been experiencing,” McGeehan said.... “[Cadle] caught me in the hallway, offered a cup to me, and you want to try to be a gentleman,” McGeehan said. “I had a small sip and walked away and tossed the rest of it.” “I highly doubt raw milk had anything to do with it, in my case,” McGeehan said.
McGeehan also asserted that he “doesn’t think it’s any riskier than eating raw oysters or anything like that.” Someone should tell that to the Food and Drug Administration, which claims that “raw milk can harbor dangerous microorganisms that can pose serious health risks to you and your family. According to an analysis by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), between 1993 and 2006 more than 1500 people in the United States became sick from drinking raw milk or eating cheese made from raw milk.”
So what does Cadle, the milk mischief-maker, have to say for himself? As he told the Charleston Gazette-Mail, “I might have been breaking the law. Hell, I don’t know. I gave it away.”
Congratulations to the liberty-loving West Virginians on their remarkable milk-related victory. Good luck with all the vomiting.
[h/t Daily Kos]Introduction to Spring Boot Dev Tools
Spring Boot comes with a lot of features and one of such feature is to help in developer productivity. In this post, we will be covering about Spring Boot Dev Tools.
Introduction
One of the main advantages of using Spring Boot is it’s production ready features, in order to provide these features, Spring Boot use certain predefined configurations.
If you use Thymeleaf for your application, it’s caching is enabled by default until we switch it off.
We need to quickly deploy our code changes with minimal deployment and server restart time.
These features are good but can slow down development when we will be making frequent changes in our code and want to see changes immediately.We have the option to use 3rd party tools like Jrebel to help in this but these tools are not free and need a significant amount to get license (Jrebel is really a great tool and if you can get it, I will highly recommend it)
Spring Boot 1.3 introduced Spring Boot Dev Tools module which was aimed to help developers in improving the productivity. We will be covering following features of the Spring Boot Dev Tool
What is Spring Boot Dev Tools
What are Property Defaults
Live Reload
Automatic Restart
Remote Debugging
What is Dev Tools?
Spring Boot Dev Tools module was introduced in 1.3 to provide a powerful tool for the development.It helps developers to shorten the development cycle and enable easy deployment and testing during the development. In order to add use feature, we need to add a spring-boot-devtools dependency in our build. We need to add the following dependency to our Maven POM
<dependencies> <dependency> <groupId>org.springframework.boot</groupId> <artifactId>spring-boot-devtools</artifactId> </dependency> </dependencies>
if you are using Gradle as your build tool
dependencies { compile("org.springframework.boot:spring-boot-devtools") }
Once we perform build, spring-boot-devtools will be added to our project with its developer-friendly features. Let’s |
. If there’s one thing I know about MMA fans, it’s that they love T-shirts with skulls and chains and crap like that. But if there are two things I know, it’s that they have short memories. Today’s villain is tomorrow’s hero, and vice versa.
But I was also intrigued by Rousey’s remark about accepting her role and being the champ we need. Not only did it set Batman nerds off on a bitter argument about whether she said Scarface when she meant Two-Face, but it also gives us a little insight into how Rousey sees herself. Remember when she burst on the scene for that first Strikeforce fight with Tate, and the big shock was that suddenly here was a female fighter who wasn’t adopting the glad-to-be-here, we’re-all-in-this-together mentality? Other fighters claimed she jumped the line and hadn’t paid her dues, both of which might have been true, but she brought some energy and animosity that women’s MMA has lacked over the years, and clearly the entire division benefited from it.
In the rematch with Tate she was content to play the bad girl, and it effectively made a plan B rematch seem like a can’t-miss fight. The energy in MGM Grand Garden Arena for that bout was like nothing I’d ever experienced for a women’s MMA fight, and was right up there with the response to the Anderson Silva vs. Chris Weidman headliner. I have to think that Rousey’s willingness to take the boos with the cheers made that possible. What I wonder is, can she continue playing the keeping-it-real card if she also makes these cryptic post-fight remarks about accepting a role? If you’re playing a role, you’re not exactly keeping it real. And if you keep talking about the role you’re playing, you’re not playing it all that convincingly, are you?
Downes: Getting philosophical aren’t we? Is the third thing you know about MMA fans that they like French existentialism? I suppose it’s not an either/or type of question. Maybe she just doesn’t play the classic PR campaign game because it wouldn’t be best for business. Regardless of her motivations or authenticity, it’ll be interesting to see if she can keep the momentum going. The other comment of note from the press conference was how she revealed that she’s already bored with the profession. According to her, she’s been making fight camps purposely more difficult to maintain her enthusiasm.
No matter how many fights Rousey decides she has left, can the women’s bantamweight division thrive without her? In the beginning, it was derisively referred to as the Rousey division, and while that may no longer apply, she’s still a big factor. As much as we enjoy WMMA, Rousey is the only true star. Yes, this past season of “TUF” helped and another is on the way, but will that be enough? No fighter is more important than an entire division (we’ll have to get used to life without GSP and Silva), but Rousey’s presence is far more important than any other champion’s. Whether she’s putting an an act or not, how vital is Rousey to WMMA’s growth?
Fowlkes: The third thing I know is that MMA fans definitely do not like French existentialism, probably because they’re too busy retweeting Friedrich Nietzsche quotes to read any of it. But I see what you’re saying about Rousey’s importance to the division, which it seems like we’ve been talking about since she got here. Maybe we were all more wounded than we’d like to admit when Gina Carano bolted on us, but does it not seem weird that the first thing we think when there’s a female superstar in this sport is, what will we be left with when she runs off? I get it, she’s the main attraction for WMMA in the UFC. But do we have so little faith in everyone else?
To me, that seems like one of the great, unappreciated contributions Rousey is making, is her ability to lead by example. She’s shown a lot of other female fighters that the important thing is for people to care – not for them to like some carefully crafted image you want to project. The boos in the arena on Saturday proved people definitely care about Rousey, and I have to think that other female fighters will learn from that. So who cares if she doesn’t want to shake hands? At least as long as she’s showing her peers how to cash checks.
Downes: I agree that boos or cheers have no value in and of themselves. The source of those boos, however, are important. The crowd didn’t hate Rousey because she wouldn’t stand there and bang. We could argue the merits of sportsmanship in a sport predicated upon beating another human being to unconsciousness, but I think everyone agrees that we need it. What does that look like? I have no idea.
What I do know is that MMA is a sport that relies on individuals. No matter how good the product is inside the cage, fans want to have an emotional connection with a fighter. Rousey has found that sweet spot. She elicits strong feelings (both positive and negative), and has built a strong career in the process. The men’s welterweight division will be just fine without GSP. Once the shock of Silva’s injury wears off, everyone will get excited for Vitor Belfort vs. Weidman. I don’t think you could make the same guarantees with the women’s bantamweight division. Like her or not, if Rousey comes out tomorrow and promises to stick around a few extra years, I think we’d all shake her hand.
For complete coverage of UFC 168, stay tuned to the UFC Events section of the site.
Ben Fowlkes is MMAjunkie and USA TODAY’s MMA columnist. Danny Downes, a retired UFC and WEC fighter, is an MMAjunkie contributor who also writes for UFC.com and UFC 360. Follow them on twitter at @benfowlkesMMA and @dannyboydownes.New research in Science shows that, unlike intuitive thinking, activating the analytical cognitive system promotes religious skepticism.
Giampiero Sposito/Reuters
PROBLEM: Previous research has uncovered a link between faith and intuitive thinking, a way of processing information that relies on mental shortcuts to yield fast and efficient responses. Can the opposite cognitive approach, analytical thinking, elicit the opposite religious response? That is, can critical thinking diminish a person's faith?
METHODOLOGY: Researchers Will Gervais and Ara Norenzayan devised a series of experiments to test if analytic thinking may be a source of religious disbelief. In the first trial, the subjects answered questions designed to measure their cognitive state and completed three surveys to measure the strength of their faith. Then, to test for causation, the authors also conducted experiments where they first primed the participants into thinking more methodically with images of Rodin's The Thinker or a word-scrabble game with words like "think," "ponder," or "rational."
RESULTS: Regardless of their religious background, the subjects who were more likely to adopt an analytical stance tended to report less religiosity. Moreover, those who were prodded to think this way reported significantly reduced religious conviction compared with people who didn't receive the same cues.
CONCLUSION: Analytical thinking decreases religious belief and may undermine the intuitive support for faith, at least temporarily.
SOURCE: The full study, "Analytic Thinking Promotes Religious Disbelief," is published in the journal Science.
We want to hear what you think about this article. Submit a letter to the editor or write to letters@theatlantic.com.While Egypt's military is no longer an active fighting force, it still retains more credibility as a public entity than Egypt's civilian institutions, crippled after years of neglect and one-man rule. In recent years, even some democracy activists, despondent from years of state repression and ineffectual organizing, have seen the military as the last hope for Egyptians against Mubarak's efforts to orchestrate his son, Gamal, as successor to the presidency. Now that demonstrators have overwhelmed the police forces and built popular momentum, the military, were it to shift its allegiance from Mubarak to the protesters, could effectively end the regime.
Despite the scenes that played out in Egypt after the military's deployment yesterday, with the military exercising restraint from violence and engaging in occasional fraternization with protesters, the military's ultimate intentions remain a mystery.This is all the more so following the Egyptian president's truculent response to his people. Was their deployment the first step toward a military-initiated ouster of Mubarak or an effort to crush dissent? The military played a central role in Friday's events and could be even more important in the coming days, surpassing the more circumscribed role that it has come to occupy within the Egyptian state. The military's day-to-day involvement in political affairs has decreased steadily since the days of Gamal 'Abd al-Nasser, from 1956 to 1970, when Nasser's government was dominated by military figures. Under Mubarak, who took office following the assassination of President Anwar al-Sadat in 1981, this influence has decreased, aided by the regimes efforts to limit the public profiles of military leaders. Nonetheless, the military remained the silent guarantor of regime stability and has twice been deployed to repress significant political turmoil: in 1977, following the outbreak of "bread riots" over Sadat's decision to cut food subsidies; and in 1986, when a group of central security forces rioted and looted throughout Cairo, demanding increased pay. As memories of these events have receded, many Egyptians and outside analysts have wondered about the military's actual influence and what role it might play if again faced with a challenge to the regime.
Mubarak's regime has sought to cultivate military loyalty through special privileges, such as economic benefits in the form of military-run business ventures. This system of mutual benefit has been a salve to the military, as Mubarak has steadily eroded their overt influence. Its loyalty will now be tested on the streets of Cairo and throughout Egypt. President Mubarak's tone-deaf presentation and half-hearted commitments to reform following his sacking of his ministers will not be the end of the country's political unrest. In fact, it might further enflame the situation, as protestors have become emboldened by the massive public displays of protest and enraged by the mounting casualties that their compatriots have sustained. Protests will continue, and both the protesters and the regime will watch the military carefully for its response.So Hoj, a self-employed designer with a background in accessories, took up the problem herself by converting tall, slender cardboard tubes from the post office into receptacles for discarded cups. The idea is simple enough: you can hold more cups in a smaller space when they're stacked neatly inside each other. Hoj's theory was that this would alleviate the cup problem by giving them their own, more compact space, and leaving larger trash cans for other items.
"Last week I stopped to take more pictures of the trash at the bridge, and I could feel the anger building up inside," she writes on her blog Classic Copenhagen. '"Look at this mess," I said out loud to no one. Someone replied, "it isn't ours," and I knew that was probably the case, but I got increasingly annoyed all the same. Winding up speaking in a really loud tone. Very counterproductive, don't think I didn't know that at the time.'
Sandra Hoj was getting fed up with her fellow Copenhageners. All along the city's waterfront, paper coffee cups overflowed from trash cans and littered the ground.
"I played around with different solutions, and ended up with the one thing that did not patronize people, but gave them the opportunity to play along. Nothing ugly, loud or idiotic. Just a solution. The simpler the better," Hoj says via email.
She mounted her "test tube" cup collectors and put them on two trash cans along the waterfront. Quickly, her fellow Copenhageners caught on.
Here's one of the trash cans before the cup tubes were installed:
And here's how the other trash can looked on its third day with the tube:
For five days, the tubes (which have the inscription, in Danish, "Empty Cups, minus lids.") were gradually filled with cups and the surrounding area remained relatively clean. On the fifth day, both of her experimental tubes were emptied. On the sixth day, the tubes disappeared.
Hoj assumed the city removed the tubes, though beside their removal, "city officials have ignored them," she says. "They do not respond to my emails, and I know that several people have pointed the project out to relevant officials, but they tend to stick to their own ways. I am not discouraged, though," she said. "The next batch is brewing."
For now, Hoj is continuing to improve her cup collection design, which has become something of an obsession. "It is pretty much all I can think about," she says. The next version she's working on will include more weather-resistant materials. It will also have a hole up and down the side to see how much the tube has filled up.
The simple design solution, she believes, would make sense in other cities struggling with similar problems.
"If they are put into production, they should ideally be mounted on cup-plagued locations," Hoj says. "We all have them. I saw a picture on Twitter from Stockholm, taken by author Lena Sundström (@LenaSundstrom), where they apparently have the exact same problem. It would explain the interest from all over the world, in this small project. I think the idea would travel well."
Photos courtesy of Sandra Hoj at Classic CopenhagenPolice in riot gear respond to demonstrators protesting at the McDonald's headquarters in Oak Brook, Illinois, in May. Jim Young/Reuters
SWAT teams, riot gear, armored vehicles, and other super-sized police equipment and tactics are spreading into smaller spaces and conflicts.
Of the many tragic images to emerge from Ferguson, Missouri, over the weekend, one of the most disturbing—and increasingly common—was the sight of a military vehicle patrolling suburban streets. Protesters outraged by the police killing of 18-year-old Ferguson resident Michael Brown were met by police in riot gear, police carrying assault rifles, and police aboard a LENCO BearCat, a type of military armored vehicle. According to a public information officer with the St. Louis County Police Department, the county dispatched two armored vehicles on Saturday in response to "unrest." Yet it was not until Sunday that some grieving community members answered perceived injustice with violence, looting about a dozen shops. As of Saturday, when the BearCat took to the streets of Ferguson (population 21,000), protesters were assembling peacefully. St. Louis County is just one of the many municipalities in the U.S. that now commands access to military equipment meant for war. The paramilitarization of suburban police forces, or the suburbanization of paramilitary police forces, adds another question to those lingering over Brown's tragic death: Did the police response only make matters worse?
"There isn't a great amount of tracking on all the military equipment going out in the U.S.," says Samuel Bieler, a research associate with the Justice Policy Center at the Urban Institute. "But you can definitely see evidence of militarization of the police in the suburbs. You can find examples basically anywhere." While the use of SWAT teams generally came to prominence in the 1970s as an answer to urban unrest (and as a form of police brutality), increasingly, the paramilitary tactics and equipment adopted by law-enforcement agencies are spreading beyond the cities to suburban areas and rural counties. SWAT Team. Taco Bell. #Ferguson (photo:@kodacohen) pic.twitter.com/Mo8CDVWx32 — Michael Skolnik (@MichaelSkolnik) August 11, 2014 For example, the Indianapolis Star recently compiled a database of the equipment acquired by Indiana city and county law-enforcement agencies through the 1033 program, which parcels out surplus Department of Defense equipment. Among the findings: Mine-Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicles, which are armored vehicles designed to withstand improvised explosive device attacks, were dispersed to eight different municipalities, the smallest being Pulaski County, population 13,402. Despite the fact that a Department of Homeland Security report once listed more potential terrorist targets in Indiana than New York or California, the state has never been hit by a terrorist attack, much less an assault involving IEDs. The MRAP vehicles amount to only a small fraction of the $45 million in materiel that Indiana has acquired from the Pentagon since 2010. While such detailed findings aren't available for every state, The New York Times reports that 432 MRAP vehicles have been distributed to law-enforcement agencies across the states, in addition to 435 other armored vehicles, 533 planes and helicopters, and nearly 100,000 machine guns.
The police department of St. Charles, a suburb of St. Louis, possesses an MRAP vehicle. The Metropolitan Police Department for the city of St. Louis also owns two armored military vehicles, according to a spokesperson for the St. Louis County Police Department, which has acquired several military vehicles. "The records kept on this equipment aren’t great," Bieler says. "It's certainly something that doesn't have the oversight you'd expect given the nature of the military equipment being distributed." #Ferguson During riots, the police is usually okay with you looting and burning down your neighborhood. Just don’t creep to the suburbs — alpha1906@gmail.com (@alpha1906) August 11, 2014 In a lot of cases, these advanced armored military vehicles are only ever used for parade pieces, Bieler says. That's in stark contrast to SWAT deployments. Peter Kraska, a professor and senior research fellow at Eastern Kentucky University, reports that between 1980 and 2000, police paramilitary teams registered a 1,400 percent increase in deployments. Earlier this year, the ACLU released a report showing that 79 percent of the SWAT team deployments reviewed by the organization executed search warrants on suspects' homes. In Maryland, the only state that tracks SWAT deployments, search warrants make up almost 90 percent of these actions. Cities are changing fast. Keep up with the CityLab Daily newsletter. The best way to follow issues you care about. Subscribe Loading... A 2013 report from the U.S. Department of Justice tracks the militarization of police back to the 1920s, when law-enforcement agencies adopted a more regimented martial style. With the explosion of SWAT deployments since 1980, though, the DOJ frets that the "growing militarization of U.S. policing may be threatening community policing." It is only in more recent years, though, that police militarization has become so widespread. Nowhere was that clearer this weekend than in Ferguson, where protesters demonstrated with their hands raised in surrender in the vicinity of police—a disgraceful sight in America. At a broader level, there is no research that tracks how police using military tactics and equipment affects civilian safety (or police safety, for that matter). In #Ferguson pic.twitter.com/HLc7Pq4J2u — Antonio French (@AntonioFrench) August 11, 2014 "How are these tactics actually working? Are they making citizens and police safer or are they increasing adverse outcomes?" Bieler asks. "There are some tactical case studies about riots, but that doesn’t cover what we’re seeing in police using SWAT teams for search warrants or riot gear for protests." Right now, the people of Ferguson need answers to more pressing questions about Brown's death. But one question for Ferguson applies to law-enforcement agencies everywhere: Why did police deploy an armored military vehicle to a protest? What are the legitimate uses for an MRAP vehicle in a community that has never experienced terrorism? "You can definitely see that, even in a small town like Ferguson, it says something important about the degree that militarization is now accessible to every law-enforcement agency," Bieler says. "Agencies that aren't in major metro areas are getting access to this military gear." It is far from clear that a weapon of war is a tolerable answer to civil unrest even under the worst circumstances. Ferguson is hardly the only community where assemblies protected by the First Amendment have been met by paramilitary force. The police reaction following Brown's death—the latest in the hopeless litany of young black men killed by authorities—shows how far the militarization of law enforcement is spreading.How to make the best vegan falafel. A lunchtime recipe that easy and tasty and doesn’t make you miss meat. Ready to learn how you can make the best vegan falafel? Let’s get started!
I started out calling this a vegetarian recipe when in fact it is a vegan dish. It doesn’t contain any meat, poultry or dairy product. It is 100% plant based so this is not only vegetarian falafel but actually vegan falafel.
You might think it takes a lot of effort to make falafel but let me assure you that is not the case. Some overnight patients and a blender or kitchen machine are the main ingredients and doing all the hard work.
What is great about falafel is that is has real texture. It is something you can bite in would call a meaty structure.
You can easily make tasty falafel with canned chickpeas but if you want more flavor and texture I recommend to use dried chickpeas.
Take 250 grams of dried chickpeas and but them in a bowl of water. Soak them overnight and you can use the chickpeas the next day. The chickpeas will double in weight and size after they soak up all that water.
Vegan falafel ingredients
The number of vegan falafel ingredients you need for this recipe are quite a limited. To make this recipe you only need:
Chickpeas (dried or canned)
Chili pepper
Red shallot
Onion
Garlic
Parsley
Cumin powder
Coriander powder
Fresh chives
Salt
Vegetable oil
How to make vegan falafel
If you use dried chickpeas put them in a bowl with water and leave them overnight else use two cans of chickpeas.
Drain the chickpeas, skin the chickpeas (chickpeas have a translucent skin that you can remove) and put all of the ingredients in the blender at the same time.
So the chickpeas, onion, garlic, chili pepper, cumin powder, coriander powder and some chives. You can put in the whole chili pepper including the seeds because it will give your falafel a nice kick. As you use a lot of chickpea the heat will be evenly distributed and not to hot.
If you like you can add some additional fresh parsley and coriander. I do not like the taste of fresh coriander so I stick with the powder only. Add salt to taste and blend away until you have a fine structure.
Be careful to not over mix because you will have hummus instead of the base of falafel. Create about 16 patties and press them slightly so they look like mini hamburgers.
Heat vegetable oil in a skillet and put the falafel in the pan. Pan fry the falafel and turn the patties regularly until dark golden brown. You are ready to serve. Now tell me doesn’t that look inviting?
Great to eat with
These vegan falafel is great to eat on its one but tastes even better when you eat it with:
Flour tortillas – add some salad and then the falafel. You can put some garlic saus on top or a smooth spicy roasted tomato salsa
Pita bread – the original recipe for falafel is served with soft pita bread
Store
There are a number of ways to store your falafel:
You can keep the falafel in the refrigerator for a couple of days in an air tight container
Store them in the freezer in an air tight container or freezer bag
How to make the best vegan falafel
Want to see how to make the best vegan falafel? Watch the instruction video below:
Have fun with this easy vegan falafel recipe! Made a recipe tag @thetortillachannel on Instagram or PIN on Pinterest.
Pin Recipe Print Recipe Tasty vegetarian falafel Mireille We are making the best vegan falafel. You might think it takes a lot of effort to make but it is not the case. Lets get started! Ingredients 250 grams of dried chickpeas or two tins of canned chickpeas
1 chili pepper (whole including the seeds)
1 red shallot
1 onion
5 cloves of garlic
1½ tbsp parsley powder
1½ tbsp cumin powder
1½ tbsp coriander powder
Fresh chives
Salt
Sunflower oil Instructions Soak the dried chickpeas overnight. The chickpeas will double in size and weight. Drain the chickpeas and remove the skin. If you use canned chickpeas drain them. Put the chickpeas in a blender or kitchen machine. Add the whole chili pepper including seeds, red shallot, onion, garlic, parsley powder, cumin powder, coriander powder and salt. Blend the ingredients together and stir if necessary. Add the chives and blend some more. Be careful not to over blend. Make small patties with a spoon. This amount will be good for 16 to 20 falafel. Heat sunflower oil in medium to hot pan. Fry the falafel for a couple of minutes before turning them over and fry the other side until golden brown. Let the falafel drain on kitchen paper. Notes Eat with soft flour tortillas and red saus. Store in the refrigerator for a couple of days or in the freezer. Nutrition facts Calories: 77; Fat: 2.3g; Carbs: 11.8g; Protein: 3.6g; Did you make this recipe? Tag Tag @thetortillachannel on Instagram and hashtag it #thetortillachannelBad job search advice. It’s everywhere.
Don’t shoot the messenger (even though she’s also a purveyor of job search advice).
It’s everywhere for a number of reasons, including:
Those delivering it often have a bias that affects the nature of the counsel (e.g., husbands, parents, BFFs). There are no licenses or certifications that career coaches are required to carry (which results in a mixed bag of talent in the world of “experts”). Textbook advice—the kind that many of us have the most ready access to during our formative years—can be severely old school (or worse).
Unfortunately, if you don’t use care in choosing trusted sources for job search advice, you may run into resume advice that teaches you how to “trick” the applicant tracking system (ATS) or hiring managers. I’m not here to say that there are no effective “resume tricks,” but there are a few that could very well backfire on you.
Here are four of them.
1. “Borrowing” Entire Phrases Right out of the Job Description
Yes, yes, yes: You absolutely should study the job description for each job you plan to pursue, and you should mirror some of the keywords that describe the skills and qualifications on your resume. You should not, however, lift entire sentences or text blocks from that job description. This will put you on the express train from solid on-paper match to shyster who’s trying too hard.
RELATED: How to Spot Bad Career Advice: 4 Telltale Signs
2. Thinking a Functional Resume Will Serve as the Perfect Disguise
It’s so common for job seekers with career gaps to use the old “hide the gaps with a functional resume” trick that, every time I see one, I just assume there’s going to be a gap. And then I set out to find it. Functional resumes are almost never the right solution. Not only can it be difficult for an ATS to read and parse a functional resume into the electronic database, it also screams “I am hiding something!” Better to use a hybrid resume with a strong summary at the top of the page followed by career history (with details) in reverse chronological order.
3. Listing Completed College Coursework as a Degree
Oh, have I seen heartbreaks with this one. Among them, a job seeker who was about to be hired by one of my recruiting clients—a global manufacturing firm—for a field engineering role. He actually didn’t need the degree as a requirement for this job, but he still felt it necessary to list a bachelor’s degree on his resume. Unfortunately (for him, me, and the hiring manager, who loved the guy), he was a few credits short of having that degree. This little nugget of information came out when the firm’s HR department did a standard degree verification. He did not get the job.
It doesn’t matter if you’re 20 or two credits away from earning the degree. If you didn’t finish it, you need to state “Coursework completed toward…,” not “Have degree.”
RELATED: How to (and How Not to) List Education on Resume
4. Fudging Dates (and Then Having Different Dates on Your Application)
Let’s face it. Sometimes it’s just easier to say that the job you stormed out on last July actually ended in November. Smooth over that gap, right?
Wrong. Fudging dates is not only called lying, it’s an easy way to land yourself in hot water with decision makers, especially if you accidentally list out different dates on the official job application. You can certainly strategize if you need to de-emphasize time gaps (for instance, use years instead of months and years), but fudging dates can be a true recipe for disaster.
RELATED: 4 Changes That Will Make Your Resume a Breath of Fresh Air
Without a doubt, it can be confusing, overwhelming, and downright mind-numbing trying to figure out how to set up a resume that snags attention and positions you to sail through the hiring process. As you consider the “tricks,” always keep in mind that some are clearly better than others.
(Avoid these.)
This article was originally published on The Daily Muse.
Jenny Foss operates a recruiting firm, Ladder Recruiting Group, and the popular career blog JobJenny.com. Say hi @JobJenny.Picture the scene: You’re guffawing over some photos you just took of your buddies larking around, and everyone now wants to see the hilarious snaps. You’re happy to hand your iPhone over, except you also have a bunch of other images on there you’d rather they didn’t see. It may scream FIRST WORLD PROBLEM, but it’s a quandary nonetheless.
This is where Overswipe for iPhone wants to help, as it lets you choose which snaps are visible.
Once you’ve given Overswipe permission to access your gallery, you tick each photo you’re happy to share, and then you hit ‘Display’. However, you’ll probably want to cough up for the $0.99 upgrade, which lets you reveal more than five images at a time.
Couldn’t your buddy just exit the gallery and view your other photos anyway? Yes, yes they could. But the Pro option also lets you set a passcode, which prevents viewers from closing the gallery mode within the app.
Overswipe isn’t going to change the world. But it’s a pretty simple idea that fixes a problem many people have, creating an instant, siloed photo album that’s separate from the rest of your images.
➤ Overswipe | App Store
Read next: BillGuard now helps Brits, Aussies and New Zealanders combat credit card fraud and hidden merchant feesA rescue mission to find survivors from the Dalniy Vostok fishing trawler, which sank in the Sea of Okhotsk off the Kamchatka Peninsula, will continue through the night. Fifty-six people are confirmed dead, while 63 were rescued from the freezing waters.
One hundred and thirty-two people were confirmed to have been aboard the fishing vessel, when it sank. Of those, 119 have been accounted for, according to RIA-Novosti. Around 10 of the survivors are in a critical condition, suffering from hypothermia.
The head of the Russian Emergencies Ministry, Vladimir Puchkov, says the rescue mission to try and find survivors from the Dalniy Vostok should continue through the night.
“We will continue the rescue operation in the area where the trawler went down when night falls at full capacity,” said Puchkov, according to Interfax.
He added that 26 vessels are currently at the scene and helping with the rescue operation. Strong winds have hampered the rescue mission, with helicopters unable to reach the area where the vessel sank. One chopper took off from Petropavlovsk Kamchatka, but was forced to return to the city of Magadan.
Thirty-two people have been transferred to the Andromeda vessel from the Dalniy Vostok trawler.
“Fishing boats are currently lining up around the Andromeda to transfer those rescued from the sea, which includes both survivors and those who have passed away,” a source told TASS.
Of the 132 crew members aboard the Dalniy Vostok, 78 are Russians and 54 are other nationals, including from Myanmar, Vanuatu, Latvia and Ukraine.
While the search maybe continuing, the Chief of Maritime Rescue from the port of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, Artur Rets, said he believed it was unlikely any more survivors would be found.
“To keep oneself alive in water where the temperature is around two degrees above freezing is impossible. There is the possibility that crew members stayed below deck and went down with the trawler,” he added, speaking to TASS.
Rets added that a flooded engine caused the trawler to sink and it was submerged after just 15 minutes. Sources said that the vessel did not even send out a distress signal. However, rescuers said a number of crew members still had time to put on life jackets before the ship sank.
Траулер "Дальний Восток" затонул у берегов Камчатки http://t.co/1qSxsG5sni — Шуба (@coat_mink_furs) April 1, 2015
One of the reasons the trawler sunk was that its net was overloaded, the Sakhalin Governor Oleg Kozhemyako said.
“They had empty tanks, and the ballast wasn’t pumped in. The trawl [net] was about 80 tons in weight, and that was what caused the imbalance. The balance was zero and negative. And then the vessel started to overturn, causing it to sink,” the governor told Rossiya-24 TV channel.
The 103-meter-long and 16-meter-wide freezer trawler was designed to process, refrigerate and deliver its catch to the nearest port.
The Dalniy Vostok was built in 1989 and up until last year, had been deployed in the Baltic Sea. At the end of 2014, it underwent a full maintenance check, and was found to be in good condition and fit for sea, according to the ship’s owner, who added that technical problems were unlikely to have caused the accident.
One theory being investigated is that the trawler collided with ice in the Sea of Okhotsk, while a source involved in the rescue mission said that safety procedures could have been violated on board the ship.
“The main theory concerning what happened is that a large body of ice shattered the vessel’s hull, sinking it,” a source said, adding that there was also the possibility that it had been carrying too much cargo.
A criminal investigation is primarily examining possible violations of safety procedures aboard the vessel that led to multiple deaths. Authorities are in the process of interviewing the surviving crew members, as well as the owners of the trawler.It's Friday, and our series of top players at each position going into the World Championship is sadly coming to a close. After going through top laners to AD carries from Monday to Thursday, we end on the unsung heroes of Summoner's Rift: the supports. The crop heading to San Francisco in less than a week's time is stacked with stars old and new who form the backbone of any team reaching for the Summoner's Cup. Editor's Picks Riot unlocks digital revenue, long-term team partnerships After months of public criticism, Riot Games announced significant changes to its esports endeavor. This includes increased digital revenue to teams, which starts with this year's Worlds.
Top 5 AD carries at Worlds Fionn thinks one AD carry rules them all, but the talent across Europe, North America, China and South Korea is undeniable. Who will reign supreme in bot lane?
Top 5 mid laners at Worlds Erzberger takes a look at the five best mid lane talents heading into the League of Legends World Championships. Spoiler: It's Faker's world and we're all just living in it. 2 Related
5. Hu "SwordArt" Shuo-Jie
Region: Taiwan
Team: Flash Wolves
SwordArt, the third Flash Wolf in the rankings this week, could be the most important of them all in terms of the Taiwanese champions going far at Worlds. While the jungle and mid partnership between Huang "Maple" Yi-Tang and Hung "Karsa" Hau-Hsuan is the micro prowess of the team, SwordArt is the man who makes sure the macro ideas are executed proficiently. SwordArt's game planning against the Tigers last year and SKT T1 at the Mid-Season Invitational this campaign led to his team sweeping both Korean giants in the group stage of those respective tournaments.
The summer season was another successful one for SwordArt. He led all supports when it came to assists, and he died the least of any starting support in Taiwan's premier league. The issue for SwordArt and the Flash Wolves, like it was at Worlds last year and MSI this year, will be the AD carry position. Hsiung "NL" Wen-An was only adequate in his appearances at Worlds last year, and he was out of his depth at the Mid-Season Invitational come the bracket stage. In the series which eliminated FW from MSI against North America's Counter Logic Gaming, NL had an abysmal scoreline of 3/9/14 in the four games played.
With the meta enforcing 2v2 lanes, it's going to be up to SwordArt to make sure NL, clearly the shakiest link on the Wolves, doesn't completely crack against the likes of SK Telecom T1's or Clodu9's bottom lane in a competitive Group B.
4. Cho "Mata" Se-hyeong
Region: China
Team: Royal Never Give Up
Cho "Mata" Se-hyeong, now on KT Rolster. Provided by Riot Games
The most troubled support coming into Worlds is also the one who has won the MVP of the tournament before. Mata's spring split was fantastic in Royal's rebranding renaissance as Royal Never Give Up, going all the way to the |
10 VESSEL
Another cool project is made to reimagine the classic shape of a boat. Again, simple at the first glance shape reminds a plain triangle, however the bottom edges of the boat are curved in a very functional manner.
THE UNDONE MOTO BIKE
Motorcycle or a mirror polished stainless steel brick?
SNOPED
Unique fusion of a motorcycle, snowmobile and… a brick also turns in a quite interesting product.
Future machines of Joey Ruiter are certainly controversial but they do appeal to us with their simple shapes and pure functionality. Perhaps we are getting tired of the over the top fancy design of modern vehicles and start to look at the roots and simplicity.
Keep pushing the boundaries – the future is today! More on his tribe page.A couple Kamsack residents took it upon themselves to fight against the government’s plan to discontinue the STC bus service and began Saturday by circulating a petition in the community.
The petition arose from the provincial government’s decision released during last month’s budget that calls for the discontinuation of the Saskatchewan Transportation Company (STC).
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“In the petition we are requesting the government to take steps to continue to provide safe, affordable and accessible bus service,” said Cecelia Cazakoff, who is working on the project with Ev Banks.
“In my case I need to go once a month to the city for injections in my eye, which is the only thing that is keeping me from going blind,” Cazakoff said. “With this condition I cannot drive on the highways in winter, so from the first snowfall, I need to take the bus for the injections or I will go blind.”
Every month at least 300 people go for radiation therapy several times a week, many need to go to the city for dialysis several times a week, many children from broken homes use the bus to go from one parent’s home to the other, some travel for employment, students take the bus and many First Nations people who are taking courses or classes in the city use the bus to travel to their homes for the weekends, she said.
So many people don’t have vehicles or don’t drive, she said. It will be like they are imprisoned in their small towns.
“Does Premier Brad Wall want everyone in rural Saskatchewan to be shut ins? That’s ignorant.”
Cazakoff and Banks have distributed copies of the petition at many locations in Kamsack and are asking residents to consider adding their names and addresses to it.
“We’ll be checking the responses to the petition in about 10 days and the plan is to forward the results to Terry Dennis, the Canora-Pelly MLA,” she said.This will be a once in a lifetime opportunity and a dream come true for our family. Our hope is to be able to accompany and honor our son as he represents the USA in the Special Olympics World Games in Austria. However, this will only be possible with the help of GoFund Donations. Thank you for your support for helping our dreams come true!
This fairy tale story began 20 years ago when Jeremy came into this world a beautiful 9 lb., 20-inch baby boy! It wasn't very long before we realized that he wasn't developing like normal children his age. Over time, I painfully watched my child try to produce sounds necessary to form words and speak. Instead, there would be a blank look that would wash over his face as he was unable to coordinate his muscles, lips, tongue and throat to accomplish this. In addition to his speech delay, I noticed that his motor skills were impaired, creating another significant difference between him and other children his age.
At Jeremy's 18-month checkup, his Pediatrician gave us a referral recommending Early Intervention Services due to his symptoms. Jeremy underwent rigorous evaluations through Early Intervention to be qualified for needed services. After six months of Early Intervention Services, they assessed the severity of his condition, recommending intensive Speech Therapy. During this time, his private Speech Therapist discovered a Neurological Disorder impairing his oral motor functions as well as Sensory Integration Disorder and referred him to Occupational Therapy. After years of these rigorous efforts, therapies, and personal sacrifices, Jeremy's disability came to be correctly diagnosed as Childhood Apraxia of Speech (CAS).
Jeremy's transition into the Public School system revealed he has significant Learning Disabilities. From the beginning, he had several struggles and emotional battles to face and overcome. In school, his difficulties of not being verbally intelligible by most people caused a level of frustration within him. Whenever he attempted to communicate his thoughts and feelings, it created an isolation from his classmates. His deep-seated disabilities played into daily life, not just at school, but also in extracurricular activities as well by separating him socially from his peers. With each passing year, this visibly noticeable gap grew larger and more pronounced. It wasn't until our friends the McLeod family introduced us to Special Olympics (SO) that Jeremy started to find his place and develop a new sense of self. Between 2009 to 2013 Jeremy competed in Yamhill County SO Basketball and Golf tournaments, winning awards in both. In 2014 our family moved to a different county leaving Jeremy emotionally torn, his not wanting to compete against his former teammates. This dilemma pushed Jeremy out of his comfort zone to try snowboarding for the first time. Unbeknownst to us at the time, this decision would seem to be divine intervention, a spiritual moment, that would alter his life forever.
By his second year of Snowboarding, our family had moved to Vancouver, Washington. Here he qualified for the Washington State Special Olympics Snowboarding Competition, winning a silver medal. His silver medal placed his name in a lottery for a chance to be selected as an athlete representing the USA for the Special Olympics World Games. A week later that divine intervention we spoke of made itself known when we received a call that he was chosen to compete in the World Games in Austria in 2017.
This great news was received first with pride, excitement, and delight but then obviously with great apprehension. While this would mean the world to Jeremy and us to accompany him to Austria and support his efforts there, my family and I are not financially able to do so. We would need to raise funds no later than March 13, 2017, and the estimated cost of travel, food, and lodging will amount to $11,500.
Help spread the word! Share Tweet 320 shares on Facebook shares on FacebookKorean Airlines is a Skyteam member and points transfer partner of Chase Ultimate Rewards, which means any of the Chase Sapphire and Reserve or Chase Ink points you have can be transferred to Korean Airlines. Korean is known for having some of the best premium-cabin award availability, although it isn’t always easy to book. Still, the ability to fly a family of 8 in First Class on a well-regarded airline is worth a bit of extra effort.
Before today, Skyteam award flights booked with Korean Air had to be booked by calling in. Now, those awards can be booked online. This is a huge upgrade and makes Chase Ultimate Rewards points even more useful in my opinion. You can search for flights through this link after logging in and selecting Skyteam awards in the search.
Note that while you’re now able to book online, searching for availability isn’t the easiest thing in the world from this website. I recommend you first search for the availability you need from the Delta, Air France, or Alaska Airlines websites because those searches show a calendar-view. Once you confirm your flights are available from those websites, note the dates and search those dates in the Korean Air website to book the flights you want. Note that with regards to Delta, only the lowest-level awards will show as available on Korean Air.
You can search Korean Air’s Skyteam Award Chart here (defaulted to North America departures) and also in the image below. Note that one way Skyteam awards are priced the same as round trip awards, so book round trip flights only.
It appears that non-SkyTeam partners of Korean Air (Alaska Airlines, Emirates, Etihad, GOL, Hawaiian, and JAL) flights can still only be booked by calling 800-438-5000.
List of SkyTeam Members
Aeroflot
Aerolíneas Argentinas
AeroméxicoAir Europa
Air France
Alitalia
China Airlines
China Eastern Airlines
China Southern Airlines
Czech Airlines
Delta Air Lines
Garuda Indonesia
Kenya Airways
KLM
Korean Air
Middle East Airlines
Saudia
TAROM
Vietnam Airlines
Xiamen Airlines
Korean Air Award Rules Refresher
One way awards are priced the same as round trip, so might as well book round trip
You are allowed one stopover per round trip award
Maximum of 3 segments (2 layovers) in each direction
They do charge fuel surcharges if a cash ticket would also include fuel surcharges
Best Uses of Korean Air Miles
1. North America to North America, Including Hawaii, for 25K/45K Miles Round Trip
Korean Air has a very fair award chart for Skyteam travel (and travel on their own planes, for that matter). One of the best known and likely best-value awards are flights from the US to Hawaii on Delta, which costs just 25,000 miles round trip. That’s true whether you fly from Los Angeles or from New York, with the latter being the better offer due to the longer flight. Business Class flights are just 45,000 miles round trip.
To take it a step further, it’s not just the US to Hawaii at these prices. The region includes the US, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Canada, and the US Virgin Islands. You can find tremendous value from many of these locations.
Unfortunatly, Hawaiian Airlines flights still have to be called in since they are not a member of Skyteam, so online booking to Hawaii applies only to Delta for now.
2. North America to Europe in for 50K/80K Miles Round Trip
One of the other fantastic values are round trip Business Class from the US to Europe for 80,000 miles round trip, which is a significant discount to what US airliners charge for similar flights. Economy flights are also a great value at 50,000 miles round trip.
3. North America to Tahiti for 60K/90K Miles Round Trip
This flight would be on Air France, and the only option is from LAX. Still, this is a great price compared to the other options available.
4. More Complex “Hopper” flights
This will require another post (many have already been written – feel free to Google it), but there are Indonesian Hoppers, South America Hoppers, China Hoppers, Middle East Hoppers, and Europe Hoppers, among others. A “Hopper” is when you can book many segments usually within the same region at a very low price, so you can “hop” from one location to another to explore a large area.
Conclusion
The ability to book awards online makes lives easier, and given that Korean Air is a transfer partner of Chase Ultimate Rewards, those flights will now be easier to book. Skyteam isn’t the biggest or best alliance, but it can definitely come in handy…especially given the pricing of particular regions.DR WHO FOR WAIKATO? Matt Smith, the 11nth actor to play the time traveller in the hit BBC series said he would start a campaign to film an episode in New Zealand with Sir Peter Jackson directing.
Sir Peter Jackson is backing Doctor Who star Matt Smith’s campaign to film an episode of the hit BBC show in New Zealand.
Smith, the 11th actor to play the icon role created by William Hartnell in 1963, told the Waikato Times: ‘‘Hey, let’s get Peter Jackson to direct one and go and make it in New Zealand. I would love to, I will campaign endlessly to come over and film there.’’
Asked if he thought the Times should make contact with The Hobbit director with the idea Smith said: ‘‘Do it mate, do it. Come on.’’
Sir Peter, whose first Lord of the Rings prequel is to be released in December, told the Times: "I’m a huge Doctor Who fan, and I think Matt’s fantastic. Just name a time and place, and I’ll be there!"
The idea is not at all fanciful.
Sir Peter is a Doctor Who fan, hiring seventh Doctor Sylvester McCoy for The Hobbit, having acquired McCoy’s costume from his time on the show. He met Smith at the Comic Con International convention.
‘‘(It) was very exciting to meet someone of his credence and calibre a wonderful film maker, and he mentioned that he enjoyed the show, so I was absolutely thrilled to hear that,’’ Smith said.
Sir Peter also hired Doctor Who show runner Steven Moffat to write the screenplay to Tintin.
While Doctor Who is mainly filmed in the UK the opening episodes of last season were filmed in the USA and the upcoming Season 7 episode The Angels Take Manhattan was filmed in New York.
‘‘I have never been to NZ sadly, or Australia, it’s on my list of to dos,’’ Smith said.
‘‘I‘m told it’s glorious. I’m told it’s quite similar to England. I think it would be an absolutely wonderful place to film Doctor Who...there’s clearly a great film industry out there. It’s something I would be very interested in it’s just whether we can persuade the producers to fly us all over,’’ Smith said.
He denied rumours, in the British tabloids, that he would be stepping out of the TARDIS anytime soon.
‘‘Shock horror. Everyone leaves eventually people. No I’m not leaving any time soon. You know I am coming back for the 50th anniversary. To suggest I am quitting now is wrong.’’
Smith was an hour late for his interview because he was discussing the show’s 50th anniversary special with Moffat.
‘‘He was pitching the 50th anniversary at the end of this series and what everything was going to be about and it was a very exciting meal. No doubt he’ll come up with something brilliant because that’s the sort of man he is... I hope that we mark it in the best way possible and we honour the people that have been in the show before us and we make it as grand and brilliant and inventive and as much an occasion as possible. What that is, I may have an idea, but I can’t tell you I’m afraid.’’ Previous Doctor Who milestones have been marked with a special episodes with previous Doctors uniting in one episode. Asked if an Eleven Doctors special could be filmed Smith said: ‘Who knows? I think it’s an exciting idea. Whether it would be possible, or whether it could ever happen I just don’t know, but whatever we can do to mark that 50th anniversary will be spectacular, that much I do know.’’ Perhaps an episode with Sir Peter at the helm?
‘‘Nothing’s set in stone. I imagine there will be a script knocking around about Christmas and there we will develop further and shoot it next spring.’’
Smith got the role when he auditioned for the part of Dr John Watson in Moffat’s re-imagining of Sherlock Holmes starring Benedict Cumberbatch.
‘‘Steven said no, you’re not Dr Watson but you might make a good Doctor Who, do you want to come and audition for that?
‘‘Sherlock is a bit more of a sociopath than the Doctor and the Doctor is a bit more ridiculous than Sherlock. You know I think Sherlock would just find the Doctor a complete imbecile and the Doctor would just think ‘‘O, come on, just wear a silly hat.’’ ‘‘I think ultimately they are very different... There’s great wit in them both and that fervent intelligence that Steven has a person that come across in his writing.’’ This season marks the departure of actors Karen Gillan and Arthur Darvill who play the Doctor’s travelling companions turned parents in law Amy and Rory Pond.
‘‘It’s always going to be a sad event, but the show is pretty much about change and regeneration and looking forward and that’s what we do,’’ Smith, fresh from filming the next Christmas special, said.
Smith thinks of the series, once campaigned against by British MP Mary Whitehouse for being too scary for children, as a show for all ages.
‘‘I met a four year old that watched it the other day and I asked what do you like about it and he said: ‘‘What I like about the Doctor is everywhere he goes he makes friends,’’ and I though what a lovely thing to say about him and it’s true, sort of.’’ Asked who he’d like to take on a trip in the TARDIS Smith said: ‘‘Frank Sinatra and Marilyn Monroe. He married her (in A Christmas Carol).’’ It was a joke thrown in as an aside. "That’s clever old Steven, as always.’’
Who in New Zealand?
New Zealand has a lot to offer Doctor Who, according to John Preddle, the Hamilton based author of the ultimate guide to the show Timelink.
The Waitomo caves, and its glow-worm grottos are the perfect location to film an awakening colony of reptilian Silurians.
Hobbiton with a little bit of redressing could become the habitat for diminutive aliens.
We also have our fair share of quarries, that look suitably like alien landscapes, probably moreso than your bog-standard slate quarry so often used in Wales.
We have near-active volcanoes... in 2003 a one-off animated web-cast Doctor Who adventure was in part set on the slopes of Mount Ruapehu!
And even further afield, our southern glaciers would offer ideal conditions for lumbering Ice Warriors, and our whale-watching expeditions might attract the odd Sea Devils
Who’s Who?
Doctor Who is about a time traveller who calls himself The Doctor. His time machine, the TARDIS (Time and Relative Dimensions in Space), can theoretically land anywhere and anywhen making the story telling options endless. It has a chameleon circuit, so that it will blend in with its surroundings when it lands, but it is broken and forever stuck as a 1960s police call box. The Doctor, who regenerates into a new body instead of dying, is accompanied on his travels by companions.The popular torrent site Isohunt just launched a new fully functional website—oldpiratebay.org— that lets you search through the Pirate Bay archives. This is a little bit silly, since Pirate Bay's archives have been public for years. But it's also a little bit useful if you've been having Pirate Bay withdrawal since the site got raided by Swedish police.
The funny thing is that the new site was built and hosted by Isohunt, a potential Pirate Bay competitor. The Old Pirate Bay is a useful site, too! Instead of just mirroring the original, the Old Pirate Bay has a functional search engine, working magnet links, and all of the old pages. To boot, there's even new content being uploaded all the time.
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It's hard to guess what the company's intentions are for the Old Pirate Bay, though it sounds sincere enough in the announcement:
As you all probably know, the beloved Pirate bay website is gone for now. It will be missed. It will be always remembered as the pilgrim of Freedom and possibilities on the Web. It's the symbol for a whole generation of the internet users. In it's honor we are making oldpiratebay.org search. We, the Isohunt.to team, copied the base of the PirateBay in order to save it to the generations of users. Nothing will be forgotten.
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So torrent on, you freedom-loving scallawags. Because you can take the Pirate Bay off the web, but you can never destroy the pioneering site's legacy. [Isohunt via Venturebeat]Former Chief of Psychiatry at Johns Hopkins Hospital and Distinguished Service Professor of Psychiatry at Johns Hopkins University Dr. Paul R. McHugh blasted the Left’s transgender movement, saying that those who enable the mental illness of transgenderism are “collaborating with madness." McHugh warns against sex-reassignment surgery in particular.
The esteemed PHD has studied transgenderism and sex-reassignment surgery for 40 years, notes CNS News.
In the doctor’s book, The Mind Has Mountains: Reflections on Society and Psychiatry, McHugh says that he’s “witnessed a great deal of damage from sex reassignment.”
Psychiatrists have been preparing the mentally ill for life-changing surgeries instead of “studying the causes and natures of their mental misdirections,” he states. “We have wasted scientific and technical resources and damaged our professional credibility by collaborating with madness rather than trying to study, cure, and ultimately prevent it.”
Johns Hopkins Hospital previously provided sex reassignment surgeries in the early 1970s, per CNS News. “But after Dr. McHugh – psychiatrist-in-chief at Johns Hopkins Hospital 1975-2001 -- and his colleagues studied the issue further, they concluded ‘that Hopkins was fundamentally cooperating with a mental illness.’” The hospital eventually stopped providing the surgery.
“We psychiatrists, I thought, would do better to concentrate on trying to fix their minds and not their genitalia,” said McHugh.
The doctor explained that trans people, those who don't identify as their biological sex, exude behaviors of “sexual misdirection," called “autogynephilia." Such behaviors do not cease post-op:
For the post-surgery transgender men, data collected by one of McHugh’s colleagues showed that most of the patients did not regret the genitalia change “[b]ut in every other respect, they were little changed in their psychological condition,” said Dr. McHugh. “They had the same problems with relationships, work, and emotions as before.”
McHugh added: "We saw the results as demonstrating that just as these men enjoyed cross-dressing as women before the operation so they enjoyed cross-living after it," he said. "But they were no better in their psychological integration or any easier to live with."
The doctor concluded that providing a "surgical alteration to the body of these unfortunate people was to collaborate with a mental disorder rather than to treat it."
Upon major findings, the Johns Hopkins Psychiatry Department "concluded that human sexual identity is mostly built into our constitution by the genes we inherit and the embryogenesis we undergo." This made it "quite clear" that "we psychiatrists should work to discourage those adults who seek surgical sex reassignment."
McHugh explained activists are incorrectly conflating sex-reassignment surgery with "gay liberation movements." Trans activists "still argue that their members are entitled to whatever surgery they want, and they still claim that their sexual dysphoria represents a true conception of their sexual identity."
The doctor argues that these same activists have provided "little evidence" to refute scientific arguments that transgenderism is a psychological disorder.
“One might expect that those who claim that sexual identity has no biological or physical basis would bring forth more evidence to persuade others,” concluded McHugh. “But as I’ve learned, there is a deep prejudice in favor of the idea that nature is totally malleable.”In France, where about 60 percent of mothers with young children work, two-thirds of two-income families employ a nanny, according to the national statistics office, Insee.
“I could not leave my children with a stranger at this age,” Jutta Funke said as we watched our 2-year-olds get covered in mud on a playground in this northwestern town where I grew up.
When she heard that I planned to resume full-time work within six months of having my second child, handing the care of two daughters to a nanny in London for 50 hours a week, she was polite but clearly disapproved.
Jutta is 34. She has a business degree and worked for an advertising agency in Hamburg for seven years, steadily climbing the ranks before meeting her husband, Horst.
When Horst, a doctor, was offered a job near Osnabrück, Jutta followed him. And when she didn’t immediately find work, she decided to have a baby. Next year, perhaps, she will look for a part-time job.
Does she mind being financially dependent on her husband? Putting her professional life second to his? “I don’t think about it that way,” she said. “I put my child first.”
I met several German mothers like Jutta on the playground and was torn between sympathy and impatience.
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Most of them grew up with education and ambitions similar to mine: combining children with career and sharing family responsibilities with the partner. They all think of themselves as equals to their husbands. In practice, the roles they have assumed still bear a striking resemblance to those of their mothers, who had a much narrower set of opportunities and rights at their disposal.
Working mothers still face more stigma in Germany than in many other Western countries. A Teutonic mother cult infamously celebrated by the Nazis was institutionalized by successive postwar governments in West Germany. Even now, half-day schools are the norm, and the tax system rewards unequal earnings between spouses.
Things have begun to change: A fifth of German schools now offer full-day programs, and more are signing up. Mothers can share 14 months of paid parental leave with fathers.
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Yet the shockingly low number of day care places in Western Germany is increasing only at snail’s pace, despite a 2013 deadline to give all year-old toddlers the legal right to a nursery place.
Why have politicians felt free to drag their feet on improving child care infrastructure? Why does the average Western German mother work only 25 hours a week 10 years after the birth of her last child? Why do only 19 percent of German couples with children both work full-time, compared with 42 percent in France?
Bascha Mika, author of a controversial best-selling book, “The Cowardice of Women,” published in Germany this year, thinks women have largely themselves to blame. According to her, they aren’t putting enough pressure on politicians, are failing to negotiate equal terms in relationships and often voluntarily retreat into a traditional mother role that spares them other hard questions about identity and purpose in life.
It's a risky strategy at a time when the economic crisis is putting male jobs and incomes at risk, when increasing longevity means bringing up children is only a passing phase in a woman's life and when divorce rates are high. Even if childcare eats up all of the female income, there is a long-term pay-off to staying in the labor market.
“What’s the matter with us?” Ms. Mika asks German women. “Don’t we want to be free and equal?”
“We are collaborating with a system that reduces us to motherhood,” she writes. “We voluntarily choose to be powerless and adjust to self-inflicted victimhood. That’s cowardice.”
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Whether the term “cowardice” helps anyone more than Bertelsmann, Ms. Mika’s publisher, is questionable. The power of tradition and lack of comprehensive state child care are strong barriers to effective gender equality.
But Ms. Mika, herself Polish-born and childless, has made a useful contribution to the protracted debate about women’s advancement in Germany by posing some uncomfortable questions about the implications of being emancipated in the 21st century.
Why do we insist on spending ridiculous amounts of money on our looks, all the way up to elective plastic surgery? Why do we still draw so much of our self-confidence from having a husband and a baby? Indeed, why do young professionals often obsess about being that elusive “perfect” mother?
Yes, women are fundamentally different from men: they give birth. So one answer is that they have different priorities and are making choices that make them happy. Another is that their freedom to choose remains somewhat illusory.
Opening up that freedom of choice may hinge less on bringing a nanny culture to places like Germany and more a social contract involving parents, business and government in altering the work-life balance.
One country where you wouldn’t find nannies on playgrounds is Sweden. But that’s not because parents worry about leaving offspring with “strangers”; most Swedish toddlers are in subsidized preschools, and most parents finish their jobs in time to pick them up.
With 21st-century reach-everyone-anytime technology, might we not rethink child-unfriendly work hours? In the process, more of Ms. Mika’s “cowardly” mothers might hang on to their careers.A recent study from the CEOs for Cities criticizing the Texas Transportation Institute's Urban Mobility Report has rightly garnered a lot of interest. Their case against the TTI main index is correct, but does not go far enough.
The debate between CEOs for Cities and TTI is really about methodology. The distinction being discussed is important – but ultimately the focus of both groups is still somewhat missing the point. They are both still centered on measuring just one facet of how well transportation is serving us. Thus it is a limited debate about how to measure mobility of people in cars - as if that is all that matters when it comes to assessing how well the transportation system is serving society.
Image courtesy of Flickr user sparktography.
Over 50 years ago, Lewis Mumford posed the question "What is transportation for?" Mumford felt that if we had asked this simple question at the start of the interstate era we might not have committed billions of dollars to the creation of what he called a monochromatic transportation system. In his view, we supported highways to the detriment of transit and cities, mainly because transportation began to be seen as end in itself - rather than a means to an end. We lost sight of the fact that a transportation system affects almost all aspects of daily life and that its value should not be judged purely on the basis of how well it affords the easy movement of vehicles.
Recently, there have been signs that after fifty years under this regime - where mobility considerations ruled all our decisions about transportation - the tide is beginning to turn. The new emphasis of the US DOT, HUD and EPA on the issues of transportation and livability is one sign of the first tentative steps being taken to place transportation in a broader context. Some have pointed out that the concept of livability as it is current posed is still somewhat nebulous. This is true, but the fact remains that the discussion of livability signals an important change in focus at the federal level. What is needed now are ways of measuring these broader impacts that are implied by the term livability. This will allow us to effectively assess the extent to which transportation is serving our real interests, over and above considerations relating to vehicle mobility.
By focusing on transportation in a broader context we will be able to start to address questions such as the true cost of focusing so much attention to vehicle mobility. To answer questions like these and others about the broader impacts of transportation, our team at UCONN is working to develop the Transportation Index for Sustainable Places. One component of this TISP considers the cost of transportation from the perspective of both the individual and the society as a whole.
This assessment is based on the following four points:
Transportation is Affordable for Individuals
Transportation System Provides Efficient Movement of People & Goods for Economic Activity
Transportation Finance is Locally Self-Sufficient
Transportation System Does Not Contribute to Economic Vulnerability of Society
Each state was graded on these four points and then a composite score was determined for rating the states. The results of these ratings showing how well the states stack-up in terms of the economic impact of their transportation system is given in the map below.
On this map the best performing state is New York, and the worst is Mississippi. The differences between the states are stark – for example, in New York only 21% of the average household income is spent on transportation, while in Mississippi transportation eats up a crushing 41% of the average household income. In New York only 1% of the state's GDP is spent on transportation fuel, while Mississippi devotes almost 5% of its state GDP to the purchasing of transportation fuel.
In addition, New York State is much less dependent on the federal government to support its total transportation budget – only 15% of its budget comes from the federal purse while Mississippi depends on the federal government to provide a whopping 41% of total transportation budget. But perhaps more telling is the fact that in New York State, over a 10-year period, the GDP grew at a rate 3 times faster than the growth in vehicle miles travelled. In Mississippi we actually had the perverse situation in which vehicle miles grew at a rate three times faster than the rate of growth in GDP.
One obvious factor that account for the difference between New York State and Mississippi is their disparate level of urbanism. To account for this important factor we used census data to divide the states into four categories ranging from the most rural to the most urban. Perhaps not surprisingly, the most urban states generally performed better on our index of the economic impact of transportation. However, there was still a large variation between the states in each category. For example, amongst the most rural states the percentage of household income spent on transportation ranged from 21% to 41%. This suggests that differences in state policies might be playing a significant role in the observed outcomes.
Index of Economic Impact of Transportation (red = worst, green = best)
Most significantly we found that those states that had the most'monochromatic' transportation systems (that is the ones with the highest amount of car use) scored the worst on our index. Those of you that are familiar with the map of obesity rate by states might notice some similarity between that map and our mapping of the economic impact of transportation. It is important to remember that the data we have mapped to date only includes the economic outcomes, which is only one of the three components of our Transportation Index for Sustainable Places. The other two components – the environmental and social (which includes health and safety impacts)– are not reflected in the results presented here. Our preliminary work in these areas suggests that the effects of transportation in all three areas are interrelated. Therefore, the similarities noted between our economic results and the obesity results is another reminder that we urgently need a broader framework for assessing the impact of transportation.
The CEOs for Cities research makes an important point about the fact that we need accurate measures of vehicle mobility if we are to develop better public policy. But the larger point is that we also need to understand that transportation is about much more than vehicle mobility. We need to have effective measures for assessing these broader impacts of transportation. Otherwise, our fixation on the mobility aspect of transportation will mean a continuation of local, state and federal policies that cost too much over the long run, wreck the character of our cities and damage the environment.
Norman Garrick, PhD is an associate professor of civil and environmental engineering at the University of Connecticut. He is also a board member of the Congress for the New Urbanism.Muslim Americans: No Signs of Growth in Alienation or Support for Extremism
Section 1: A Demographic Portrait of Muslim Americans
Muslim Americans are a heavily immigrant population. Of those age 18 and older, more than six-in-ten (63%) were born abroad, and many are relative newcomers to the United States: Fully one-quarter of all U.S. Muslim adults (25%) have arrived in this country since 2000. The Muslim American population also is significantly younger and more racially diverse than the public as a whole. Muslim Americans are just as likely as other Americans to have a college degree, but fewer report having more than a high school education.
Financially, the recent recession appears to have taken a toll on this young, largely immigrant population. The percentage of U.S. Muslims who say they own their homes has slipped since 2007, and the portion at the bottom of the income ladder has grown; 45% of Muslim Americans now report having total household income of less than $30,000 a year, compared with 36% of the general public.
Diverse Origins
More than a third of Muslim American adults (37%) were born in the United States. But more than three-quarters are either first-generation immigrants (63%) or second-generation Americans (15%), with one or both parents born outside of the country. About one-in-five (22%) belong to a third, fourth or a later generation of Americans.
Foreign-born Muslim Americans are very diverse in their origins. They have come from at least 77 different countries, with no single country accounting for more than one-in-six Muslim immigrants. Pakistan is the largest country of origin, accounting for 14% of first-generation immigrants, or 9% of all U.S. Muslims. In terms of regional origins, however, the largest group is from Arab countries in the Middle East and North Africa, representing 41% of foreign-born U.S. Muslims, or 26% of all Muslim Americans. The South Asian region – including Pakistan, India, Bangladesh and Afghanistan – is second, accounting for about a quarter (26%) of first-generation immigrants, or 16% of all U.S. Muslims. The rest are from sub-Saharan Africa, Europe and elsewhere.
In contrast to the origins of U.S. Muslims, the global distribution of Muslims is somewhat different. Asia has the highest concentration of the global Muslim population, with Indonesia contributing the largest numbers, and Pakistan and India second and third respectively. (For a detailed look at the worldwide distribution of the Muslim population, see this analysis from the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life; “The Future of the Global Muslim Population: Projections for 2010-2030,” released Jan. 27, 2011.)
Most of the foreign-born Muslims came to the United States after 2000 (40%) or during the 1990s (31%). An additional 16% arrived in the 1980s. Just 12% arrived before 1980.
Despite the high proportion of immigrants in the Muslim American population, the vast majority (81%) report that they are U.S. citizens. Besides the 37% who are citizens by birth, 70% of those born outside the United States report that they are now naturalized citizens. The high rate of naturalization is even more apparent when citizenship is compared with year of arrival. Of those who arrived before 1980, virtually all (more than 99%) have become U.S. citizens. Of those who arrived in the 1980s, 95% are now citizens. Of those who arrived in the 1990s, 80% are citizens. And of those who arrived after 2000, 42% already have become citizens. Since it typically takes three to five years to become eligible for citizenship, many of the more recent arrivals have not been in the country long enough to apply.
Muslim Americans Are Younger than the Public
The Muslim American population is much younger, on average, than the non-Muslim population. The survey finds that 59% of adult Muslims are between the ages of 18 and 39, compared with 40% of adults in the general public. Just 12% of Muslim adults are ages |
law to recently obtain a draft version of the August 2015 study, Sentencing Reform: Lessons from Foreign Jurisdictions and Options for Canada. It was written by Julian Roberts, a criminology professor at the University of Oxford in England and a member of the Sentencing Council of England and Wales.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has asked Justice Minister Jody Wilson-Raybould to review changes to the criminal justice system over the last decade with an eye to ensuring safety of communities, getting value for public money and filling any gaps.
Among the primary goals: reduce the rate of incarceration of indigenous Canadians.
The federal auditor general recently noted that while indigenous people make up about three per cent of Canada’s adult population, indigenous offenders accounted for 26 per cent of all people in federal custody in 2015-16.
Roberts cites additional problems with Canadian sentencing, including overreliance on custody relative to other western nations, variation in sentencing outcomes, limited guidance on the role and use of victim impact statements, lack of gender-specific considerations, and increased tension between the legislature and judiciary as a result of recent mandatory sentencing provisions.
In an era in which most countries are moving towards more structured sentencing, Canada is becoming “increasingly anomalous,” the study says.
It highlights the option of a national sentencing commission — possibly a version of the system in England — whose guidelines would be applicable across the country, but with flexibility to accommodate differences among provinces and territories. The commission would be a primarily judicial body with representatives including prosecutors, defence counsel, and victims and offenders advocacy groups.
“A guideline system may be the only effective way of addressing Canada’s most intractable sentencing problem, namely the disproportionate numbers of aboriginals in provincial and federal correctional institutions,” the study says.
Among the specific options:
— Offer guidance regarding application of guidelines to indigenous defendants;
— Have Parliament legislate criteria that must be fulfilled before an indigenous offender could be imprisoned;
— Craft aboriginal-relevant sentencing principles and avenues tailored to indigenous communities and cultures;
— Create a separate, standalone sentencing code for indigenous offenders.
A spokeswoman for Wilson-Raybould said while the minister is consulting widely on possible reforms, she has no position at the moment on the need for a sentencing commission.
Involving judges in the development and evolution of sentencing guidelines can help ensure success by allaying fears the scheme would compromise the courts’ independence, the study stresses. “It is unlikely that substantive sentencing reform could be implemented without the active co-operation of the judiciary.”
Some parliamentarians may see a sentencing commission as an erosion of their power to legislate sentencing policy, the study acknowledges. But it says in all countries where a commission exists, the parliament has continued to legislate reforms.
The existence of an independent, primarily judicial and statutory sentencing authority might help to depoliticize the debate about sentencing policy in Canada by insulating the courts and the policy-making process from populist pressure, the study adds.
“Penal populism is a well-documented threat to informed, evidence-based sentencing reform.”The war progressives are waging upon the Constitution makes arguments that Donald Trump would drag us to some new depth of constitutional anarchy ring quite hollow.
The #NeverTrump movement has been facing some tough times lately. Republicans who were once seen as the future of the party have now been cast aside as traitors as, one by one, they have come out in support of Donald Trump. The promise of an “impressive” third-party candidate who has a “strong team and a real chance” quickly fizzled. Many Never Trumpers openly praised Hillary Clinton’s latest speech—with some obviously wishing they had written it themselves.
How did things get so bad? Looking at the movement from the outside, it seems to have been plagued with problems since its inception. Let’s look at the four biggest ones.
1. Donald Trump Derangement Syndrome
Like liberals who contracted Bush Derangement Syndrome (BDS), those in the #NeverTrump movement have contracted a different strain of the same virus.
Putting on his psychiatrist’s hat, Charles Krauthammer famously defined BDS as “the acute onset of paranoia in otherwise normal people in reaction to the policies, the presidency—nay—the very existence of George W. Bush.” Liberals hurled the most vicious epithets against President Bush. They called him a “murderous” war criminal, a fascist who was hell-bent on establishing theocracy, and, of course, Bushitler, that old favorite of “peace mom” Cindy Sheehan and the members of Code Pink.
At its core, BDS was an unstable fusion of two competing claims: Bush was simultaneously the dumbest president of all time and the smartest president of all time. He didn’t know 2+2=4, but he perpetrated the greatest con job of all time as he fooled the world into believing that Iraq posed a grave danger to the United States. (The more extreme version of this scenario had Bush himself as the mastermind behind the 9/11 attacks.)
The corollary to BDS is TDS (Trump Derangement Syndrome). Using Krauthammer’s definition, TDS can be defined as the acute onset of paranoia in otherwise normal people in reaction to the policies, the campaign—nay, the very existence of Donald J. Trump. Trump has been called a fascist a la Benito Mussolini, a “thin-skinned tyrant,” the modern equivalent of the segregationist George Wallace, and a man who poses an “extinction-level event potentially for our republic.” And that’s just from his detractors on the Right.
Like BDS, there are two contradictory views at the core of TDS: Trump is both a rigid liberal ideologue and a loose cannon who has no principles. Club for Growth President David McIntosh called Trump “at worst, a liberal Democrat and, at best, ideologically confused.” Quin Hilyer of National Review Online concurred with the sentiments of an anti-Trump political ad when it noted “how much of a loose cannon he is.”
But Trump cannot be both a man of the Left and a political pragmatist with no fixed principles. In their confusion, these critics are trying to throw any rhetorical device they can at the man without even bothering to see if it sticks. Trump’s detractors instead resemble more and more the liberals—gasp!—who went over the top in their attacks on George W. Bush.
2. A Failure to Understand Donald Trump
The confusion over how to see Trump reveals another problem: the failure to understand him as he understands himself.
A common argument with those in the #NeverTrump crowd is that conservatives should not trust Trump to follow through with the promises he is making on the campaign trail. Trump’s presentation of himself as pro-life, pro traditional marriage, and willing to appoint justices to the Supreme Court in the mold of Antonin Scalia is a sham.
As a recent commentator has argued, Trump’s history of a “strong commitment to undermining freedom of speech and constitutional property rights” negates any promises he is currently making. Specifically, Trump’s supposed inconsistency of his political positions over the years, past use of eminent domain, and talk of suing for libel media corporations who spread rumors about him means he can’t be trusted.
For those who value rigid consistency over the span of decades, Trump has actually been fairly consistent in his general stances on trade policy and foreign policy (as Winston Churchill knew, actual policy should differ as circumstances dictate). While probably too broad, Trump’s understanding of eminent domain is based on a different understanding of the meaning of “public use” in the Takings Clause of the Fifth Amendment. It is simply untrue that he is rejecting constitutional constraints altogether.
Furthermore, his stance on libel laws is not out of the mainstream of the American political tradition. As scholar Thomas G. West has argued, the Founders would have viewed the modern policy of not enforcing personal libel laws as contributing to “personal injury through retaliation or a serious failure to protect citizens against a significant form of personal injury.”
Although these specific arguments against Trump fail upon brief examination, it could still be possible that Trump’s penchant for flexibility could lead to hasty decision-making or 180-degree turns in policy. But a more charitable interpretation that is based on Trump’s past statements is perhaps more plausible.
Trump is a businessman who understands he must follow through with deals he makes. As he wrote in his bestseller, “The Art of the Deal,” “You can’t con people, at least not for long. You can create excitement, you can do wonderful promotion and get all kinds of press, and you can throw in a little hyperbole. But if you can’t deliver the goods, people will eventually catch on.”
How would it benefit Trump to immediately turn on those who helped elect him? This seems to go against every business instinct he possesses. With his decades of business experience, it is much more likely he will do what he says with respect to the Supreme Court and work to implement the general ideas he has stated on the campaign trail. Certainly the policy advisors he has surrounded himself with seem to indicate that this is exactly what will happen.
3. The Constitution Has a Place for Donald Trump
Trump’s self-understanding butts up against another popular argument that Never Trumpers have deployed time and time again. These detractors argue he represents the Founders’ worst nightmare. His unwillingness to bow down to current pieties of free trade, free markets, and limited government—which are of course derived straight from the Founders themselves—combined with his vulgar and crass language would have made Washington, Hamilton, and Jefferson view Trump as King George III’s apprentice.
The Founders designed the Constitution with a view that a man like Trump could be in a position of power.
Arguing in this vein, Matt Purple recently asserted at National Review Online that Trump is “certainly the sort of strongman our Founders feared would hijack the system they created.” Contra Purple, the Founders designed the Constitution with a view that a man like Trump could be in a position of power.
While government should inculcate virtue indirectly in its citizens through passing good laws, it should not count on those in power being pictures of perfect virtue. Instead, man’s natural qualities, such as his ambition, should be harnessed and directed toward the public good. As James Madison wrote in the Federalist, the “interest of the man” was to be connected with “the constitutional rights of the place.” Seen in this light, the auxiliary precautions Madison spoke of—e.g., separation of powers, federalism, legislative checks and balances—not only prevent tyranny but channel man’s self-interest toward contributing to the common good of the nation.
Plus, men who say their virtue entitles them to rule should not be trusted anyway. The Founders did not even trust the most virtuous men to hold all of the keys to the kingdom. As Machiavelli counseled in “The Prince,” “He who lets go of what is done for what should be done learns his ruin among so many who are not good. For a man who wants to make a profession of good in all regards must come to ruin among so many who are not good.” Understanding this obvious insight into man’s fallen nature, the Founders made sure to construct a government that could actually function given reality as it is, not as some wish it would be.
To act as though Trump represents some untold threat to constitutional government is blind to the very fact that government today largely operates outside of the bounds of the Constitution. The war Progressives and their heirs are waging upon the Constitution makes arguments that Trump would drag us to some new depth of constitutional anarchy ring quite hollow.
Instead, a man of massive ambition like Trump who wants the best for our country is exactly what the Founders were counting on.
4. The Utopianism of #PrinciplesFirst
Some in the #NeverTrump movement are especially fond of touting their moral superiority over anyone who will end up voting for Trump in the fall. Armed with the additional tag of #PrinciplesFirst, these moral warriors are roaming the countryside, looking to slay the dragons of conservative apostates, RINOS, and liberals.
To act as though Trump represents some untold threat to constitutional government is blind to the very fact that government today largely operates outside of the bounds of the Constitution.
Like the radical abolitionists of old, however, these renegades are putting the purity of their own conscience above working to avert the danger they see. Frederick Douglass’s famous break with his mentor, William Lloyd Garrison, was caused, in part, by this exact problem.
In a speech on the history of the anti-slavery movement, Douglass noted that the Garrisonian position of “no union with slaveholders” provided “no intelligible principle of action” for working to end slavery. By rejecting prudence in politics, the radical abolitionist position “leads to false doctrines, and mischievous results.” Although Douglass noted that Garrison’s anti-slavery position “started with the purpose to imbue the heart of the nation with sentiment favorable to the abolition of slavery,” it “ends by seeking to free the North from all responsibility of slavery.”
By working to sever the connection with slaveholders, these radical abolitionists instead put the sanctity of their own consciences above the goal of ridding the nation of slavery. Slaveholders, of course, heartily concurred in this plan of disunion. As Douglass argued elsewhere, “The most devoted advocates of slavery, those who make the interests of slavery their constant study, seek a dissolution of the Union as their final plan for preserving slavery from Abolition.”
Conservatives who care about conserving civil society for future generations should heed Douglass’s diagnosis of the failure of the radical abolitionists. In being conscientious objectors from the 2016 election, members of the #NeverTrump movement seem more interested in preserving their fidelity to their principles than trying to influence Trump and his supporters. With the reality that either Hillary Clinton or Trump will be president, anything being done now will either help one candidate or the other.
Besides, how useful are such principles if they make one refrain from participating in politics the moment things become difficult? This observation points to a problem with the principles themselves. The principles that #NeverTrump members cling to are in most cases not really principles at all. They have elevated applications of principle or parts of a more general principle to being canons of natural law. But what was good policy in 1980 is not necessarily good policy today.
Further, by writing out of their movement anyone who is not a true believer in their principles, they are making their cause more and more irrelevant with each passing day. Berating those who think differently and calling into question the intellectual and moral capacity of most Americans is not exactly a winning strategy.
If they want to be a relevant part of American politics again, Never Trumpers should take some time to think through these problems. Instead of running a caricatured version of Reagan’s 1980 campaign over and over again, they should instead focus on crafting policies that will actually help people today. Only by connecting principles to the common good of the nation will we be able to secure the blessings of liberty for ourselves and our posterity.A Syrian Kurdish militia said Monday it was in near full control of the northeastern city of Hassakeh, expanding its sway at the expense of the Damascus government in the wake of an ISIS attack in the area.
ISIS launched a major attack on the city on June 25, focusing initially on government-held southern Hassakeh.
Xelil said the YPG had also taken areas from ISIS within the city itself in the last two days.
While the YPG held half the city before the ISIS attack, it now held "the overwhelming majority," he said.
With the Syrian government seeking to shore up its control over the main population centers of western Syria, including Damascus, Hassakeh city is one of five outlying areas where Assad has sought to preserve control in recent fighting.
...Racked is no longer publishing. Thank you to everyone who read our work over the years. The archives will remain available here; for new stories, head over to Vox.com, where our staff is covering consumer culture for The Goods by Vox. You can also see what we’re up to by signing up here.
Step one: Put down the e-reader. Step two: Back away from the Barnes & Noble. We don't need to tell you about the state of independent bookstores in this economy, so it's more important than ever to support (and celebrate!) the ones that remain. Luckily, New York City still has a robust selection of small-business booksellers, from general interest shops to those that specialize in rare and out-of-print titles in subjects like art and cooking. Check out the 20 stores we've highlighted here, and plan on making some room on the bookshelf before checking them out in person.Ergonomic power ring
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But as for the reason Cruz has made so many headlines over the past week — the threat of shutting down the government to defund Obamacare — Brooks said he didn’t see that as a possibility.
“I’m Mr. Pollyanna on this,” Brooks said on Friday’s “NewsHour” on PBS. “I think we’re — it will be fine. I think what happened, there was a minority of House Republicans who upset the majority, upset the leadership. They wanted to have this big thing, we’re going to defund Obamacare, or else shut we’re going to down the government. The leaders didn’t really want to do this. They thought it was a dead end or, as they’re now calling it, a box canyon, which is the metaphor of the week. And — so, but they have got these people. They are going to give them what they want, from pressure from the right. So they give them what they want. They pass this thing, no funding for Obamacare. It’s going to die in the Senate. And then I think they are going to come back or either fudge or cave in. And I suspect we will not be shutting down the government.”
Brooks explained that Cruz had the so-called far right led by Cruz have the momentum behind, which is a problem the Republican leadership would have to deal with eventually.
“Apparently, Sen. Ted Cruz is in charge of the House and with these 43 or some-odd-couple-dozen more tea party Republicans,” Brooks said. “Mostly, there are a couple things going on. First, the people on the far right — well, we will call it the far right — have just the media behind them. They have got a lot of momentum behind them. And nobody really wants to anger them. And it’s just easier to placate if you are leadership than it is to really take them on. I think that’s probably a wrong strategy long-term. At some point, you have got to a showdown probably with the Ted Cruzes of the world if you are in leadership. At some point, if are you in leadership — and, believe me, the Republican leaders detest him. He’s really unpopular. And at some point, they think he will burn out. Maybe that’s true.”
He pointed out the problem for Republican leaders, which is Cruz like former South Carolina Republican Sen. Jim DeMint before him, are able to raise a lot of money and create “national stature.”
“[T]hey want the leaders of the party to lead a party,” Brooks said. “They believe politics is a team sport. A lot of these Republicans like Cruz and like some in the House and like Jim DeMint, who is a former senator now at the Heritage Foundation, they are doing very well for themselves by running against the Republican Party. They can raise a lot of money. They can build their national stature, potential presidential options. But it’s very bad for the leadership. And so, eventually, I think they are going to have to have a confrontation and they’re going to have show who’s boss somehow.”
(h/t Real Clear Politics Video)
Follow Jeff on TwitterIn response to a reporter Thurday, Ontario Progressive Conservative leader Tim Hudak admitted to smoking marijuana in his youth, saying he was wondering when the question would come up.
Indeed, asking politicians whether they have ever smoked pot is now commonplace.
Here are some responses from other prominent Canadian politicians who have been asked the question: "Have you ever smoked pot?"
"In terms of whether I've ever tried or been tempted [to smoke marijuana]? In terms of tried, I think you know that I've said before that I'm asthmatic. I cannot smoke and have never smoked anything. In terms of temptation I will leave any comment on that to my dialogue with my maker."
- Stephen Harper, Prime Minister (2002)
"Not even a cigarette. It's true I'm not controversial."
- Tony Clement, Treasury Board President (2002)
"Yeah, in my teenage years. A couple of times. I have to admit: I didn't like it."
- Jim Flaherty, Finance Minister (2002)
"Yes, and some might say I never exhaled."
- Jack Layton, Leader of the NDP
"I have smoked pot as a young man, yes... and it's one of the reasons why I urge young people not to repeat the experience."
- Michael Ignatieff, Former Liberal leader (2011)
"The answer is: I never smoked. I never smoked anything, but there was an earlier time, years ago, when (my wife) made some brownies and they did have a strange taste."
- Paul Martin, Former Prime Minister (2003)
"I am not a fan of marijuana use. I have to confess this — I know all politicians are asked. I've never used marijuana. I apologize."
- Elizabeth May, Green Party Leader ( 2008)
"When I was 14, someone tried to offer me marijuana and I remember trying to smoke it but I coughed and I got nothing out of it."
- Helena Guergis, former Conservative MP (2010)
(Photo: Mark Blinch/Reuters)Arsene Wenger returned to Paris on Monday ahead of our Champions League opener against PSG.
The Arsenal boss had Hector Bellerin alongside him at the pre-match press conference but, as usual, the manager faced most of the questions.
Login or register to play video 03:36 'It's going to be a great game to play' on his motivation to do well in the last year of his contract…
“I just focus on the next game. I don't think like that. I think I played over 170 games in the Champions League and it's every time the same: you want to do well in the next one. My personal case is not at stake in that at all.”
on contract talks with Ozil and Alexis…
“Ozil and Sanchez, yes we are going to start contract negotiations with them.”
on being wanted by PSG three times…
“Look, [I didn’t say yes] because I love where I am. I know well the owners, but I feel always I remained loyal to Arsenal Football Club because I think it's a club that has the qualities I love. And, that's why.”
on Arsenal’s spending versus PSG’s spending…
“It's an important game, but I don't think it goes beyond two good sides playing against each other. There's no symbolism to it, no symbolic meaning to this match. We just want to pick up the three points.”
More polls and quizzes coming soon...29 points · 14 comments
"As a black man this is annoying as hell. Many black individuals are racist as hell, but for some reason beyond me, we can't be. That's bullshit. Imo, black people right now are more racist then most white people i meet." [+178]
7 points · 2 comments
'Mid eastern here, we don't really mind having white people playing Arab characters, just fix their make up and hair for God's sake.'
31 points · 3 comments
"I myself is an Indian American and I completely agree with your comment." A comment claiming Indian Americans have the highest privilege in America and white people are discriminated against in comedy
45 points · 12 comments
'As an LGBT' black people need to stop whining and debate me irl.
9 points
As an Animal Scientist (whatever that field is exactly) this is NOT the norm. Dont worry folks, have a nice pork!
46 points · 8 comments
As a gay Hispanic atheist...
64 points · 4 comments
As an Arab, may the aryans live long!
25 points · 10 comments
As an Arab man, people who are offended by racist jokes are crybabies
64 points · 14 comments
"As a latino, the confederate flag isn't racist." (BONUS: Pics in post history showing his pasty white skin)
6 points
As a Muslim, it's okay for me to wish that other people would get killed by ISISDigitalOcean co-founders Ben Uretsky, Moisey Uretsky, Mitch Wainer LinkedIn/DigitalOcean Remember last December, when Beyoncé caused a music industry firestorm by releasing her new album via her website and iTunes a full week before retailers like Amazon and Target could sell it?
Well, unbeknownst to them, these three guys were part of the controversy. Their company, DigitalOcean, runs the cloud service that hosts Beyoncé's website. But they didn't know about her album plans until they saw the traffic go crazy on their cloud that day.
"We had no idea," co-founder and CEO Ben Uretsky told Business Insider. "Her development team chose DigitalOcean because of our fast cloud servers."
That Beyoncé's web developers had full confidence that this startup could safely handle the load when millions of people all jumped on the website the second the album launched says a lot about the startup.
But it was just another milestone in a whirlwind that began two years ago, when brothers Ben and Moisey Uretsky met Mitch Wainer through Craigslist.
"We met on Craigslist, but it wasn't the personals," laughs co-founder and CMO Wainer. "Ben and Moisey put out a job listing and I answered it."
Wainer was bored with a dead-end job at a startup where he had no equity, and was surfing for new options. He had gotten an offer from another hot New York startup, ZocDoc, but made a "big bet" to go become a founder instead.
The bet paid off. DigitalOcean landed a spot in the TechStars 2012 class in Boulder, Colo., and the team built a cloud service that quickly became astoundingly popular.
In less than two years, mostly through word-of-mouth, DigitalOcean has become the ninth largest cloud infrastructure company in the world, according to a site that tracks such stats, Netcraft.
IT professionals love it for something called "droplets," which is what the company calls its cloud computers. Droplets can be set up in 55 seconds, they use superfast solid-state disk (SSD) flash storage (that's what Beyoncé's team liked) and cost as little as $5/month.
Today the company hosts about 1.5 million "droplets" and was adding more servers per month than Amazon's cloud, Netcraft says. It has 150,000 customers and recently opened a new Amsterdam data center, too.
In March, DigitalOcean nabbed a big $35 million Series A at a $153 million valuation led by Andreessen Horowitz (it has raised $37.2 million total). And, unlike many Silicon Valley cloud startups, DigitalOcean didn't need the money. It's already profitable, Wainer says.
They don't plan to use the investment to operate at a loss.
"We'll grow as fast as possible as long as we're at break even," Wainer says. "The moment we start to go into the red, we would take a step back. We just love running profitable companies. That's a contrast with New York. We're real. We're down to earth. We don't run a fantasy revenue model."news The Australian Federal Police has revealed that two more ISPs have signed up to implement the limited Internet filtering scheme that has been developed by the AFP and industry group the Internet Industry Association, although their identities at this stage are unclear.
So far only three Australian ISPs — Telstra, Optus and a smaller ISP, CyberOne — are known to have implemented the filtering scheme, which is voluntary for ISPs but compulsory for their customers. The filter, which is being seen as a more moderate industry approach developed in reaction to the Federal Government’s much more comprehensive filter scheme, is seeing the ISPs block a “worst of the worst” list of child pornography sites generated by international police agency Interpol.
A number of other ISPs, such as Internode and TPG, have taken a strong stand against the project, stating they will only implement the scheme if the law requires them to do so. iiNet has also cautiously stated that it will comply with the law but has stopped short of backing the scheme.
However, in a response published last week (PDF) to questions posed to it by Greens Senator and Communications Spokesperson Scott Ludlam in a Senate Estimates committee hearing in October, the AFP revealed that two more ISPs had signed up to support the scheme. To participate in the scheme, ISPs must confirm their interest with the AFP, which will then issue them with a request under section 313 of the Telecommunications Act to filter certain material.
“AFP has issued five section 313 requests to Australian Internet service providers,” the AFP’s statement last week read. “As participation by the ISPs is voluntary, a section 313 request is made by the AFP when the ISP has indicated their participation and have/are readying their technical infrastructure to implement blocking of the list.”
Two other local ISPs who have been publicly associated with the Internet filtering initiative are ItXtreme and Webshield, both of whom provide filtered Internet services to their customers. Webshield is believed to act as a wholesale provider of services to ItXtreme. It is believed that ItXtreme is not one of the other ISPs listed, and that it has not implemented the Interpol filter scheme.
Calls to Webshield tonight were not immediately returned. IIA chairman Bruce Linn declined to comment on the issue tonight when contacted by telephone, while the Australian Federal Police did not immediate return calls or emails seeking further information about the identities of the other ISPs.
opinion/analysis
The merits and problems of this kind of Internet filtering scheme have been debated endlessly over the past few years, so I won’t go into them here. However, I will note that what continues to concern me about the Interpol filter scheme being promulgated by the IIA and the AFP, along with ISPs, is the lack of transparency around the initiative in total.
Australians would have no idea that there are now five ISPs signed up to the scheme if Greens Senator Scott Ludlam — who has a strong interest in the area of Internet freedom — had not subjected the AFP to prolonged questioning on the matter in Senate Estimates earlier this year. And it’s taken months for the AFP’s response to come back on the issue; as it is taking months for the AFP to respond to a simple Freedom of Information request in the same area.
There is no official way for information about this scheme to be regularly disclosed, apart from through the Senate Estimates process, and as a journalist, whenever I have sought information about the scheme directly from the principals concerned, I have found it hard to get anything substantial back; with the exception of when I spoke about it to former IIA CEO Peter Coroneos earlier this year about the issue. Coroneos was more than happy to provide as much information about it as possible. His successors may not be.
Telstra, Optus, the AFP and now, it appears, the IIA, have been very unwilling to provide any comment or information about the scheme in general. And this is a very dangerous thing, when we are talking about a scheme which the telcos don’t tend to inform their users about, has no civilian oversight, operates on an untested legal framework, and has no open, transparent and timely appeals process (see my opinion piece in July: Five disturbing things about the Interpol filter).
Now we find out that there are two more Australian ISPs who are actively filtering their customers’ Internet connections. But we don’t know who, and this fact was only disclosed in a PDF document buried in the bowels of the website of the Federal Parliament; a PDF document which very few people would be actively looking for. I myself only found this document because I was tipped off about it by a helpful member of the community.
We can all agree that stopping the production and dissemination of child pornography is a worthy goal for society. But our mechanism for doing so needs to be more transparent than this; that much we should also all be able to agree on.
Update: Delimiter has confirmed that neither ItXtreme or Webshield has signed up to the Interpol filter.
Image credit: ralaenin, royalty free* Infections prompted CDC probe
* FDA does not directly regulate tattoo inks
By Gene Emery
Aug 22 (Reuters Health) - Contaminated tattoo ink caused at least 22 skin and soft tissue infections last fall in four U.S. states, according to an analysis released on Wednesday.
The infections prompted an investigation by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that uncovered 22 confirmed cases, 4 probable cases and 27 possible cases of contamination-related infections in New York, Washington, Iowa and Colorado.
Products from four companies were implicated during the probe. None of the companies is identified in a CDC report, released in conjunction with a New England Journal of Medicine study of the New York cases.
“People who get tattoos must be made aware of this risk and seek medical attention” if they get a rash or other abnormalities at the site, according to a commentary in the journal from a team led by Pamela LeBlanc of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
The bacteria got into the containers when the manufacturer used distilled or reverse-osmosis water, which is not necessarily sterile. In the New York cases, which led to a recall by the Arizona-based manufacturer, the water was used to dilute black ink into various shades of gray.
The New York cases involved infection with a bug called Mycobacterium chelonae, which caused reddish or purple raised bumps in the areas tattooed with gray. The infection can mimic an allergic reaction and be difficult to treat.
“They were not getting better” with standard care, said Dr. Byron Kennedy of the Monroe County Department of Public Health in New York, the chief author of the New England Journal of Medicine study. “You had some folks who were on treatment for 6 months or more.”
The FDA does not directly regulate tattoo ink because it is regarded as a cosmetic, but it can intervene when a product has been adulterated or is regarded as unsafe.
Currently, no FDA regulation specifically requires tattoo ink to be sterile, but some local jurisdictions, such as Los Angeles County, do require that sterile water be used when inks are diluted, according to the CDC report.
CDC is encouraging doctors to keep track of such infections and report them to the FDA.
About one in five Americans has tattoos, according to a 2012 Harris Interactive poll. SOURCES: bit.ly/PwHriF New England Journal of Medicine, August 23, 2012, and 1.usa.gov/10AZNP MMWR, August 22, 2012 (Reporting by Gene Emery in Providence, Rhode Island; Editing by Ivan Oransky and Cynthia Osterman)This video is no longer available
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Eight-year-old Sky Brown came here from Japan to skateboard…and she’s making plenty of waves in the process. Just this year, Sky became the youngest girl to compete against adults at the Vans' Open Pro Series. But shaking up the male-dominated sport is hardly a big deal. For Sky, if she can inspire future generations of girls to pursue their dreams, she’d be as happy. "It’s such a good feeling when I make a new trick or even just getting a super clean trick or line down.. BUT..My favorite feeling ever is when there is something new or super scary.. Then I just get in my “superhero princess” mode and I just GO even when I`m scared this is when I feel the most happy..I’m in the zone and I love it and I wanna do it all day just stay excited and thrilled and a little bit scared and it’s so fun to see the look on all the boy's faces." Want more docs? SUBSCRIBE: http://bit.ly/60SDYT...... 60 Second Docs Life. One minute |
to belong to two different but basically very similar countries. That is, of course, ironically enough, the mundane reality.”
That gap of Otherness may finally start to narrow with Pakistani artists like Ali Zafar making inroads into Mumbai. Unlike some other false starts like that of Meera, Zafar seems set (and determined) for a pretty steady career over yonder, and there is an unspoken sense of hope that his brand of cool, urban ‘modernity’ will help to lift the veil off of the decidedly outdated notions of ‘Pakistaniyat’ that a lot of Indians still believe in despite increased people-to-people contact through social media. As a parting shot, Faiza has a great suggestion for how Bollywood can reciprocate our continued loyalty and affection: “Bollywood’s biggest treasure to date have been the great Peshawaris, the Kapoors, and for Pakistani women of all ages, whether yesterday or today, Rishi Kapoor has been the Kapoor of our dreams and fantasies. So I believe the way to halt all extremism in Pakistan is for him to be sent over by Bollywood, to come back and sing Parda nasheen ko be-parda na kar doon, because I think that would do it, and all of Peshawar would resonate with the sound of burqas ripping spontaneously!”A plethora of reports are swirling around the internet that countless private celebrity photos have leaked (no, we’re not going to link you), and—what are as of right now baseless—rumors claim that someone found a vulnerability in Apple’s iCloud platform and exploited it to obtain the images. Of the celebrities reportedly involved are Jennifer Lawrence, Kate Upton, Avril Livigne, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Mary Kate Olsen, Hillary Duff, and many others.
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News of the leaked images first started spreading on a 4chan /b/ thread earlier today, where many users have made claims that the leaks are due to at least one person maliciously exploiting iCloud and various celebrities’ cell phones. Reports on 4chan also claim that the hacker has acquired videos as well and intends to sell them to TMZ for as much as six figures. Of course, most of this information is from an anonymous 4chan board, so take it with a heaping pile of salt.
But the fact remains that these private photos are definitely making the rounds, and many celebrities have taken to Twitter to seemingly confirm that at least some of them are indeed real. Most notably, Mary Winstead says she can only imagine the “creepy effort” that went into the leaks.
To those of you looking at photos I took with my husband years ago in the privacy of our home, hope you feel great about yourselves. — Mary E. Winstead (@M_E_Winstead) August 31, 2014
Knowing those photos were deleted long ago, I can only imagine the creepy effort that went into this. Feeling for everyone who got hacked. — Mary E. Winstead (@M_E_Winstead) August 31, 2014
Photo Stream automatically syncs photos to iCloud as they’re taken, but it’s not yet known how the hacker—if they did indeed manage to hack iCloud—got ahold of so many different celebrities’ photos across so many accounts. Mary Winstead mentions that the leaked photos of hers were deleted “long ago,” which raises even more questions including whether or not a deleted iCloud photo is ever truly deleted. But that, of course, assumes that iCloud is the problem here.
As many have noted intending to prove that iCloud isn’t the source of these nudes, videos don’t work with My Photo Stream. You can, as of iOS 7, upload them to shared streams (and therefore iCloud) and, perhaps more importantly, iCloud will also upload them to the cloud when performing a full device backup. Having access to an iCloud account would mean that a hacker could effectively restore the account to a wiped phone.
Some celebrities have reported that they don’t even use an iPhone, which leads most to believe that the hacker got these files from multiple sources (which is probably likely anyway) or that some other cloud service could be the real culprit. Perhaps more interesting, however, is that some celebrities, namely Trisha Hershberger, have proven that their nudes are actually fake and, coincidentally, they don’t use an iPhone.
Hey Ahole claiming to have iCloud leaked nudes of me a) I use #Android & b) you're missing my vampire bite moles! pic.twitter.com/1ZMzUjtCTl — Trisha Hershberger (@thatgrltrish) September 1, 2014
We’ve reached out to Apple for comment on the situation. In the meantime, now is a good time to remind you to turn on two-factor authentication on your iCloud account.
Update: A vulnerability in the Find My Phone service may have allowed hackers to brute-force themselves into celebrity accounts.
It’s still speculation at this point that iCloud is involved at all, but a vulnerability found in Find My iPhone could have permitted hackers to brute-force their way into accounts by guessing a huge number of passwords that fall in line with Apple’s criteria. In order for this method of attack to work, the accounts of the celebrities in question would have to have relatively weak passwords. But as many celebrities know each other and would have other celebrities’ contacts in their address books, it’s possible that contacts data could be used to identify the account email addresses of others, effectively creating a “chain” of hacks.
The program, being called “iBrute” and exploiting a flaw now patched that let the program guess an unlimited number of passwords without being locked out, hasn’t been linked directly to any attack on iCloud. But said security flaw that it took advantage of came to light and was fixed on the same day of the leak of countless private celebrity photos, so the timing is definitely a little uncanny.
Update 2: Apple has issued a statement to Re/code saying that they’re “actively investigating” whether or not iCloud was actually involved in leaking the private images. “We take user privacy very seriously and are actively investigating this report,” Natalie Kerris, spokesperson for Apple, said.
Update 3: As pointed out by Mashable, the iBrute program was released just three days before the leak of the first celebrity photo, which may not have been enough time for this specific vulnerability to have been exploited to the extent needed to leak hundreds of celebrities’ nude photos. On August 30th, Andrey Belenko and Alexey Troshichev, security researchers with viaForensics and HackApp, respectively, gave an in-depth report (link to presentation slides) at Defcon Russia on the state of iCloud security, and iBrute was their proof of concept.
In the presentation, viaForensics actually outlines how Find My iPhone isn’t the only security flaw here. Supposedly, hackers may have been able to guess a user’s iCloud Security Code offline, which therefore not triggering a lock out mechanism similar to one that was missing from Find My iPhone.
In terms of how this applies to the issue at hand, the iBrute Find My iPhone flaw being patched this morning may have simply been a result of this security talk and had nothing to do with the leaked images.
Update 4: Actress Kirsten Dunst appears to credit iCloud for her photos being leaked.
Thank you iCloud🍕💩 — Kirsten Dunst (@kirstendunst) September 1, 2014
Update 5: The United States FBI is investigating the alleged iCloud hack, according to an FBI spokesperson (via The Telegraph):
[The FBI is] aware of the allegations concerning computer intrusions and the unlawful release of material involving high profile individuals, and is addressing the matter. Any further comment would be inappropriate at this time.
Update 6: Apple has denied that iCloud was actually breached, and says that this was actually a “very targeted attack” on certain celebrities.next Image 1 of 2
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An uneasy calm has fallen over the de facto border between the Indian and Pakistani-controlled portions of Kashmir after months of deadly firing and signs that the two countries were engaged in a brinkmanship not seen for decades.
Though guns have gone silent for the past five days, analysts say the two nuclear-armed neighbors have displayed unprecedented aggression this year without pursuing any real lines of diplomacy. They've amped up the artillery they've used and targeted infrastructure instead of just military outposts. The corpses of soldiers killed in battle have been found mutilated.
"The level of retaliation was definitely more intense than what India has done in the past," said defense analyst C. Uday Bhaskar of the New Delhi-based think tank Society for Policy Studies.
"There is a danger of it spiraling out of control," Bhaskar said. "If both sides decide that neither side will blink, then the collateral damage will only increase."
That could also mean recalling diplomats, halting the buses ferrying people back and forth across the border, or stopping all trade. In 2015, bilateral trade amounted to just $2.6 billion — far below the $10.9 billion Indian government economists say is possible under normal relations.
India and Pakistan have long been foes, fighting two of their three wars over their rival claims to the Himalayan region of Kashmir. Countless rounds of peace talks have yielded scant results.
The two sides reached a cease-fire agreement in 2003 which held for the first few years, but has seen frequent violations since then. Meanwhile, India accuses Pakistan of arming and training Kashmiri rebels fighting to oust India from the Muslim-majority region. Pakistan denies the allegation, saying it offers the rebels only moral support, and accuses India of an illegal military occupation of the disputed mountain territory.
Tensions began building this year as Kashmiri civilians on the Indian-controlled side rose up in rebellion, demanding independence or a merger with Pakistan. Violent street protests and clashes with Indian forces left 90 civilians dead and thousands injured.
The situation escalated further in September after anti-India rebels launched an attack on an Indian army base in the western Kashmiri town of Uri, killing 19 soldiers.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi promised "a befitting reply to those who dare to attack India," and India retaliated by sending small groups of military commandos across the border for what it called "surgical strikes" on terror bases. India said a dozen suspected rebels were slain, which Pakistan denied.
Pakistan's outgoing military chief, Gen. Raheel Sharif, promised that "India will be taught a lesson."
The two sides then spent two months firing aggressively at each other. As days turned to weeks, villagers were evacuated from areas near the Line of Control, the de facto border that divides Kashmir into the separate territories administered by India and Pakistan.
Pakistan, along with some residents near the border, accused India of using the Uri attack to ramp up border hostilities in order to distract attention from the public protests within Indian-controlled Kashmir.
As the shelling intensified, schools near the frontier were shut down indefinitely. Farmers abandoned their crops to rot. Pakistani cinemas banned Bollywood films, while Indian filmmakers vowed to never hire Pakistani actors.
Last week, the body of one of three Indian soldiers killed by rebels was found mutilated, a month after another Indian soldier was found beheaded.
Indian military officers, speaking on condition of anonymity in line with military rules, acknowledged the tensions have escalated to the highest level since the cease-fire came into effect.
"Our reaction time is swift and severe. It's no more wait and watch, no more hold your fire to see what the higher bosses have to say," an army officer in Kashmir said.
Indian officials said Pakistan has violated the cease-fire agreement more than 300 times in the last two months by firing and shelling military positions and villages, killing at least 17 Indian soldiers and 12 civilians in the Indian-controlled portion of Kashmir.
Pakistan has countered with its own list of 44 casualties, including 11 civilians that it said were killed when a civilian bus came under fire.
There were anxious moments last week as Pakistan shelled the border district of Gurez, close to a hydropower project that India is building, forcing authorities to suspend work.
There had been signs when Modi took office in 2014 that he might seek to work with Pakistan toward normalizing relations. He invited his Pakistani counterpart, Nawaz Sharif, to his inauguration in New Delhi. A year later when returning to India from a trip abroad, Modi dropped in on Sharif at his home in Lahore to give him greetings on his birthday.
The bonhomie was short lived.
An attack on an Indian air force base in January and the assault on the army base in Uri eight months later left the 2003 cease-fire agreement in tatters.
Meanwhile, both countries face domestic pressure to take a harder line. Modi's Hindu nationalist party, in campaigning for some state elections, has once again whipped up a jingoistic fervor against Pakistan.
In Pakistan, a new army chief was appointed over the weekend. But analysts in both India and Pakistan said they do not expect any major change in Islamabad's position, as the army chief would not want to be seen as selling out.
Given that Pakistan's military plays a "dominating role" in shaping the country's foreign policy, "I don't think there will be any change in our policy toward India," said Azeem Khalid, an international relations expert at COMSATS Institute of Information Technology in Islamabad.
At the border, military commanders from the two sides agreed to halt all firing, but there was no indication of how long the calm would last.
Analysts said the space was shrinking for diplomatic steps to resolve the countries' differences.
"Pakistan asked for a cease-fire primarily because we made life unlivable for them near the border," said G. Parthasarathy, a former Indian high commissioner to Pakistan.
What is clear is India and Pakistan have once again hit a low in their testy relationship, analysts say.
"The relationship with Pakistan is at a nadir at the moment," said Gurmeet Kanwal, a retired army brigadier at the Institute of Defence Studies and Analyses, a state-run think tank in New Delhi.
___
Hussain reported from Srinagar, India. Associated Press writer Munir Ahmed in Islamabad contributed to this report.
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Follow Nirmala George on Twitter at twitter.com/NirmalaGeorge1 and Aijaz Hussain at twitter.com/hussain_aijaz.As a psychologist who has specialized in substance use treatment for over 30 years, I have given a lot of thought to medical marijuana. Over the years, I have seen several patients who have used marijuana medicinally but have suffered — from potential criminalization and the shame, stigma and fear that comes from using an illicit substance. Twenty states and D.C. now permit the use of medical marijuana. New York should join them.
I applaud Gov. Andrew Cuomo's recent acknowledgement of cannabis' medical value for some seriously ill people. However, the 1980 Olivieri Law that he is using, through which medical marijuana would be available through 20 hospitals around the state, has significant restrictions, preventing many patients who need the medicine from receiving it.
The Legislature is currently considering the Compassionate Care Act, which would create one of the best-regulated medical marijuana programs in the country. The administration has signaled that if the Legislature passes the bill, the governor would support it. Many of my colleagues in the addiction and mental health treatment communities support this bill, as reflected in endorsements by the New York State Psychological Association and its Division on Addiction.
Allowing the seriously ill access to safe and legal medical marijuana under their health care provider's supervision is, fundamentally, an issue of compassion and human rights. The medical value of cannabis is no longer a matter of dispute. The efficacy of cannabis for controlling certain conditions and symptoms is well-established in the scientific literature. And, compared to other prescription medications, like widely used opioid pain relievers, medical cannabis is relatively safe, having no known lethal dose and few side effects.
The Compassionate Care Act will ultimately make the job of drug treatment professionals like me easier. The worst dangers associated with medical marijuana come from forcing patients to seek medical marijuana on the illicit market, with potentially devastating consequences — like untested and possibly contaminated product, lifelong criminal records, and shame and stigma from using an illegal substance.
It's time to acknowledge that our current efforts to prohibit marijuana use, by pushing an abstinence-only message and exaggerating the dangers, have failed. Marijuana use by young people can be a problem and should be discouraged, but denying those with debilitating medical conditions access to medical marijuana is not a winning prevention strategy.
When our young people learn that their drug education is filled with misinformation about marijuana, we lose credibility and damage our ability to teach them accurate information about the real dangers of marijuana and other drugs.
We need honest, reality-based drug prevention and treatment programs to reduce the problematic use of marijuana by children and adults alike.
In fact, another reason I support the Compassionate Care Act is because it would generate and earmark substantial funding for such prevention programs, which have unfortunately been devastated by cuts in recent years.
I am not suggesting that medical marijuana is the right choice for everyone. There are risks associated with using it, just as with any medication. Medical marijuana shouldn't be recommended for use in adolescents, unless there is a compelling medical need, and people with particular mental illnesses, especially schizophrenia, should avoid using it.
More Information Andrew Tatarsky, Ph.D., has specialized in the field of substance use treatment for over 30 years. He is president of the Division of Addiction of the New York State Psychological Association and founder and director of the Center for Optimal Living, an addiction treatment and professional training center in New York City.
There is also the risk, in a small percentage of users, of overuse and addiction; those cases should be referred to mental health and substance use treatment professionals for assessment and treatment. But we can best assess our patients and address these risks by having an open and honest dialogue — something nearly impossible for most health care practitioners in New York right now.
Our responsibility as drug treatment providers is to work with our patients to help them create full, meaningful, and healthy lives.
We have long had to deal with helping clients who use potentially dangerous and addictive medications to treat illnesses, and we do so because no one should have to suffer needlessly.
Medical marijuana is a fundamental matter of compassion, and bringing it into a safe, regulated and de-stigmatizing system will solve far more problems than does our current system of criminalizing our sickest and most vulnerable citizens.WikiMedia Commons Owning a McDonald's franchise can be a lucrative business.
It has been estimated that McDonald's franchisees' gross profits average about $1.8 million per restaurant in the US.
But on top of paying franchise, advertising, and real-estate fees, operators are on the hook for a lot of other costs that they can't necessarily plan for — such as upgrading kitchen equipment and remodeling restaurants.
Bloomberg's Leslie Patton compiled a list of many of these costs that have recently hit franchisees as McDonald's tweaks its menu with the addition of all-day breakfast, customizable burgers, and more.
They include: Create Your Taste kiosks ($125,000); McCafe espresso machines ($13,000); muffin equipment ($4,500); all-day breakfast equipment ($500 to $5,000); interior makeovers including upgrades to digital menu boards ($600,000); and complete restaurant remodels ($1 million to $2 million).
That's nearly $1 million in upgrades, excluding an entire restaurant remodel.
For many franchisees, the older their restaurants, the more expensive their upgrades will be. If they refuse to make the investments, the company can push them out of business by declining their franchisee renewal.
Potential for these costly upgrades is likely why the company requires that new franchisees have liquid assets of at least $750,000 to open a single restaurant.
Startup costs, which include construction and equipment expenses, average between $958,000 and $2.2 million, according to McDonald's. The total is determined by the geography and size of the restaurant, as well as by the selection of kitchen equipment, signage, style of decor, and landscaping, the company says.
Franchisees must pay 40% of the startup costs with cash and other nonborrowed resources, while the rest can be financed.
In addition to those costs, McDonald's charges a $45,000 franchisee fee and an ongoing monthly service fee equal to 4% of gross sales. Franchisees must also pay rent to the company, which charges a percentage of monthly sales.
Franchisees have historically paid about 8.5% of sales in rent costs, though some pay as much as 12%, according to a 2013 Bloomberg report.
McDonald's franchisee startup costs are similar to those of KFC, Wendy's, and Taco Bell.
Subway, by comparison, is far less expensive, costing between $116,000 and $262,850, according to the company. Subway also requires minimum liquid assets of only $30,000 to $90,000.Roy Moore’s win in Alabama’s Senate primary has raised the specter of a nightmare scenario for Democrats and Republicans: The GOP picks up a handful of seats next year, padding its Senate majority, but with candidates like Moore, who buck party leadership as often as they fall in line.
The Alabama race is the latest contest forcing both parties to take seriously candidates they once might have dismissed as unelectable. Early in 2016, several prominent Democrats exulted in Donald Trump’s meteoric rise, urging fellow liberals to support his nomination on the grounds that it would virtually guarantee a Republican defeat. Then he won the election.
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Some Democrats similarly cheered Moore’s ascent, arguing that he’d be easier to take down in the December general election. But others are alarmed by the prospect of a Trump-inspired bloc in the Senate.
“All of us who saw the rise of Trump and thought, ‘Oh, this country could never elect somebody who brags about assaulting women and mocks the disabled and war veterans, we’re thinking differently now,” said Paul Begala, veteran Democratic strategist. Begala at one point rooted for Trump’s candidacy, attributing it to “the fact that the good Lord is a Democrat with a good sense of humor.”
“What do they say in recoveries? You have to hit bottom? I thought that, with Trump, they hit bottom,” Begala said of the GOP. “But, apparently not, because Moore is worse.”
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Republicans have their own fears about a Sen. Moore. They agree not only that the GOP is likely to hold the Alabama seat, but that Moore’s primary victory will inspire a rash of anti-establishment candidates who sow chaos and would make Congress even more dysfunctional if they were to win election. And party hands are no longer writing them off.
Rank-and-file Republicans, who spent more than $13 million to stop Moore, were startled by Tuesday’s results. They said they understood how candidates across the country could tap into the same anti-establishment fervor that helped Moore — who was twice removed from the state Supreme Court, once for refusing to remove a monument of the Ten Commandments — overpower Strange.
“The thing that Roy Moore really has, and everybody thinks it’s the Ten Commandments, it’s actually taking on The Man. And that’s kind of a bipartisan thing. That’s a Trump thing, that’s a Chris McDaniel thing,” said Jeff Roe, who served as Strange’s chief political consultant, referring to the Mississippi candidate who came within half a percentage point of unseating Sen. Thad Cochran in 2014.
No one is happier about the current state of affairs than the president’s former chief strategist Steve Bannon, who is lending aid and encouragement to renegade candidates across the country. On Monday, after speaking at a Moore rally, he dined with McDaniel and Mark Green, a prospective Senate candidate from Tennessee, at the Marriott resort in Point Clear, Alabama.
McDaniel is almost certain to challenge another Republican incumbent, Roger Wicker, next year, and Tennessee Sen. Bob Corker’s announcement on Tuesday that he plans to retire leaves the primary field in that state wide open. Green, a state senator, withdrew his nomination for Army secretary in May after news reports about his controversial views on gays and Muslims.
Bannon said on Wednesday that he was boarding a flight “out West” to meet with other candidates, though he declined to specify the exact location. Already, anti-establishment contenders are on the horizon, not only in Mississippi and Tennessee, but also in Arizona, Nevada, Michigan and Maine.
“We’re going to war,” Bannon said in an interview. “This is not a pillow fight, this is a fight fight.”
In Arizona, Republican Sen. Jeff Flake is one of the cycle’s most vulnerable incumbents. He has lambasted Trump and been savaged by him in return, labeled “toxic,” “WEAK” and a “non-factor in [the] Senate.” The president has encouraged his primary opponent, Kelli Ward, who has won the financial backing of the hedge fund magnate Robert Mercer, one of the chief supporters of Trump’s presidential campaign.
In Nevada, the son of legendary UNLV basketball coach Jerry Tarkanian, Danny, is challenging incumbent Sen. Dean Heller; in Michigan, the rebel rock star Kid Rock is entertaining a run; and Maine’s outspoken governor, Paul LePage, has not ruled out a bid against Sen. Angus King, an independent who caucuses with the Democrats.
Unlike the tea party candidates of 2010 and 2012, these candidates and potential candidates are not united by any coherent ideological vision. Moore, a conservative Christian who believes the dictates of the Bible supersede court orders, and Kid Rock, a vulgarian broadly opposed to federal entitlements, share little in common.
The tea partiers came to Washington and created the House Freedom Caucus, which now serves as a power center in the House, and, at least for a while, GOP Sens. Rand Paul of Kentucky, Ted Cruz of Texas and Mike Lee of Utah worked together as legislative allies in the upper chamber.
What binds today’s anti-establishment candidates together is simply their contempt for the powers that be, particularly Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, who is likely to become the primary victim if they storm Washington in 2018. That’s precisely what Bannon has in mind.
“We’re gonna make him so toxic. We’re basically gonna tell people: If McConnell endorses you, you’re finished … that’s gonna put the fear of God in everybody,” he said.
Perhaps, but Moore had a statewide following that some of the other potential challengers lack. And Strange had been in the Senate only since February, while some of the Republicans on the ballot next year have spent years in the job.
Still, some political onlookers are beginning to wonder what all of this could mean for the disrupter-in-chief, who is at once a symptom, an instigator and a victim of Washington’s dysfunction.
Republicans who battled Trump in last year’s GOP primary say the forces he unleashed may spin out of his control, stymieing his ability to push a legislative agenda through Congress and tarnishing his political legacy.
“Be careful what you wish for, and Trump is seeing this now. The anger of the voters is not necessarily focused or implemented in a smart way,” said Terry Sullivan, who ran Sen. Marco Rubio’s presidential campaign. “You can start a revolution, but that doesn’t mean it’s gonna follow you. They got Robespierre in the end, too.”GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — A media production company has decided to host the first comedy festival in the Gaza Strip.
At a launching ceremony held Dec. 29 at Rotus restaurant, Maimas for Media Production formally announced the planning of Gaza's first comedy festival to be held March 2017.
The ceremony, which the organizers offered as a positive end to a difficult year for Palestinians in Gaza, included theatrical performances and comedy shows by five Palestinian comedians and live bands.
The ceremony featured a short performance by famous Korean stand-up comedian Wonho Chung, who speaks fluent Arabic. In a previously recorded video, Chung expressed his admiration for the residents of the Gaza Strip, praising their steadfastness in the face of the siege and harsh living conditions and saying that comedy and laughter are powerful ways to ease the pain and grief of everyday reality.
Chung said he will participate in the comedy festival and expressed hope that the shows will bring smiles to the sad faces of the people of Gaza.
The five Palestinian stand-up comics interacted with the audience and provoked laughter. One of them, Hesham Adnan, told Al-Monitor, “It is a nice opportunity to conclude 2016 with [the announcement of] a comedy festival, the first of its kind in Palestine.”
He said that the Gaza festival will be similar to comedy festivals organized across the capitals of the Arab world, such as Marrakech in Morocco, and it will specifically attract young participants. “The comedy festival is an opportunity for the youth to discover their talents and practice their hobbies. The Gaza Strip is full of young talent,” he said.
He added, “I felt how much people in Gaza needed to laugh to escape their bleak reality.”
Adnan said that the ceremony was a good start for the project and expressed hope that in the coming years, increasing numbers of Arab artists will be able to participate in the Palestinian festival, and through it more Palestinian artists will get the opportunity to be heard.
Palestinian Culture Minister Ihab Bseiso said in a video interview during the event that the Palestinian people have the right to make their voices heard across the world. He said he considers laughter a form of resistance and a way to face reality armed not only with irony but also a sense of hope and determination.
“We are very proud in besieged Gaza to be able to make a breakthrough in the cultural scene under the blockade, with which Israel is trying to separate us from the rest of Palestine,” Bseiso said. He added, “The launch of the comedy festival, which came to end 2016 on a high note in spite of all the suffering and pain, carries an important message that our people are able to create hope for the future.”
Israel's blockade on Gaza has been ongoing since 2006. According to World Bank data, Gaza suffers from one of the world's highest unemployment rates, spiking in the third quarter of 2016 to 43.2%.
Israel has waged three recent wars on Gaza. The first was in 2008, the second at the end of 2012 and the third in July 2014, killing and wounding hundreds of Palestinians and resulting in the destruction of thousands of houses. UNICEF reported that among the 900,000 children living in Gaza, more than 373,000 are in need of psychological and social aid.
The director of Maimas for Media Production, Mahmoud Madi, said the festival will be a stand-up comedy show. Madi told Al-Monitor that its main goal is to call attention to the Gaza Strip and relay a message: “This geographical piece of land is full of life, culture and art. Its people deserve to have festivals, to laugh and to entertain themselves.”
Madi added that the festival will be modeled on others in Marrakech, Algeria and Dubai. He said the festival, scheduled for the beginning of March, will attract participants from across the Gaza Strip and applications to participate can be submitted via a website that will be launched soon. Madi stressed that entry fees will be minimal and the festival will be widely accessible to the Palestinian public.
The organizers are planning to make the festival an annual event in the Gaza Strip, with the participation of Arab and international stand-up comedians.Gamified workplaces could be a positive and innovative solution to addressing contemporary problems in organizations. Such problems include high levels of stress, reduced sense of community, reduced loyalty and rapid changes in the workforce. To better prepare organizations for the future it may be helpful to identify and understand the potential advantages, disadvantages and areas for future research in relationship to the use of gamification for personal and organizational wellbeing. An analysis of research literature across disciplines in combination with expert opinion identified gamified workplaces as a promising strategy for promoting wellbeing. Furthermore, this paper proposes a set of 10 principles (I PLAY AT WORK) that may support gamification efforts. In addition to the value of mapping the present for the benefit of the future, there is also considerable value in reshaping core ideas related to the workplaces. Gamified workplaces can provide opportunities for a more vigorous and strategic inter-disciplinary research agenda that can stimulate investments in the area.
Introduction
Recently it was proposed that gamified services will become a key element in marketing and customer retention initiatives (Dorling and McCaffery, 2012). We are proposing that gamified workplaces will become a key element in the recruitment and retention of a productive and healthy workforce. This is because using gamified systems in the workplace could be a positive and innovative solution to addressing contemporary issues in organizations. Such issues include high levels of stress (Perryer et al., 2012), reduced social capital (Zhu et al., 2013), reduced loyalty and rapid changes in the workforce demographics (Dorling and McCaffery, 2012). From a health perspective, organizations will be likely to face an increased prevalence of stress, overweight and obesity in the workforce with a direct and indirect impact on ailments such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes and even addictions (Bosworth, 2012). To better prepare organizations for the future it may be helpful to consider the question: “What gaming principles could be used to gamify work places and processes so that both the employee and the employer benefit in terms of productivity and wellbeing?” In order to attempt to answer this question we will first discuss gamified workplaces, gamification, and gamification research.
Gamified workplaces are not workplaces where employees play videogames (Lewis, 2007; Farrington, 2011; Landers and Callan, 2011; Connolly et al., 2012; Popescu et al., 2012, 2013). Gamified workplaces can be defined as organizations that use gamification to transform some of their work processes into a game-like experience for the employees by applying selected principles of game design and game interaction. The long term goal of a gamified workplace is to increase wellbeing at the organizational level (i.e., productivity) and personal level (i.e., work satisfaction).
Gamification is a concept that garners increasing attention across funding bodies, academic disciplines and various industries (Dorling and McCaffery, 2012). For the purpose of this paper workplace gamification is defined as the adaptation and application of game design principles and game interaction elements to workplace processes and behaviors. Game interaction elements include both game mechanics and game dynamics. Game mechanics refer to the reward systems and game dynamics refer to the user progression that may lead to the rewards (Dorling and McCaffery, 2012).
Gamification research is still in its infancy and the transition from games to gamification remains a work in progress as documented by recent publications (Deterding et al., 2011; Koutropoulos, 2012; Dominguez et al., 2013; Rednic et al., 2013). In the literature, “gamification” has been described as the use of video-game elements to improve user engagement and experience with non-game initiatives (Deterding et al., 2011; Dominguez et al., 2013; Rednic et al., 2013). Hypothesized benefits include more engaging workplaces and additional opportunities for productive collaboration (Deterding et al., 2011; Rednic et al., 2013), increased motivation (Koutropoulos, 2012; Dominguez et al., 2013) and work place customization for enhanced personal control (Rednic et al., 2013).
There are many types of games applicable to workplaces. Games can be used for recruitment and training purposes (i.e., military), for lead generation, recruitment and public relations (i.e., Intelligence agencies), for selection (i.e., problem based interviewing), for training, continuous professional development and up skilling of the workforce (i.e., health professions), for planning, performance and review processes (i.e., public sector), for skill based promotion (i.e., engineering), and for development of personal health skills (i.e., Keas) among others. Crookall (2010) provided a list of disciplines using games and publication outlets for games and identified some of the research development needs in the field.
I Play at Work—10 Principles for Workplace Gamification
In response to the needs identified in previous research this section proposes 10 guiding principles that may facilitate the adoption and use of gamification in everyday workplace processes and not just in training or special engagement events. Such principles could be used to make workplace processes more appealing for employees and more value generating for employers. This is because, from a psychological perspective, gamified workplaces could be seen as self-improving, self-learning entities where behavior change is created and sustained (Baranowski et al., 2011).
The ten principles proposed for gamifying work processes have been organized under the mnemonic I PLAY AT WORK.
I Orientation
Successful games engage the users by focusing on cognitive, emotional, and social outcomes (Dominguez et al., 2013). Successful games include personally relevant, carefully designed and increasingly difficult challenges, often interspersed with humorous elements (Coller and Scott, 2009). Such challenges require increased cognitive effort, skill development and contributions from the users.
In the same way that games encourage users to progress through various levels, gamified work processes may encourage users to progress through increasingly difficult tasks (Deterding et al., 2011; Barthel, 2013; Popescu et al., 2013), may increase participation in special initiatives (Papastergiou, 2009; Barthel, 2013) may increase adoption of new programs (Lu et al., 2012; Rednic et al., 2013), and may increase program use period (Coller and Scott, 2009; Kato, 2010; Lu et al., 2012).
An interdisciplinary approach to system design is recommended for best results (Brox et al., 2011; Ahola et al., 2013). It is recommended to use a user-centered philosophy as a basis for process and system design (Brox et al., 2011; Bosworth, 2012; Cafazzo et al., 2012). For example, each user, in consultation with colleagues and managers, could set concrete goals and concrete standards of success or failure (Brox et al., 2011; Barthel, 2013). Such an approach may allow for various work processes to be tailored to a specific audience (Baranowski et al., 2012; Ahola et al., 2013; Barthel, 2013) while allowing for personalization based on individual preferences (Barreneche, 2012).
Persuasive Elements
Inclusion of persuasive elements based on sound psychological and behavioral theories may encourage participants to want to explore and learn more in ways that are beneficial to both the user and the company (Michaelides, 2011; Barreneche, 2012; Barthel, 2013). |
because the appearance of the muzzle served to keep unfamiliar people from approaching to pet her, which made her uncomfortable. It also served as a great visual signal for people walking their dogs that Layla may not appreciate being rushed by their “friendly” but unmannered pet. She loved the space her muzzle created for her!
Owner comfort level: muzzles can also help the opposite end of the leash. If you tend to get tense or worried in social situations with your dog, muzzling your pet may help you relax. Remember that dogs are highly empathetic, and tense owners are one of the best ways to create tense dogs. This can become a horrible spiral – the owner tenses up when their dog approaches someone, the dog becomes stressed due to the owner’s behavior, the dog snarks, and the owner’s worst fears are confirmed, setting them up to become even more stressed during the next interaction. While a muzzle should never be used as an excuse to put a dog in a situation you know the dog can’t handle, knowing that your dog can’t cause damage may help you to remain calm in situations that your dog would otherwise rock.
Legal requirements: if you travel with your dog, there may be locations that require the use of a muzzle if your dog is to be permitted in public areas or on public transportation. A dog who is comfortable in his muzzle may find doors opening up for him!
Dog sports: some sports require muzzles, and in other sports muzzles may be an option. Layla, for example, wears her basket muzzle when she lure courses. While she has always coursed alone rather than in a group, she has a history of grabbing the lure at the end of the course and snapping the line. This is frustrating and time consuming for those hosting the event to remedy, so Layla now wears her basket muzzle to course so that we have a brief window of time to catch her at the finish line before she can grab the lure and snap the line with a terrier head shake.
Dog’s comfort level: because muzzle conditioning is done using reward-based methods, dogs come to love their muzzles. This can have a wonderful “bleed-over” effect, where the dog feels happier and safer wearing his muzzle because it’s always been associated with good things. The power of this emotional response can be incredible when introducing dogs into potentially stressful situations. Simply placing your dog’s muzzle on before a new situation may help to color that entire situation as safe and positive.
Whatever your reasons for muzzle training your dog, I encourage you to consider this useful tool as part of your dog’s comprehensive care plan. As for the dog at the rally trial? He continued to be happy and relaxed all day, and I complimented his owner on her dog’s lovely demeanor. Good dogs wear muzzles too.A generation ago Keynesian economics was dead and buried, abandoned even by the most influential Keynesian economist of them all, John Hicks. It had been killed by the re-discovery of Hayek (by Robert Lucas, Alex Leijonhufvud, and John Hicks, among others), by Milton Friedman — and by stagflation. Keynesian economics was rejected by the great political figures of the time. By Thatcher and Reagan who looked to Hayek, not Keynes. And by the leaders of the states of the former Russian Empire, by the Chinese, and across the European continent, who again looked to Hayek (and Friedman), and not Keynes.
But today the free market and the ideas of Friedrich Hayek are under massive assault. The Keynesians are again in the saddle, riding the whipping horses of “crisis”, “deflation” and “stimulus” to the largest takeover of the free economy in the nation’s history.
How did this happen?
Let’s go back to the collapse of Keynes. In the wider world, Keynesianism was in disrepute, but in the universities, the tenured clerisy remained — a guild of modern day astrologers wedded to the ancient and failed cargo cult pseud-science of “Keynesian macroeconomics”. But all was not perfectly well, even in the commanding heights of the Ivory Tower. The economists, somewhat uncomfortably, taught an IS-LM version of Keynesian economics to undergraduates which they laughed at in the graduate seminar room. In the graduate seminars they oohed and aahed instead at “New” versions of Keynesian economics, given “equilibrium” foundations inspired in the first instance by Hayek (via Lucas), but having little to do with genuine microeconomic foundations. Only problem? There existed an unending number of these models — incompatible in various ways, and so different from “Keynes” that many of them went by names other than “Keynesian economics”. But a new, naive, and politically polarized generation was coming on the scene, both in economics and in politics. And the new order of the day was old time Keynesian economics, with “stimulus” and “deflation” the watchwords of the age. First with George W. Bush [see links below], and Bush economists such as Greg Mankiw, Alan Greenspan, and Ben Bernanke. And now with the arrival to dominance of Paul Krugman, Timothy Geithner and Barack Obama, things have really gone over the cliff. A new age of Keynes is upon us.
Call it the Counter-Revolution of the Keynesian Pseudo-Science.
So the time is now for executives and college students and small business owners and journalists and the general public to intellectually arm up — and participate in the beating back of the Cargo Cult science of the new Keynesians.
Here’s your ammo. All freely available on the internet.
Blogs: EconLog, Cafe Hayek, Mish’s Trend Analysis, Mises Economics Blog, ThinkMarkets, The Austrian Economists.
Web Sites: CATO Institute, Mises Institute, Library of Econ & Liberty, The Bailout Reader, Roger Garrison’s article archive.
Books: Gerald O’Driscoll, Jr, Economics as a Coordination Problem: The Contribution of Friedrich A. Hayek; Roger Garrison, Time and Money: The Macroeconomics of the Capital Structure, David Laidler, Fabricating the Keynesian Revolution; F. A. Hayek, Prices and Production and Other Works; F. A. Hayek, Monetary Theory and the Trade Cycle.
Macroeconomists: Roger Garrison, Gerald O’Driscoll, Jr., Lawrence White.
Video: CNBC “House of Cards”, The Crisis of Credit Visualized.
Finally, a collection of contemporary articles explaining the current economic bust:
Find additional links and resources here.
UPDATE: Read more about Bush’s consistently Keynesian approach to the economy here, here, here, and here. On Bernanke and the mid 2000’s “deflation” scare read this and this and this.A Kazakh military jet carrying a team of senior security officals has crashed near the southern city of Shymkent, killing all 27 people on board, including the head of the country's border guard department, authorities have said.
Turganbek Stambekov, the chief of the Kazakhstan federal border service, and his wife were among the victims of the crash on Tuesday evening, which occured about 20km from Shymkent airport, where it was due to land after a flight from the capital Astana.
Khabar state television cited local witnesses as saying that a heavy storm had desended the region at the time of the crash.
"All 27 occupants of the aircraft, including seven crew members, perished," the state security service said in a statement.
The twin-engine Antonov An-72 jet, which authorities say fell from a height of 800m, disappeared from radar screens at about 1300GMT.
Footage of the crash site aired on Kazakh state television on Wednesday showed only fragments of the An-72 military transport plane remaining on the ground.
The National Security Service [KNB] said the military plane was transporting the officials to Shymenkt for an end-of-year security meeting.The following is an extremely extensive treatment of the theme of exodus within the biblical text.
Day 1: Noah’s Exodus (Genesis 5-9)
Judgment on the antediluvian world – Ark as embryo of new creation – Deliverance of Noah – Confirmation of God’s covenant with Noah – Rest and the fall that followed.
Day 2: Terah and Abram’s Exodus (Genesis 10:1-12:9)
Imperial building project at Babel – Terah’s departure from Ur – Abram’s call from Haran – Conquest through worship
Day 3: Abram’s Exodus from Egypt (Genesis 12:10-14:24)
A nation summed up in one man – Reading the patriarchs typologically – Abram’s deception – Capture of the bride – Plaguing Pharaoh – Release of the slaves – Return to the land – Military victory
Day 4: Abraham, Lot, and the Flight from Sodom (Genesis 17-19)
Cutting off the flesh before the judgment – Promise of a son – Angel of YHWH and the two witnesses – Elevation to membership in the Heavenly Council – Sodom as Egypt – Exodus from Sodom – Tragedy of Lot
Day 5: Abram’s Sure Covenant of Exodus (Genesis 15)
Promise of heirs – A strange vision – Meaning of the vision – Darkness and the passing of the torch – The sacrificial system – Anticipation of Exodus
Day 6: The Opening of the Wombs and the Blessing of the Gentiles in Gerar (Genesis 20:1-21:7, 22-34)
Repeating themes in sacred history – Timeframe and geography – The deception of Abimelech – The threat on the woman – Accusation – Opening of the wombs – Conversion of Abimelech – Covenant with Abimelech – Birth of Isaac
Day 7: Hagar and Ishmael, the Forerunners in the Wilderness (Genesis 16 & 21)
Interwoven narratives and archetypes – Abram, Sarai, Hagar and a Fall scene – Hagar’s exodus from Sarai – Ishmael as the first Isaac – Ishmael’s exodus – Hagar and Ishmael in later biblical typology – Hagar/Ishmael and John the Baptist – Paul’s allegory in Galatians
Day 8: Following in the Footsteps of Abraham (Genesis 26)
A third sister-wife narrative – Isaac and Rebekah among the Philistines – Conflict over wells – Oath and covenant with Abimelech – Extension of the life of the covenant
Day 9: The Cunning Woman and the Righteous Serpent (Genesis 27:1-28:9)
The birth of Esau and Jacob – The Fall of Esau and the loss of his birthright – Jacob as the righteous serpent – Rebekah’s shrewd deception – Two goats and the Day of Atonement – The flight of Jacob
Day 10: The Faithless Father-in-Law and the Wrestling Wives (Genesis 28:10-30:24)
The vision at Bethel – The true tower to heaven – Meeting Rachel at the well – Jacob reduced to service – Laban’s deception of Jacob – Women giving birth and the start of the deliverance – Multiplication in captivity – Miraculous birth of the deliverer
Day 11: False Phalluses and Despoiled Tyrants (Genesis 30:25-31:21)
New terms of service – Laban’s trickery – False phalluses and the lex talionis – YHWH appears to Jacob – Fleeing from Laban
Day 12: Jacob in the Dark (Genesis 31:22-33:20)
Laban pursues and overtakes Jacob – God appears to Laban – Rachel and Laban’s idols – Humiliation of the false gods – Covenant between Jacob and Laban – Preparing to meet Esau – Wrestling with YHWH – Peace with Esau
Day 13: The Exodus INTO Egypt (Genesis 37-50)
Joseph going to his brothers – Sold into slavery – Reduced to prison – The dreams of Pharaoh – Two stage exodus – Joseph’s brothers – The exodus of Israel into Egypt – Promise and anticipation of Exodus
Day 14: The Women, the Dragon, and the Beautiful Child’s Exoduses (Exodus 1-4)
The affliction of Israel – The Hebrew midwives’ righteous deception – A story of daughters – Eve and the dragon – The deliverance of Moses – Pharaoh’s daughter – Moses’ first visitation – Moses in Midian – Laban’s split personality
Day 15: The Battle of the Gods (Exodus 4-10)
The purpose of signs and wonders – Moses’s three signs and their meaning – Conflict with the magicians – Egypt’s plague of corruption – The order of the plagues – The battle of the gods
Day 16: The Sacrifice of the Sons and a Midnight Meal (Exodus 11-13)
The announcement of the death of the firstborn – The meaning of the firstborn son – Institution of the Passover – Meaning of the memorial – The sacrifice of Israel’s firstborn – Other themes in the Passover
Day 17: Crushing the Dragon’s Head at the Crossing of the Sea (Exodus 14:1-15:21)
Water crossings and transitions – A world framed by water – Preparing for the crossing – Red Sea crossing as new creation – The battle of YHWH – The Song of the Sea as liturgical memorial
Day 18: The Ear and the Doorpost (Exodus 1-15, 21:1-11)
Biblical teaching and practice of slavery – Pharaoh as cruel master – Legal background to the Exodus – Competing masters – Adopted servants – The boring of the ear
Day 19: A Portable Mountain and Competing Calves (Exodus 17-34)
Moses and the Israelites as head and body – Two sets of Gentiles – Meeting YHWH at the Mountain – Tabernacle, sacrifice, and the mountain – The forming of the covenant – The Fall of Israel – Moses as mediator and intercessor – The transfiguration of Moses
Day 20: The Testing of the Throne-Bearers (Exodus 25-30; Numbers)
Timeframe and setting – Tabernacle as new creation – Israel as the bearers of the divine throne chariot – A second exodus – Tests and rebellions in the wilderness – Further rebellion – The failure of Moses and the death of the old generation – Balaam and the wickedness with Baal of Peor – Ready to cross the Jordan
Day 21: A Successor, a Harlot, and an Invasion (Deuteronomy, Joshua 1-6)
The republication of the covenant – Provision for succession – Exodus and entry into the land as bookends – Rahab and her Passover – Crossing of the Jordan – Circumcision – The Passover – Meeting the Commander of the Army of YHWH – Destruction of Jericho
Day 22: The Crusade of the Lost Ark (1 Samuel 1-7)
A barren woman – A corrupt priesthood – The birth of a miraculous child – The tearing down of the house of Israel – The battle of Aphek – The Ark in Captivity – Judgment upon the Philistines and the humiliation of their false god – God’s weakness and power – The release of the Ark – The Ark in the wilderness – The restoration of IsraelMany of us who work in the corporate IT world realize that there is not ONE THING that works for all technology applications...Fanbois not withstanding.So when a good friend of the Blog of helios wrote a comment in reply to a recent publication: Uncluttered Minds Do Not Care, I thought it was a good idea to supply the opinion of someone who does work in cross-platform environments.Gavin uses Linux, Mac and Windows as an IT professional. He is a TechNet Pro subscriber and has extensive experience in all platforms. I simply thought it would be interesting to see his perspective on the MS-centric business world.As always, your input is what we look for...within educational institutions has a lot to do with ubiquity. This is a company that knows how to wine, dine, and make things easy for people. And by presenting such a unified and comprehensive front, where is the competition?Then they follow up by stamping all the students with "made by Microsoft", flood the market with certs, drive down the costs of personnel qualified to work with their software, and make huge claims about lower TCO for large companies. After all, site licensing + Software Assurance + cheap cert-stamped IT personnel = large up-front cost + cheap year-over-year "float on a cloud" maintenance.From a business perspective, it makes a large amount of sense to adopt their model. The CEOs and CFOs can all see the benefit in good investor relations by keeping the company in the black. Meanwhile, the CIOs and CTOs get to be the bad guys/girls that flex the IT workforce by periodically hiring and firing the cheapest low cert personnel every time the company's stock makes headlines (re-org time!).When hardware and software are both on maintenance agreements, IT personnel salaries are merely another line item - more disposable than infrastructure, too! There is always another fresh cert-stamped college graduate who is eager to work for 15% less than a 5-year veteran who has not achieved a higher cert in the last 3 years (which is, coincidentally, the average time span for looking back at personnel "added value" in a large company).And throughout all of this, MS looks like a friend to everyone, even the IT person who just got fired ("it is my own darn fault that I do not have a better cert by now, considering how easy MS makes it").The people who really get the shaft through all of this are the people who have been duped into believing that the low-tier MS certs will set them up for life. And make no mistake, it is only "easy" to achieve that first-tier cert if you are in the top half of the talent pool. By making the software ubiquitous, MS is also making the certs ubiquitous, which means that the salary you can demand with any given cert is lower (supply vs demand) regardless of how easy or difficult it is to achieve that cert. Experience still matters in the workforce, so the ones who are able to climb a few rungs up the steep cert ladder in a timely manner are the ones who are more likely to stay employed long enough to gain experience in the first place. The rest? Suffice to say I have met quite a few grey-haired MCSEs over the past year who have been forced to expand their career options. Thankfully, for their sake, none of them have yet delivered a pizza to my door, but even so... Then there are the companies that are able to look at larger time frames. 5-10 years ahead and behind instead of 3. The companies that realize how MS can nickle and dime you as you scale up or down. The companies thatyou do not run Server 2008 R2 for that nuclear reactor over at Site C (BSOD = EPA visit!). Pick a UNIX/Linux variant, pay for support on production machines, run a free dev environment, extend hardware life cycles, gaincontrol over bug submissions and code alterations, and pay the 20% premium for IT personnel. Done. Admittedly, there are benefits to either approach. And they become more or less important depending on the size of the company or organization as well as on other variables. I have seen a few companies that operate in such a way that I would flat-out tell them to use MS and be done with it. But I would wager that many of us have seen far more companies that should move away from MS but have not because no one has bothered to re-evaluate the situation in years.I mean, really, $40 USD for a single SharePoint CAL w/SA for charities??Enough said.All-Righty Then...Martinez: £50m for Barkley? United can forget it, that wouldn't even get him on loan
Roberto Martinez laughed off reports of an imminent £50million Manchester United bid for Ross Barkley and told them: ‘You wouldn’t even get him on loan for that.’
Barkley’s stunning impact in his first full season at the heart of Everton’s midfield has alerted David Moyes and sent him soaring to the top of the United manager’s hit list for the January transfer window.
But when it was put to Martinez that a £50million offer could be heading his way when the window opens, the Everton boss said: ‘How much? 50? No, I’m sorry, we won’t be letting him go out on loan!’
Promising talent: Everton's Ross Barkley (right) has emerged as one of the country's best young midfielders
As a further blow to Moyes’ hopes of launching another audacious raid on his old club, after signing Marouane Fellaini on deadline-day at the start of the season, Martinez insisted Everton were no longer susceptible to big-money bids and were on a sound enough financial footing to dictate whether players stay or go.
‘If you have to bring money in, you can get a bit anxious when you read about interest in your players, but that is not the case here,’ he said. ‘We are in a strong position financially, so it is not an irritation or worry to see this sort of speculation.
‘The financial stability we have at this club now means we can make footballing decisions, based on what is best for us on the pitch, and that is what will happen in the January window. We are looking to bring in one or two new faces, and I can guarantee you we will be stronger for the second half of the season.Back in 2007, Sean “Diddy” Combs teamed with Jay Z and 50 Cent to create a song titled “I Get Money: Forbes 1-2-3 Billion Dollar Remix.” Less than a decade later, rappers are closing in on ten-figure fortunes, and he’s the nearest of the bunch.
Diddy leads the pack with an estimated fortune of $700 million, an increase of $120 million over his net worth last year. The change comes largely from the addition of Revolt TV—the new, music-focused, multi-platform channel of which he’s the majority owner—to his already-hefty portfolio.
“Right now my focus is Revolt and making it the number one, most-trusted, most credible worldwide brand for music,” he told FORBES in a recent interview. “And to get Revolt to be the quintessential definition of real time. I think that’s the future.”
The company controls an astounding two-thirds of the premium headphone market, with annual sales reportedly in excess of $1 billion and growing. Private equity firm Carlyle invested $500 million for a minority stake last year, pushing Beats’ value past $1 billion and likely closer to $2 billion.Diddy has plenty of competition in the race to $1 billion. His top challengers are Dr. Dre, who ranks second with $550 million, and Jay Z, in third place with an estimated $520 million. The former leapfrogged the latter on this year’s Forbes Five thanks to a large stake in Beats By Dr. Dre, which he cofounded with Interscope chief Jimmy Iovine in 2008.
“Beats has a unique brand—it speaks to a nice young demographic, which is really interesting to marketers,” says Peter Csathy, former president of Musicmatch, an early digital music purveyor acquired by Yahoo in 2004 for $160 million. “When I think about Beats, I think about it as a lifestyle, I think of it as a media company, not just a hardware and music-focused company.”
Full coverage: Hip-Hop's Wealthiest Artists 2014
Jay Z’s fortune continues to grow at a healthy clip, too. He’s made multiple nine-figure deals in the past, including his $204 million Rocawear sale in 2007 and his $150 million pact with Live Nation in 2008. But much of his recent growth comes from Roc Nation, his record label and management firm that recently added a sports agency. The outfit gets a single-digit cut of pacts like Robinson Cano’s $240 million monster agreement.
(For more on Mr. Carter’s rise as a businessman, check out Empire State of Mind: How Jay-Z Went From Street Corner To Corner Office).
Next up: Bryan “Birdman” Williams, whose net worth would be over $300 million if he didn’t share his fortune with brother Ronald “Slim” Williams. The duo cofounded Cash Money Records two decades ago; Cash Money continues to grow with a roster that includes Drake, Nicki Minaj and Lil Wayne. Birdman has also diversified with Cash Money Content, GT Vodka and the YMCMB clothing line.
Rounding out the list is 50 Cent, who owes most of his fortune to his $100 million haul from the sale of Vitaminwater in 2007. Now he’s trying to repeat the feat with companies like SMS Audio and SK Energy beverages. In the meantime, he’ll reboot his music career by taking his G-Unit Records independent and releasing new album Animal Ambition in June.
"It was getting pretty difficult to launch music that everyone was paying attention to at the same time," says 50 Cent of his final days at Interscope, the label that launched him to superstardom. "The company itself was going through so many changes that I didn't really know the people involved in the projects anymore."
In order to complete our Forbes Five list, we follow the same procedures we follow while calculating our list of the world’s billionaires: looking at past earnings, valuing current holdings, leafing through financial documents and talking to analysts, attorneys, managers, other industry players and even some of the moguls themselves—like Diddy, who already has his eye on the next generation.
“My advice to future entrepreneurs is to always know reality, to know what you’re getting yourself into, to know how hard it’s going to be, how competitive it’s going to be,” he says. “We’re in a time where the people that really work hard—and really believe in themselves, and really don’t give up on their dreams, no matter how many times they fall down—are the ones that are going to be successful.”
Note: This story is an expanded version of a piece that ran in the May 5, 2014 issue of FORBES magazine.
For more about the business of music, check out my Jay Z biography, Empire State of Mind. My next, Michael Jackson, Inc, will be published in June. You can also follow me on Twitter and Facebook.Authorities are investigating an incident in which a $2.3-million Learjet was spray painted with graffiti in a secure area of Van Nuys Airport, a crime that Los Angeles police said was gang-related.
The jet, which was vandalized with black spray paint spelling out "flame," "R.I.P." and an unidentified initial on the left front fuselage, was parked in an overflow area of the tarmac near Maguire Aviation in the 7100 block of Valjean Avenue at the time of the incident, said law enforcement sources familiar with the investigation.
There were also several initials spray painted on the tail of the aircraft.
The graffiti is believed to be "gang related and gang initiated," said LAPD spokesman Rudy Lopez, who did not elaborate on the particulars of the investigation, which is being conducted with Los Angeles Airport Police and the FBI.
The incident took place between 2 and 2:23 a.m. Sunday, causing an estimated $100,000 in damage to the Learjet Model 60 registered to an aviation company in Malibu, according to the sources, who asked not to be identified because they were not authorized to speak.Fry bacon until almost done (it will cook a bit more in the oven). Drain on paper towel. Cook the ground beef until it is no longer pink - drain. Saute the onion in a small amount of oil until it is soft. Bake your favorite pizza crust at 425 degrees for 5 - 10 minutes just until it begins to brown. Remove from oven and spread with mustard. Top with ground beef and onion and return to oven for another 5 - 10 minutes until crust edges are lightly browned. Add the bacon, pickles and cheese and return to the oven until the cheese has melted. Remove from the oven and enjoy. Note: If you dont like warm pickles, you can add them just before servng. Posted to T.nt (sdm-marked) Recipes Digest by ncwatkins@webtv.net (Nancy Watkins) on Mar 28, 1998Just one week from the deadline, it's NHL trade season. And you know what that means: the widespread systematic dissemination of bad information and false hope. More so than any other sport, hockey engenders a trade fever, leaving fans obsessed with the possibility of gleaning insight into their team's deadline machinations. And a few enterprising individuals trade on this hysteria, appointing themselves as anonymous insiders, releasing vague information which is lapped up by fevered fans.
Now I know what you're thinking: "this sounds like a good racket, how do I get in on this?" Lucky for you, I've studied these "insiders" on twitter for months, learned their ways, and am now ready to release my findings to you, the trusting hockey public. Below is my step-by-step guide to becoming an NHL insider. Follow my E.K.L.U.N.D. system closely and you'll be swimming in Twitter followers in no time.
Follow @predsblog
Before we get into the meat of E.K.L.U.N.D., however, you'll need a good Twitter account and I have some general tips to that end. First, pick a generic name that starts with "Hockey" or "NHL" and ends with something trade related. Then find a good avatar that will support your desired image of a rogue anonymous scout. Silhouettes are good. For instance, this popular Twitter insider has chosen this silhouette of a player taking a shot from iStockphoto. Wow, spooky! Too bad we can't see that anonymous source's face! He's probably so important, though, if he was outed, he'd have to be killed.
Next, add a bio that heightens your mystique. Some claim they're a former NHL employee/scout--surely a tribute to the original Eklund bio, which mysteriously changed when his identity went public. If you too weren't a former janitor at an NHL arena, however, you can always opt for some classic vague language. Here's an account I started as an example:
Wow, I feel on the inside already!
E: Educated Guesses
Educated guessing is the bread and butter of any twitter insider. These guesses serve the crucial function of having something to point to when you're been self-aggrandizing and building rapport with your followers--more on that later.
Say, for instance, a legitimate source says a particular big-name forward is available. You tweet: Hear the #Leafs, #Habs, #Flames, #Rangers, #Kings, others all interested in Nash. Wow, how did you get that scoop?
Well, when dealing with a forward, merely list the Leafs, Flames, and Habs as interested, followed by any other teams that seem logical. Now you've got some of the biggest fanbases on Twitter excitedly retweeting you. And if one of these teams lands the player in a week, you can ceaselessly reference this tweet as proof of your connections. And if you're wrong? No one will notice!
That doesn't mean you should do unto others as you would have done unto you. If another "insider" is wrong...
K: Kick them while they're down.
Let your followers know you're not like those other Twitter insiders, always spouting the same old junk. You have a great advantage of not being a real journalist: you can aggressively discredit your competition. Eklund says Bernier for Nash is a done deal? What a chump! Hey guys, notice how I didn't say Bernier for Nash was a done deal?
But you can't make a name for yourself just stating the obvious. And you don't want to get made a fool of Bernier-for-Nash style. So you need to...
L: Lie and backtrack
It's time to make a splash. You need a big scoop. But actually scooping something is hard work, and leaves yourself vulnerable if you're wrong. Here's what you do: capitalize on the inherently ever-changing nature of the trade landscape. Come out with a scoop that no one can verify and then quickly recant, as if you were right but circumstances have changed. For example:
HUGE #NASH news: IF he gets traded, it will be to the #HABS. Source confirmed he will ONLY waive NMC to join the #Canadiens. — Hockeyy Insiderr (@HockeyyInsiderr) February 16, 2012
Holy crap! Really?!?! That seems totally implausible. Why would Rick Nash only accept a trade to another losing team, one that coincidentally happens to have a huge fan following on twitter?
#NASH update: After speaking with upper management today, he agreed to expand his list of teams! #1 choice of destination is STILL #Habs. — Hockeyy Insiderr (@HockeyyInsiderr) February 17, 2012
Haha, psych! Guess we'll never know.
U: Unfiltered Information
What's that? You actually want to cull information from real sources? Woah there, with real sources comes the temptation to verify information and defer to more qualified journalists. If you're going to accept tips, accept all tips. Take any information given to you and immediately put it on the web. Hell, post your phone number in your Twitter bio.
You want teams to know that anything you're told will quickly be spread throughout the internet. Believe me, teams will be eager to tell you things when they hear that. And when people call you out on being right less often than a random number generator, just tell them you're in the business of telling what you hear. Hey, that's technically true!
N: Neglect real reporting
When trade news breaks, and you of course didn't call it, how will you respond to jaded followers? Simply act like the guy who walks into class 20 minutes late and sits down like he's right on time.
Been a busy morning so apologize if this is already out there but Jeff Carter, Rick Nash and Fedor Tyutin were not at practice. — Hockey Break (@HockeyBreak) February 16, 2012
"Yea dunno if you guys heard, but a big trade went down. You heard? Yea I've just been super busy with insider stuff, so coudn't report it before Bob McKenzie, like I totally could have otherwise."
D: Deluded self-Importance
After following the above steps, you should have a pretty solid stable of gullible folks following you. People are talking about you like crazy? Must be because of how awesome you are, not the preposterous rumor you're spreading. And when beat writers get annoyed, because they constantly have to respond to readers, mentioning your BS, just act like it's a rap beef.
I'll leave u with 1 more question Mr. @davegisaac is it ur name that's trending in Philly now? No it's @HockeyyInsiderr #BOOM #BYEHATER — Hockeyy Insiderr (@HockeyyInsiderr) February 20, 2012
BOOM! Congrats, you're an insider.JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – Earlier this year University of Missouri professor and candidate for Attorney General Josh Hawley’s record of “arguing” cases before the Supreme Court was questioned when it came to light that he was only recently admitted to practice before the Supreme Court earlier this year.
In the end, Hawley’s name was placed on a brief sent to the court along with several other attorneys in the Burwell vs. Hobby Lobby case. Hawley has claimed he argued the case before the court, and the Becket Fund of which he is of senior counsel for has steadfastly backed up his claims that he was deeply involved.
In the exact same manner, Hawley’s name is also on a brief submitted by Becket Fund attorneys in case of Holt v. Hobbs. A case in which the Becket Fund helped Gregory Holt, a.k.a. Abdul Maalik Muhammad, sue Arkansas law enforcement so that he could grow his beard in accordance to his Muslim religious beliefs. The brief listing Hawley is on the SCOTUS Blog, the blog of the Supreme Court of the United States.
The Arkansas Department of Corrections claimed that the prisoners of any religious faith were not allowed to grow beards due to their being able to quickly and dramatically alter their appearance were they to escape or be able to conceal contraband. Muhammad was in prison after being convicted of stabbing his girlfriend in the chest and throat, as well as threatening to kidnap President Bush’s daughters. He described himself as an “American Terrorist” and threatened a “deadly jihad” on court officials and witnesses “if it went south.”
However, in response to a story by The Missouri Times noting that Hawley’s name is on the brief in the Muhammad case – in the exact same manner it was in Hobby Lobby case – both the Becket Fund and the Hawley campaign state that the brief was filed with the U.S. Supreme Court incorrectly and, in this case, Hawley was not involved.
“Joshua Hawley was not involved in Holt v. Hobbs,” said Daniel Hartman of the Hawley campaign. “It was a case for which his name was erroneously included on the initial petition without his knowledge or permission. His name was not included on subsequent filings. The Becket Fund has provided all applicable documentation to [the Missouri Times] along with a statement to this effect.”
The Becket Fund backed up the campaign’s claims distancing Hawley from the organization’s work on behalf of the self described “American terrorist.”
“Josh Hawley has served as co-counsel on two Supreme Court cases: Hosanna-Tabor v. EEOC (2012) and Burwell v. Hobby Lobby (2014),” said Melinda Skea of the Becket Fund. “He was not involved in Holt v. Hobbs (2015) and was erroneously listed on the first legal brief for the case.”
Skea provided links to the Becket Fund website, where Hawley has been removed as of counsel. He remains on the SCOTUS Blog’s brief.
Hawley has previously stated that he has been to the Supreme Court twice and won. Hawley claims the cases where he won by working on briefs submitted to the court were are Hosanna-Tabor v. EEOC (2012) and Burwell v. Hobby Lobby (2014).
Former chairman of the House Judiciary committee Stan Cox questioned the professionalism of such a move.
“It’s a lawyer’s responsibility to be |
an American accent for no apparent reason. [Laughs] And if I’m surrounded by Americans, I forget to come out as an Englishman. It’s in me.
Brody is a cipher of sorts. He's almost always acting. What's it like to act in two directions at once—to deceive the audience and the other characters on the show at the same time?
It’s complex. It requires a lot of concentration and detail, but that’s what you sign up for. I relish that challenge. It’s just a great, great gift if you get asked to be part of a project in which the writing is that good, because it doesn’t always happen. A lot of the time, because Brody was damaged early on, and because he is a fragile character, he’s capable of believing in two things at once. When he was first falling for Carrie, he was playing her; he needed to keep her close because she was the enemy. And he was scared of her, and wary of her. But he also found himself fancying her, and finding this connection to her. I think it’s possible to play both things at once because that’s what people do in real life. It’s great fun trying to encompass all those things at once. It’s no small feat, but it’s great fun.While the U.S. Constitution guarantees Americans the right to own guns, there are extremists who take that right too far. Take the parents who allowed their nine-year-old daughter to fire an Uzi at the Bullets and Burgers shooting range in Las Vegas, Nevada, earlier this week, and then saw her lose control of it and kill the instructor.
As a social issue, gun ownership has long been a fight, for the most part, between conservatives and liberals. The right to openly carry a firearm in public (commonly referred to as “open carry”) is an even more controversial topic, and the push to restrict gun laws has many divided. Who better to continue the fight of today into the world of tomorrow than children? This seems to be the thrust of a peculiar children’s book I recently came across titled My Parents Open Carry: An Open Carry Adventure.
As we see so commonly in religion, children are easily indoctrinated with ideas they cannot fully understand. Seems the same goes for support of open carry laws.
My Parents Open Carry, written by Brian Jeffs and Nathan Nephew and illustrated by Lorna Bergman, follows a girl named Brenna as she goes through the day with her parents who openly carry their guns. It’s worth noting that the book is published by a small company called White Feather Press, which appears to be a collective of authors who share conservative interpretations of the Bible and the U.S. Constitution.
I have more than a few problems with My Parents Open Carry. The book paints the family as a perfectly loving and caring one, and there seems to be no element of disagreement or defiance between thirteen-year-old Brenna and her parents. This shining, happy family sets out on their day, mom and dad with loaded handguns at their sides. Brenna explains that her father has always taught her that “there is evil in this world, and we want to protect you the best we can.” Her mother, clearly in agreement, chimes in, “We are responsible for our own safety, and as an adult, someday you will be responsible for your safety as well as your family.” The parents go on to explain that the police cannot be everywhere all of the time, implying that it is one’s duty to assume the responsibility of law enforcement rather than waiting for emergency personnel to respond—even if it means using a gun on another individual.
A neighbor even jumps in to congratulate Brenna’s parents on their open carrying, justifying the display by comparing it to the use of seat belts and fire extinguishers. Throughout the book the family encounters people who seem to lack knowledge about gun laws. Of course, once explained, they all agree with the parents’ actions. In the end, Brenna gets her first handgun with which she can carry out the wisdom her parents have imparted upon her.
I must admit I was somewhat confused as Brenna’s parents explained to a group of teenagers that guns don’t always have to be associated with crime yet throughout the entire book they justified openly carrying them with self-defense.
By no means does the book explore the potentially negative ramifications of openly carrying a loaded weapon. In fact, the only thing this book seems to do is perpetuate the idea that constitutional rights are under attack and people need to fight back. There is no consideration that the Second Amendment was written with different intentions in a very different period of U.S. history. I doubt that the framers of the Constitution intended for citizens to bring loaded weapons to shopping malls, banks, and schools.
But should we be surprised? It’s clear the authors hold gun freedom very close to their hearts as founders of Michigan Open Carry, Inc. Unfortunately they have succeeded in creating propaganda geared toward children that feeds off kids’ fear. Take a look at this book if you have thirty minutes you don’t mind throwing away. It does give useful insight into the ways children are manipulated into agreeing with ideas that are above their level of understanding. For examples, one need look no further than the “CUSTOMERS WHO BOUGHT THIS BOOK ALSO BOUGHT” section of Open Carry’s Amazon page, which offers such gems as Raising Boys Feminists Will Hate and Help! Mom! There are Liberals under My Bed!
A children’s book should allow young minds to explore ideas rather than indoctrinating young readers, thereby stunting their ability to make their own choices and form their own opinions.Martin Luther King Jr. speaks on March 29, 1966, in Paris. Photo by AFP/Getty Images
The FBI has a lead. A prominent religious leader and community advocate is in contact with a suspected sleeper agent of foreign radicals. The attorney general is briefed and personally approves wiretaps of his home and offices. The man was born in the United States, the son of a popular cleric. Even though he’s an American citizen, he’s placed on a watchlist to be summarily detained in the event of a national emergency. Of all similar suspects, the head of FBI domestic intelligence thinks he’s “the most dangerous,” at least “from the standpoint of … national security.”
Is this a lone wolf in league with foreign sponsors of terrorism? No: This was the life of Martin Luther King Jr. That FBI assessment was dated Aug. 30, 1963—two days after King told our country that he had a dream.
We now find ourselves in a new surveillance debate—and the lessons of the King scandal should weigh heavy on our minds. A few months after the first Edward Snowden revelation, the National Security Agency disclosed that it had itself wiretapped King in the late 1960s. Yet what happened to King is almost entirely absent from our current conversation. In NSA reform debates in the House of Representatives, King was mentioned only a handful of times, usually in passing. And notwithstanding a few brave speeches by senators such as Patrick Leahy and Rand Paul outside of the Senate, the available Senate record suggests that in two years of actual hearings and floor debates, no one ever spoke his name.
There is a myth in this country that in a world where everyone is watched, everyone is watched equally. It’s as if an old and racist J. Edgar Hoover has been replaced by the race-blind magic of computers, mathematicians, and Big Data. The truth is more uncomfortable. Across our history and to this day, people of color have been the disproportionate victims of unjust surveillance; Hoover was no aberration. And while racism has played its ugly part, the justification for this monitoring was the same we hear today: national security.
The FBI’s violations against King were undeniably tinged by what historian David Garrow has called “an organizational culture of like-minded white men.” But as Garrow and others have shown, the FBI’s initial wiretap requests—and then–Attorney General Robert Kennedy’s approval of them—were driven by a suspected tie between King and the Communist Party. It wasn’t just King; Cesar Chavez, the labor and civil rights leader, was tracked for years as a result of vague, confidential tips about “a communist background,” as were many others.
Many people know that during World War II, innocent Americans of Japanese descent were surveilled and detained in internment camps. Fewer people know that in the wake of World War I, President Woodrow Wilson openly feared that black servicemen returning from Europe would become “the greatest medium in conveying Bolshevism to America.” Around the same time, the Military Intelligence Division created a special “Negro Subversion” section devoted to spying on black Americans. Near the top of its list was W.E.B. DuBois, a “rank Socialist” whom they tracked in Paris for fear he would “attempt to introduce socialist tendencies at the Peace Conference.”
This pattern is not limited to the past. For years after Sept. 11, the New York Police Department—with significant help from the CIA—monitored bookstores, restaurants, and nightclubs in Muslim neighborhoods and placed informants, known as “mosque crawlers,” in places of worship, where they reported on sermons and recorded the license plates of innocent congregants. (The program was notoriously ineffective, and the NYPD settled two lawsuits over this conduct earlier this month.) Other reports show that the Department of Homeland Security—an agency founded to protect against terror attacks—has been tracking Black Lives Matter activists. If you name a prominent civil rights leader of the 20th or 21st centuries, chances are strong that he or she was surveilled in the name of national security.
Every day, we hear about the power and promise of pervasive surveillance. We are losing sight of its victims. Instead, an NSA debate that could have surfaced a long line of black, Latino, Asian, and Muslim victims of surveillance was cast as an argument between the U.S. military and Snowden—national security versus the hackers.
This narrow focus may have blinded Congress to a little known but especially troubling aspect of the NSA scandal. In June 2013, the headlines were that the NSA was logging everyone’s phone calls. We now know that the NSA’s call records program—the single largest domestic spying program in our nation’s history—was effectively beta-tested for almost a decade on American immigrants.
In 1992, the Drug Enforcement Administration began a call records program that’s considered the blueprint for the NSA’s program, which began after Sept. 11 and received court approval in 2006. The DEA program logged virtually all calls made from the United States to a list of countries, regardless of who made them or why. Over time, 116 countries were added to that list—including Mexico and most of Central and South America. This means that for almost a decade before the NSA call records program, countless immigrants’ calls were tracked by the DEA when they called home. This is particularly true for Hispanic immigrants, who make up a large part of what is now the largest minority group in the country. We do not know what transpired in Congress’ closed-door discussions about the NSA or DEA call records programs, but public debates largely ignored these facts.
The next NSA debate will peak at the end of 2017. That’s the expiration date of another surveillance law that allows the government to read—without a warrant—certain messages stored on companies’ U.S. servers where at least one party to the communication was a foreigner living abroad. Will Congress probe the likely disparate impact of this law? If not, when will Congress reckon with the color of surveillance?
Today’s surveillance debate concerns encryption. Led by FBI Director James Comey, leaders in law enforcement are calling for technology companies to build “backdoors” into their products to let government investigators read—or listen—to otherwise inaccessible encrypted communications.
Comey is no J. Edgar Hoover. He requires that all new FBI agents visit King’s memorial site in Washington and study the agency’s treatment of King. As a personal reminder, he keeps on his desk a copy of the original FBI request to wiretap King.
But wiretaps were only the beginning of the government’s violations against King—or the broader civil rights movement. The FBI used information gleaned from taps and secret listening devices to smear King to the press and potential funders, and to engage in repugnant, sexual blackmail. And government surveillance went far beyond King. It extended to Chavez, Fannie Lou Hamer, and Whitney Young of the National Urban League. It extended to their forefathers, DuBois, Marcus Garvey, and countless others who knew that the government was watching—and listening—waiting for them to make a mistake.
“The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends towards justice,” said King. What would that arc have looked like if every time he picked up the phone, he knew that he was beyond the government’s reach? What would it have looked like if he and every other civil rights activist had had access to unbreakable, encrypted communications? How much more sharply would that arc have bent toward justice?
On April 8, 2016, Georgetown Law and the Center on Privacy & Technology will hold a conference titled “The Color of Surveillance: Government Monitoring of the African American Community.”
This article is part of Future Tense, a collaboration among Arizona State University, New America, and Slate. Future Tense explores the ways emerging technologies affect society, policy, and culture. To read more, follow us on Twitter and sign up for our weekly newsletter.The Jacksonville Jaguars lost to the Miami Dolphins 27-13 on Sunday at Everbank Field to fall to 1-7 on the season, but one could easily argue on the day the better team lost. The Jaguars dominated the Dolphins for the first half of the game, but critical mistakes by rookie quarterback Blake Bortles proved too much to overcome.
And that's what you get with a talented rookie quarterback. You get flashes of brilliance and you get cringe worthy mistakes.
Bortles showed a bit of both on Sunday, but three turnovers was just too much to overcome despite pretty good performances elsewhere.
The Dolphins are a talented team, especially defensively, which is why the first half of the game was so surprising. The Jaguars seemed to move the ball easily down the field, but their first drive ended in a blocked field goal, their second drive in a punt after a field goal attempt and a penalty and their third drive ended in an interception near the redzone that was returned for a touchdown.
Team's like Jacksonville can't beat teams like Miami when stuff like that happens and a lot of it falls on the shoulders of the rookie quarterback and he knows it.
"I think just the three turnovers. Defense played really well, offensive line played really well," Bortles said Sunday after the game. "I’m killing us, so I’ve got to try to eliminate different things and get better."
Bortles had three turnovers, two interceptions and a fumble near the redzone. The Dolphins scored 17 points off those and the Jaguars lost by 14. Those are the things a young team struggles to overcome and things a team like Jacksonville can't over come yet.
Bortles got beat up post game for his interceptions, for the most part fairly, but it wasn't like they were the types of interceptions where he just had no idea what he was doing and heaved the ball down field. Both were "speed of the game" type plays where you can tell Bortles is still adjusting to figuring out which throws he can and can't make in the NFL. The first pick was rolling to his right left and throwing across his body a bit and the corner just stepped in front. Bortles thought he had a window, and in college at UCF probably did, but in the NFL that just isn't there. You can't know that until it happens.
Now he knows.
Overall though, I didn't think Bortles played all that poorly. He had his mistakes and was let down on a few plays. He just barely missed Allen Robinson in the endzone early in the game, which probably sets a whole different tone going forward if they connect.
But again, he's a rookie in his fifth game.
For the real positives though, the Jaguars defense was once again stifling. They shut down the Miami offense for the majority of the game, holding them to under 100 yards of offense until the middle of the third quarter. Eventually they broke down and gave points, but realistically they should have been playing with a lead the whole game. The Jaguars defense once again gave up just 13 points to the opposing team's offense, making it four weeks in a row the defense has given up just 16 points or less.
The Jaguars offense once again ran the ball and Denard Robinson looks more and more like a legitimate NFL running back. He did a nice job running between the tackles and bouncing runs outside, including a 41-yard run down the sideline.
It was a frustrating game because it felt like the Jaguars should have been winning the whole time, especially how the first three quarters went, but that's what you get with a young team. You get critical mistakes and it's tough to ask them to overcome those.
The Jaguars actually played a good game yesterday, just once again, they can't lose the turnover battle and have things like blocked field goals and expect to win.Libyans in the opposition stronghold of Benghazi have taken to the streets to celebrate the government's announcement of the death of Muammar Gaddafi's youngest son in an air strike, but growing scepticism remains over the veracity of the news.
Gaddafi and his wife were in the Tripoli house of his 29-year-old son, Saif al-Arab Gaddafi, when it was hit by at least one missile fired by a NATO warplane late on Saturday, Libyan government spokesman Moussa Ibrahim said on Sunday.
Al-Arab's compound in Tripoli’s Garghour neighbourhood was attacked "with full power" in a "direct operation to assassinate the leader of this country", Ibrahim said, calling the strike a violation of international law.
"What we have now is the law of the jungle," he told a news conference. "We think now it is clear to everyone that what is happening in Libya has nothing to do with the protection of civilians."
Ibrahim had earlier taken journalists to the remnants of a house in Tripoli, which Libyan officials said had been hit by at least three missiles. It appeared unlikely anyone inside could have survived.
No NATO confirmation
The strike drew criticism from Russia, which accused NATO of going beyond its UN mandate to protect civilians.
"More and more facts indicate that the aim of the anti-Libyan coalition is the physical destruction of Gaddafi,'' Konstantin Kosachyov, a Russian lawmaker who often serves as a spokesman for the Kremlin's views on foreign affairs, said.
NATO continued strikes against military installations in the Libyan capital, including one on a known command and control building in the Bab al-Aziziya neighbourhood, but it could not confirm the deaths of some of Gaddafi's family members, Carmen Romero, the deputy NATO spokeswoman in Brussels, told Al Jazeera by phone.
NATO targets do not include individuals, as they are military in nature and clearly linked to the regime's systematic attacks on Libyans, Lieutenant-General Charles Bouchard, commander of NATO's Operation Unified Protector, said earlier on Sunday in a statement.
"This was a military target and we cannot confirm who was there," Romero emphasised, dismissing questions over the target site being a family home.
UK prime minister David Cameron echoed NATO's stance on the western coalition forces’ targeting policy, and refused to comment on an "unconfirmed report".
'Embassies vandalised'
The comments came as clashes continued in several parts of Libya, with reports of vandalism on the British and Italian embassies in the capital.
Following the reports, the UK expelled the Libyan envoy, giving him 24 hours to leave the country.
Follow our coverage of the Libya uprising
"The Vienna Convention requires the Gaddafi regime to protect diplomatic missions in Tripoli. By failing to do so that regime has once again breached its international responsibilities and obligations," William Hague, the British foreign secretary, said in a statement, referring to Gaddafi.
"I condemn the attacks on the British Embassy premises in Tripoli as well as the diplomatic missions of other countries," Hague said.
Meanwhile, the United Nations announced it had evacuated its international staff from the capital due to the unrest.
Stephanie Bunker, a spokeswoman for the UN Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs, said on Sunday that 12 staffers had left Libya and were now in neighbouring Tunisia.
Elsewhere, fighting continued on the western border near Tunisia, where a number of Gaddafi's troops tried to break through the border crossing into Tunisia.
Al Jazeera's Anita McNaught, reporting from the Tunisia-Libya border, said she could hear Grad rockets whizzing past.
"Rebel forces seem to know the territory very well here, and as long as they occupy the higher ground, they appear to have the upper hand."
There were also reports of fierce fighting in the city of Misurata, as opposition fighters try to seize the city's airport from Gaddafi forces. Pro-democracy forces also reported fighting near the opposition-held city of Zintan, where they said NATO air strikes hit pro-Gaddafi troops.
Distrust of Gaddafi
The fighting came as Libyan state television showed what it called footage of the body of Gaddafi's son who was allegedly killed in the NATO air strike a day earlier.
Rifle fire and car horns rang out in Benghazi as news of Saturday's attack spread. Cars whizzed by the sea front beeping their horns and shouting "God is greatest" as the night sky was lit up by red tracer fire.
Thousands of migrants from sub-Saharan Africa are among those caught in the fighting in Libya [Al Jazeera]
But opposition fighters there who control a vast swathe of the east of the country say they cannot trust Gaddafi.
Al Jazeera's Sue Turton, reporting from Benghazi, said there were "an awful lot" of suggestions in Libya that the news of the deaths could be fabricated.
"One of the main spokesmen for the Transitional National Council, Abdul Hafez Goga, is saying he thinks it could all be fabrication, that it may well be Gaddafi is trying to garner some sympathy," she said.
"Back in 1986, Gaddafi once claimed that Ronald Reagan, then US president, had launched a strike on his compound in Tripoli and killed his daughter. Many journalists since then dug around and found out that the actual child that had died had nothing to do with Gaddafi, that he sort of adopted her posthumously."
Saif al-Arab Gaddafi is the most unknown of the Libyan leader's children, Al Jazeera's McNaught said.
"He's one of the low-profile of his children and has been largely invisible since the conflict began", she said.
"He hasn't been visible in any significant form. He hasn't appeared on TV or made any speeches, he hasn't been on any crowd-rallying marches."The Edmonton Oilers have signed 2017 first round selection Kailer Yamamoto to a three-year entry level contract.
FEATURE: Oilers get lucky and get their man at 22
Yamamoto, picked 22nd overall, appeared in 65 games with the Western Hockey League's (WHL) Spokane Chiefs last season, posting 99 points (42G, 57A), 46 penalty minutes and a plus 14 rating. He was also named to the 2016-17 WHL Western Conference Second All-Star Team.
The 5'8", 153-pound forward has appeared in 190 career WHL games, accumulating 227 points (84G, 143A) and 130 penalty minutes. He has also played in 12 playoff games, recording 10 points (3G, 7A) and 16 penalty minutes.
The Spokane, Washington native has represented his country several times internationally, most recently at the 2016 U18 World Championship. He also played at the 2016 Ivan Hlinka Memorial Tournament and the 2015 World Under-17 Challenge.
This summer, Yamamoto attended the Oilers 2017 Development Camp in Jasper, Alberta and played for Team USA at the 2017 World Junior Summer Showcase in Plymouth, Michigan.BEIRUT (Reuters) - Forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad hammered the eastern Syrian city of Raqqa with more than two dozen air strikes on Sunday, targeting areas controlled by the Islamic State militant group, a monitoring group said.
A fighter jet belonging to forces loyal to Syria's President Bashar al-Assad flies in the air during what the Free Syrian Army fighters said was an airstrike on their positions in the southern Idlib countryside July 9, 2014. REUTERS/Khalil Ashawi
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which has tracked violence on all sides of the conflict that began in March 2011, said at least 31 fighters from the Islamic State were killed and dozens wounded in the air strikes that hit Raqqa city and the surrounding areas.
It said 26 strikes on Sunday hit Islamic State buildings, including the military court and bases in the city.
The conflict in Syria started when Assad cracked down on a pro-democracy uprising, which then armed itself.
Until this summer, Assad’s forces held off from targeting the al Qaeda offshoot, formerly known as the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL). This has allowed the group to thrive and also weaken less hardline opposition groups that are backed by the West.
Assad has long painted the uprising in Syria as a foreign-backed Islamist conspiracy and his enemies say he has allowed the Islamic State to grow to promote that idea.
But this month, Islamic State fighters have gained momentum in Syria, boosted by equipment seized in a rapid offensive in neighbouring Iraq, and the Syrian army has become more confrontational, using air strikes to kill fighters.
Raqqa is a major stronghold of the Islamic State, which took one of the Syrian government’s last outposts there on Thursday.
A resident in Raqqa said government warplanes had stepped up their bombardment five days ago.
On Saturday, there had been 16 air strikes, with dozens of artillery rounds also fired at areas under Islamic State control, he said, speaking via Skype and declining to be identified out of concern for his safety.
“About 30 percent of the strikes hit the Islamic State positions, the rest (hit) civilian areas,” he said.
More than 170,000 people have been killed in Syria’s civil war, which pits overwhelmingly Sunni Muslim rebels against Assad, a member of the Shi’ite-derived Alawite minority, backed by Shi’ite militias from Iraq and Lebanon.Free to Choose: A Personal Statement by economists Milton and Rose D. Friedman provides examples of how the free market works, and shows how it can solve problems where other approaches have failed. Published in January 1980, the 297 page book contains 10 chapters dealing with issues such as: * The misuse of Federal Reserve powers during the Great Depression, * The decline of personal freedoms, and * Government spending and economic controls. Milton Friedman won the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economics in 1976. Contrary to normal practice the book was written after the TV series was produced, although the line "Basis for the acclaimed public television triumph" is written on the front cover, using the program transcripts as reference. The book was on the United States best sellers list for 5 weeks. PBS telecast the series, beginning in January 1980; the general format was that of Dr. Friedman visiting and narrating a number of success and failure stories in history, which Dr. Friedman attributes to capitalism or the lack thereof (e.g. Hong Kong is commended for its free markets, while India is excoriated for relying on centralized planning especially for its protection of its traditional textile industry). Following the primary show, Dr. Friedman would engage in discussion with a number of selected persons, such as Donald Rumsfeld (then of G.D. Searle & Company). The series was rebroadcast in 1990 with Linda Chavez moderating the episodes. Arnold Schwarzenegger, Ronald Reagan, Steve Allen and others give personal introductions for each episode in the series. This time, after the documentary part, Friedman sits down with a single opponent to debate the issues raised in the episode.With all the news about JURASSIC PARK 4 finally getting underway we've heard almost nothing about the story or concept of the film. Director Colin Trevorrow has teased a few things so far, including a trip back to Isla Nublar, the island where JURASSIC PARK originated in Steven Spielberg's 1993 film, as well as a "new dinosaur" that will make us "keep the lights on after you see this movie." And that's where the details end, minus the reveal of the new logo (above - which I think will eventually change). Well, today you're going to find out a lot more than you knew before, which will likely get you damned excited for the next installment.
Our trusted and reliable source has indicated the overall concept of the film, which sounds pretty great and meets up with Trevorrow saying his goal for the film is to "want people to feel like it's the last day of 6th grade again."
Hold onto your butts!
Jurassic Park 4 will be in 3D (apparently shot in the format, rather than post-converted). Casting has not yet begun for the film, so rumors of Bryce Dallas Howard, Sam Neill, etc. are not accurate (yet, anyway). The story breaks down like this:
JURASSIC PARK 4, set in present day Isla Nublar, is now an actual theme park, as originally intended by John Hammond in the first film. It garners 10 million visitors per year and is completely safe - until it's not. The park itself is described as very Sea World-esque and includes an area called the Isla Nublar Lagoon. That means underwater dino's for the first time. No indication of what kind, but there's concept art showing one of the aquatic dino's, as part of a show, jumping out of the lagoon and eating a strung up great white shark like it was a fish for a dolphin at sea world.
As part of a show, you ask? That's right, folks, this will feature "tamed" dino's. In fact, our source indicated that the usually menacing Velociraptors (which will finally be muzzled, along with the T-Rex - until they're not) will actually be used to help fight the threat, which begins in the form of a new dinosaur, not seen in any of the previous films (and not disclosed to us) shows to be much smarter than originally thought and is the main cause of havoc breaking out at the park.
So, to sum it all up, JURASSIC PARK 4 will take place back on Isla Nublar with a fully operational dinosaur theme park (I'm sure no expense was spared) that's both prosperous and safe, until a new dinosaur figures out a way to wreak havoc, causing the use of the now tamed Velociraptors (and T-Rex? Unclear) as a means to fighting the threat.
No details on human characters (new or returning) but I'm sure they'll play a big part in the grand scheme of things. Overall, this sounds like a kick ass way to go and a solid way to continue the story, while almost rebooting in a way. It sounds like screenwriters Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver have nailed down a great concept for the 4th entry and I'm now officially excited to return to Jurassic Park.
JURASSIC PARK 4 (in 3D) is set to debut Summer 2015.
What do you think? Does this concept work for you? Let us know below!WASHINGTON—A new report released Tuesday by the Pew Research Center has found that the country that might completely shut down because the president wants a big wall is somehow considered the best in the world. The study determined that the 241-year-old federal republic, whose entire government may soon cease to function on account of the head of state’s desire for a big, tall, and thick wall stretching all the way from one side of the water to the other side of the water, remains widely viewed as an exemplary nation and the preeminent achievement in democratic governance. The report also revealed that the country continues to be regarded as a paragon of excellence and a refuge for all humanity despite its commander-in-chief risking the loss of billions of dollars in potential revenue and the termination of vital public services because he really, really wants the big concrete wall and wants it now. Researchers confirmed that this nation, which may grind to a halt due to the leader’s demand for a big, giant, cement wall, is absolutely convinced that every other nation should be just like it.
AdvertisementSomeone claiming to have seen the Captain America sequel already has just announced the film's post-credits scene. It comes from an odd source, but the description still sounds pretty plausible to me. Either way, warning: After the jump is a significant spoiler or a pack of lies.
The news comes from Lainey Gossip, whose writer apparently has access to secret early Marvel movie screenings (which seems unlikely, but in her article she describes both the film's abundance of physical stunt-work, as well as the characters of both Peggy and Sharon Carter which leads me to believe the writer is legit). Anyways, here's her description of the scene:
But the thing that's probably going to leave people talking the most is the post-credits stinger. They're calling them "The Twins", the brother-sister team of Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch, and they don't look like any Marvel heroes we've met to date. Having seen them, I am really sad for Fox and the X-Men, because this sh*t… is horrible in and of itself, but in comparison it's outright embarrassing.
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Makes total sense to me. Of course Cap 2 would link to Avengers 2 instead of the goofier, cosmic Guardians of the Galaxy; besides, Marvel always loves introducing these types of characters in earlier movies when they have the chance; and I'm sure Marvel is cackling delightedly and essentially getting their Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch in theaters before Fox's X-Men: Days of Future Past.
And for the record, I think X-Men's Quicksilver is embarrassing with or without a comparison.
[Via Nerd Bastards]Matt Lauer Embarrassed and Ashamed... 'Repairing the Damage'
Matt Lauer Apologizes After Firing
Breaking News
Matt Lauer has a new job -- cleaning up the mess he's created in his personal and professional life.
The fired "Today" show co-host says he's "embarrassed and ashamed"... but also claimed that some of the allegations against him are "untrue or mischaracterized."
Lauer's ex co-workers, Savannah Guthrie and Hoda Kotb, read his statement at the top of the "Today" show Thursday morning -- and in it, he said his new full-time job was doing some "soul searching" in order to repair the damage.
He did not specify which of the myriad of allegations of sexual misconduct were untrue, in his eyes.
Meanwhile, Lauer's former cohorts soldiered on without him Wednesday night -- Al Roker, Hoda and Savannah looked tense during a break from taping the annual Rockefeller Center Tree Lighting special.Too many people are being jailed unnecessarily, the head of a review into prison suicides has said.
Lord Harris claimed resources were being weakened, leaving vulnerable inmates unsupervised.
It comes as the parents of a man who killed himself at a young offenders institution criticised authorities.
The National Offender Management Service said reducing the number of prison suicides was a top priority.
'Critical issue'
Labour peer Lord Harris was asked by the government in February to conduct a review on how to reduce self-inflicted deaths in custody, and is expected to present his findings next summer.
He believes the unnecessary imprisonment of some individuals, including those with mental health problems, is preventing others from receiving the support they need.
Lord Harris said: "The critical issue is why some prisoners are [in jail] in the first place.
"Are there interventions that could have been done, could have saved the government money by stopping them ending up in the criminal justice system in the first place, or not necessarily ending up in prison?
"Obviously there will always be a core of prisoners who do need to be in prison. But, if some of the others were not there, there would be more resources to make sure those individuals were supported and prison achieved its objectives in terms of rehabilitation."
Image copyright Davison family Image caption Steven Davison, from Loughborough, initially went to Glen Parva on remand in June 2013
Lord Harris's comments come as the parents of Steven Davison, a 21-year-old man who killed himself while at Glen Parva young offenders institution in 2013, questioned why prison authorities did not do more to protect him.
'Low risk'
Davison, from Loughborough in Leicestershire, was jailed for possession of a knife, with which he had threatened to harm himself.
He was told he would be moved to a mental health hospital when a bed became available, but killed himself in his cell in September 2013.
An inquest ruled staff had failed to monitor him properly and were inadequately trained in helping those who were vulnerable.
His mother Lynda explained: "It was like 'he's just another lad who's been sent to prison'."
Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Lynda Davison, Steven's mother: Prison "didn't look after my son before suicide"
She added: "Instead of looking at why he's been sent to prison and what he needed, it was like [the authorities said] 'There you go Steven - there's your cell - get on with it'."
It's not our fault, because we can't be everywhere all the time Prison officer, YOI Glen Parva
Davison was graded as at "low risk" of self-harm and suicide at the prison, and was not moved to a safe cell - where he would not have been able to hang himself - the inquest heard.
His mother said he was "let down" by prison authorities, even though he "cried for help".
Davison's father, Jeffrey, said the people who assessed his son were prison officers and "weren't trained in mental health".
He also criticised the lack of communication coming from Glen Parva.
"We didn't even know he was self-harming himself in prison," he said.
'We can't be everywhere'
A prison officer at Glen Parva, who wished to remain anonymous, said self-harm incidents in the prison were a daily occurrence "from minor scratches to people taking chunks off their arms".
"It is very, very difficult to monitor the lads because of staff shortages - we just don't have the manpower to look after those who are vulnerable or need special attention," he explained.
"If someone is on constant watch, we have to sometimes call in staff from other wings, which means that wing then suffers. It's not our fault, because we can't be everywhere all the time," he added.
Last month, chief inspector of prisons Nick Hardwick said there had been a "rapid deterioration" in prison safety in England and Wales.
At a recent Justice Select Committee hearing, it was also acknowledged by officials they had |
bodily harm for the 2012 punch, but he was acquitted after a trial in 2013.
He also faced discreditable conduct and unnecessary force charges under the Police Services Act, but those charges were dropped last year.
Pereira was recently found guilty of three unrelated PSA charges, two of which related to shoving a prisoner into her cell at central station in March 2013. Her punishment is to be decided Sept. 11.
tmoro@thespec.com
905-526-3264 | @TeviahMoroA lawyer from Philadelphia has been caught on camera as he watched his friend daub a wall with anti-Trump graffiti while dressed in smart blazer and holding a glass of wine.
Duncan Lloyd, who is an assistant city solicitor has been identified in the surveillance footage that saw him and another man walking along Germantown Avenue in Chestnut Hill on November 25.
Lloyd, who is smartly dressed in the video, is seen filming or taking photos, while a second man spray paints 'F*** Trump,' on the wall of a supermarket.
Scroll down for video...
Police say Philadelphia assistant city solicitor Duncan Lloyd was caught on CCTV helping to spray anti-Donald Trump graffiti on to the side of a grocery store
Philadelphia police are investigating an assistant city solicitor in connection with anti-Trump graffiti found on the side of an upscale supermarket in Chestnut Hill
Photographs snapped later show the graffiti to offensive and anti-Donald Trump.
The chairman of the Philadelphia Republican Party, said that Lloyd, pictured, should be fired for his actions.
The city attorney has admitted he made a 'dumb mistake' but has still kept his job according to Philly.com.
'It's still working out. It's certainly hateful and inappropriate and unacceptable...but people are human beings and they make mistakes and it's a dumb mistake,' Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney said. 'It's hateful graffiti, hateful graffiti is never acceptable whether it's a city employee or not.'
Lloyd, who makes $63,207-a-year, has worked for the city's Law Department since 2011, representing the city mostly in federal and state discrimination lawsuits.
The man in the jacket can be seen spray-painting graffiti near the front door while Lloyd appeared to snap photos or take video with wine glass in hand, right
The two men then left the area on foot on Germantown Avenue. Investigators say the estimated damage the vandalism caused is between $3,000 and $10,000
A second man, who has not yet been identified, was spotted spraying the graffiti on the wall
Mr. Lloyd has already contacted the Philadelphia Police and is cooperating with them. He has kept his job up to now
'We do not condone this type of behavior from our employees,' First Deputy City Solicitor Craig Straw said. 'To my knowledge, Mr. Lloyd has already contacted the Philadelphia police and is cooperating with them. We will decide on a course of action once we obtain more information about the investigation.'
Police have estimated the damage to be between $3,000 and $10,000.
The city's Republican Party have called for Lloyd's to be dismissed.
'If the image of an upper-middle-class city attorney clad in a blazer and sipping wine while vandalizing an upscale grocery store with an anti-Trump message strikes you as perhaps the most bourgeois sight imaginable, that's because it is,' said Joe DeFelice, chairman of the Philadelphia Republican Party to Philly.com.
The video captured the incident which took place just after midnight on November 25
'Did the extra glass of Shiraz give him some sort of delusional confidence that there are no cameras on Germantown Avenue? The taxpayers should be entrusting exactly none of our faith into this man. He should be fired from our city's Law Department immediately.'
Lloyd, 32, attended Germantown Friends School and graduated from the University of Pennsylvania and Temple University's Beasley School of Law, according to his LinkedIn page.
He was identified after police released a video which showing the attorney carrying a wine glass and holding up his cellphone while a second man spray-painted the wall.A former state senator is calling on lawmakers to change the law and make police departments transparent. Stephen Stock reports in a video that aired on April 28, 2014. (Published Monday, April 28, 2014)
When compared to other states, Police Departments in California are among the least transparent in the country. When citizens complain about the conduct of sworn police officers, those complaints might go away and are never heard of again. In the last five years alone, the Investigative Unit discovered 17.916 citizen's complaints filed against the four major law enforcement agencies in the Bay Area, in addition to California's Highway Patrol.
Yet, a state law called the Police Officer’s Bill of Rights protects police from those who allege misconduct.
Looking for Answers
Tech entrepreneurs Peretz Partensky and Ben Woosley came up against POBOR when he complained about what he says was an unfair arrest. He says he saw two bicyclists injured along Folsom street in San Francisco near his house. He didn’t even know the two bicyclists, but he called 911 for medical help.
“The next thing I know, [the police] grabbed me from behind and wrenched my arm back,” said Ben Woosley. He said he and Partensky were trying to get answers from the police, but the two were handcuffed and set on the ground.
“Since then,” Partensky said, “I’ve not actually been able to get any information about the incident.”
It’s not an uncommon story. Retired Marine Garret Bondaug was also left with unanswered questions when police unexpectedly showed up at his mother’s Santa Clara home one night.
“We were literally watching PBS,” Bondaug said. That’s when the police showed up at about 11pm. “As soon as we ask ‘what for?’, [the officer] whipped out his ASD, aluminum baton, and started beating me.”
Transparency in law enforcement is an issue NBC Bay Area has been investigating for over a year after the Investigative Unit heard the story of police brutality, OIegs Kozachenko. The truck driver and Berkeley resident said he was trying to ask about a traffic ticket an officer was writing him along I-80 west of Truckee. He had trouble because English is his second language
“I apologized and said that I didn’t understand,” Kozachenko told us through an interpreter.
Instead of answers, Kozachenko ended up unconscious on the pavement with his hands cuffed behind his back. When he stopped breathing, police rushed him to a level one trauma center.
Kozachenko and Garrett Bondaug have each filed lawsuits against the police departments involved. Partensky and Woosley filed citizens’ complaints. None of the police departments involved have even offered acknowledgement that the complaints have been renewed by internal investigators. “If this can happen to me,” said Bondaug, “what is happening to other people out there who do not have the resources to fight?”
The State Law that Protects Police From Scrutiny
Transparency is uneven across police agencies. POBOR allows police to keep secret the details of internal investigations or even official findings of misconduct. “It’s a sad, sad statement for any police department to not have some level of transparency. And when I say ‘some,’ I mean, it should be pushed as far as you can get it under the law,” said LaDoris Cordell, head of the Independent Police Auditor Office in San Jose. Cordell says San Jose police don’t invoke state law to avoid scrutiny, but many do.
POBOR was passed in 1976[pdf] and was designed to protect officers in Southern California who had become targets of mass protests and threats. A 2006 Supreme Court ruling kept even more information from the public by preventing civilian police commissions from publically disclosing their misconduct findings. In some cases, the ruling prevents commissions from even gaining access to officers’ personal files.
“The intentions are good,” John McGinnes said, a consultant for the California Police Officers Association (CPOA). “Is there potential for abuse? Absolutely. Have there been abuses? I believe so. But I think savvy, wise, communicative law enforcement leaders can work through this, and have.”
The CPOA is a training and lobbying service for law enforcement across the state. The organization official supports POBOR’s protections.
Misconduct Complaints are Rising
The Investigative Unit asked for internal affairs records from San Francisco, Oakland, San Jose and Santa Clara’s police departments, plus the California Highway Patrol. It took weeks—in some cases months—for the departments to comply. But, as a group, the documents demonstrate a rising trend of citizens complaining about officer misconduct.
From 2011 to 2012 (the last year complete data is available) complaints about officer misconduct grew by 27%. The number of “sustained complaints” (meaning there was sufficient evidence to prove the allegation) grew by a remarkable 68% in that same time period.
The data we analyzed show that complaints specifically about the use of force are increasing. In 2010 there were 515 such complaints. In 2011 there were 800 and in 2012 there were 866.
Almost all of these excessive force complaints were officially cleared. But in most cases, details about the review process, interviews, evidence collected and the names of officers were all kept secret.
“It’s disappointing, and it’s also a little scary when you have police departments that decline to give you any information about complaints that people have about an officer’s misconduct,” said Cordell with the San Jose Independent Police Auditor, “And the first thing that comes up is ‘what are you hiding?’”
Data on federal lawsuits tell a similar story. Between 2009 and 2013 the number of civil rights and personal injury lawsuits naming California law enforcement agencies (police, sheriff, highway patrol) has almost doubled. Just 48 such lawsuits were filed in 2009 but 2013 saw 85. Since 2000, more than 800 such lawsuits have been filed in federal courts.
Former State Senator Gloria Romero tried to change POBOR during her time in Sacramento, but said the police union opposition was too strong to overcome. “Most states in the nation allow for the knowledge of these misconduct reports,” said Gloria Romero. “That essentially translates to, we have a secret police force and I think that surprises people in a democracy such as California’s.” Partensky and Woosley, the two San Francisco residents who called 911 for some injured bicyclists, never did get the answers they were looking for. The SF Police Department told us that the two were detained for interfering with medical rescue crews. There was no internal police review and no police officers were disciplined.
In the case of retired Marine Garret Bondaug, Santa Clara won’t comment because of the pending lawsuit. And the California Highway Patrol won’t say if they even conducted an internal investigation for the beating of Russian truck driver Kozachenko.
Tomorrow, San Jose’s Independent Police Auditor presents her findings to the city council, and NBC Bay Area will dig into those numbers. Tune in at 11pm and online for the results.The second release of the Northern Ireland census 2011 came out yesterday with data on identity and religion.has created maps showing how religion breaks down by council area
The second release of the census 2011, released yesterday, showed some interesting figures for Northern Ireland. Religion and identity in particular were big talking points.
Our coverage looked at a range of the data published from health to unemployment and migration but investigative news site The Detail have broken down the religion figures further by mapping them by council area.
Created by Kathryn Torney at The Detail, the below Google fusion maps were compiled using data from the 2001 household survey and results from the 2011 census and the data was mapped using the address of each council's headquarters. The two maps below show stated religion and religion/religion brought up and the third map is our version of Kathryn's identity map showing the proportions who consider themselves to be British, Irish and Northern Irish.
Stated religion
View NI Census: Stated Religion in a full screen map
In 2011, 40.7% of people described themselves as Catholic, 19% Protestant, 13.7% Church of Ireland, 3% Methodist, 5.8% other Christian, 0.8% other religion and 16.9% no religion or none stated.
Religion/ religion brought up
View NI Census: Religion/religion brought up in in a full screen map
Respondents who did not state a religion were asked what religion they were brought up in. Bringing together the information on religion and'religion brought up in', the map shows that in 2011, 45% of Northern Ireland's population were Catholic or brought up Catholic, 48% were Protestant or brought up Protestant or other Christian and 5.6% neither belonged to nor had been brought up in a religion.
Identity
National identity mapped for Northern Ireland. Click on the image for the full-size interactive map
Inspired by Kathryn's Google fusion map on identity, the Guardian's John Burn-Murdoch has created the above map showing the proportions who consider themselves to be British, Irish and Northern Irish using data from the 2011 census. Click on the image above to explore the interactive map.
SOURCE: The Detail
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• Like us on Facebook20-20: Aui_2000 November 4th, 2013 09:56 GMT Text by CountChocula
TABLE OF CONTENTS
20 Questions
20 Answers
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20-20: Aui_2000
One of the North American scene's most promising up and comers of the 2012 - 2013 season,
That's right: Aui will be on stream this week, and we're going to be keeping this thread open the whole while. Have something to ask him? Just pop right in and leave your question here for him. He will answer the 20 we pick for him after he gets home at the end of the week!
20 Questions
Want to ask something? We'll do it for you. Just post your question in this thread. Our editors will pick the 20 best questions from this thread and Aui will answer them, after which the answers will be slotted in below.
Ask away, TL!
20 Answers
How are you liking the switch to support, and do you prefer it to playing carry? [ShAdZ_ZX]
I think I like playing support a lot and I actually love the transition because there’s just so much to learn. I think I actually prefer it to carry simply because of the hero pool that support allows me to utilize. There are a lot of heroes that can just do so much in a game as support (Chen, Visage, Enchantress, etc.). The biggest change that I like (although this is less true for a carry in this meta) is how many different places I can go in the early game. I can go to literally any lane at or near the start and have a significant impact in the game. Also as an ex-core player (1 2 3 role) if you ever solo a core as a support LOL :D
What are the biggest differences in mindset (not in actual gameplay) between playing a carry and a support in pro games? [iv~nk~j]
I think that the differences in mindset are actually diminishing a lot with the new patch--I think that the carry player can often provide quite a bit of space for the entire team (i.e. EE style 1 protect 4). However, the entire concept of running around winning lanes for your team mates, calling out certain ganks and movements, and overall creating space for your team is pretty big. I know I recently had a 12 exp per minute game vs EG at like 7 or 8 minutes and I probably would have killed myself if that happened before, but I was so happy during that game (except for feeding via two very obvious mistakes). I was actually always very confident in the concept of catching up/playing personally from behind (I think i played 2v3 lanes for a month straight in officials/I played quite a bit of tiny) so I actually really like that part of support play.
During a TI3 interview, you stated you were planning on taking a break from competitive Dota to focus on finishing up on school. What made you change your mind now that you joined Kaipi? [Kuroeeah]
I was definitely considering taking a break from competitive Dota before TI3. I think that the event itself changed my mind. That event was simply insane. The crowd really made me want to keep playing. So in essence you guys made me change my mind.
It seems that an important aspect of a championship calibre team is anchoring themselves on experienced veterans and having them as a form of motivation/leadership (Puppey with Na`Vi, Loda with Alliance, Mushi with Orange, most of the Chinese teams have a veteran as their leader). How important do you think that is in a professional team? Having been on teams with less experienced players/leadership (Dignitas, Speed) how have your teams built up teamwork, motivation and direction? [pdd]
Personally, I don’t think that the veteran factor is that big of a deal. For example s4 leads and captains Alliance and they’ve been the best for quite a long while. I’m relatively certain Mushi did not lead Orange in game, but I could be wrong about that. I guess it definitely helps to have someone who can increase team motivation, which I think the three listed players can all do quite well.
In both of my teams, I think teamwork, motivation, and direction are built up by playing a lot. After playing with people a lot, you tend to develop a mutual respect and trust for them, which in my opinion should carry into your teamwork. I think that motivation is mostly individual, although a bad environment can hamper motivation, so having fun while playing can be a big factor here. I’m not quite sure how to answer the direction portion of this question to be honest. I guess direction depends on how well-respected and strong the leadership within a team is.
Seeming as you just met your teammates in real life for the first time, is there anyone you think of differently now? Was there anything that really surprised you about them? [broodbucket]
Well I had met everyone but pieliedie before (Dreamhack, TI2) but to be honest everyone was pretty much how I expected. Pie was maybe a bit more clowny in real life and maybe sing a tad more serious but they’re all still clowns. Maybe I didn’t expect them to be such caricatures of their online selves, but honestly I don’t know what I could have possibly expected.
Oh actually maybe how tall everyone was. I knew Bone and Envy were tall but I never really put it all together. Except sing :D. But it’s okay--sing makes up for height in Kappa.
How is the overall environment like during an intense game on the team? I imagine having EE and Sing Sing as teammates makes things a bit more interesting than usual. Are they as colorful in a serious game as they are while streaming? [Dreamer.T]
I think that our team environment is better than my old team’s environment but that’s really the only comparison I can make. Also I’m pretty sure I can say x team’s environment is better than my old environment where x = anyone so I guess this isn’t a really good indication.
I think that EE and singsing are definitely toned down while playing seriously, but they’re still similar. I don’t think either of them put on a show on stream really, they just let loose.
You and your Speed Gaming buddies go pubbing a lot during your stream/Singsing's stream, and you guys seem to be enjoying that. Do you think it is important for teammates to do this often to relieve the tension of competitive play? [NeThZOR]
I really do think it’s important for teammates to like each other. While a big part of this is just to relieve tension, I think that the biggest part is the ability to point out mistakes. If someone you don’t respect or like points something out, regardless of whether they are right or not, I think that the immediate reaction from people is to get defensive. As a result, no one wants to really point out mistakes anymore in a constructive fashion--although they might flame with them. This in my opinion is a huge reason for stagnated player growth in Dota.
Sing attributed the lan-choke to your team’s loss against Dignitas on the 4th. Do you think having the time to train in person with each other this December will completely eliminate lan-choke? And, more importantly, are you comfortable with your team in person? [Spirits]
I think that in the grand scheme, we are a relatively inexperienced team and that any training time in a lan environment will undoubtedly help. That being said, we were definitely underfocused and underprepared for Korea. I am actually almost happy that we dropped that game because we learned a great deal about playing from that trip (in my opinion, losing always cements lessons in). I am very comfortable with everyone on my team.
How came it that you decided to be a pro gamer and concentrate so much time on just one game? Did you just yolo and go "yeah im good in this game, I will make my money with this" or was there a bigger thought process? [sicQ]
Honestly, playing games for money was never something that I planned at the time (thank god I’m not insane--considering the prospects back then). I knew I was good and I knew that I loved playing, and that was enough for me to consider playing a lot. In regards to Dota 2, this consideration allowed me to take a pretty small risk and join Potm Bottom, in which we mostly played over an ending university semester and the summer to start. Obviously this small risk reaped huge rewards. There was never really a #yolo moment of I want to #hardwork and #dedication the shit out of this game and make money.
I guess overall there was no real thought process for myself going pro. I guess there was a thought process behind taking a year off though, which was basically, I don’t lose anything so yolo--there’s my yolo!
What are the downsides to a pro-gaming career that we don't often hear about? [Emporio]
I think that this question comes up regularly enough that I think you guys have probably heard all of them. A popular one is what do you do with the experience once your gaming career is over. I think that equally important--especially due to how new the industry is--is how people are going to shift from being the centres of something so huge (to them at least) to probably being mediocre at other parts of life because they’ve invested so much time into pro-gaming. Basically what is Bulba going to do when he’s not the centre of attention guys?
I think the biggest strain for me personally are I have a lot of trouble maintaining some of my previous friendships. My main focus is gaming now. I don’t have a lot in common with people that I used to share a lot of things with; I don’t really make a lot of new fun experiences with old friends or see them at school either. This makes it sort of hard for me to interact with some people that I genuinely like but that I am not close enough to have previous bonds carry our friendship. I think I’ve found although maybe I’ve gotten closer to a few outside of gaming people, I’ve become relatively disconnected with the rest of my friends.
How did your parents react when you told them that you were going to be playing Dota competitively? [LettuceAttack]
My parents are actually incredibly supportive for pretty much everything. Although they were concerned when I wanted to play a lot of SC2. However I think a lot of fears were alleviated when I won a local tournament for SC2. The SC2 experience made it a lot easier for me to transition to Dota. I am now taking a year off school to play Dota with their blessing. Although I know that my parents are still concerned about my choices, they are definitely not overbearing and they allow me live my life pretty freely.
In every game there's the social media drama from time to time and whatnot. We all want to push esports to the next level and especially make it more common and less taboo in the eyes of the crowd that doesn't even know this exists or still has the preconceived notion of it that we're all a bunch of basement dwellers. We all want the teams and players that are not top tier to get paid enough to be able to do this thing full time so the scenes, tournaments and competition will rise to a new level. What's your take on this? Do Dota teams have to have better PR standards? [Turboteckel]
I don’t know if completely removing drama would be good for the scene. Outside of the gaming world I’m pretty sure there are a ton of people who make their living just from drama. Drama gives people something to talk about, allows fans to get to know players at another level, and can often hype up competitive matches. However, obviously there are times where drama goes too far. This is a sector in which I think a team like EG did a very good job with in Starcraft 2. People would care a lot less about some of their players if there was no drama, but when things go too far they will try to adequately punish their players (please remember pro-gamers are usually young, fairly irrational when mad, and imo on average not really social masterpieces). I think my overall stance is that I would like to cut down on some unnecessary drama, but not make everyone into a robot. Does anyone care anymore if a Korean without personality wins in SC2 anymore? Aside from that one gif on Dear losing on Reddit, would anyone really have cared if he wasn’t a royal roader--even then did anyone care with him being a royal roader? Perhaps I’m thinking of drama a bit too synonymously with personality, but I think the two are relatively correlated.
I do not think that making the scene drama-free equates allowing people to focus on Dota by alleviating financial/social pressures. I do think that the second part needs to be done in some way in order to improve the competitive scene, but even then I’m not really convinced that reducing drama has anything to do with it.
Last TI kinda showed Chinese teams struggle with creativity and adaptability and that their mechanical play wouldn’t benefit them as much when they play against teams who are not inferior to them in mechanics. Their mechanics will only take them so far, so to speak. I think you might miss out on the Western metagame which I think has proven to be the strongest one. So why would Speed Gaming benefit from moving to China? [lyxarn]
I don’t think the premise of this question is true at all. Yes, Alliance and Na`Vi topped TI3, but I think that at the time the two were special teams, and while China disappointed themselves that’s just because they had such high expectations. I think that the Chinese metagame dominated much of TI3. A lot of Western teams went into TI3 thinking that they had the metagame advantage when it was really the other way around. This resulted in a lot of western teams trying to dodge scrimming the Chinese, which then resulted in some unfortunate first matches vs. the Chinese. For example, DK stomped us (Dignitas), but once we adapted to the Chinese meta, we did relatively well in groups. Another example is when Na`Vi went to China. Despite everyone thinking “oh Na`Vi just wasn’t serious, they were in bad shape for the start, etc,” I do not think this was the case at all; I think that Na`Vi got stomped so hard they had no idea what was happening at first. Then they adapted to the Chinese meta and used their previously garnered knowledge of the Western meta to adapt and rise to the top. We at spG hope to do something similar, which is why we did not go to China right after TI3. We did not want to be like LGD.int (no offense meant here, I am not referring to play or skill or anything) where they went to China right away and effectively were a Chinese team. Hopefully we will get the best of both worlds.
I also want to talk a little bit about the idea that the Chinese teams struggle with creativity and adaptability. I think it is true that the Chinese are relatively slow to adapt in some scenarios, but I do not think it is for a lack of creativity. I think that the Chinese are (and rightfully so if you watch them play) almost overconfident in themselves. This means that if they don’t come up with an idea, they might reject parts of it without fully exploring the idea. An example of this is the Maelstrom build on Lone Druid circa TI2. As some people might know, Potm Bottom played a lot with iG. In our games vs. iG, Zhou really liked the maelstrom build on Lone Druid, and for a lot of games, the build would fit both the style that Zhou and I played LD. However, as far as I know his teammates would get quite angry at him whenever he used that build, even if the item would allow them to take an early unexpected fight and tower, and allow him to still get a fast Radiance after Maelstrom.
Another example might be what I’ve heard 1437 refer to as honourable Dota around TI3 where the Chinese would pick 5 strong teamfight heroes and follow their carry around in hopes of fighting--think LGD.cn style for TI3. I think that this style would win 0 times out of 100 against Alliance. However, on the other hand, a LOT of trends are set by the Chinese and I watch a considerable amount of Chinese replays to learn. I think that as a result of biased tournament exposure, Western viewers often mistake Western metagame progression as innovation, when at a good deal of it is at least partially adaptations of Chinese thought and play. Furthermore it’s not like these problems are exclusive to the Chinese scene. I could probably name over half the Western scene as people who made fun of/disregarded Mekansm Viper and look where we are now. I actually think everyone suffers from these problems to some degree and that people should limit this criticism to the Chinese (i.e. I thought there was no way in hell pooled Naga offlane with a PMS could do well against brood and even made fun of Bulba for it--in retrospect i was wrong and I’m an idiot).
In your experience, what are the main differences between Chinese, Western and Korean Dota? [Embryous]
I do not think that Korean Dota as a brand exists yet; the scene is simply too new and imo is still learning from the other scenes. Honestly, my current interpretation of the differences between the West and China are sort of warped right now because I watch replays by team rather than metagame so I don’t really differentiate. The only real comment I can make here would more refer to TI3 where the Chinese were a lot more groupy than the West. Before I also thought that the West had more unique styles (Na`Vi, Dignitas, and Alliance were all relatively unique for example) and perhaps that was true then--and even then maybe it’s just because I watched/participated in so much more Western Dota--but now you have teams in the Chinese scene like DK who are also unique.
Mechanically speaking, which aspect of your game do you feel has been impacted the most by having a Starcraft background, and do you feel that it gives you an advantage over others that play the game? [Senday]
I don’t think my Starcraft 2 background has helped me in Dota 2 as much as my Dota 1 background helped me in Starcraft 2. I feel like I have very solid micro (although I feel like this is sort of undermined by having to play so much on Luxembourg--and even USE is higher ping for me than for a lot of Europeans due to my location and crappy internet) and multitasking, but both these things are relatively irrelevant in a lot of Dota games. I think that if I was a better Starcraft 2 player, then presence of mind--what I consider the ability to keep playing at your best regardless of scenario--would have been huge, but I think I suck at that in both games.
If you had only 3 points of advice for position #1-2 players, what would you say? [JFKWT]
I’ve never played position 2 at a really high level but I think the biggest thing for both #1 and #2 players is to play a lot. Mechanics are actually huge when you’re usually in the top four farmers on the map and you better not be missing very many cs at any point of the game. I’d also want #1-2 players to know how damn scary they are at certain points of the game. If they move once and get a kill, then intermittently don’t show on the map (i.e. farm jungle) it’s really hard to play for the other team. And lastly, and this point never really made as much sense to me when I was a carry player, but makes so much sense to me as a support, push the lanes (situationally early, almost always mid-late). The game just becomes so much easier for your team when you’re applying pressure somewhere. As a bonus point, please realize that despite (hopefully) being the strongest person on your team, you are not your entire team.
I love some of your old builds (Broodmother, Enchantress, the now standard Viper build etc.) and the thought behind it. Do you have any new thoughts about some heroes with new/changed abilities after the new patch? [DE3me]
First and foremost, Atos is very good this patch.
Honestly this was probably a better question for when it was closer to the patch because I now have trouble differentiating between current and prepatch. Overall I think that the hero pool has definitely been expanded and that there are definitely less “omfg imba” heroes. I think that the only hero who I do not like at all now, that was previously in play, is Spirit Breaker, who can theoretically still be played with a Necronomicon 3 (I still do not like him).
What do you feel about the Hand of Midas plagued games that we are seeing pop up rather frequently (granted your team really likes their farm)? Is this an adverse effect of 6.79 (more passive gold, etc)? Which direction do you possibly see the metagame going in the near future? For better or for worse? [yookstah]
I really hate the support buying Midas trend but it’s legitimately good and it suits me so well. I think I’m just a change hater. It definitely is a reaction to the gold changes of 6.79 (25 extra gold per minute = 150 gold per 6 minutes = free wards), but I feel like there’s also a bit more to the Midases than just the gold change. The map is a lot more open to supports now that the offlaner is not level 1 at 5 minutes and has to catch up; a support can now take space that an offlaner would have had to take + the newly empowered offlaner can make up for the support not moving around now. I’d like to reserve my opinion on whether I like the direction the metagame is heading, but I’d hesitantly say I think it’s going for the better. I feel like the map is a lot more open and that more stuff happens in every lane in the most recent patch. Gameplay aside, it’s a lot easier to replicate pro games in pubs (before it was impossible to ever replicate a sacrificed offlane meta in a low-mid level public game), which can only make people more interested in the competitive scene.
Rod of Atos is dubbed Rod of Aui by some casters (BTS casters come to mind, at least). What do you think of that item and how very few players buy it ever? What is your favourite item in the game, as in what would you buy every time if you just could? [Oukka]
I think that Atos is legitimately a strong item but also incredibly situational. I find that people think that Atos is only really good for pick offs/chasing (which it is very good at), but the item has way more uses than just that. For example, some melee carries don’t want to go BKB or have short BKB timers so after their BKB is up you can just Atos them and they’re pretty much done doing anything for 4 seconds. A hero like Kunkka or Alchemist in certain games comes to mind here--or even a Lifestealer because rage won’t last an entire teamfight. The stats and range on the item are just incredible. I think Atos is my favourite item but even then, it’s definitely not an every game item.
What does your nickname mean? [VoirDire]
My username Aui_2000 came from when I was 7 years old starcraft 1 in 1999. My sister had made an email with the word Aiur in it--the Protoss homeworld--and my seven year old mind wanted to copy her. However, I didn’t want to completely copy her because my brain told me copying siblings is uncool so I flipped the middle letters, chopped off the ‘r’, added in the best year ever at the end. I don’t really know why I added the underscore but it was probably just for good measure. So in short it means nothing at all.
Again we have a few bonus questions:
Which country do you prefer? Canada or Canada? [Juicy Orange]
It seems like national teams are all the rage, and Canada has many talented players. When will you form Team Canada? [thragar]
How to play support? [lilopuppy]
What activity outside of Dota do you most often do for fun? [TanGeng]
Aui what are your thoughts on zoning arrows? [flamewheel]
Writer: CountChocula
Gfx: riptide
Editor: riptide
Banner image by: Team Dignitas
: CountChocula: riptide: riptide Zoning arrows are an integral part of any good Potm’s repertoire. It’s not |
one plotline, in one season. Remember when the Sand Snakes waved goodbye to the ship that carried Myrcella and Jaime and Trystane, and then Season 6 opened with two of them having warped onto it? Which after hours and hours of debate, we still can’t decide where the ship even was when this happened?
We’ve been told these are nitpicks before, and like we said, they are small enough that you can usually ignore them. Not that it’s a great excuse for the writers to be blatantly sloppy and/or lazy. But we also suppose it doesn’t ruin the immersion of viewers who happen to be less familiar with the military advantages of Moat Cailin than we are.
But that brings us to the second major flaw in how this setting is written: Westeros as a society does not make any sense. This is a show that has hidden behind the excuse of “historical realism” before. And yes, we know most people understand that this isn’t historical. However, there is a “reality of the world” that is often trotted out whenever there’s upsetting material.
“That said, when we decided we were going to do that we were faced with the question: If [Sansa’s] marrying Ramsay, what would happen on her wedding night? And we made the decision to not shy away from what would realistically would happen on that wedding night with these two characters, and the reality of the situation, and the reality of this particular world.” — Bryan Cogman
We will tackle the violence against women later, but the main point is, if Cogman is using this as a defense, and in doing so suggesting that what happens isn’t by definition gratuitous since it inherently offers commentary on the setting (and therefore the story as a whole), then the writing team better be prepared to follow-through on this and create a setting that could have meaningful takeaways.
They do not. We have come to call this the “magically disappearing patriarchy.” You see, from what we can tell, the setting adapts to the needs of a given scene, especially the tonal needs of the scene.
When a scene is dramatic, and dark, and shocking, the setting adapts so that these dark and shocking moments can come to pass, be it a woman being abused, someone being murdered, etc. When a scene is funny, the inconvenient aspects of this misogynistic, fundamentally violent society somehow fade away.
Our favorite example of this came last year when Sam visited Horn Hill. His father had previously been established as a terrifying, abusive figure, and there was nothing in the episode to change that impression either. Well, with one exception: the way the women of Horn Hill behaved. Sam’s mother and sister were sassy, rather assertive, and perfectly willing to stand up to Randyll Tarly at his table to vouch for a wildling woman, who they previously thought was a sex worker. There’s so many reasons this would never happen in the books, or even in an abusive household today, but what it did was sacrifice any sense of realism or patriarchy, if we may, for women standing up for themselves.
Which yeah, we know we sound crazy saying we don’t want women standing up for themselves and defending other women, except for the fact that the shit everyone else goes through on the show only works if women are consistently disempowered in this kind of situation. The world where Sansa gets raped because that’s “what would happen” on a wedding night with Ramsay conflicts with a world where the abusive, martial Randyll Tarly is dressed down by his wife at his own table. And there’s no indication that this is abnormal behavior on her part, by the way. She walks off and Randyll comments on what a “fine woman” she is. Just a few scenes after this, Walder Frey pulls a terrified child bride onto his lap. Why is the “reality of her world” night and day compared to the empowerment at Horn Hill?
The big trouble with this is, of course, that there’s a space for apology for any woman who suffers. If Sam’s mother is free to stand up to a completely terrifying guy, then why couldn’t Sansa have asserted herself more to prevent that stupid marriage-for-revenge plot? How can any woman’s challenge of the patriarchy truly mean anything when the writers don’t seem to understand what the patriarchy is and how it actually affects human beings?
Don’t even get us started on the Dothraki.
#2. Characterizations are Inconsistent
Once again, we aren’t talking about as adaptations. It’s true, these characters are so wildly different from their source material counterparts that we have an entire system of nicknames devoted to separating them in our minds, but that’s for another day.
Rather, we mean that characterizations are inconsistent against each other. Sometimes it’s just a matter of season-to-season resets. However, for some poor characters, we actually have no clue how they’re going to behave in a given scene because it’s based entirely on the needs of the plot.
Cersei is our favorite example, because she amuses us the most. For the large bulk of the show, she was portrayed as a rather reasonable woman. She had her moments of horribleness, like in “Blackwater”, and we were often times told how awful she was by everyone else around her (especially Tyrion). But from at least Season 4 onwards it’s really hard to view her actions as particularly bad. Sure, she pushed for Tyrion’s execution more than the audience would have preferred, but at the same time, there was no indication that she wasn’t sincere in her belief that he poisoned Joffrey. Additionally, Cersei’s entire plotline seemed to revolve around getting unbelievably negative feedback just for being a [somewhat] politically ambitious woman, while her son was being actively abused by Margaery, the Tyrells were twirling their mustaches at her, and she received a threatening snake-in-the-box message from Dorne that demonstrated her daughter’s life was in danger.
Really, from Season 5 on, we’ve found the marketing surrounding Cersei utterly mystifying. We keep on being told that she’s evil, and would do anything for power, and yet up until the very last episode of Season 6, that’s simply not the story on our screens. We go into this in quite some detail here, but she really just gets screwed over by every single person she tries to talk to, all while very reasonably working to protect her children from real and active threats to their persons. Despite never being taken seriously and everyone being mean to her. Cersei, ironically, was one of the most consistent characters, at least for two or three years.
Then she blew everyone up.
She blew everyone up, she wine-boarded a nun, and she smirked and drank in her Outfit of Supreme Evil™. While this was certainly seeded by the promotional materials, as well as a few clunky lines, like Tommen saying Cersei would totally have murdered Prince Trystane (what?), this wasn’t in-line with the character we had seen on our screens. At all. We understand that “Evil Queen” is an easy trope to fall back on, but there actually needs to be evil stuff happening to justify that. What, she was slightly rude to Margaery once and therefore her violent bender was the only natural conclusion?
Still, for those convinced by the marketing, or who would just view it as Cersei finally reaching her breaking point, there’s the case of Sansa. At the end of Season 4, Sansa lied to the Vale Lords and donned an Outfit of Supreme Empowerment™ (very different) because she was now a shrewd player, using her intuition and manipulative abilities to get what she wanted. In Season 5, she kept the outfit for a bit, but was suddenly a complete idiot, incapable of asking very basic questions about Littlefinger’s plan for her to marry Ramsay Bolton to…get revenge on the Boltons. Then she was stripped of all narrative agency until Theon rescued her.
Well, cue Season 6, where there was literally no way to tell how Sansa would behave in a scene. Would she be awesomely assertive? Would she be ineffectually assertive? Would she just sit in the corner fuming for no reason when we had already seen her be awesomely assertive in the exact same situation? Would she stand there and forget all the forms of courtesy? Would she be grinning in delight at violence?
Before you give us any “multi-faceted character” shit, no. Just no. If we can’t even predict what Sansa might bring to a scene, that is a failure of a character. Tell us one reason why she was able to use her voice and mention military movement in “The Door”, but in “Battle of the Bastards” was rendered mute? Give us one reason why she vacillated from telling Jon he should take the Lord’s chambers in Winterfell, to in the very next scene looking miffed that he was made king. Did she not consider that she was the Lady? Was this a problem for her? Why was she muted for a second time?
And again, these are just the couple we’re focusing on. Why does Arya suddenly begin rolling her eyes around Braavos and snarking at the end of Season 6? Why does Theon spend an entire season reconnecting with the Starks and doing right by them only to jet off for no reason? Why does Davos forget to ask a single question about Shireen after clearly spending multiple seasons loving and protecting her? Why does Jaime and Cersei’s relationship reset at the beginning of each season? Why does the High Sparrow spend two years as a shrewd political manipulator only to suddenly become a complete idiot and ignore Cersei attacking his own men just in time for her to bomb the whole sept?
Also, if anyone can come up with an adjective to describe Meera, we’d be appreciative. And no “brunette” is not enough.
#3. The Few Consistent Characters are Stagnant or Caricatures
There are a few notable exceptions to the “who are these people and how will they behave?” rule.
Tyrion, for instance, is a character that’s exceedingly consistent. He is perfect. Everyone who’s good agrees that he’s perfect. Everyone who is bad, doesn’t like him, or tells off-screen dwarf jokes. There was half a second this past season that we thought Tyrion was being challenged because the slavers still attacked Meereen, but no. They were going to anyway, and only Tyrion had the answer for how to beat them in the end.
We think it’s great that Tyrion is such an unproblematic fave, but to us, he’s the most boring and literal Mary Sue that’s ever graced our screens. The show is, in many ways, a series of bad things that happens to him, and how he overcomes them just by being awesome, or by random people being randomly wonderful to him.
It’s true; he drinks and he knows things. And that’s all one needs know about his character, because there’s sure as hell not any more depth to it.
Speaking of Sue tropes, there was a Villain Sue that was something of Benioff and Weiss’s favorite for the past couple of seasons. We speak of Ramsay Bolton, whose only defining trait was how badass he was in his evilness. We’d get scene after scene reminding us of this. Oh, thought that old lady might help Sansa? Fooled you! He flayed her. Thought Sansa had the upper hand in a dinner conversation? Fooled you! He knew just when to bring out Theon. Thought Osha might be able to stab him? Fooled you! Also, let’s spend three full minutes of screentime for him slaughtering Fat Walda and her baby.
There was a hint at *something* beneath the surface with his relationship to Roose. This raises the question of why they’d even try to flesh out someone who’s clearly just a rapist asshole. But it’s hard to call this attempt a success. Ramsay was awesome in his evilness, and Roose was reasonably impressed, until the scene required that he wasn’t impressed. He went from praising Ramsay fighting off Stannis to yelling at Ramsay for his mistreatment of Sansa, as if the whole marriage had been Ramsay’s idea.
Really, there was just nothing interesting about Ramsay. He was evil. We get it. He also took over our screens for an incredibly long time, and in the end, he wasn’t even hoisted by his own petard. He was screwed over by a randomly materializing army. (Unless we want to pretend that the only motivation Sansa had in fighting for her home was being raped, which is bag of worms for another day.)
Who else is consistent? Well, there’s that one plucky swordfighter who always tells bawdy jokes. Bronn! Wait no, Daario! Wait no, Sandor! In fact, Sandor has been so badly Flanderized at this point, that he’s a walking chicken joke meme. Sure, he’s consistent, but is this really a character worth sinking any effort into? There’s nothing to unpack here.
The Waif was also a consistent character. She was a violent asshole who hated Arya. For…reasons.
Sorry, forgive us for not falling in love with these guys.
4. Character Arcs are Messes at Best, but Usually Nonexistent
Our previous two points did touch on this, but one of the biggest problems is that despite these characters’ personality flaws (that give us adequate pause), they don’t even change or evolve naturally. They can’t when their personality has either completely stagnated, or is based on plot-demands. However, it might surprise you to also learn how completely meaningless their adventures have been.
For example: remember when Jon was dead? He was dead. Died. Gone. We’d think this might have an impact on his character, but aside from moodily eating soup for a scene, it was completely impalpable. It gave him an excuse to quit the Night’s Watch (kind of), but otherwise, he just…led an army. Maybe he was supposed to be angrier or broodier than normal, though he seemed just as brooding in Season 1 to us. He swung his sword at Hardhome as well as he did at Winterfell.
He was made king too, so you’d think he did something to earn that, or grew into some kind of leadership position, but no. He just ignored all good advice and marched an incredibly smaller force face-first into an obvious trap set by Ramsay, getting everyone killed in the process (until Sansa showed up and saved his stupid ass). He didn’t earn that rescue any more than his kingship, but hey. Cue that emotionally significant music in the final scene all the same.
Guys, this is the protagonist of the show. What was his arc? What was his arc the year before? “These xenophobes sure don’t like wildlings and aren’t very genre savvy?” We’re thrilled that he finds new ways to swing his sword every year, and that we were given an on-screen reason for Kit Harington’s haircut, but that’s not actual growth.
Arya is the other example we’d like to highlight, because never before have we experienced a training montage where nothing results from it. Imagine if at the end of Season 4, Arya had gone to the Twins and killed Walder Frey, baking his sons into pies and slitting his throat. Can you see it? Yes, because it’s as plausible for her character to have done it then, as when she did it in Season 6. We suppose her two-season vacation to Braavos allowed her to learn how to apply faces (a skill learned off-screen, of course), but she didn’t actually learn anything about herself there. Only that she didn’t want to join a stupid guild whose members’ only activity was smacking her with a stick. We didn’t need two seasons to tell us why she wouldn’t have been into that.
We have already gone through and thought deeply about each character to this extent (hint: Sam has also not had any development since Season 3!), and we encourage you to do the same, but we don’t want to belabor the point. The only character we can even think of that grew in the past two years was Olly. This isn’t a joke. He shed his idealization of Jon, and that’s more than we can say about a single other person on this roster.
#5 The Plotlines Don’t Make Any Sense
Hoo boy. This is the section that we’ve been the most apprehensive to write, because how on earth to you tell someone that the entirety of the show they’re watching is devoid of logic? And again, we don’t want to put blame on the viewers. The greatest success of GoT is giving off the appearance of a smart show. With regard to the plotlines, the writers have a way of masking contrivances and a lack of reasoning as complexity.
The best examples of these—as we fondly call them—Idiot Plots are probably in King’s Landing, especially for the past two seasons. This one in particular is where you can wave your hands and go “ohhhh, complex political machinations,” without actually thinking about how little any of it makes sense and how it all depends on characters not behaving rationally, or acting on information there was no way they could possess.
For example, early in in Season 5 Cersei summons Littlefinger “most urgently” from the North because she has to consult with him right after she first meets with the High Sparrow. These summons are of such great importance that he has to ditch Sansa with the Boltons to high-tail it down there. Before he gets there, Cersei randomly arms the Faith and suggests that they arrest Loras. Then, Littlefinger arrives and they have nothing to say to each other that relates to any of this. They talk about how sucky Lysa Arryn was, Cersei asks if her alliance with her ally who came running at her word is still intact, and Littlefinger proposes becoming Warden of the North. None of this has anything to do with the Tyrells or the Faith. He points out arming them wasn’t wise, but that’s the extent of it.
Later, Cersei gets Margaery to walk into a perjury trap set by the High Sparrow, who was a lawyer for some reason, because she knew that Margaery would lie about her brother’s sexual relations with his squire. Because apparently Littlefinger had convinced said squire (slash sex worker) to confess to having sex with Loras. We think. He at least mentioned to Olenna that he gave Cersei a “handsome young man”, and had no reason to be lying in that moment.
But here’s the thing: Cersei couldn’t have known about Olyvar or that Littlefinger had any control over him before Littlefinger arrived (and before she armed the Faith), unless she somehow already had been told about Olyvar and that she would therefore need Littlefinger to persuade him, but decided to have Loras arrested on spec anyway, because…? How did she know that arming the Faith would lead to a perjury trap that would then save her son from his active abuse at the hands of Margaery? There’s shrewd and there’s “I read the script and knew what would happen.” Plus, this was the best plan she came up with? One that required burning the entire legal system to the ground, when she had otherwise proven herself very capable at governance (like sending Mace off to treat with the Iron Bank, which ended very well for them)?
Season 6 didn’t make a hell of a lot more sense. We wrote an entire essay on how fundamental the illogic was in Cersei’s actions, the High Sparrow’s actions, Margaery’s actions, Olenna’s actions, and especially Jaime’s actions—our hero who planned to revolt against the religious leader of the city without first securing the f-cking king or even checking where the rest of the kingsguard was.
In fact, we can’t even pretend that Cersei had this season-long big boom planned, because Olenna goadingly says, “You’re surrounded by enemies, thousands of them. You’re going to kill them all by yourself?” in Episode 7! Don’t make us go into the idiocy of Cersei murdering a member of the Faith when summoned to meet with the High Sparrow, only for him to summon her to meet in the final episode and be shocked when she doesn’t show up. And then he orders his key witness to go get her. Great plan.
We think it’s great that critics have at least been able to point out how the Dornish plotline makes no sense. Killing your own family to get revenge on the people who killed your own family? Brilliant! But what we’re saying is that it was completely par for the course. It’s just that Dorne didn’t have really fancy sets or Lena Headey to hide behind.
You know what else made no sense? Sansa being raped. Like, okay, Ramsay is evil and would probably rape anyone on his wedding night. But let’s talk about what we fondly call the “Sansa Marriage Strike.” Because, you see, the whole reason that Sansa was shoved into that stupid plotline was because she was trying to get revenge on the Boltons. Let’s ignore the fact that Stannis was marching towards Winterfell and expected to win, so she and Littlefinger could have just waited in the Vale to make sure that was the case, where it was safe and she was well-liked by the Vale Lords.
Please tell us how marrying your enemy and thereby legitimizing their claim to what should be your lands and castle is in any way an act of revenge. We’re waiting.
Littlefinger tossed out the lame “make him yours” aspect, but…what? Sansa is giving the Boltons her claim. Even if Ramsay was the nicest husband in the world to her, how does this help the Starks at all? How does this help her on a personal level? She’ll have babies with a man she “made hers” and that’s somewhat nice? A man who is from the family that KILLED HERS?
We will never get sick of talking about how illogical everything is on this show, so to spare you, we’ll direct you once again to our retrospective tag. Find out why Davos and Thorne were playing football over Jon’s corpse! Oh wait…we still don’t know!
#6 The Devil’s in the Details
As a quick point, while the macro-beats of the story make no sense, never fear: the micro-beats don’t either. There’s that consistency we’ve been craving!
We get that some of what we’re about to say are nitpicks, but the writing of GoT betrays, if nothing else, a complete lack of care. Some things have been picked up by astute fans along the way: how many Lannister necklaces are there? How does Arya know to cross off people on her list before news of their deaths could have reasonably reached her? Why did we never hear Theon’s dwarf jokes? Why did Bran choose to go back to the tower flashback after narrowly escaping the Army of the Dead and becoming the Three-Eyed Crow?
However, there’s a lot of smaller things we can point to as well, and this is across every plotline.
Let’s just stay in King’s Landing, because it never gets old for us. Why did Lancel go chase a little boy when he was tasked with bringing Cersei to the sept for her trial? Why did Qyburn tell Pycelle “sometimes before we can usher in the new, the old must be put to rest” when Cersei seemed to have wanted to keep Tommen alive, and therefore on the throne? (Also she’s been queen for 20 years—she’s the outside candidate?) Why did Qyburn stop Pycelle from going to the sept where he’d have blown up in the first place just to give him a special death, especially since “you do not deserve to die alone in such a cold, dark place”? Jeeze, he could have died in a warm explosion with his buddies!
Why does the king have absolutely no one guarding him? Why was the High Sparrow rushing to start Loras’s trial before the King of Westeros was there? Why was the High Sparrow holding the audience to this trial captive when they wanted to leave? How did Cersei extract Septa Unella, who had been tailing Margaery for half the season, without a single person noticing? Why was Cersei not being tailed by a septa? Why did nobody care that there was a zombified Gregor Clegane marching around with Cersei?
And this is just for one musical sequence in one episode!
Granted, we have a lot of fun with some of the sloppiness in the same way we have fun watching Mary Kate & Ashley movies, but this isn’t exactly a sign of quality media.
#7 “Shocking moments” are Really Just Unearned 180°s
“It’s easy to do things that are shocking or unexpected, but they have to grow out of characters. They have to grow out of situations. Otherwise, it’s just being shocking for being shocking.” — George R.R. Martin
Oh Game of Thrones. You twist-master! However, much like M. Night Shyamalan, the shocks that started working out fairly well have become…something else.
In the first few seasons, coincidentally when the show mostly aligned with the book series, the surprising moments made a lot of sense and felt like true twists, without any contrived-nature to them. Ned’s death is probably the finest example, because conventional storytelling would dictate that he lives. Similarly, you expect the wife and son to avenge him, making the Red Wedding doubly shocking, even if all the writing was on the wall when you go back and think about it.
Compare this to Arya poofing across the globe and murdering two men off-screen, taking over a kitchen (somewhere) and baking them into pies, and then feeding them to Walder Frey, who was randomly sitting alone in his giant feast hall during a giant party. This was certainly surprising to us. It’s impossible for it not to be surprising, because…what? How was this moment earned? We can be very fair and say it was foreshadowed because of her list, but if this means that she’s just going to apparate behind her targets and stab them, then that doesn’t exactly make it meaningful.
However, the writers seem so enamoured of shocks, or perhaps so pressured to live up to their reputation as the guys who write shocking television, that they’ll go out of their way to set up a certain situation, just so that they can pull the rug out from viewers in a 180° spin.
Our favorite example of this is with Myrcella’s death. In Episode 9 of Season 5, Ellaria Sand seemed to be very regretful and humbled in her conversation with Prince Doran after a botched attempt to kidnap (or murder?) Myrcella. Then she went on to have a really nice conversation with Jaime about “love is love”, where there is absolutely no hint of duplicity. So in the next episode, where she’s saying goodbye to Myrcella with affection and wishing her well, there’s absolutely no reason why any viewer who’s paying attention to what’s on the screen would think this isn’t sincere.
Except FOOLED YOU! Myrcella dies, and right after having a really nice, touching scene with Jaime, just to twist that knife more. Did this surprise us? Of course it did, because it was sitting in contention with what we saw on the screen. If there had been any hint of something, then okay, but unless we’re supposed to just have intuited that Ellaria is a world-class actor worthy of Indira Varma, there was no way anyone could predict this.
Shireen’s death bore some uncomfortable similarities in a tonal 180° as well. What a fun parallel between these dead girls!
Cersei’s sept explosion certainly was shocking. But to that we direct you back to point #3, because yes, it was shocking to see a reasonable and put-upon character suddenly become a mass-murderer who cared more about torturing a nun than checking on the well-being of her child who probably would have been emotionally affected by said mass-murder.
Other shocks include: Sansa being raped after her scene of assertiveness in the bathtub, Sam coming back for Gilly after reasonably saying goodbye at Horn Hill, Ellaria up and murdering Doran, Daenerys burning down a building and smirking as the flames enveloped her, Lord Umber randomly delivering Osha and Rickon to Ramsay because he liked his kinslaying, Jon being declared King in the North for his incompetence, a crossfade from the baby to Jon’s face that had no consequences in the story at all or to the character discovering it, everyone the Hound had been hanging out with dying, Drogon randomly appearing around a cliff after being too sleepy to help out his mother…
We’re getting bored from all these surprises.
8. It’s All Meaningless
Here’s the thing: there are plenty of pieces of media we love that don’t mean anything; it’s a little hard to think too deeply on the biting commentary provided by The Man with the Golden Gun (never trust a sidekick with a shapely butt?). But that doesn’t mean the entertainment value is any less real, even if it’s a tad ironic in nature at times.
However, in the case of GoT, there is a tendency by viewers and critics to think of it as meaningful. There are entire academic books about the condition of women and what the takeaway is (it’s nothing…see point #2), or how Euron is the most effective critique on Trump that we’ve seen to date. There’s also plenty of discussions of the epic *themes* surrounding the show. We even remember reading a critic gushing about Tyrion spotting that dragon in Season 5, and how meaningful it was in the context of his arc, because he had been at rock bottom. But…why is it meaningful? It was hopeful for him? It was cool to see? We know Peter Dinklage played the scene as if it affected *something*, but it takes more than swelling music for the audience to actually gain something from this.
Take the final sequence where Cersei blows up the sept. The beginning was filmed in such a way that you could tell it was meant to be deep. We got slow close-ups of everyone getting ready. Look, the stays on Margaery’s dress are being tightened…meaningful! We only see the back of Tommen’s head at first…meaningful! But like we described in #6, the entire set-up was out of nowhere and relied on one mind-numbing contrivance after the next. So how was this meaningful?
We’re not saying that there isn’t a central message to GoT, because the pattern of the storytelling makes it clear that there is. It’s just one, and it’s incredibly simple: everything is bad and you should feel bad. GoT relies on a nihilism that was considered incredibly deep eighteen years ago when Fight Club came out. But at this point, and especially in this political climate where there’s nothing particularly constructive about embracing a doom-and-gloom futility, it’s hard to say it adds much to our cultural conversation.
Yes, things suck in Westeros in the books. And this is a hard setting for anyone to be having a bonny ol’ time, especially if you’re in any way marginalized. But the problem is that the narrative of GoT doesn’t provide commentary on that, or hold up a lens to the inherently hypocritical and unsustainable nature of such a world. Rather, it points to “look how dark things are” and leaves it at that, while at the same time seeming to take a perverse pleasure in punishing any viewer that cares about a person or place.
There’s multiple examples of this, enough to the point where Fandomental editor Gretchen needed to update her original piece on GoT and acedia, and we certainly don’t want to rehash everything. Rickon almost making it to Jon is a very good example of “haha you moron, did you have hope for three seconds?” But the one we find the most blatant has to be Sandor (the Hound) spending time with happy church-builders in the episode “The Broken Man”.
There, Sandor met Septon Ray, who spends the entire episode telling him why he should reject violence and live a peaceful life, as well as why there’s always a second chance for those who wish to reform and push towards healing. Except no! That septon was an idealistic idiot. And he died. Along with all the unnamed Shire-folk who had done nothing but skip gaily around the maypole all episode. Sandor was proven right in his nihilistic worldview, and then went on to be such a hoot of a character, chopping people’s groins with his axe for comedic effect. We can’t make this up; there was an entire joke based around him stealing boots from a still-twitching hanged man.
This goes back to our point about 180°s, of course. The audience needs to have the rug continually tugged from under them, and it needs to be PAINFUL so we can all bask in the grand maturity of this show.
But…what does this do? Because all we’re left with is a story where it’s perfectly legitimate to root for the White Walkers. At least they don’t burn their children alive—they’ve got a great adoption program, from what we can tell.
This is furthered by the fact that there’s really no distinguishing between the actions of the good guys and the bad guys in most cases, apart from HBO’s marketing. For instance, Daenerys burns down a religious institution/entire culture’s social structure to gain followers, and she’s such a badass that we cheer for her. Cersei does the exact same thing, facing far worse odds than Daenerys had of survival we might point out, and she’s a villain. Because…she has black shoulder pads?
And while we’re at it, how is Olenna any better than Cersei, to the point where she’s able to call her “truly vile”? Remember when she murdered Joffrey, and how she’s now wanting revenge on all her enemies? Sounds kind of familiar. If this hypocrisy was called out, then we’d give credit, but it’s not!
Everything is the same on this show. The world sucks, and people act in violent ways to have badass moments. If not for the music and costume changes, we’d have no way of knowing how to feel about anything. Worse still, moments of empathetic connection go horribly punished (looking at you, Lady Crane), and for the most part, everyone is instantly mean to each other, especially women (looking at you, people of Braavos who ignored a bleeding girl in the middle of the streets). We get it, our protagonists—whoever we’re told they are—are up against really shitty circumstances. But this is the opposite of depth.
A wise man once said, “The battle between Good and Evil is a theme of much of fantasy. But I think the battle between Good and Evil is fought largely within the individual human heart, by the decisions that we make.” That wise man was George R.R. Martin, and the point he was making is that the important part of a narrative is not that bad things happen, but it’s that the characters have meaningful reactions to what they experience.
Really, from a Doylist perspective, there’s no point in writing a story where shitty things happen if you’re not going to do anything with that. It’s just offering up dark, grim violence for the audience to voyeuristically consume. That’s not deep; it’s pornographic.
And we’re sorry, but soaking in all this darkness…that’s a privilege. For a lot of us, we don’t need these reminders. Because:
#9 The Social Implications are Horrendous
Yup, here it is. We know that this is where we’re going to lose a lot of people. In fact, we know that there are many who would say we should keep those “social justice” arguments out of a critique. After all, the show falls apart on its own merits as an artform, and even as a coherent narrative.
We think that’s asinine. Especially for a show with such a large audience, as well as pull within the TV industry. Other writers look to GoT as the biggest success, and seek to copy its formula. Not to mention, media isn’t created or consumed in a cultural vacuum. Shows and movies create the forums in which cultural conversations happen, and to ignore the very real-world implications of those pieces of media is irresponsible.
That said, this section could be a piece in itself. In fact, Kylie wrote a series of 3 essays tackling the sexism in Season 6 alone, Zach did his best to take on ableism and homophobia with just two characters of the show as examples, we needed an entire two sections in our Meereen Season 6 retrospective to thoroughly explain the racism in both Tyrion and Daenerys’s plotlines, and we still fell short of being able to comprehensively look at the ageism, the ableism (though we tried with Hodor-gate), and utterly pervasive anti-religion aspects of the show.
We realistically can’t lay this all out here, or else no one is ever getting through this piece. If you want to take a deep dive, please click the links in the paragraph above. No, we don’t think GoT is sexist because there’s violence against women. This is something we should all be talking about more, and we praise shows that handle the topic with the sincerity and severity it deserves. GoT does not do anything close to that. Not to mention, men who happen to be victimized in this narrative are completely ignored, or treated as jokes.
We don’t think this show is racist because people of color are marginalized in Westeros. We think it’s racist because it accidentally endorses colonialism and takes in-verse stereotypes at face-value. Ableism? PTSD is treated as an inconvenience, mental disabilities are treated as giant mysteries that need solving, and physical differences are treated as punchlines (remember when Jaime stopped a sword with his golden hand?). Homophobia is all about the straight people while Loras silently suffers, or Yara is made into a big gay stereotype (and an accidental rapist). And the brown, hypersexualized bisexual Ellaria Sand who is so violence happy that she murders an innocent straight white girl with a kiss really isn’t doing the show any favors either.
There’s always room for us to keep going. Even Season 6, which was meant to solve their “woman problem”, was full of misogynistic assumptions and molds |
download "the al Qaeda manual," never share it, even if you're a scholar-in-training studying terrorism. Especially if you and the recipient go by the wrong kind of names.
In mid-May, University of Nottingham master's student Rizwaan Sabir apparently sent the electronic manual to a school clerk, Hicham Yezza, for printing. This triggered an investigation in which counter-terror police arrested the two and held them for six days, after which Sabir was released without charge. However, Yezza was held on an immigration violation and is in custody, threatened with deportation to Algeria.
Reg readers know now that reading the wrong stuff in the UK gets you on the fast track to prison for one possession of something likely to be of use to potential terrorists. Technically, get-out-of-jail-free cards have been issued for journalists and academics, both of which have a well-defined public interest in writing about and analyzing such documents. However, under the current climate it's inevitable that those with good reasons for possessing jihadi electronic documents will find themselves in anti-terror cross-hairs.
The paradox in this case is that the source of the so-called al Qaeda manual. According to UK reports, Sabir downloaded it from the US government.
Readers may already know that when someone cites a document attributed to al Qaeda, it's time to squint and look closely. Because one either won't be getting the entire picture, or its historical context and provenance will be distorted in some interesting but painful and politically expedient manner.
The "al Qaeda manual" was posted to the US Department of Justice website years ago.* It is more accurately known as the "Manual of Afghan Jihad" or "Military Studies in the Jihad [Holy War] Against the Tyrants." (Or simply the Manchester manual, from its place of confiscation.)
You can think of it as a mouldy oldy, dragged out and banged about to shake loose a dust of fear when counter-terror men need some to sprinkle on the polity.
The "Manual of Afghan Jihad" was obtained in Manchester in April 2000 by British anti-terrorism agents and subsequently turned over to the FBI's Nanette Schumaker later that month. It was originally the property of Nazib al Raghie, also known as Anas Al Liby to the US government. Al Raghie was the equivalent of an old pensioner from the Afghan war living in retirement in Britain. At the time the manual was confiscated during a counter-terror recce operation, UK authorities were not interested in him. Neither, apparently, was the FBI and he was not arrested. Not unexpectedly, he then disappeared.
Translations of it have been copied onto the web but at least two (and possibly more) primary sources for it lie within the jurisdiction of the US government, one on a Dept of Justice server and another at the Air Force's Air University. Since they're officially sanctioned sites, they are seen as legitimate sources by those who would study it, as well as attracting the simply curious.
* The US DoJ originals of the manual, edited, are split into four parts, part one; part two; part three; part four. The Air University mirror, cited by the White House, hosts it here.A recent report confirmed that bitcoin exchanges have been much more prominent on DDoS attackers’ radar in the last year. The cloud service provider, Imperva Incapsula, recently published, Q3 2017 Global DDoS Threat Landscape. This report aims to demonstrate how cryptocurrency exchange platforms have been increasingly been targeted by DDoS attacks campaigns.
A Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attack refers to when a single DDoS occurrence impacts the same target repeatedly. Every single attack occurrence is generally preceded by a safe period of an hour. Following the attack, another hour passes without a DDoS event.
Previously, reports from Imperva defined DDoS attack by being preceded and followed by 10-minute attack-free periods. However, the longer attack-free periods of 60 minutes are often more useful to facilitate attacks.
DDoS attacks are capable of flooding the target’s network traffic by using botnets. Botnets refer to a complex network consisting of individual compromised devices that do a hacker’s bidding, most of the time without the owner’s knowledge. Hackers use their botnets to flood a target’s network by consuming too much of its available bandwidth. However, DDoS attacks can also operate by attacking the target’s application layer by using too much of its processing resources such as CPUs or RAMs.
In their report, Imperva used data gained from 1755 application layer-based DDoS attacks and 3920 network layer attacks between the period of 1 July 2017 to 30 September 2017. The data was gathered from the company’s own client base. In terms of botnets, Imperva used data from 37.4 billion DDoS attack requests that were launched during the same period.
One of the report’s main findings confirmed that DDoS attacks increasingly targeted cryptocurrency-related platforms and websites. During the third quarter of 2017, three out of every four bitcoin-related websites experienced some form of a DDoS attack.
According to the report, DDoS attacks targeted a significantly large number of crypto-based websites and platforms compared to other industries. The report attributed this occurrence to bitcoin’s skyrocketing price over the last year, especially during the second half of the year. Over 73% of all bitcoin-based websites experienced a DDoS attack in the third quarter of the year alone, which renders it the most targeted industry.
Other notable targets of DDoS campaigns included online gambling platforms and service providers as well as online-based service providers.
The report noted that the US, the Philippines, China, and Hong Kong were the world’s most targeted countries when it came to network layer DDoS attacks. However, Germany also demonstrated a high number of attacks as it accounted for 12.8% of the world’s total DDoS attacks.
In comparison, Hong Kong only accounted for 5.1% of attacks but became increasingly more targeted by network layer DDoS attacks during the third quarter of the year. According to the report, most of these attacks were directed at a local hosting service platform, which was the targeted of 700 separate attacks earlier this year.
The US currently ranks as the world’s most targeted country as well as the highest number of attack, with the Netherlands coming in second. This year’s largest application layer attack was directed at a European financial services provider. Other notable targeted countries included Australia, Singapore, and Japan.
To trace the origin of DDoS is a complex process which involves creating a fraudulent source IP, known as IP spoofing. Even if this is achieved it is only applicable to network layer-based DDoS attacks. It cannot be used in application layer attacks since this requires the user to established TCP connections.
However, the report confirms that most botnet attacks came from China during the third quarter of the year. During the second quarter, China accounted for only 63% of the total botnet traffic. While India and Turkey have been ranked as its runner-ups, China remains the key player when it comes to DDoS attacks.
The report confirmed that DDoS attacks were getting bigger, more sophisticated, and more aggressive in its targeting of cryptocurrency-related websites and services. Considering the continued rise of bitcoin, it has never been more important for all cryptocurrency service providers to review their DDoS protection policies and adjust where necessary.Sports agent Bartolo Hernandez and baseball trainer Julio Estrada could learn their fates early this week. The defense rested on Friday without either Florida man taking the stand to refute criminal charges that they conspired with human smugglers to transport baseball players out of Cuba for a cut of lucrative free-agent contracts with Major League Baseball teams.
Closing arguments are set to begin Tuesday morning in a Miami, Fla. federal trial that has gone for six weeks, highlighted by mind-blowing testimony from some of the best Cuban big leaguers about their harrowing journeys from the communist nation to foreign countries before emigrating to the U.S. The jury could start deliberations Tuesday afternoon.
Federal prosecutors allege Hernandez and Estrada were identifying peloteros for an organized crime ring operating in Florida, the Caribbean and Mexico, as well as financing smuggling fees, living expenses and forged travel documents for the players. As the case winds down, testimony and evidence presented to the jury shows how the black market for Cuban players flourished thanks to MLB and the U.S. embargo against Cuba that prevents American companies and individuals from doing business on the island.
As a result, Cuban players must defect to sign with teams. Under current MLB rules, a Cuban player who enters the U.S. directly would have to enter the league’s amateur draft, possibly losing out on millions of dollars. But they can qualify for free agency in a roundabout way because MLB allows peloteros to sign with teams if they can prove they were temporarily living in another country after defecting from Cuba. Prosecutors accuse Hernandez and Estrada of being part of a conspiracy that charged players a 25 percent cut of their multi-million dollar contracts—far above the standard five percent vig sports agents normally charge—for their help in making this happen.
Sports agents who collaborated with Hernandez and Estrada, team executives, and even U.S. immigration and State Department officials weren’t exactly verifying that the players had legit papers and were telling the truth when they crossed the border, according to witnesses and evidence presented by the defense team.
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Scott Shapiro, a lawyer whose agency Praver Shapiro Sports Management has worked with Hernandez since 2009, testified on March 8 that he was responsible for preparing the applications for the players’ U.S. visas and licenses from the Treasury Department Office of Foreign Assets Control, or OFAC. Shapiro said he had no reason to suspect players’ foreign residency documents were fake or contained false information, but that he would only receive scanned or faxed copies.
“No, I would not have,” Shapiro replied when asked by Hernandez defense lawyer Daniel Rashbaum if he would have still submitted the documents if he knew the papers were forged. Furthermore, Shapiro testified, OFAC and State Department bureaucrats never raised any red flags. He denied knowing that some of his clients falsely claimed to holding jobs as auto mechanics and welders on their Mexican residency papers.
Under cross examination, Shapiro said he never asked Hernandez about specific details of how he had access to so many Cuban baseball players during the eight years they worked together. “Not particularly, no,” Shapiro said.
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He also denied having any knowledge about who the smugglers working with Hernandez and Estrada were and about some of the players who crossed the U.S. border illegally. For instance, Shapiro said he was caught by surprise when he found out Leonys Martín crossed the border without a valid visa on April 2, 2011, the same day his agency partner Harry Praver received a letter of agreement from the Texas Rangers for the Cuban center fielder. Martín subsequently signed a $15.5 million contract with the team, but he was traded to the Seattle Mariners in 2015.
“It caused us all a great deal of concern,” Shapiro said. “We thought it might jeopardize his ability to sign a contract.”
As it turned out, there was nothing to worry about. “Major League Baseball chose not to penalize Mr. Martin for the way he entered the country,” Shapiro said.Three Sydney Hooters restaurants have gone into voluntary administration only months after employees claimed that the Australian franchises of the US restaurant chain were not paying them superannuation.
It is the latest blow for the ailing US-style barbecue diners dubbed "brestaurants" after fires, slushee scandals, legal stoushes and protests about the objectification of women further tarnished the image of the chain in Australia.
The Hooters restaurant at Campbelltown Credit:Jeff de Pasquale
On Tuesday the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) published notices that five Hooters restaurants in NSW and Queensland had entered voluntary administration.
Deloitte Australia has been appointed to manage the administration of Hooters restaurants in Penrith, Campbelltown, and the flagship Parramatta store in NSW as well as stores on the Gold Coast and in Townsville, according to ASIC.More than 100 students plagiarized homework at Alamo Heights High School
Alamo Heights High School
Alamo Heights High School Photo: Google Maps Photo: Google Maps Image 1 of / 108 Caption Close More than 100 students plagiarized homework at Alamo Heights High School 1 / 108 Back to Gallery
More than 100 students plagiarized answers to their homework at Alamo Heights High School in two large-scale incidents just before Thanksgiving break, according to school officials.
A letter from Principal Cordell Jones to parents sent Wednesday that 38 juniors in a U.S. History class and 90 freshmen in an English I class were involved in the incidents.
Both cases involved one student finding the answers online and then likely dispersing that website to many others, said Frank Alfaro, assistant superintendent for secondary education at Alamo Heights ISD.
RELATED: Rank: San Antonio's top high schools for 2017
“My sense is whoever it was that noticed it sent it to one person or multiple people and that multiplied pretty quickly,” he said.
Jones’ letter acknowledged concerns about the violation of academic integrity and said he would welcome feedback from the community.
“I understand (this) is a difficult time for many,” he said in the email. “I hope that you understand that we are sympathetic to everyone involved, as we care deeply about your children. We are committed to using these situations as teachable moments for our students and for our staff so that we can move forward and grow from this.”
Teachers discovered the mass scale breaching of academic integrity the week of Nov. 14.
Students were disciplined by being prohibited from participating in extracurricular activities’ public performances for three weeks, but they are allowed to continue participating. For example, if an athlete were involved, he or she could continue practicing but would not be allowed to play in a game.
RELATED: Alamo Heights residents concerned after coyote sighting
If the students had self-reported the violation, it would have been two weeks instead of three.
No information was provided about any of the students involved in the violation; it was not known whether any of the students were athletes or what kind of extracurricular activities they might be involved in.
sfosterfrau@express-news.netIntroduction
CSGO is a beloved game not only for its mechanics that have an extremely high skill cap but also the tactical elements behind each play. Many people like to focus on the different ways you can improve your aim and movements, training maps and death match being favourites but you can actually climb the ranks without being a great aimer. I myself managed to get to LEM before the rank changes by basically having a tactical mind, using sound and nades to outposition my opponents and always give me a little advantage in any 1 on 1. Today I’d like to talk through some of these things that will allow you to improve with none of the focused training that is required to have a better aim.
Sound
The first step that will allow you to get the jump on any opponent is using your sound to the greatest possible effect. There are many forms of sound you can use to your advantage and the most important of these are footsteps. Footsteps allow you to do tell how far away an opponent is and where they might be playing based on the type of sound they’re making. When you have a greater understanding of each map you can basically visualise where they are defending site from or as a defender the exact time they will walk out from around a corner into your crosshair. It’s basically like having wall hacks without having to take a vacation. Listening to shot sounds and reloading is also very important as it allows you to have the ideal time to push. This can be perfect to push a smoke after the opponent has sprayed it or to pick off an AWPer after they shoot to get what is essentially a free kill. Other map specific sound indicators such as vents and ladders on Nuke or Mirage can prepare you very specifically for knowing where an enemy is and what they might be doing. For example, if I’m a T player intending to push Mid on Mirage and I hear the vent break for Sniper's Nest, I know that I will reach Mid and be able to hold the angle before their player can even contest it.
If you hear wooden footsteps, it's likely someone is rushing to peek Palace as an example
Strategy and Communication
You might be the best aimer in the game but the fact of the matter is it’s a 5v5 game and at the top ranks you need to work with your team to succeed. There are a number of strategies in CS that range from “rush B” to “Aim the smoke at the third cloud 3 inches from the left and throw.3 seconds after jumping forward while walking,” which all can be successful to some degree. Obviously I’m not going to go into specific in-depth strategies here, but you’d be surprised about the knowledge the general CS community has when it comes to smokes and strategy. This obviously ties in with communication. Talk to your team, ask them if they know any strategies and try to coordinate with each other to put together an offensive. On defense, communicate where you’re playing and if you hear any movement or nades. Being clear and effective with what you say is key here. You don’t want to cause your team to over-rotate or get one of your teammates killed by making them look somewhere an enemy isn’t. As a side note, if you get upset with a teammate try venting at them with your mic turned off, and then once you’ve calmed down, explain what went wrong and you’ll probably get better results.
I think if I shoot this smoke midair it should land somewhere on site?
Positioning
Moving on from strategy positioning is another key element in improving your play. Understanding the top places to defend sites and the best angles to attack will help you without actually improving too much. This kind of relates to strategy in the sense that positioning will depend on what you’re trying to achieve and the kind of tools you have at your disposal. For example, if you’re a Terrorist on Cache and you’re hitting A with just a Tec 9, you might want to cut to Forklift and keep it close range rather than running to Quad where an M4 or AWP has every opportunity to take you out. Similarly, as a CT you want to be aware of what the T side might have at their disposal. Try to avoid playing close angles against those deadly SMGs if you have an M4 and remember to keep changing positions, if only slightly, to keep the T side on their toes. Make sure you understand the point behind every strategy you run. If you are on an eco doing a full rush and you end up baiting your team or going somewhere else and getting there late, you may potentially lose the round for your team.
No one will expect you to be standing in the open! (That's because it's bad... please don't do that.)
Conclusion
CSGO is an FPS game at heart and shooting people before they shoot you is obviously a core gameplay mechanic. However to be the best at shooting people before they shoot you, a little thought often goes a long way and having better positioning, strategy and awareness than your opponents is the first step to success. Many of the great pro players and teams aren’t the best aimers. On that point some of the best ways to improve these skills, especially strategy and positioning, is to spend some time looking at what the pros do and how they react to certain visual and sound cues. You might as well improve while being entertained! So with that I implore you to spend some time outthinking your opponent and you won’t be forced to outaim them.
Get your own AKRacing Chair here and support our players, all profit goes towards the teams!Breitbart.com reports Robert Rector's estimate for what the Day of Infamy II amnesty will cost American taxpayers over the lives of the illegal aliens whose status gets laundered to legal. The headline tells you the gist: ROBERT RECTOR: AMNESTIED ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS TO COST TAXPAYERS $2 TRILLION OVER THEIR LIFETIME, November 24, 2014.
And the top-level details are in the article's second paragraph:
“The net cost — which is total benefits minus total benefits paid in — of the amnesty recipients I estimate will be around $2 trillion over the course of their lifetime,” Rector explained in an interview with Breitbart News Monday. He added that the calculation is based on the assumption that 4 million undocumented immigrants will participate and they will live, on average, 50 years.
Two trillion is Gov't math it's closer to 12 trillion. We can give citizens jobs to find and deport them for less.
Assuming the entire $2 trillion goes only to the charmed 4 million (and not to, say, their offspring or to others who wind up here because of resulting chain immigration), that amounts to a cool $500,000 per legalized illegal. According to the article, Rector will soon be out with a Heritage Foundation report that explains the details.In the six hours the article's been online as I write this, it's attracted about 180 comments. Of those I sampled, I thought the following one by "ROWLF" was the most creative:The episode descriptions for the September episodes of Kamen Rider Drive including the series finale has been finally released.
Episode 46 What was their reason for fighting (8-13-15) - While fighting Banno, Chase sacrificed himself to save Go’s life. In order to avenge him, Go uses Chase’s Signal Bike, the Signal Chase, that he had given Go moments before his death. Meanwhile, Shinnosuke, Heart, and Medic reach the Sigma Circular as it begins running the program that Banno gave it. From Carception_Henshin Episode 46 What was their reason for fighting (8-13-15) -
Episode 47 My friend, to whom do you entrust the future? (8-20-15) - S hinnosuke, having stopped Banno’s plans, is challenged to a duel by Heart in order to finally end their rivalry. However, Shinnosuke, no longer feeling an hostility towards the Roidmudes, tries to call off the duel by persuading Heart to co-exist with humans.Croatia playmaker Luka Modric is expected to be fit for the team’s next World Cup match against Cameroon despite picking up a foot injury, team officials said Friday.
Modric was taken to a hospital in Salvador, near the squad’s training base, to check the extent of the injury sustained during the 3-1 defeat by Brazil in Thursday’s tournament opener. An MRI scan has shown that he has no fractures or ligament injuries, team officials said.
Modric’s absence for the June 18 match against Cameroon, which lost 1-0 to Mexico in Group A on Friday, would be a major blow for Croatia. The skillful Real Madrid midfielder is the backbone of his national team’s midfield.
Article continues below...
”God forbid that the injury is serious,” Croatia coach Niko Kovac said earlier.
Kovac said he won’t make any further comments about Japanese referee Yuichi Nishimura, who on Thursday awarded Brazil a controversial penalty with the score at 1-1.
After the match, Kovac had been furious about the refereeing, calling it a ”robbery” and ”shame.”
But on Friday he said: ”I hope that it will be the last time that we talk about referees. Now we focus on the match against Cameroon.
”What we have showed on the (pitch) was great,” Kovac said. ”What I can see in players’ eyes is their desire to make up for what we have lost in the opener.”Click to viewEven the most powerful superheroes and supervillains need some help sometimes. These butlers, chauffeurs, and valets may make the coffee and drive the cars, but they can also hold their own in a fight.
Alfred Pennyworth (Batman): Alfred is more than Bruce Wayne's butler; he is Wayne's foster-father, confidant, and partner in crimefighting. Alfred has, in various times and continuities, been a substitute Batman, a member of the British Armed Forces, an MI6 agent, and a telekinetic member of Batman's rogue's gallery.
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Mr. Syrius Thrice (Hotspur): Red Star Robinson's mysterious (and potentially extraterrestrial) robot butler, Syrius Thrice was often the more competent of the duo. He used his superstrength, hyper-intelligence, laser vision, and super sensitivity to solve crimes and frequently rescue his master.
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Manute (Sin City "A Dame to Kill For"): Ava Lord's valet is as proper as he is violent, a looming presence around the black widow. He views Lord as a goddess, able to devour men with her sex appeal, and will do anything in her service. He later serves Wallenquist in his endeavors to take over Old Town in "The Big Fat Kill."
Edwin Jarvis (The Avengers): Howard and Maria Stark hired former British Royal Air Force member and boxing champion Edwin Jarvis to manage their household. And when the Starks' son Tony turned his family mansion into the Avengers' headquarters, Jarvis goes with the house, becoming the team's sole permanent member. Many of Jarvis' duties involve taking care of the house and looking after some of the younger superhumans, but he sometimes takes part in the daily melee, often at great personal cost.
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Aloysius "Nosey" Parker (Thunderbirds): Aloysius Parker earned the nickname "Nosey" while leading a life of crime as a cat burgler and safecracker. After doing a stint in prison, he was hired by Lady Penelope Creighton-Ward to aid in her work as an operative for International Rescue.
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Oddjob (Goldfinger): Auric Goldfinger's man Friday fulfills many roles: manservant, chauffeur, golf caddy. But he is best known for his weaponized hat, which contains a razor blade and can be thrown at pesky British spies.
Ianto Jones (Torchwood): Ianto is Torchwood's general support officer, managing the team and ensuring that their activities remain secret, but likes to claim that he fills the role of Torchwood's butler. But he can wrangle a pterodactyl or fight off a Dalek with the best of them.
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Thadeus (College Roomies from Hell): Hazel Green is wealthy, beautiful, and exceedingly manipulative, all things that endear her to her pathetically loyal butler, Thadeus. Thadeus performs his mistress's every evil whim in hopes of winning an approving smile, but tragically, she's engaged to supervillain Vernon Damascus.
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Mercy Graves (Superman: The Animated Series): Not to be outdone by Bruce Wayne, Lex Luthor has his own battle-ready valet. Mercy Graves was a street tough who impressed Luthor after stealing his briefcase and attempting to fight off his guards. She serves as his chauffeur and bodyguard, but eventually graduates to girlfriend and temporary LexCorp CEO.
Ardsley Wooster (Girl Genius): Ardsley Wooster acts as manservant to young mad scientist and heir to an empire Gilgamesh Wulfenbach. But Wooster is actually an undercover British secret agent sent to spy on his employer.
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Owen Burnett (Gargoyles): David Xanatos' loyal and unflappable valet is actually the trickster Puck, who agreed to bind himself to Xanatos for a lifetime of service. Owen handles Xanatos' magical and non-magical affairs, manipulating, kidnapping, and testing magical artifacts as needed.
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Norman Burg (The Big O): The one-eyed amnesiac servant to Roger Smith, Norman Burg's household duties involve cooking, cleaning, and repairing Paradigm City's giant mecha, the Big O. But, when the occasion demands, Burg can wield a machine gun like none other.
Riff Raff (The Rocky Horror Picture Show): Together with his sister/lover Magenta, Riff Raff serves his fellow extraterrestrial Dr. Frank-N-Furter at the Castle Frankenstein. But he eventually becomes fed up with Frank's constant abuse and starts killing folks off with a laser beam.
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The Butler (The Prisoner): The silent butler is always in the background, serving each Number Two in the series. But he seems to possess the keys to the island's mysterious secrets, and ultimately aids Number Six in his quest to learn the identity of Number One.
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Walter Dornez (Hellsing): Integra Hellsing's butler formerly served as the Hellsing Organization's "trashman," battling technologically created vampires and other supernatural foes. And, when Hellsing headquarters or Integra are threatened, he pulls out his razor sharp wires and starts going after body parts.
William Randolph Wintergreen (Teen Titans): Wintergreen serves as butler and mentor to the mercenary Slade "Deathstroke" Wilson. And, like any good superhuman's valet, he comes from a military background. A former member of MI-5 and the British Army, Wintergreen saved Slade's life, and Slade later rescued Wintergreen from a POW camp. Wintergreen became intensely loyal to Deathstroke, though that loyalty would cost him later on.
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Kato (The Green Hornet): Britt Reid's chauffeur and valet also doubles as his hyper-competent, martial artist sidekick. He even wears the chauffeur's uniform and hat while he fights crime.
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Mr. Homn (Star Trek: The Next Generation): Lwaxana Troi's manservant is the strong and silent type, a foil to the boisterous and flamboyant ambassador. Homn seems to function primarily as Troi's porter, but his super strength is likely good for more than carrying bags.
Mr. Groin (The Amazing Screw-On Head): Mr. Groin is the ninth butler to serve Screw-On Head, and performs his duties with all appropriate wryness and decorum. He traps vampires, functions as Screw-On Head's body, and helps battle the forces of Emperor Zombie.SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Earlier this year, engineers at Wal-Mart Stores Inc (WMT.N) who track rivals’ prices online got a rude surprise: the technology they were using to check Amazon.com several million times a day suddenly stopped working.
Losing access to Amazon.com Inc’s (AMZN.O) data was no small matter. Like most big retailers, Wal-Mart relies on computer programs that scan prices on competitors’ websites so it can adjust its listings accordingly. A difference of even 50 cents can mean losing a sale.
But a new tactic by Amazon to block these programs - known commonly as robots or bots - thwarted the Bentonville, Arkansas-based retailer.
Its technology unit, @WalmartLabs, was unable to work around the blockade for weeks, forcing it to retrieve Amazon’s data through a secondary source, according to a person familiar with the matter who was not authorized to speak publicly.
The previously unreported incident offers a case study in how Amazon’s technological prowess is helping it dominate the retail competition.
Now the largest online retailer in the world, Amazon is best known by consumers for its fast delivery, huge product catalog and ambitious moves into areas like original TV programming. But its mastery of the complex, behind-the-scenes technologies that power modern e-commerce is just as important to its success.
Dexterity with bots allows Amazon not only to see what its rivals are doing, but increasingly to keep them in the dark when it undercuts them on price or is quietly charging more.
“Benchmarking against Amazon is going to become hard,” said Guru Hariharan, a former Amazon manager who now sells pricing software to retailers as chief executive of Mountain View, California-based Boomerang Commerce.
A Wal-Mart spokesman declined to discuss the January episode but said the company improves its technology regularly and has multiple tools for tracking items. He said the company offers value not only through pricing but from discounts for in-store pickup and other benefits.
A spokeswoman for Amazon said the company is aware of competitors using bots to check its listings and denied any “campaign” to stop them. “Nothing has changed recently in how we manage bots on our site,” she said. Still, she said, “we prioritize humans over bots as needed.”
Bots can slow down a website, a big motivator for retailers to block them.
Reuters interviewed 21 people familiar with bots and how they are deployed, including current and former Wal-Mart employees, former Amazon employees and outside specialists. Many spoke only on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the issues publicly.
Most pointed to Amazon's leadership in the burgeoning bot wars.
The company’s technological edge has been good for its profit margin, and it’s proving a winning formula for investors. Shares of the internet powerhouse have risen about 15-fold since the market’s bottom in March 2009, while the S&P 500 has more than tripled in value. Amazon hit $100 billion in annual sales in 2015 - faster than any company in history, it said.
BRAVE NEW WORLD
Bot-driven pricing has represented a massive change for the retail industry since Amazon helped pioneer the practice more than a decade ago.
Traditionally, brick-and-mortar stores changed prices no more than weekly because of the time and expense needed to swap labels by hand.
In the world of e-commerce, though, retailers update prices with ease, sometimes multiple times a day, helped by algorithms that consider inventory levels, sales forecasts and rivals’ pricing data.
To stay in the game, companies such as online wholesaler Boxed, based in New York, depend on a variety of methods including bots to ensure they do not lag others’ price moves for even 20 minutes.
“That’s like a lifetime during Christmas,” said Chief Executive Chieh Huang, whose company sells bulk staples like toilet paper and pet food. “If we’re not decently priced, we’ll see it almost immediately” in sales declines.
DISGUISED AS HUMANS
Using bots to view massive amounts of data on public websites - a process known as crawling or scraping - has many purposes. Alphabet Inc’s (GOOGL.O) Google, for example, constantly crawls the Web to gather information for its search engine results and to sell ads.
In e-commerce, though, the use of bots has developed into a cat-and-mouse game. Companies try to thwart the practice on their own websites while aiming to penetrate their competitors' defenses. Third-party services abound to help less-savvy retailers.
To protect data from rivals, some retail websites use what’s known as a “CAPTCHA” - typically a distorted string of letters and numbers that humans can read but most bots can’t. Amazon shies away from the practice because it annoys some customers.
For merchants seeking to evade such defenses, disguising their computer programs as real shoppers is key. Some pricing technology experts have programmed computer cursors to meander through a Web page in the way a person might, instead of going directly to the prized data. Another technique is to use multiple computer addresses so that retailers cannot track a barrage of clicks to a single source.
“It is an arms race,” said Keith Anderson, a senior vice president at e-commerce analytics firm Profitero, based in Ireland. “Every week or every month, there’s some new approach from both sides.”
Amazon’s maneuver that halted Wal-Mart in January took aim at a specialized Web browser called PhantomJS. Unlike, say, Internet Explorer, this browser is designed specifically for programmers - a telltale clue that its users are not typical shoppers. Amazon put up a digital curtain to hide its listings from PhantomJS users, according to three people familiar with the situation.
It was unclear how the move, which was not aimed at Wal-Mart in particular, affected other companies.
Tests conducted in recent weeks for Reuters show that among major U.S. retail chains, Amazon had by far the most sophisticated bot detection in place, both for its home page and for two popular items selected by Reuters because they change price frequently - a De’Longhi coffee maker and a Logitech webcam.
The tests were run by San Francisco-based Distil Networks, which sells anti-bot tools. In one of the tests, Distil programmed bots to hit each retailer’s website 3,000 times, but slowly enough to mimic a person clicking through listings. This tricked most retail behemoths, but not Amazon.
Blocked bots would not have seen, for instance, that Amazon’s price for the De’Longhi espresso machine changed four times in a single 24-hour period starting on the morning of April 25, according to price tracking website camelcamelcamel.com. During that time, the price swung by more than 10 percent, from a low of $80.06 to $88.16.
SWARMING WITH BOTS
Despite Amazon’s capabilities, the sheer volume of crawling on its site is staggering. At times, as many as 80 percent of the clicks on Amazon product listings have been from bots, people familiar with the matter say, compared with just a third or more of the traffic on other large sites.
In addition to rivals seeking price data, that traffic includes bots from university researchers studying competition, search engines, advertising services and even fraudsters trying to break into Amazon accounts.
For Wal-Mart, a small group in Silicon Valley directs its automated pricing strategy while dozens of engineers in India and around the world handle the code, current and former Wal-Mart employees said.
FILE PHOTO: A zoomed illustration image of a man looking at a computer monitor showing the logo of Amazon is seen in Vienna, Austria, on November 26, 2012. REUTERS/Leonhard Foeger/File Photo
Amazon had about 40 engineers who would covertly extract and organize rivals’ data with bots as of several years ago, one of the people interviewed said. Amazon did not discuss the size or structure of its teams working with bots.
According to one U.S. patent application, Amazon is working on encryption technology that would force bots, but not humans, to solve a complicated algorithm to gain access to its Web pages. [For full patent record - click tmsnrt.rs/2qXbYwp]
“Amazon has both the competency to detect bot traffic and the wherewithal to do something about it,” said Scott Jacobson, a former Amazon manager and now managing director of Madrona Venture Group. That “isn’t the case for most retailers.”COLUMBUS, Ohio - The Columbus Division of Police said a man was shot inside the main branch of the Columbus Metropolitan Library on South Grant Avenue on Sunday.
Police said officers responded to the library shortly after 3:00 p.m. and the suspect, 28-year-old Joseph Steward, was arrested.
47-year-old John Thrasher was taken to Grant Medical Center after being shot in the ankle, according to police.
According to police, Steward said he shot at Thrasher after an argument near an elevator.
Steward told police he chased Thrasher through the second floor of the library with his handgun out.
Police said a library security officer confronted Steward and |
our fell to his death in a rock climbing accident in Hyalite Canyon.
The sheriff's department said Ridenour was climbing Practice Rock in Hyalite Canyon Monday morning with his neighbor and young son when he fell 35 to 40 feet.
Gallatin County Sheriff Brian Gootkin said Ridenour, an experienced rock climber, was teaching his son to rock climb when the accident happened around 8:30 a.m.
He said fortunately the boy didn't see his father fall, but his neighbor did.
Ridenour's wife wasn't home when they left Monday morning.
Gootkin said the department will do everything it can for the family.
"His family, his wife, Elizabeth's family, are out of state," said Gootkin. "They will be here tomorrow and we are doing our best to take care of them."
That includes taking care of his work family.
Gootkin said they are bringing in outside Chaplains to help people in the sheriff's department handle the death.
"We have our Chaplin and also the Central Valley Chaplin has come in and we will actually have other people coming in throughout because this isn't, this will be ongoing so we will be sure to keep an eye on our folks and make sure they are okay because this impacts everyone," he said.
Gootkin described Ridenour as a great co-worker.
"He was just full of life," said Gootkin. "He was just a great guy. He was a great deputy. It's tragic. All we can do is do our best to take care of his family."
It took about five hours to recover Ridenour's body.
The Montana Highway Patrol blocked off traffic while they removed his body from the mountain.
Ridenour came onto the Gallatin County Sheriff's Department in September 2005 after serving on the Montana State University Police Department.
While on the Gallatin County Sheriff's Department, he served as a patrol officer and on the drug task force.
Ridenour leaves behind a wife and two young children.
Funeral arrangements are pending.I may be compensated through affiliate links in this post, but all opinions are my own. This compensation helps with expenses to keep this blog up and running! Thank you for your support of Hungry Hobby!.
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A high protein convenient way to start your day with pumpkin! It’s grain free, flour free, nut free, soy free and pumpkin packed!
Happy Labor Day friends! (If you are looking for grilling inspiration or Labor Day food, be sure to check out my healthy summer cookout recipes post or last Friday’s round up.)
Today I’m bringing back an old HH classic recipe, one that my SIL reminded me of last week! First, though, I get it, it’s only Labor Day, is it too early for pumpkin?
It’s never too early for pumpkin for me because I make damn sure that I stock up at the end of the winter to have enough pumpkin to eat all year long. So, I’m not really one of those people that ever get sick of the fact that Trader Joe’s looks a pumpkin exploded in it for like four months straight. I mean orange isn’t my favorite color, but pumpkin is DEFINITELY one of my favorite foods.
If you aren’t excited about pumpkin season, you totally should be! This pancake is one of the main reasons I get so excited for pumpkin season.
This pancake recipe is very similar to my two ingredients high protein pancake that uses banana. The best part is pumpkin is a great workout fuel or refuel! It’s a high starch low sugar food, so it can help you fuel and help you recover depending on when you eat it!
I recommend my Hungry Hobby RD clients regularly incorporate pumpkin into their diet to help them fuel/recover from workouts, fight high blood pressure (it’s high potassium), and add flavor to healthy foods! As soon as pumpkin hits the shelves I try to send them healthy recipe ideas focused on their goals but also to get them as excited about pumpkin as I am.
How can you not get excited by that? I’ve also been eating a boatload of pumpkin seeds to keep up with seed cycling and making my hormones work for me.
Pumpkin seeds are one of the BEST sources of tryptophan, a powerful mood regulator that will help you fight PMS mood swings as well as supply hormone balancing healthy fats. Recently I’ve been working with more clients on balancing their hormones with the right nutrition and smart training.
It’s crazy how an in-depth look at your symptoms can tell you so much about your hormones. I’m not going to write a hormone book or anything, well at least not anytime soon.
It just floors me how so many women out there are suffering from all kinds of hormone imbalances and living with the symptoms thinking it’s normal, it’s not! I guess the good thing that came from own hormone issues is that I now FULLY understand how they work, what optimum is, and how to work with someone to get them there.
It’s been one of the most powerful tools I’ve been able to use to help my clients achieve their goals and more! Okay sorry, I’m off my soapbox now.
It’s Labor Day weekend, I hope you do something fun! My version of fun this weekend was ordering furniture, watching friends, getting froyo, and having a mild panic attack because I still can’t put anything away.
I broke down and finally put together my old bookshelf instead of “waiting to see if a new one would fit in the budget.” That helped a ton in the office.
I’m also bringing in our old standing pantry from the garage that we had at our first house. It’s not ideal but the limited counter space is no longer an option especially considering how slow getting quotes and what now is going. LIKE MOLASSES PEOPLE, LIKE MOLASSES. At least I ordered the island so I can soon join you all on Facebook Live again!
[clickToTweet tweet=”Hello #breakfast! #paleo Single Serving #Pumpkin #Pancake #paleo #glutenfree #healthy #lowcarb ” quote=”Hello #breakfast! #paleo Single Serving #Pumpkin #Pancake #paleo #glutenfree #healthy #lowcarb “]
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Print Single Serving Paleo Pumpkin Pancake A Single Serving Pumpkin Pancake ready in less than 10 minutes, full of healthy ingredients to power you through your day! Prep Time 5 minutes Cook Time 10 minutes Total Time 15 minutes Servings 1 Calories 192 kcal Ingredients 1/3 cup pumpkin canned (NOT pumpkin pie filling)
1 egg
1/2 cup egg whites (or another egg)
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/8 tsp cinnamon (I just shake some into the batter)
1/8 tsp pumpkin pie spice (same I just shake it in)
1/2 tablespoon maple syrup Instructions Combine all ingredients in a bowl, whisk till well combined. Spray small nonstick skillet with cooking oil or coat with desired oil/butter. Pour ingredients into the skillet and turn on the burner to medium. Allow contents to heat up in the pan. After 7-8 minutes or when the pancake is almost completely set, flip it. RESIST THE URGE TO FLIP EARLY! (Also I suggest spraying the top side with a little cooking spray before flipping.) Top with more pumpkin, some honey, nut/seed butter or whatever you like! My favorite topping is more pumpkin and some sun butter! Recipe Notes For one pancake (made with egg and egg whites, without any toppings). Check out the potassium and protein, now that's a good start to your day! Nutrition Facts Single Serving Paleo Pumpkin Pancake Amount Per Serving Calories 192 Calories from Fat 36 % Daily Value* Total Fat 4g 6% Saturated Fat 1g 5% Cholesterol 163mg 54% Sodium 289mg 12% Potassium 228mg 7% Total Carbohydrates 16g 5% Dietary Fiber 2g 8% Sugars 9g Protein 18g 36% Vitamin A 278.6% Vitamin C 4.2% Calcium 5.7% Iron 20.4% * Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
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Manchester, New Hampshire—Donald Trump has earned his headlines for dominating the Republican field in New Hampshire. John Kasich will get his fair share of attention for being the surprising where-did-he-come-from candidate. And the establishment’s pure panic about Marco Rubio’s poor performance will drive hundreds of stories. Ad Policy
But Ted Cruz’s night should not be overlooked. New Hampshire was the least important state for Cruz, given his win in Iowa and his solid polling in South Carolina and the Southern primary states that follow. Few expected a hard-charging conservative from Texas to do well in a state known for giving moderate Republicans like John McCain and Mitt Romney primary victories. But Cruz finished in a tie for third place for Jeb Bush, who spent vastly more time campaigning here, and discernibly ahead of establishment favorite Marco Rubio.
Cruz’s campaign has been premised on uniting evangelicals and Tea Party activists in support of his candidacy, and while Iowa proved he has succeeded on the first count, New Hampshire showed that his whole plan is working.
Tea Party in this context isn’t just a generalized term for “conservatives angry with the Republican establishment.” Cruz is targeting a specific network of grassroots activists that formed in the early years of the Obama presidency—think about the people who formed state chapters across the country under the auspices of Tea Party Nation, and who held 9/12 rallies for Glenn Beck when the Fox News host was at the zenith of his popularity.
Cruz’s final big campaign event before the votes in New Hampshire was sponsored by Tea Party Nation and the 603 Alliance, a Tea Party group in New Hampshire that backed Cruz. At a packed American Legion Hall in Manchester on Monday, Cruz courted the votes of activists who think that the current Republican party—which has successfully blocked almost the entirety of President Obama’s legislative agenda since 2011—is too accommodating.
“Look, if you think Washington is fundamentally broken, then the answer is not to elect a dealmaker who will cut even more deals with Democrats and make the problem worse,” Cruz said. Forty-seven percent of Republicans in New Hampshire later told exit pollsters they “feel betrayed” by their party, so Cruz was right on message.
At his victory rally Tuesday night, Cruz thanked the activists who helped deliver him victory. “The real winner, the real winner, is the conservative grassroots, who propelled us to an outright victory in Iowa and to a far stronger result and outcome in New Hampshire than anyone predicted,” Cruz said. “Your victory tonight has left the Washington Cartel utterly terrified.”
To be sure, Cruz caught some breaks in the week leading up to Tuesday’s vote. The first was Senator Rand Paul’s suspending his campaign, allowing Cruz to aggressively court libertarian-minded voters who suddenly had no home. He nabbed the endorsement of Paul’s state campaign chair, and leaned hard into the idea that he won Iowa despite running hard against a big-government ethanol mandate. Radio ads claiming that Cruz was the “only candidate” who favored returning to the gold standard blanketed the airwaves, and Cruz made (sometimes fumbling) attempts to talk about hard money and eminent domain.
The other fortunate development was Chris Christie’s absolutely knifing Marco Rubio in Saturday’s debate, which exit polls indicate badly damaged the Florida senator and allowed Cruz to beat him. (The best Rubio could do in his election-night speech was to promise that would “never happen again.”)
More than anything else, that was the biggest break of the campaign so far for Cruz, and he will reap the benefits on March 1. Almost one-quarter of the available delegates are up for grabs that day, mostly in primaries in the Deep South.
That already favors Cruz, not least because his home state of Texas offers the most delegates—but Rubio’s slide will help him even more. In all of those Southern states but one, candidates must reach either 15 or 20 percent of the vote to receive any delegates at all, as we noted last week. Rubio was already only pulling about 10 percent several of those states. With his standing weakened and the so-called “establishment lane” thrown into chaos, there’s a good chance, based on current polling, that no candidate besides Trump or Cruz will get above 20 percent. That means the duo can run the table on March 1, denying the other candidates even a single delegate in many of the states voting that day.
Harder contests await on Super Tuesday, and as primaries proceed to more moderate and Midwestern states. But Cruz looks to be in outstanding position by then, and is well-positioned to be the most conservative major-party nominee since Barry Goldwater in 1964.A D.C. police officer and church pastor who has been charged with sexually assaulting two teenage girls was charged with an additional count of producing child pornography Tuesday after investigators found seven photos of one of the victims on the officer’s cellphone, according to court documents.
Darrell Best, 45, who has been on the D.C. police force for 25 years, was arrested in March and charged with sexually abusing two girls, ages 16 and 17, both of whom also attended God-A Second Chance Ministry Church in Southeast Washington, where Best served as pastor. The new charges will be filed in U.S. District Court.
The newest charging documents provided additional details in the sexual assault case. According to the child pornography charging documents, Best’s fiancée discovered the pictures on his phone, forwarded the pictures to her phone and then confronted the teen with the photos. The teen told Best’s fiancée that Best had been sexually abusing her. The teen then told her parents, who then alerted police. The photos, the teen told authorites, were taken inside Best’s church near his pastorial office.
The sexual assaults began as early as last December. According to the initial charging documents, Best, while wearing his police uniform, picked up one of the juveniles at the Archives Metro station in his police vehicle and took her to dinner. The girl told investigators that the dinner was supposed to be focused on a discussion of the teen’s future plans. Instead, she told authorities, Best began making sexual advances toward her, the documents state.The teen told Best that she wanted to go home, but instead of taking her home, Best allegedly took the teen to his office at D.C. police headquarters.
Inside his office, the teen told authorities, Best sexually assaulted her, the charging documents state. Afterward, he allegedly said: “Girl, fix your shirt. If one of the Chiefs see you coming out of my office like this, they’re going to think something was going on.”
In the second assault case, one of the victims said Best drove her to the church and while there, he took nude photos of her and then sexually assaulted her, according to authorities. The teen told authorities Best had his firearm, badge, handcuffs and baton at his side at the time. The girl told police that Best sexually assaulted her a second time, while she was at the church at choir practice and Best had called her into his office.
Best remains on suspension without pay, a police spokeswoman said Tuesday.
After the hearing, Best’s attorney, Nikki Lotze, said the child sex-abuse charges will now be folded into a child pornography case in U.S. District Court. “They are allegations. We look forward to conducting a thorough, independent investigation into them.”
Anderson ordered Best to remain in the D.C. jail until trial. Best has been ordered to be separated from other inmates, Lotze said. Best’s next hearing is scheduled for Tuesday in U.S. District Court.Access to space has been achieved twice in Birrin history.
In the first age rocket technology advanced so far as to allow several moon landings and the construction of space stations, the remains of many still orbiting Chriirah in the modern era several thousand years later.
The second, post war age eventually saw a return of birrin rocketry, mostly reverse engineered from rediscovered ancient designs. With the expanding need for communication, navigational and military satellites many launch systems were developed, though few approached the versatility of the Tallantelli.
A mishmash of technologies, the Kaybor-Kendi Tallantelli launch vehicle was designed for versatility rather than specific requirements, allowing a Kaybor-led business consortium to service clients from around the globe. Taking off from large specialised runways, the Tallantelli carries its cargo piggyback propelled by 6 powerful turbojets and two huge linear aerospike engines. As the thinner upper atmosphere is reached the turbojets are shut down and their exhaust slot closed to improve aerodynamics, while the aerospikes automatically adjust their efficiency as the vehicle climbs towards space.
For many rockets the altitudes reached by these systems is sufficient and they are launched under their own power to achieve orbit. Heavy loads, or those with smaller propulsion systems may need and extra boost. Four conventional liquid rocket engines mounted in pairs beneath the aerospikes are ignited, pushing the vehicle ever higher and helping to maintain a nose-up attitude in the thinning atmosphere until launch altitude is reached.
With launch complete, the vehicle can then return to any number of specialised spaceports servicing the industry and land as a conventional aircraft, ready for another flight in only a few days.
Depicted is one of the most versatile configurations of the Tallantelli: The re-usable manned vehicle Tuum, launched from the Tallantelli with the help of a solid rocket booster, can carry relatively large payloads and more importantly complex construction and maintenance machinery into orbit, where it deploys them to build and repair space stations, satellites, and interplanetary spacecraft.When Prof. Juan de Pablo and his collaborators set about to explain unusual peaks in what should have been featureless optical data, they thought there was a problem in their calculations. In fact, what they were seeing was real. The peaks were an indication of molecular order in a material thought to be entirely amorphous and random: Their experiments had produced a new kind of glass.
Their unforeseen discovery, reported in a paper published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences and chosen by Science as an editor’s choice paper in Materials Science, could offer a simple way to improve the efficiency of electronic devices such as light-emitting diodes, optical fibers and solar cells. It also could have important theoretical implications for understanding the still surprisingly mysterious materials called glasses.
“This is a big surprise,” de Pablo said. “Randomness is almost the defining feature of glasses. At least we used to think so. What we have done is to demonstrate that one can create glasses where there is some well-defined organization. And now that we understand the origin of such effects, we can try to control that organization by manipulating the way we prepare these glasses.”
De Pablo is a theorist and the Liew Family Professor in Molecular Engineering at the University of Chicago. He and Ivan Lyubimov, a postdoctoral fellow in his group, worked with a group of experimentalists led by Mark Ediger at the University of Wisconsin, doing computer simulations of their physical experiments.
The scientists grew the glass by vaporizing large organic molecules in a high vacuum and depositing them slowly, thin layer by thin layer, onto a substrate at a precisely controlled temperature. When the sample was thick enough, they analyzed it using spectroscopic ellipsometry—a technique that measures the way incident light or laser radiation interacts with the material being investigated.
“Our collaborators saw some intriguing peaks in these materials,” de Pablo said, “and those appear when you have some distinct molecular orientation in the material.” The researchers could not originally explain the origin of the peaks, or why their appearance depended on the temperature at which the glass was formed. However, when the group ran computer simulations of the experiments, the same signatures of orientation appeared. A significant fraction of the molecules in the glass were aligning themselves in concert. The question was, why?
The answer, the scientists discovered, lay in the way the material was created. In liquids—and glass is a type of liquid—the molecules at the surface interact with molecules in the air, sometimes causing them to pack together and line up differently than the randomly arrayed molecules in the bulk of the liquid. The vapor deposition process used in the experiments amounts to laying down one “surface” on top of another. The molecules in each layer get “trapped” in the orientation they had when they were truly, however briefly, on the surface.
In order for this to happen, the researchers discovered, the glass must be grown within the relatively narrow temperature range at which a liquid changes into a solid-like glass. Varying the temperature within that window allows the scientists to “tune” the degree of order. Once the deposition process is finished, the material is stable and changing temperatures within a wide range doesn’t affect it.
Only a small fraction of the molecules in the group’s samples are oriented in a different direction than the rest of the glass molecules. But that is enough to change the optical properties of these materials tremendously. The group will continue to investigate these new materials, trying different molecules and looking to find out if they can enhance the effect.
A theoretical investigation of these findings also awaits.
“Glasses are one of the least understood classes of materials,” de Pablo said. “They have the structure of a liquid—disorder—but they’re solids. And that’s a concept that has mystified people for many decades. So the fact that we can now control the orientation of these disordered materials is something that could have profound theoretical and technological implications. We don’t know what they are yet—this is a new field of research and a class of materials that didn’t exist before. So we’re just at the beginning.”
Citation: “Tunable molecular orientation and elevated thermal stability of vapor-deposited organic semiconductors,” by Shakeel S. Dalal, Diane M. Walters, Ivan Lyubimov, Juan J. de Pablo and M.D. Ediger, Vol. 112, No. 14, April 7, 2015, doi: 10.1073/pnas.1421042112.
Funding: U.S. Department of Energy, Award DE-SC002161; and National Science Foundation, DMR-1234320.Steve Jobs saved Apple, but it was Tim Cook who made it the most valuable public company in the world. When Cook arrived at Apple in 1998 as senior vice president for worldwide operations, his job was to fix the company’s woefully inefficient supply chain. The new iMac, Apple’s first hit product in years, was being built in the Sacramento suburb of Elk Grove, California, where the company had opened a manufacturing plant in 1992. Cook outsourced iMac production to LG Electronics, a Korean firm, as part of a broader plan to improve the company’s sloppy inventory management. In 2004, Apple shuttered its last American manufacturing line in Elk Grove, and its stock began its ascent to the top of the S&P 500.
Twelve years later, Cook faces a vocal and powerful critic of his cost-cutting measures. President-elect Donald Trump has promised to bring manufacturing jobs back to America, and he has made Apple and its legion of Chinese subcontractors a regular target of his corporate ire. “We’re gonna get Apple to start building their damn computers and things in this country, instead of in other countries,” he said in January. He continued to harp on the point throughout the year, culminating in a face-to-face meeting with Cook and a host other Silicon Valley executives at Trump Tower two weeks ago. The main item on the agenda? U.S. jobs.
Trump is not the first politician to try to convince Apple to build an American-made iPhone. Barack Obama famously asked Steve Jobs why his company couldn’t build its flagship device here, according to The New York Times (Jobs’s alleged response: “Those jobs aren’t coming back”). And Bernie Sanders didn’t spare Apple during his fiery campaign that vilified corporate greed. Apple serves as an effective political stand-in for our modern economy writ large: thriving by many statistical measures while generating increased wealth for seemingly everyone but the average American worker.
While Apple does solicit some parts from American suppliers, there are several reasons the iPhone has never been fully built and assembled in the United States. Most iPhone parts are made in Asia, so centralizing assembly in China lowers shipping costs. Chinese workers earn lower wages, boosting Apple’s profits. Most importantly, those workers can be hired and applied to projects at a scale and speed tech executives say is impossible in the U.S. “You can take every tool and die maker in the United States and probably put them in a room that we’re currently sitting in,” Cook told 60 Minutes in a 2015 interview. “In China, you would have to have multiple football fields.”
None of these factors means that Apple couldn’t make an iPhone here. The company could hire American workers who would earn higher wages and probably work shorter hours than their Chinese counterparts. Building iPhone components and assembling the device in the U.S. would add between $65 and $100 to the cost of the iPhone, according to multiple estimates. But it’s not clear whether Apple or its customers would really be willing to swallow that additional cost.
In surveys, consumers tend to say they would pay more for goods that are ethically produced, or for political reasons. For example, more than 60 percent of people in a Consumer Reports poll said they’d pay 10 percent more for made-in-America products.
But that’s in theory; in practice the numbers may not be so high. In a 2006 study about ethical buying habits, researchers sold two different pairs of athletic socks at a department store in a working-class suburb of Detroit. One pair of socks bore a label saying it was made without the use of sweatshops and had a price premium of up to 40 percent. About one-third of shoppers were willing to pay more for the sweatshop-free socks. Also, according to interviews the researchers conducted with these shoppers, the “made in America” label wasn’t the most important factor in ethical purchasing decisions. These consumers were more concerned with sweatshop-free working conditions, not using child labor, and paying workers a living wage, regardless of the location.
Of course, persuading someone to shell out extra cash for an already-expensive iPhone is probably tougher than upselling a pair of socks. With a $100 markup, the baseline iPhone 7 would cost $749. But a made-in-America smartphone would be a unique offering in a crowded market. “There is not a single cellphone that anybody owns right now that’s made in the United States,” says Ian Robinson, a sociology lecturer at the University of Michigan and one of the conductors of the sock study. “If you were the first one to do that, you would get a chunk of the market — not just individuals, but also companies and organizations. Unions would say, ‘We want to support stuff that’s made in the United States.’”
Studies have shown that iPhone owners are more affluent than other smartphone owners, but that doesn’t make them more likely to spend more for made-in-America goods, according to Robinson. “Attempts to see whether there is a correlation between what your income or education level is and how likely you are to be an ethical consumer have not yielded any clear results,” he says. “If richer people and more educated people have the extra money to buy iPhones, it doesn’t make them more or less likely to be ethical consumers.”
Of course the extra expense of a made-in-America iPhone wouldn’t have to come directly out of customers’ wallets. The iPhone 7 has a manufacturing and assembly cost of $224.80, while retailing for $649, according to the Wall Street Journal. Apple generated more than $9 billion in profit in the most recent quarter, and it has a cash hoard of nearly $238 billion. “Apple’s making such extraordinary profits that of course it could afford to do this and would not go out of business,” says Robinson. “They could just absorb the cost and be a good citizen.”
But even if human beings sometimes make spending decisions that are not solely in their own economic interest, corporations are ruthlessly rational. Apple generates 40 percent of its sales in the Americas (less in the United States specifically) and believes China will eventually be its largest market. A third of the tech giant’s employees reside outside the United States. Apple sees itself as a global company that happens to be headquartered in the United States. Or, as an anonymous Apple executive put it to The New York Times in 2012: “We sell iPhones in over a hundred countries. We don’t have an obligation to solve America’s problems. Our only obligation is making the best product possible.”
The “made in America” movement will likely find renewed vigor in the Trump era, researchers say. “It’s quite possible that Donald Trump has created a mass movement of very vocalized, very opinionated supporters who are going to act differently than politically minded consumers have acted in the past,” says Brayden King, a professor of management and organizations at Northwestern University. “If that’s the case, then maybe he will be able to influence them to support made-in-America products whereas it hasn’t worked in the past.”
(It’s worth mentioning that despite his tendency to talk about bringing jobs back to America, Trump is known for outsourcing his own products.)
Already Trump has used his new political power to give the impression that he can bend corporations to his will. Days after the election he claimed credit for convincing the chairman of Ford to keep an auto plant in Kentucky. Later he managed to fulfill a campaign promise by getting air-conditioner-manufacturer Carrier to keep some jobs at its Indiana plant. The fine details of these negotiations — the Ford plant was never actually closing, while Carrier is getting millions in tax breaks and will automate some of those saved jobs anyway — will never reach as many people as the initial headlines. A recent poll found that 60 percent of voters viewed Trump more favorably following the Carrier deal.
But Trump doesn’t actually have to negotiate a deal to influence a company’s fortunes — he just has to log in to Twitter. Both Boeing and Lockheed Martin saw their stock prices fall when Trump tweeted criticism of the costs of the new Air Force One and the F-35 fighter jet fleet, respectively. Research has shown that reputation-damaging media reports can have a negative influence on a company’s stock price. Trump’s Twitter account is a one-man media outlet that yields the same amount of power, if not more.
As a company whose fortunes are not bound up in massive defense contracts, Apple would be less susceptible to Trump bullying than a Lockheed Martin or a Boeing. But the tech giant also goes to great lengths to present itself as a benevolent and civically responsible business. And its underdog narrative — forged in a California garage by 20-somethings, pushed to the brink of extinction, then revived through a string of innovative products to create never-before-seen wealth — appeals to the American capitalist sense that hard work and ingenuity pay off. A rhetorical battle with Trump over whether Apple’s business practices are “un-American” is not in the company’s interest.
Yet it feels as if that’s the path we’re heading down, assuming iPhone production remains mostly overseas. The actions of corporations are increasingly being ascribed political heft. That’s why Breitbart readers flushed their Rice Krispies down the toilet after Kellogg stopped advertising on the site, and why Delta Air Lines flyers threatened to dump the company after a disruptive Trump supporter was not removed from his flight.
An environment in which all corporate decisions are politicized ultimately grants even more influence to the politicians. Apple’s goal right now is probably not figuring out how to produce the iPhone in America — it’s how to avoid angering Donald Trump to the point he starts a concerted media campaign against the company or blows up its business model with a huge tariff on Chinese imports. “There’s a reason why companies are starting to get really nervous about coming out and saying anything negative regarding Trump,” says King. “Somebody like Donald Trump, who has a ton of Twitter followers, can disproportionately affect people’s opinions or perceptions about a company. Even if it’s not based in reality, him just tweeting something about that company can drastically affect its reputation.”“Who do you think will win the Super Bowl?” a reporter in Team USA’s dressing room asks noted Vikings fan Ryan McDonagh.
“St. Louis,” pipes Ben Bishop, smiling at his own joke.
The biggest man in the room has encroached the small talk.
“Still bitter, Ben?” the reporter wonders. The Missouri product memorably chirped Rams owner Stan Kroenke after he moved his childhood team to Los Angeles.
“I don’t want to talk about it. Bulls—.”
Affable and easygoing, the 6-foot-7 goaltender will talk about pretty much anything else, though. Even prior to dropping in “ice cold” in the third period against the mighty Team Canada Friday, Bishop spoke candidly about Carey Price, Steven Stamkos, and his own near-trade to the Calgary Flames in late June.
“It was up to me. They were on my no-trade [list] or whatever, so that kinda has to get worked out. It was one of those things where at the draft it could’ve happened,” Bishop told Sportsnet last week in Columbus. “Obviously, it’s not that close if it didn’t.”
A two-time Vezina Trophy finalist who also ranked 10th in Hart Trophy voting last season, Bishop is entering the final season of his contract with the Tampa Bay Lightning. At a $5.95-million salary cap hit, the franchise netminder is in line for a raise. The goalie’s representatives tried to work out a contract extension with Calgary, he had said, but the Flames changed course and traded a second-round pick for the older (31) and cheaper ($2.5 million) Brian Elliott, whose contract also expires in 2017.
Bishop has parked that emotional week in June, when rumours of interest from the Dallas Stars also made the rounds. His focus is on battling Jonathan Quick (the favourite) and Cory Schneider for the U.S. crease and trying to win that elusive Stanley Cup in Tampa.
“I’m not going to go into game thinking, Oh, it’s a contract year. I’m not going to change the way I play or the way I prepare. I’ve been doing the same thing for five or six years. Nothing’s going to change. That stuff takes care of itself,” said Bishop, who’s already been traded twice.
It is pointed out to Bishop that basic math makes it virtually impossible for Tampa, a real championship contender yet again, to keep him as well as top forwards Ondrej Palat, Tyler Johnson and Jonathan Drouin—all three of whom turn RFA next summer—beyond this season. (Oh, and superstar Nikita Kucherov still doesn’t have a deal for 2016-17.)
General manager Steve Yzerman told the Tampa Bay Times Thursday that keeping both Bishop and No. 2 goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy for a Cup run is not a bad option.
Do that, however, and Yzerman risks losing either (a) one of the world’s top goalies right now or (b) a highly touted 22-year-old prospect who signed a team-friendly three-year, $10.5-million extension in July. Just one of them can be protected from Las Vegas’s upcoming expansion draft. We think back to the 2015 Cup Final, when coach Jon Cooper called Bishop and Vasilevsky 1 and 1A.
“I’m just glad I don’t have to make those decisions. That’s why they pay him the big bucks,” Bishop said of Yzerman. “For us, it’s just about doing our job and trying to win a Stanley Cup. Try to win each game. The business side will take care of the business side.”
Lightning players are surely paying attention to the business. Bishop says happy texts and phone calls fly when the club makes major re-signings, like it did with No. 1 centre Steven Stamkos and No. 1 defenceman Victor Hedman this summer.
“Everybody wants everybody on their team to do well. Especially Stammer. He’s been the face of that franchise since the dog days to the good days. It’s nice to see him stay. He’s loved in that town. He’s got a pretty good gig down there. So I was happy to see him stay and be rewarded. He’s been our captain the last year and a half, and he’s done a great job. He sends a message when he comes back and signs the deal he signs for the guys coming up [in contract renewals],” Bishop said. “Everybody knows we have a good team. It’s about coming back together and do the ultimate goal.”
Bishop’s health has been a stumbling block in achieving that goal. The big guy sore-groined his way through the ’15 final, backstopping Tampa within two wins of the finish line. Last spring Bishop left Game 1 of the Eastern Conference final on a stretcher with a left leg injury (and still got the win). Still, he refuses to think of himself as cursed.
“Not at all,” Bishop said. “I’m a pretty durable guy. A couple unfortunate injuries, but I’ve played more games than any other goalie in the league the last three years [212]. I feel pretty good. I don’t have to watch [Vasilevskiy] play too much—that’s good.”
Yzerman refused to trade Stamkos, 2016’s most coveted UFA-in-waiting last season. It |
not be possible if the Chinese government had not made a concerted effort in the last decade to shrink the country’s digital divide by lowering the cost of mobile phone and Internet service in this country — a modernization campaign that has given China the world’s biggest Internet population (400 million) and allowed even the poorest of the poor to log onto the Internet and air their labor grievances.
“This is something people haven’t paid attention to — migrant workers can organize using these technologies,” said Guobin Yang, a professor at Barnard College and author of “The Power of the Internet in China: Citizen Activism Online.”
“Usually we think of this kind of thing being used by middle-class youths and intellectuals,” Professor Yang said.
The Web and digital devices, analysts say, have become vehicles of social change in much the way the typewriter and mimeograph machine were the preferred media during the pro-democracy protests in Beijing in 1989 — before the government put down that movement in the June 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown that left hundreds dead.
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A looming question now, in fact, is whether and when the government might seek to quash the current worker uprisings if they become too big a threat to the established social order. Already, the government has started cracking down on strike-related Web sites and deleted many of the blog posts about the strikes.
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The instant messaging service QQ, which is accessible via the Web or mobile phone — and was perhaps the early favorite network of strike leaders because of its popularity among young people — was soon infiltrated by Honda Lock officials and government security agents, forcing some to move to alternative sites, strike leaders say.
“We’re not using QQ any more,” said one strike leader here. “There were company spies that got in. So now we’re using cellphones more.”
Analysts say they were smart to change.
“QQ offers no protection from eavesdropping by the Chinese authorities, and it is just as well they stopped using it,” said Rebecca MacKinnon, a China specialist and fellow at the Center for Information Technology Policy at Princeton University. “QQ is not secure. You might as well be sharing your information with the Public Security Bureau.”
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But the activists say they are getting around some of those restraints by shifting to different platforms (including a Skype-like network called YY Voice) and using code words to discuss protest gatherings.
For years, labor activists have been exposing the harsh working conditions in Chinese factories by smuggling cellphone images and video out of coastal factories and posting documents showing labor law violations on the Web. New and notable is that these formerly covert activities have become open and pervasive.
Last month, for example, when a string of puzzling suicides was reported at Foxconn Technology near here, one of the world’s largest electronics manufacturers, there were online video postings reportedly showing security guards manhandling workers.
And several people claiming to be Foxconn workers posted their pay stubs online showing that their overtime hours exceeded the legal monthly limit. In Zhongshan, where many of the Honda Lock strikers returned to work at least temporarily on Sunday and Monday while wage negotiations continued, the workers followed a basic model established by those who went on strike last month at a Honda transmission factory in the city of Foshan.
The Foshan strike leaders organized and communicated with more than 600 workers by, among other means, setting up Internet chat rooms on QQ.
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“I created one myself the night before the strike, and that had 40 people,” said Xiao Lang, one of the two Honda strike leaders in Foshan. Mr. Xiao was fired by Honda soon after leading the walkout. “We discussed all kinds of things on it,” he said of the QQ chat room, “such as when to meet, when to walk out and how much pay we want.”
Workers at other Honda factories say they followed the Foshan developments online and began considering their own actions.
The Chinese government allowed the state-run media to publish and broadcast news about the first Foshan strike. But when the strike news went viral, the government issued a notice virtually banning coverage. The workers’ own communications effort, however, never let up.
Those in this same generation of Chinese workers who are less willing to accept the wages and working conditions of their predecessors are also among China’s first digital natives. One of the strikers here in Zhongshan, who is in his early 20s, said he had been using computers since the age of 7.
He learned to upload videos to sites like Youku.com and 56.com. He reads news on Baidu.com.
He has written blog posts about the Honda Lock strike and articles on a QQ space, and said some of his comments had been picked up by the foreign news media, helping to draw even more attention to the Honda Lock strike. Meanwhile, he said, the Chinese state-run news media had ignored telephone calls he placed in hopes of drawing further coverage.
The Honda Lock workers here await the results of a government-led negotiation for higher wages and better working conditions. Even though last weekend they were offered wage increases of only 11 percent, many of the workers say they are still confident they will get a raise of as much as 50 percent — to as much as $234 a month — just as the Honda workers in Foshan did.
“This couldn’t have happened if we didn’t hear about how they were doing things in Foshan,” said the worker who has used computers since age 7. “We followed their lead. So why shouldn’t we get the same pay raise as they did?”San Francisco Police Chief Greg Suhr resigned Thursday at the request of Mayor Ed Lee, hours after the fatal police shooting of a woman renewed questions about whether the Police Department had lost the confidence of minority communities in the city.
Lee had stood by the chief he appointed in 2011 through two controversial police shootings within the past six months and revelations that a number of officers had exchanged racist and homophobic text messages. But at a late-afternoon news conference at City Hall, the mayor said that after Thursday’s shooting, he had “arrived at a different conclusion to the question of how best to move forward.”
“The progress we have made has been meaningful, but it hasn’t been fast enough, not for me and not for Greg, and that’s why I have asked Chief Suhr for his resignation,” Lee said in remarks that lasted five minutes.
Lee named as acting Police Chief Toney Chaplin, 47, a deputy chief overseeing the department’s professional standards and principled policing bureau. The mayor said that he and the Police Commission would begin a national search for a permanent replacement.
The announcement came after Lee and Suhr met in the mayor’s office, with the departing chief exiting a side door without speaking to reporters. Chaplin stood at Lee’s side during the news conference.
Suhr’s resignation came after a tumultuous day that began when two officers came upon a black woman in a sedan on the edge of the Bayview district. The officers suspected the car was stolen, but before they could question the woman, she drove off, police said.
The car crashed into a utility truck a short distance away. Although no weapon was found on the woman and the car was wedged under the truck, a police sergeant fired a single shot, killing her, police said.
Probe just starting
Police said the shooting investigation was in its early stages. Lee agreed that “the facts are still emerging,” but said, “These officer-involved shootings, justified or not, have forced our city to open its eyes to questions of when and how police use lethal force.”
Lee said police shootings had “shaken and divided our city, and tensions between law enforcement and communities of color that have simmered for too many years have come into full view.... The community is grieving, and I join them in that grief.”
Lee added, “In this solemn moment, we must put aside politics and begin to heal the city.”
For the mayor, the shooting happened under the worst circumstances at the worst possible time — what appeared to be an unarmed woman who was black, shot by a sergeant who apparently used none of the de-escalation tactics that Suhr and Lee had been pushing for months.
Before the shooting, there was a feeling in the mayor’s office that public anger about police conduct had peaked and that the chief could stay in his position, at least for several months, said a source close to Lee who was not authorized to speak for attribution.
Thursday’s shooting made that possibility untenable, the source said.
Lee appointed Suhr, 57, in April 2011 when George Gascón became district attorney. A 30-year veteran of the force at the time, Suhr had the backing of the police union and state Attorney General Kamala Harris, Gascón’s predecessor as district attorney.
But Suhr presided over a series of controversies, including the arrests of officers, allegations of racism and racial profiling in the force, and disputed officer-involved shootings.
Two shootings in particular had resulted in calls for Suhr to resign — the December killing of 26-year-old Mario Woods, a stabbing suspect who appeared to be stumbling along a Bayview sidewalk with a knife in his hand when officers shot him more than 20 times, and the April killing in the Mission District of Luis Gongora, 45, a homeless man holding a knife who was shot by an officer less than 30 seconds into a sidewalk confrontation.
Suhr initially defended the officers involved in the Woods shooting, but backtracked as videos circulated that called into question whether Woods had posed an immediate threat. After viewing video of the Gongora incident, Suhr said officers had not appeared to try to de-escalate the situation.
The U.S. Justice Department division in charge of police-community relations is conducting a top-to-bottom review of San Francisco police, and the Police Commission is wrestling with a series of proposals for changing the department’s use-of-force rules.
Calls for ouster
Even before Thursday, Suhr had lost the support of four progressives on the 11-member Board of Supervisors. One of those who had stuck by the chief, Supervisor Norman Yee, said that “with this recent incident today, which is tragic, I think the mayor is doing the right thing asking for his resignation.”
“The chief is a good guy,” Yee said. “He does care about people in San Francisco. And I’m sure that weighed into this decision.”
Supervisor Aaron Peskin, who had declined to comment earlier on whether Suhr should stay, said, “It was an untenable situation, and what needed to happen has happened. The events of this morning were above and beyond the pale.”
Supervisor Scott Wiener had called for Suhr to stay on, and said nothing that happened Thursday changed that.
“I don’t agree with the decision,” Wiener said. “I continue to have confidence in and enormous respect for Greg Suhr.”
The board’s most progressive members — Supervisors Jane Kim, David Campos, Eric Mar and John Avalos — abandoned Suhr after protests spread in reaction to the earlier shootings. Five people went on a 17-day hunger strike to try to force his departure.
The mood was subdued, not celebratory, Thursday evening in front of City Hall, where several dozen people — many of whom had been demanding Suhr be fired — gathered after the resignation was announced. Activists said they did not consider Suhr’s departure a victory.
“It feels strange to celebrate when another person is dead at the hands of SFPD,” said Chiedza Kundidzora, 33, of San Francisco.
In a speech before the crowd, Nation of Islam Minister Christopher Muhammad said Suhr’s resignation came too late.
“The mayor knew that this chief should have been gone six months ago,” he said. “We’re more angry now because two more souls have lost their life since Mario Woods’ murder.”
Lee “was playing politics with the lives of black and brown and poor people, and that’s a crime against humanity,” Muhammad said. “We’re not happy about this. Now we might have to fire the mayor.”
Outside the Hall of Justice, most rank-and-file officers declined to comment on Suhr’s departure. A few said he would be missed, especially among long-term veterans who had worked under him for years.
“Sad to see him go. He was a good guy,” said Officer Jimmy Lewis, a 29-year veteran. Lewis had been disciplined 10 years ago for his involvement in a scandal known as “Videogate,” in which officers in the department’s Bayview Station made a racist, sexist and homophobic videotape.
Suhr, then deputy chief, “helped me out,” Lewis said. “It was a difficult time for me. He gave me moral support.”
Support from officers
“He is probably one of the more progressive chiefs the department has had,” said Officer G. Latus, a 19-year veteran.
Martin Halloran, head of the Police Officers Association, issued a statement calling Suhr “a cop’s cop” and labeling his departure “a great disappointment.”
“His strong leadership, his innovative programs and his hands-on approach have set a standard in the department that will be difficult to repeat,” Halloran said.
He added that the union would work with acting Chief Chaplin, whom Halloran called “more than capable of leading this fine department during this transition.”
Emily Green, Jenna Lyons, Bob Egelko and Erin Allday are San Francisco Chronicle staff writers. Email: egreen@sfchronicle.com, jlyons@sfchronicle.com, begelko@sfchronicle.com, eallday@sfchronicle.comMarcos Rojo has risked the wrath of Louis van Gaal after the Manchester United defender was seen smoking outside a nightclub.
The 26-year-old full back has been on international duty with Argentina and video footage has emerged of him taking a drag on what appears to be a cigarette during a night out.
The clip, which captures the Argentine from across the other side of the road, is sure to rankle with Old Trafford manager Van Gaal ahead of the return of the Premier League.
Marcos Rojo (centre) can be seen taking a drag on what appears to be a cigarette during a night out
The Manchester United defender is seen biting the back of a blonde woman's dress
Rojo can be identified by the distinctive tattoo he has just below his left ear
Rojo drinks from a bottle of water with the tattoo of a diamond clearly visible on his neck
During the clip, uploaded to the Farandula Show YouTube channel, Rojo, who missed a large chunk of this season with a shoulder injury, can be seen laughing and joking with a group of club-goers, including a number of women.
At one point the former Sporting Lisbon star is even seen biting the dress of a blonde woman standing beside him in a seemingly playful, flirtatious manner.
Van Gaal might not be the only person irked by Rojo's behaviour. He is married to lingerie model Eugenia Lusardo and the couple have a young daughter together.
In December 2014, Rojo had an affair with a woman he met at the Manchester United players' Christmas party, an encounter that led to a court battle.
Rojo has been on international duty with Argentina and started games against Chile and Bolivia
Rojo has risked the wrath of Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal over apparent smoking incident
Rojo, 26, joined Manchester United from Sporting Lisbon in the summer of 2014
United defender Rojo is married to Eugenia Lusardo (right) and the couple have a daughter together
The woman in question, Sarah Watson, received the threat of jail, a draconian gagging order and, she says, the outrageous and disturbing claim she was no more than a greedy blackmailer.
Speaking to the Mail On Sunday last April – after the injunction had been lifted – Watson said: 'People who look after Marcos claimed I had demanded £100,000 to keep quiet about our encounter. But it was a lie and they knew it. They tried to trap me.’
Rojo has now risked being thrust into the spotlight again following this week's smoking controversy and his United manager Van Gaal is certain to be unhappy with the unwanted attention.
The Argentine full back poses with wife Lusardo during a night out in this Instagram picture
Rojo had an affair with personal trainer Sarah Watson after the pair met at a United players' Christmas Party
United are facing a battle to secure a spot in next season's Champions League with the club currently sixth in the top flight.
United return to Premier League action against Everton at Old Trafford this Sunday as they look to build on the 1-0 victory in the Manchester derby before the international break.
Rojo started both games at left back as Argentina beat Chile and Bolivia to boost their chances of of qualifying for the 2018 World Cup in Russia after a disappointing start to the campaign.The Russian Orthodox Church has had several prominent painters of icons and frescoes over the centuries – but Andrei Rublev is undoubtedly the most famous.
Rublev’s famous Trinity icon, 1411 or 1425-27 Open sources Open sources
Andrei Rublev’s happy fate
It is safe to say that fate was kind to Andrei Rublev. He gained fame and recognition while he was still among the living, and there are numerous mentions of him in historical chronicles.
Rublev’scustomers included princes and large monasteries, and he lived and worked in Moscow, Vladimir, and Zvenigorod. He was not forgotten after his death; Rublev’s fame as Russia’s most eminent iconographer has survived through the centuries. The Stoglav church synod of 1551 recognized his works as a standard to emulate.
The Russian Old Ritualists also thought very highly of Rublev’s work. His icons were valued by art collectors, who saw them as an embodiment of canonical iconography and ancient piety.
That is why even in the 19th century, when the art of iconography seemed to have been forgotten, the name of Rublev was still famous as the golden standard of ecclesiastical art.
During the Soviet period, Rublev was a symbol of medieval Russian culture. In 1960 UNESCO held international events to mark Rublev’s 600th anniversary. There is a museum of medieval Russian art in Moscow named after Rublev. Meanwhile, scientists have studied meticulously the collection of his icons and frescoes in the Tretyakov Gallery.
Piecing together Rublev’s life
But what do we really know about the iconographer's life as a man of faith? Biographical information about him is extremely scant; researches have had to piece the story of his life together bit by tiny bit.
He was born in the 1360s, but it is impossible to determine a more precise date. The day of his death, however, is well known: it is January 29, 1430.
The last judgement, 1408 Open sources Open sources
Those were dark times in Russia: The country was occupied by the Tatar invaders, who pillaged towns, churches and monasteries, and took people into slavery.
Meanwhile, the vassal Russian princes kept squabbling for power between themselves. Moscow and Nizhniy Novgorod had two epidemics of plague in 1364 and 1366. A large part of Moscow burned to the ground in the devastating fire of 1365. In 1378 the city was invaded by Lithuania’s Prince Algirdas, and there was a famine in 1371.
It is amid that chaos that the future creator of the images of heavenly harmony was brought up. Unfortunately, we know nothing about Rublev’s parents or his social background.
Nevertheless, the very fact that he even had a surname is quite telling, because at the time, only members of the nobility or very wealthy people had surnames. Besides, "Rublev” may be an indication of his forefathers' trade. The name Rublev probably derives from the verb rubit (to cut wood) or from the noun rubel, which can be either a long wooden pole or a tool used by tanners.
We don’t know where Rublev learned iconography, or who his teacher was. Neither is there any information about his early works. The first mention of Rublev is made in a 1405 chronicle, in which it states that the Annunciation Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin was decorated by a team of three craftsmen commissioned by Grand Duke Vasiliy Dmitrievich.
The craftsmen were Feofan the Greek, Prokhor the Elder from Gorodets, and the monk Andrei Rublev. The fact that Rublev’s name is mentioned at all in the chronicle suggests that he was already a highly respected craftsman at the time. But he is mentioned as the last of the three, which means that he was a junior member of the team.
Since Rublev was a monk, his fist name, Andrei, was probably given to him when he took the vows; his birth name must have been different. The vows were probably taken at the Trinity Monastery under Nikon Radonezhskiy, a disciple and successor of the Reverend Sergiy Radonezhskiy.
This is mentioned in chronicles dating back to the 18th century. Many of Rublev’s most famous works were created at the Trinity Monastery, or at the monastery’s commission. He spent his last years at the Spaso-Andronikov Monastery, which was founded by another of Sergiy Radonezhskiy's disciples, Reverend Andronik.
A standard of ecclesiastical art
The second mention of Rublev’s name is made in a 1408 chronicle in connection with the decoration of the Assumption Cathedral in Vladimir.
The monument to Andrei Rublev in the city of Vladimir Petr Adam Dohnálek Petr Adam Dohnálek
Rublev worked on that project with another iconographer, Daniil Cherny, who is described as Rublev’s “friend and fellow-faster."Cherny was also a monk, probably a Greek or a Serb, as his last name suggests.
Cherny is mentioned first in the chronicle, meaning that he was either the elder of the two, or held the more senior rank. He figures prominently in Rublev’s subsequent life.
The Assumption Cathedral in Vladimir was one of the main cathedrals of the Russian Church, so decorating it was an extremely important project.
The cathedral itself was built in the 12th century, but all its frescoes and icons were lost in 1238 during the Tatar-Mongol occupation. Grand Duke Vasiliy Dmitrievich therefore commissioned a restoration project.
In the mid-1420s Rublev and Cherny oversaw another project at the Trinity Cathedral of the Troitse-Sergiev Monastery. The frescoes have been lost, but the iconostasis has survived.
Rublev’s famous Trinity icon, which is regarded as the highest artistic expression of the Trinitarian Dogma, was also created for the Trinity Cathedral. According to the chronicles, Nikon Radonezhsky commissioned the icon “in memory and glory of Reverend Sergei.”
He spent his last years at the Spaso-Andonikov Monastery. Unfortunately, the frescoes and icons of the monastery’s Spassky Cathedral created by Rublev have not survived.
Shortly after Rublev’s death in the 15th century, locals began revere him as Reverend Andrei the Iconicist at the Troitse-Sergiev and Spaso-Andronikov monasteries, where he had spent many years. He was canonized a saint by the Russian Orthodox Church in 1988.
First published in Russian in Neskuchnyy Sad.
All rights reserved by Rossiyskaya Gazeta.By Derrick Broze
Cannonball, North Dakota – On Wednesday afternoon police with the Morton County Sheriff’s office and surrounding counties entered the north entrance of the Oceti Sakowin camp, north of the Cannonball River. The Oceti camp, along with the Sacred Stone Camp, have been one of several sites of resistance to the Dakota Access Pipeline since last summer.
Early Wednesday afternoon, the Sacred Stone Camp posted the following status and video:
“Militarized Police are massed at the entrance of the Big Camp on 1806 with humvees, armored vehicles, and lots of personnel. SHARE! #NoDAPL #DeFundDAPL #MniWiconi #WaterisLife #Resist#HonortheTreaties “
The Oceti Sakowin Camp also posted live video confirming the presence of law enforcement.
In yet another video posted to Facebook, heavily militarized police dressed in riot gear can be seen standing together. There are also multiple reports of the return of the LRAD sound cannon.
As Anti Media previously noted, the plan to remove the remaining people at the resistance camps was set into motion by both the local authorities and the Standing Rock Sioux who voted unanimously to close the camps down to due flood risks. Still, water protectors, as the pipeline opponents prefer to be called, worry that the shutting down of the camps is part of a larger push towards friendly relations with the oil industry under the newly inaugurated President Trump. The camps have been plagued with violence from police as they attempt to stop the construction of the controversial DAPL.
Stay tuned to Activist Post for details as this situation develops.
Derrick Broze is an investigative journalist and liberty activist. He is the Lead Investigative Reporter for ActivistPost.com and the founder of the TheConsciousResistance.com. Follow him on Twitter. Derrick is the author of three books: The Conscious Resistance: Reflections on Anarchy and Spirituality and Finding Freedom in an Age of Confusion, Vol. 1 and Finding Freedom in an Age of Confusion, Vol. 2
Derrick is available for interviews. Please contact [email protected]
This article may be freely reposted in part or in full with author attribution and source link.Former Florida governor cites Republican party’s lurch to the right as reason for joining Democrats and Obama
Former Florida governor Charlie Crist has completed his political conversion, announcing on Twitter that he has joined the Democrats as a result of the Republican party’s swing to the right.
The one-time GOP politician, who ran unsuccessfully for the US Senate as an independent, had earlier signalled his support for President Barack Obama and campaigned on his behalf ahead of the November election.
News that Crist has formalised the move to the Democratic party will prompt speculation that he may lobby for a run at his old seat in the 2014 gubernatorial race in Florida.
The 56-year-old politician tweeted out a picture of him and his wife Carole holding aloft a Florida voter registration application.
The accompanying message read: “Proud and honored to join the Democratic Party in the home of President @BarackObama.”
According to the Tampa Bay Times, Crist signed the papers changing his affiliation from independent to Democrat at a Christmas reception at the White House. President Obama is said to have greeted the news with a fist bump.
“I’ve had friends for years tell me, ‘You know Charlie, you’re a Democrat and you don’t know it,'” Crist told the newspaper Friday night.
In making the move from Republican to Democrat, the former state governor cited his former party’s lurch to the right on issues such as immigration, education and the environment.
Crist was elected Florida governor in 2006 while in the GOP. But in 2010, under a primary challenge from the right, he opted to run as an independent, losing a three-way Senate contest to rising Republican star Marco Rubio.
In Florida, talk is likely to turn to a possible run in 2014 against governor Rick Scott.
The two men have already clashed, recently over demands – rebuffed by Scott – to extend early voting in the state ahead of the 6 November general election.
Crist would face a stiff challenge from established Democrats in the state if he were to run. Outgoing Florida Democratic party chairman Rod Smith joked in regards to the former Republican that just because someone joins the congregation, “you don’t make them the preacher”.
Nonetheless, Republicans have sharpened their attacks on Crist, drawing attention to past statements in which the convert was openly critical of Obama.
“Charlie Crist’s first official act as a Democrat was to tell a lie about why he is now pretending to be one,” the Florida GOP said in a statement early Saturday. “The truth is that this self-professed, Ronald Reagan Republican only abandoned his pro-life, pro-gun, conservative principles in 2010 after he realized that Republicans didn’t want to send him to Washington DC as a senator, especially after he proved he couldn’t do the job as governor.”
© Guardian News and Media 2012Are excessive traffic fines and debtors' jails fuelling community tensions in suburban Missouri? Claire Bolderson reports on a network of ninety separate cities in St Louis County, most of which have their own courts and police forces. Critics say that their size makes them financially unviable and allege that some of them boost their incomes by fining their own citizens and locking them up when they can't pay.
This edition of Assignment goes out and about in St Louis County to meet the people who say they are victims of an unfair system which sees arrest warrants issued for relatively minor misdemeanours. Many of the victims are poor and black. The programme also takes us into the courts themselves, and out onto the freeways with some of the County's police, who say they are merely upholding the law and promoting road safety.
So are the cities of St Louis County really engaged in a money-making racket? Claire Bolderson discovers that, whatever the truth, there is a widespread perception that they are. Relations between citizens and authorities are poor at best. The Missouri state authorities are now investigating some of these cities. And, given that one of the ninety cities is Ferguson, where riots erupted last year following the shooting of young black teenager Michael Brown, the stakes for this corner of America are high.
Produced by Michael Gallagher
(Photo: Greendale, one of the ninety separate cities which make up St Louis County. Credit: BBC)Sir Timothy Gowers has announced on his blog a new journal, Discrete Analysis, of which he will be the managing editor. Rather than a traditional journal, this will be an open-access ‘arXiv overlay’.
Like a traditional maths journal, an arXiv overlay accepts submissions of papers from authors, coordinates their peer review by other mathematicians, and ultimately decides which to accept, essentially providing a stamp of approval that the stuff they accept is probably not nonsense. But where a traditional journal then publishes those papers on their website (and some, so I’ve heard, even print them all out every so often, bind them together and mail them to a bunch of Univerity libraries), an arXiv overlay journal lets the arXiv handle that.
The arXiv is a website that hosts preprints of research papers (ie, versions the authors want to make available before they’re formally published). The idea is that since many mathematicians are making their papers freely available on the arXiv anyway before publication, there’s really no need to separately publish them elsewhere once a journal has given them the thumbs-up. So instead an arXiv overlay journal simply provides links to the final revised versions of the papers it’s ‘published’, uploaded at the arXiv (all on a very nice journal website of course).
So why is this needed? Money reasons, of course! Traditional journals charge quite a lot, either to subscribers or authors, for the provision of an arguably redundant service. (This is a matter Gowers has written about before.) They typically don’t pay editors, reviewers or authors, and all that fiddly typesetting is now mostly taken care of by the author’s fluent grasp of LaTeX, so their fees are entirely to cover overhead costs that an overlay journal only incurs a fraction of (and generate profit of course).
Gowers says that the software powering their journal charges $10 per submission, which will be initially covered by a grant from Cambridge University, making the journal entirely free for authors and readers initially with at most a modest fee thereafter.
More information
The announcement at Gowers’ Weblog
The arXivGREEN BAY, Wis. -- T.J. Lang avoided any major structural damage to his injured left ankle, and the Green Bay Packers' starting right guard will not need surgery, according to a source.
However, the Packers won't know until next week whether he will be available for their post-bye game against the Chicago Bears on Nov. 9.
"Not sure about a timetable yet," the source said.
The injury was diagnosed as a sprain. Lang was injured at the end of the first series in Sunday's 44-23 loss at the New Orleans Saints. He appeared to land awkwardly while blocking an extra point. He played just five snaps on offense and the lone special teams snap.
He left the Superdome in a walking boot and did not speak to reporters. However, he tweeted a message earlier this week.
Optimistic about the ankle injury and thankful for the bye! Thanks for the kind words. — TJ Lang (@TJLang70) October 27, 2014
Second-year pro Lane Taylor finished the game in Lang's spot. However, if Lang can't play against the Bears, the Packers may opt to use JC Tretter at right guard instead of Taylor.
Tretter, who was slated to be the starting center this season, is eligible to come off the injured reserve/designated to return list this week. Given how well rookie Corey Linsley has played in Tretter's spot, it's unlikely the Packers will go back to Tretter at center.
The Packers are monitoring several other injuries during their bye week. They were without three defensive starters -- safety Morgan Burnett (calf), cornerback Sam Shields (knee) and defensive end Datone Jones (ankle) -- against the Saints.A 22-year-old man charged with second-degree murder, after Winnipeg teenager Cooper Nemeth's body was found in a garbage bin, was on probation at the time of his arrest for an assault dating back to October 2014.
Winnipeg resident Cooper Nemeth, 17, went missing on Feb. 14 and his body was found Feb. 20. (Supplied) Nicholas Bell-Wright was arrested early Sunday morning in The Maples neighbourhood of Winnipeg. The body of 17-year-old Nemeth was found Saturday night behind a house on Bayne Crescent in the city's East Kildonan area.
Bell-Wright has one prior conviction for assault based on an incident that occurred on Oct. 24, 2014, according to court documents. Audio recorded during his July 2015 hearing reveals the assault took place in a field on the grounds of River East Collegiate.
Bell-Wright spotted his niece talking to a 16-year-old boy. The boy was with another teen at the time who has an intellectual disability.
'Serious assault'
At the time, Crown attorney Kerri Anderson said according to statements given to police, Bell-Wright grabbed the 16-year-old boy, threw him to the ground, punched him in the face and stomach.
He then threw the victim against a tree and said, "If I ever see your face in this area again, I'm going to cut your head off," Anderson said.
There's no excuse for you assaulting a 16-year-old boy. - Judge Margaret Wiebe
Based on audio from the sentencing hearing, court also heard the victim suffered a cut to his face below the eyebrow, with provincial court Judge Margaret Wiebe characterizing the situation as a "serious assault."
Cam Pauls, Bell-Wright's defence attorney at the time, said his client regretted and apologized for his behaviour. Bell-Wright asked the court for a lenient, conditional release, citing his previously spotless criminal record.
But Judge Wiebe did not grant the conditional release. Instead, Bell-Wright received a suspended sentence that included one year of supervised probation.
"There's no excuse for you assaulting a 16-year-old boy," Wiebe told Bell-Wright at the sentencing hearing last summer.
"You, as a 21-year-old, went after a 16-year-old. I'm not prepared to give a conditional discharge."
Wiebe told Bell-Wright he needed to attend counselling to help manage his anger as part of the rehabilitation process. She also imposed the condition that he is not to have contact with the victim.
Timeline of Nemeth disappearance
Nemeth went missing Feb. 14 after last being seen at a house party one street from where he was found.
The owner of the Bayne Crescent home was not involved in the homicide, but called police after finding items scattered in their yard and seeing legs coming out of a trash bin.
Police believe Nemeth was killed at another location and moved to that home.
Bell-Wright was living a few blocks away, in a public housing unit on Treger Bay. On Friday, police gathered evidence in plastic bags and towed a car from behind that residence.
They have not said where they believe Nemeth died, or how he was killed.
Bell-Wright said nothing as he appeared in court for the first time Monday via video link. His case has been held over until March 4.According to reports from both Mission Local and Broke-Ass Stewart, about 20 "Proud Boys" showed up to Southern Pacific Brewing Company on Friday night for a meetup. [Ed. note: See a statement from the Proud Boys below.]
The Proud Boys are the same alt-right fraternity, started by VICE Mag co-founder turned "pro-Western" pundit Gavin McInnes, that organized the rally in Berkeley this past March that led multiple others this year filled with violence between left and right. Specifically, the Proud Boys are dedicated to upholding many of the alt-right's anti-immigration, anti-Semitic, bigoted viewpoints, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center, though the internal conflicts in the group over their association with white nationalists and Charlottesville were the subject of a recent This American Life segment. (McInnes liked to define the Proud Boys as "alt-right without the racism," and he likes to say they're "mostly about beer," but that became fraught after members of a local chapter allegedly took part in Charlottesville.)
On Saturday, following reports about the meetup, Southern Pacific Brewing Company posted an apology on Facebook trying to distance itself from the group. It reads:
To address the concerns of last night:
The security company that we employ were not immediately aware of the affiliation of the group that was let into the bar. After they were recognized by bar tending staff, the staff and security decided not to engage with this dangerous group to ensure the safety of everyone here. By no means does Southern Pacific support this group, and they are not welcome on the premises. We’ve spoken to our security company so this group will not be allowed in. We understand your safety concerns. And want you to know that Southern Pacific is a non-affiliated space built |
I'm trying to say."
Elsa nodded, also not one hundred percent on what Anna was trying to say, but she could tell it was a compliment if nothing else. "Well, it wasn't exactly like you weren't the bell of the ball, either, Anna. And having traveled all the way up the mountain, with only Kristoff for company? Without any ice magic? You looked like you could take on the world. Confidence looks good on you." She mused with a smile.
"Really?" she said with a huge grin. "Wow… but yeah, I mean, I already thought you looked beautiful at the ball, but then so much more beautifuller in the palace! And you had breasts!" Anna snorted at her own word. "Breasts… sorry, that's probably weird to say like that. But I don't know, it would be like… if I turned around and saw Olaf had breasts. Just unexpected! Since we didn't see that much of each other since we were kids, and the noronation dress was more, y'know, bulkier. But your ice dress was like, WOWZERS! Who knew my sister could be so attractive?"
Elsa's expression had taken one of mild shock when Anna mentioned her breasts; she had really not been expecting that, but it was a compliment nonetheless. The blonde smiled, hitching the blanket higher toward her shoulders - subconsciously to hide them.
"Um, wow, thank you, Anna. I grew them myself," she added, to lighten the mood and relieve any awkwardness Anna might be feeling about mentioning them. Anna did laugh so hard she snorted. "We spent a long time apart, so I can realistically understand your surprise in its totality."
"Grew them yourself," she snickered. "Elsas are in season!"
Shaking her head at how ridiculous Anna could be, she finished off the last bit of her drink and set the cup down. The sun was just barely beginning to peek through their curtains. "This was our first vigil, Anna." She looked over at her sister. She knew Anna was always up for marking occasions with unique gestures, like the gloves she bronzed. "We need to make the end of it memorable. Any ideas?"
That got Anna pulling a thinking face, much sillier than her usual thinking face due to her tiredness and the leftover effects of the glogg. "Hmm… okay, how about this? No, wait, listen. We get all the leftover lutefisk together and put it on a big-"
The doors to the room slammed open, echoing off the walls, and Anna yelped and hopped directly into Elsa's lap.
"Have no fear! Olaf is here!"
The familiar voice prompted a sigh of relief in Elsa, her body relaxing from its stiffness. "There you are, Olaf. We were worried about you, figured you must have fallen asleep."
"Asleep?! ASLEEP? On a night like this? This very special night of specialness? No, I didn't fall asleep, silly!" He was all but shouting as he waddled his way around the sofa to face the two royals. "I was looking for this!"
He thrust his little twig arm up with the utmost purpose revealing what appeared to be a few leaves on the end of a stick.
"Is that..?" Elsa's brow rose. Before her question could be finalized, Olaf was already climbing onto the arm of the couch and hovering above them, said plant hoisted above their heads.
"It's MISTLETOE!" he cheered. "One of the Yule traditions that exploded when I was trying to get back to you guys! And you know what happens under mistletoe!"
Elsa's cheeks flushed lightly. One could attribute it to the fire if they so pleased, but she knew what it was really for. Wasn't that tradition supposed to be for married couples and budding lovers? But maybe a little peck would be fun, and it was in the holiday spirit.
Anna was still looking between the mistletoe and Olaf, then to Elsa, clearly trying to remember what its purpose was but drawing a blank. "What?" she finally asked as she turned-
But any further words were cut off. While Anna was staring at Olaf, Elsa decided to go in for a cheek kiss, eyes closed and ready for the affection… however, in the midst of her lean-in, Anna had changed her facial direction, causing the simple cheek kiss to become something a little more intimate.
As Elsa's lips met Anna's she was surprised that she didn't pull away — that neither of them did, really. In fact, Elsa seemed to melt into it, prolonging their moment of intimacy while her hand rose to gently cup Anna's cheek. There was a soft squeak from Anna, but when she felt the gentle coaxing of her sister's lips, she didn't protest or do anything to end the connection. Both her hands rose to rest on Elsa's back, eyes closing as she began to kiss back.
Suddenly, everything seemed to sort of… click. Everything Anna had been saying earlier made sense, and everything Elsa felt when she looked at Anna also made sense. This, them… they made sense together in a way neither sister expected. And if the way Anna was returning the gesture with all her heart was any indication, it made just as much sense to her.
The wave of pure emotion that blindsided Elsa caused her to tear up and she inevitably broke the kiss, resting her forehead against Anna's. She was more at peace than anything, and with a small smile she whispered, "Happy Yule."
"Hahh…" Clearing her throat to recover, a deeply-blushing Anna breathed, "Happy Yule, Elsa. Love you."
How could the same words they said so often feel so different? But Elsa had no desire to resist saying them back. "Love you, too, Anna."
"Wooooow," Olaf drawled, unblinking eyes still staring at them. "That worked a lot better than when I tried it with Anna and Kristoff! Does that mean this is better mistletoe? Should I stock up?"
The two broke their adoring gazes to grab the little snowman and snuggle him, laughing joyfully. Their oldest Yule tradition had somehow led to a brand new one they hoped to continue for many more seasons.
~ * Happy Yule * ~The new head of the UK’s privacy watchdog plans to crack down on major technology companies, promising to “delve deeper” into the sector and push to align the UK with strict new EU data laws after Brexit.
In her maiden speech as information commissioner, Elizabeth Denham warned companies that deal with vast amounts of customer data that they could face investigation under her new regime and, if found to be mishandling information, potentially strict penalties.
"Whatever data protection law we have post-Brexit, I expect to see organisations taking responsibility for their actions, no matter how quick the technological change," said Ms Denham. "We have powers to issue fines of up to half a million pounds which could eventually rise to 4pc of a business' global turnover. In an ideal world we wouldn't need to enforce, but we will use the stick in the cupboard when necessary."Breaking: Homicide suspect shoots himself at Sheriff's Office as he turns himself in @abc13houston @13PhotogReed pic.twitter.com/HZ6f9aF6jJ — Marla Carter (@MarlaABC13) February 21, 2016
The woman opened her car door, stepping out into the pre-dawn darkness of the Harris County, Tex., Sheriff’s Office substation parking lot. She’d been up all night, arguing with her teenage son about what they were about to do. And here they were, watching as a deputy walked over to them to ask whether they needed help.
The mother spoke first: My son just killed a man, she told the deputy. I’m here to turn him in.
The deputy went over to the boy, officials told KHOU, and asked whether this was true.
“Yes,” the boy replied.
Then he got out of the car and put a handgun to his head. The deputy pulled out his own weapon, ordering the young man to drop the gun.
Instead, the boy pulled the trigger, firing a single bullet into his skull as the deputy and his own mother watched in horror. He was taken to the hospital in critical condition and later died.
Reports have conflicted about whether the boy is 17 or 18 years old.
The nightmare in Katy, Tex., just outside Houston, had begun hours earlier, when the teenager — who has not been identified — allegedly got into an argument with another man about a girl they were both dating, Harris County Sheriff’s Sgt. Cedrick Collier told the Associated Press.
Darian Mitchell, who is friends with the teenager, said the two were hanging out at his house when he got a call from his girlfriend.
“He was like, ‘What are y’all doing?’ and she said, ‘I’m cheating on you right now.’ He got so mad so he kept yelling. He told her and her boyfriend to come meet us, to talk,” Mitchell told KHOU. “I don’t know why he was tripping over this one girl, but it was not worth it.”
The woman and the other man, who friends identified as 25-year-old Army veteran James Ayala, drove up to Mitchell’s house just after midnight. There was an argument, then the teenager pulled out a gun, fatally shooting Ayala, Mitchell said.
Two men were seen fleeing the scene of the shooting in a white car, officials told the Houston Chronicle.
When the teenager’s mother found out what happened, she argued that he needed surrender to the police, according to the Chronicle. She drove him to the sheriff’s substation about 5:30 a.m. Sunday.
Then the unthinkable happened.
Collier told the Associated Press that the mother spoke to authorities after her son shot himself.
“She’s obviously destroyed because she just witnessed her son commit suicide in front of her,” he said.
The deputy who witnessed the shooting has been placed on administrative leave so he can “clear his head and make sure he’s OK” before returning to work, Collier added. The deputy did not fire his weapon during the incident.
The killing is still under investigation, the Chronicle reported.
Aaron Summerour, a neighbor of the teenager who killed himself, told KHOU that the boy went to nearby Morton Ranch High School. He had once been “mixed up with the wrong crowd,” the TV station reported, saying he was starting to turn his life around, citing neighbors of the teenager.
“He sounded like he was doing good. He had a job, he was getting his car. He had everything together and now that I hear this, it’s unreal, you know what I mean?” Summerour said.
Ayala, the 25-year-old victim, was a father of five and a “standout guy in the Army,” Jordan Downhour told the Houston Chronicle.
Downhour had been stationed with Ayala at Fort Stewart in Georgia. Ayala left the Army as a corporal E-4 a few years ago.
“He took me under his wing and picked me up in Brigade. He showed me all the ropes,” Downhour said. “… I wish he would’ve stayed in. I think this wouldn’t have happened.”
Ayala’s family members were reluctant to speak with KPRC, another local TV station — they were too distraught, reporter Bill Spencer said.
But one relative, recalling how Ayala had served in Iraq, said this: “It’s so sad and crazy that he risked his life all of that time defending our country, only to come back here and be murdered by some kid with a gun.”
More from Morning Mix
Everyone thought the 14-year-old Kalamazoo, Mich., shooting victim had died. Then she squeezed her mom’s hand.Vince Cable recently said that if Lib Dems can “occupy that enormous ground in the middle of politics we’ve got tremendous opportunity”.
He’s only part right. To occupy is to inhabit a space that is otherwise vacant. There is a missing middle in British politics but that’s the point – it’s missing. There’s nothing there to inhabit. First it needs to be built in terms of a reality in Parliament and an idea based vision. This requires leadership.
So before Vince gets carried away with talk of the “political winds blowing in the Lib Dem’s favour” he would do well to remember that 7.4 per cent of the vote and 12 MPs isn’t much to work with. It’s a stump – and the centre ground cannot be rebuilt by it in its current form. He should then ask: Who are the Lib Dems? What are they for?
Here are the answers he should come up with. The Liberal Democrats are the party of the radical centre, not some confused wet-lettuce centrism.
They stand for a democracy that is devolved to powerful cities and regions because when politics is closer to the people it’s more responsive to the people.
They stand for a reformed electoral system that is representative rather than discriminatory.
They stand for an elected upper chamber because the House of Lords is bloated and undemocratic.
They stand for legalising cannabis not so everyone can spend their days smoking hash but to regulate a market that takes the dangerous stuff off the streets, helps those with addictions and removes the profit for gangs. All this whilst tax receipts flow to the exchequer.
They stand for radical long-term settlements on care and the NHS because playing the ‘We’re promising more money than the others’ game solves nothing. (Broader thinking is needed on entitlements more generally so that those who gain more pay more. It’s unfair that poorer taxpayers subsidise something from which they don’t benefit).
They stand for maintaining close ties with the EU and its single market because it’s stupid to bang on about the unreality of taking control of our money, laws and borders whilst ignoring the economic and regulatory realities of trade.
They stand for an economy that combines enterprise with equality because that’s how a free-market economy fosters a free, open society.
In the election campaign little was made of most of these principles. The electorate couldn’t answer the ‘Who?’ and the ‘What for?’ questions. If the next leader is to have a chance in rebuilding the centre-ground then they must start with vision and dispense with plucky gimmicks. Proudly giving the case for the party’s main standing points would be a start.
That won’t be enough. It is imperative that the new centre-ground takes stock of the political psychology behind seemingly intolerant backlashes. Brexit was a response from those who have a group based identity; who fear rapid change; who feel removed from a de-industrialised country where having a degree is the only ticket to success; who are geographically immobile thus unnerved by immigration. Their worries have been left, festering for too long. The result? We are living through it. Political chaos.
Therefore, for the new middle to emerge it must (as political psychologist Jonathan Haidt argues) empathise with the moral tenets: group loyalty, authority and the belief that ‘sacred’ ideas that should be off-limits. Connecting with issues of injustice and suffering is important but it ought be combined with action that understands more conservative feelings.
However, there is little purpose in developing such a vision without the numbers in Parliament. The potential is there and the ground fertile. One commentator rightly argued that the election result was not a vote for two-party politics but rather ‘none of the above politics’ – people are screaming for something different.
Labour’s success in the election was based on sentiment. Corbyn was the beacon of hope against May’s cold detachment. Class based loyalty is on the ebb with Labour winning over the wealthy middle class and Conservatives gaining with the working class. In short, the glue is melting and support is fickle.
Centre rooted MPs are frustrated. Tory moderates are at a loss, watching the party shoot each other over Europe, ignoring domestic plights – and the suffering behind them. Meanwhile, so-called ‘blairites’ witness, jaws-dropped, their leadership throw away the case for remaining in the single market.
The people are there. They just need a real alternative. The likes of Heidi Allen, Anna Soubry, Liz Kendall and Alison McGovern, all preach from similar hymn sheets.
So Vince. You are right about the opportunity in the missing middle, but occupation is a big word for a small party.
The Liberal Democrats have risen from the ashes before. Still, if the party really wants to occupy the centre ground it’s got to build it first.
We must, we can – so we will.
* Will Parker is a Liberal Democrat member in Winchester. He is studying History and Politics at the University of Exeter and also writes at notboliticspolitics.GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump faced a backlash after posting a tweet of Hillary Clinton next to $100 bills and a Star of David-like logo. The Post's Robert Costa explains why this latest controversy is typical of the way Trump's campaign operates. (Bastien Inzaurralde/The Washington Post)
This article has been updated.
After several days spent parsing the meeting between Bill Clinton and Attorney General Loretta Lynch on the tarmac in Phoenix, news that Hillary Clinton had at last been interviewed by the FBI over the issue of the email server she used at the State Department should have given Donald Trump a welcome break from the spotlight.
And then Trump tweeted.
On Saturday morning, Trump's presidential campaign posted a detail from a recent Fox News poll on the social media network. The survey showed that a majority of Americans -- 58 percent -- thought use of the word "corrupt" to describe the presumptive Democratic nominee was accurate. This, Trump figured, made Clinton the "most corrupt candidate ever," as the tweet suggested. (For what it's worth: 45 percent of Americans thought the word applied to Trump.)
So that was the tweet, which included a picture of Clinton and, to her right, a six-pointed star with the words "Most Corrupt Candidate Ever!" superimposed over a backdrop of a pile of money.
It didn't take long before people on Twitter noticed that the tweet might be interpreted as anti-Semitic. Trump tweeted the message again, this time replacing the star with a circle to highlight his new title for Clinton. But the damage had been done.
Trump changed his Star of David to a circle. I took a screenshot of the original. pic.twitter.com/TkBxTaAORc — Sarah Kendzior (@sarahkendzior) July 2, 2016
We don't have a great metric to determine the extent to which news stories get national attention, but we can approximate it using Google searches. Over the course of the past 48 hours, a lot of people have been searching for "Clinton FBI," presumably to learn more about the state of the investigation. Bill Clinton's politically stupid move already meant that his wife was going to get a lot of attention. It was compounded once the FBI interview became public.
But despite that interest, searches for "Star of David" matched "Clinton FBI" Saturday morning, and have been getting about 55 percent as much interest as the Clinton-related term since noon.
How do we know this search interest is because of Trump? Here are the top searches including the term:
trump star of david
donald trump star of david
trump star of david tweet
trump
donald trump
This is not the first time that Trump has turned a good campaign day into something of a tie. Trump's Twitter account has probably gotten him a lot of free attention, but it's also one of the most common sources for campaign gaffes and screw-ups. (There was the time he tweeted an image including a swastika, for example.)
There's no indication that the use of an apparent Star of David was anything other than a mistake by the Trump campaign. (Update: The same can't be said of the image itself, which the campaign didn't make. Mic.com found that it originally appeared in an anti-Semitic context.) But the mistake came at a time when the political world could have only been talking about Hillary Clinton's troubles.
Oops.
Update, Monday: But it didn't end there. On Monday morning, immediately after tweeting his July Fourth greeting (complete with #Trump2016 hashtag), Trump raised the issue of the tweet once again.
Dishonest media is trying their absolute best to depict a star in a tweet as the Star of David rather than a Sheriff's Star, or plain star! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 4, 2016
And with that, on the morning of the holiday, a lot more people were interested in learning more about the Star of David than Clinton's problems. That spike at the right is partly about more people using Google as they wake up. It's also in part about Trump's tweet.
The goal of Trump's tweet wasn't really to explain himself or rationalize the tweet; it was to reinforce to his fans that the media is "dishonest." That may be effective. But the worst possible way to get people to stop talking about an issue is to keep talking about it.Two men were rushed to the hospital from Dolores Park Thursday, after two different crimes led to their injury.
According to the San Francsico Police Department, officers were called to the park at 4:30 p.m. Thursday, after a 22-year-old man was struck over the head with a bottle.
Police say that the victim had been told that a third party had been robbed, so the victim approached the robbery suspect on the robbery victim's behalf.
Over the course of the confrontation, the alleged robber smashed a bottle over the head of the man calling him out regarding the alleged crime.
The bashed man was transported to San Francisco General Hospital for treatment of non-life-threatening injuries sustained in the attack. The suspect, regarding whom the police did not provide any details, remains at large.
Police were back at the park at 9 p.m., when a shooting was reported on the park's northeastern tip at 18th and Dolores Streets.
In that case, police say that a 29-year-old man was approached by two male suspects in their 20s, one of whom asked him for a cigarette. The victim said he didn't smoke, at which point the same man asked him for a lighter.
When the victim pulled out his lighter to lend to the man, the suspect "pulled out a handgun" police say. The victim "grabbed onto the handgun, when a struggle ensued."
Over the course of the struggle, the second suspect pulled the victim's wallet from his pants pocket. "At this time the handgun discharged," police say, striking the victim. The suspects fled the scene on foot, according to the SFPD, stolen wallet in hand,
The victim was transported to San Francisco General Hospital to be treated for the gunshot wound, which police say is not life-threatening.
As with the earlier attack, the suspects remain on the loose. According to the SFPD, no arrests have been made in either case.
Related: Man Stabs Two People In The Face Near Dolores ParkIran’s President-elect Hassan Rohani is saying all the right things to the 50.71 percent of Iranians who voted for change in mid-June elections: He promised again today to ease censorship and social and Internet restrictions, and to restore “mutual trust” between the people and clergy.
“A strong government does not mean a government that interferes and intervenes in all affairs [and] that limits the lives of the people,” Mr. Rohani told fellow clerics in Tehran.
Rohani said it was “not possible” to attract Iran’s young society with “harsh views,” nor with state television that broadcasts a panda birth in China but ignores protests by unpaid workers. The speech comes after Rohani also vowed to correct the “imbalanced” application of Iran’s Constitution in an interview with a youth magazine.
“The freedom and rights of people have been ignored but those of the rulers have been emphasized,” Rohani told the weekly, Chelcheragh. “Restricting [people’s right] to criticize will only stifle and lead to inefficiency.”
But even as the centrist politician seeks to reassure moderates in Iran, what of the conservative “principlist” and hardline factions that were defeated by Rohani’s shock first-round win?
Still stunned by the defeat of their own five candidates, they are licking their wounds, and warning that Rohani’s new cabinet should not include “seditious” members of the opposition 2009 Green Movement, which would invite chaos and a violent response.
There has been a swift reaction to these warnings, however, evidence that Iran’s post-election debate is signaling a new moderation from both the left and the right. Indeed, while Rohani speaks of civil liberties and “more transparency” in nuclear talks, he also has clear public support from the most powerful in the regime: Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and the Revolutionary Guard.
“Iranian state and society has no place for radicalism now,” says a political analyst in Tehran who asked not to be named. “The atmosphere in Iran today is more than an alliance, it is kind of accepting a coexistence with each other,” she says. “As for radicals, I believe that the leadership is willing to control them, not only [Khamenei] but principlists [conservatives] who support Rohani are not going to allow radicals to do whatever they like.”
(For more insight on Rohani, read Scott Peterson's report on the president-elect and what it means to be a centrist in Iran.)
The vigilante tool
Small but persuasive in their use of violence, hardline vigilante groups such as Ansar-e Hezbollah were deployed frequently in the 1990s and early 2000s to signal their dissent to reformists during the presidency of Mohammad Khatami. Wielding clubs and chains, they broke up political meetings and student protests during the Khatami era. Years later, in 2009 they were sent out again – alongside Basij militia and other security forces – to crush post-election street protests.
In a bid to avoid a renewal of such violence, even as Rohani promises an end to the “securitized atmosphere” and less-tight social strictures, other moderate voices are also making themselves heard.
In one explicit warning to Allah Karam, the leader of Ansar-e Hezbollah, the Alef news website of prominent conservative lawmaker Ahmad Tavakoli wrote: “We should hope that the sword which has come out of its scabbard [will] return back in, so that a country finally seeing some happiness wouldn’t fall into chaos.”
The Alef warning stated: “Surely those friends [Ansar-e Hezbollah] that always displayed loyalty to the Leader … should show loyalty today as well and prevent Iran from becoming a country where politics are determined in the streets.”
Rohani’s victory was greeted with euphoric scenes in the streets, a waving of ribbons and flags of the purple color chosen by his campaign. The symbolism was similar to the “green” campaign of 2009 that saw millions of Iranians take to the streets in protest over election fraud, and two Green Movement presidential candidates, Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karrubi, placed under house arrest.
All eyes on the cabinet picks
Rohani has promised to seek their release sometime after he is inaugurated on Aug. 3. But the decisions he makes now about the political breadth of his cabinet are likely to determine the scale of the challenge of reining in the most radical elements on both sides.
Rohani’s victory “was a phenomenon,” says Hamid Reza Jalaiepour, a sociologist at Tehran University and adviser to former president Khatami, in a telephone interview.
“The mainstream of reformists became happy, moderate conservatives became happy, many in the middle class became happy, and even villagers became happy,” says Mr. Jalaiepour, a former US hostage-taker during the 1979 Islamic revolution, and later an editor of reformist newspapers that were shut down.
“The level of rationality of the Iranian people was very high during this election,” says Jalaiepour, noting that “this election was clean” compared with 2009, and that the hardline reaction “is not clear yet.”
“One of the important factors is that Ayatollah Khamenei didn’t tell to any hardliner to ‘do something,’ ” adds Jalaiepour. “This decision of Ayatollah Khamenei was very important, and for this reason hardliners couldn’t manipulate everything. But we should stay, and wait…. It is hopeful for the future, but needs more time.”
Warning against 'well-known reformist figures'
The hardline Kayhan newspaper – whose editor is an official representative of Khamenei – this week warned Rohani not to bring into his cabinet “well-known reformist figures,” if they have not publicly denounced what it called the “American-Israeli plotted sedition” of 2009. Kayhan also criticized Rohani for thanking Khatami for his campaign endorsement, saying it “exacerbates concerns that Dr. Rohani might neglect the danger that the leaders and agents of the [2009] sedition could pose for his administration.”
Yet Kayhan has also backed Rohani, and those warnings are likely just part of the post-election debate about Rohani’s win, and the political balance he aims to achieve with a cabinet that is “beyond factions.”
“I think these people want to warn Mr. Rohani not to get close to extreme reformists, but I see no reason for it, because he wouldn’t do such a thing,” says Amir Mohebian, a conservative editor and analyst, in one interview published this week.
“The principlists should avoid self-deception and accept defeat responsibly and realistically and enter a phase of harsh self-criticism … to understand what has stopped them,” said Mr. Mohebian, an editor of Resalat newspaper, in another interview. “If they do not … they will lose the future…. [B]laming others will not solve their problem.”
Time to reflect?
Tehran University political scientist Sadiq Zibakalam also had a direct message for the leader of Ansar-e Hezbollah, when he examined the election results.
“It is better for Mr. Allah Karam and his like-minded [hardliners] to reach a conclusion about the past and the present and ask why their candidate and his ideas have received 4 million votes while their opponent has won 18 million votes,” Mr. Zibakalam was quoted as saying on the Fararu.com website. “Unfortunately … they have not understood that people voted for moderation, rationality and collective wisdom and denounced Allah Karam’s threats to make chaos.”
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For many Iranians, the sense of positive change brought by the election result is palpable, for now.
“The last four years [under President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad], we were living in a closed atmosphere,” says Khatami adviser Jalaiepour. “There is a new atmosphere. These days if you go to a shop, or to a university, the atmosphere has been changed, compared to one month ago. This is very important.”Coffee May Lower Risk Of Deadliest Prostate Cancer
Enlarge this image toggle caption Francois Guillot/AFP/Getty Images Francois Guillot/AFP/Getty Images
For a long time scientists have wondered whether coffee might lower the risk of prostate cancer.
Previous studies have been relatively small and have shown mixed results.
But now we have results from a Harvard study that followed almost 50,000 male health professionals for more than two decades. A lot of them drank a lot of coffee, which seems to have helped.
More than 5,000 of them got prostate cancer — 642 of them the most lethal form. "For the men who drank the most coffee, their risk of getting this bad form of prostate cancer was about 60 percent lower compared to the men who drank almost no coffee at all," says Lorelei Mucci, an epidemiologist at the Harvard School of Public Health and an author of the study.
When they saw the results, Mucci says, she and her colleagues said, "Wow, that's a lot!"
"Among risk factors that people have studied for lethal prostate cancer, this is one of the strongest," she told Shots.
The same group reported about a 50 percent reduced risk of dying from prostate cancer among men who exercised regularly — two or three brisk walks a week was enough.
The new study shows that getting a 60 percent reduction in risk of aggressive prostate cancer requires a lot of coffee — at least six cups a day. However, men who drank three cups a day had a 30 percent lower chance of getting a lethal prostate cancer, and that's not bad.
Only about one in 10 prostate cancers diagnosed these days is deadly. Most men get a less dangerous and curable kind. The study found no link between coffee drinking and overall risk of prostate cancer. Presumably previous studies didn't uncover the lowered risk of aggressive cancers because they didn't have enough of these cases.
Mucci says coffee drinkers got the benefit without getting buzzed on caffeine. "Whether they drank regular coffee or only decaffeinated coffee, there was the same lower risk of lethal prostate cancer," she says. "It's really the coffee; it's not the caffeine."
Another good thing is that it doesn't require decades of heavy coffee drinking to get the benefit. What mattered was how much they drank in the previous eight years.
The Harvard epidemiologist says the coffee effect persisted even after the researchers allowed for the effect of exercise, obesity, smoking and other factors that either raise or lower the risk of prostate cancer.
Neil Martin, a cancer doctor at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston, was impressed with the new findings.
"Results like these are very appealing for people," he says. "It supports things that they do.... And I guess I don't really see the downside of that. I think people should feel empowered about being able to change their risk of diseases."
And yes, in this case it is "diseases" — plural.
Earlier research suggests coffee reduces the risk of diabetes, liver disease and Parkinson's disease — possibly because of its insulin-lowering effects, its anti-oxidant qualities and other properties, including some yet to be discovered.
And just last week, Swedish researchers reported that women who drink at least five cups of coffee a day have nearly a 60 percent lower risk of a particularly aggressive breast cancer that doesn't respond to estrogen.
Mucci says more research is needed before officially urging people to drink coffee for its health benefits. Meanwhile, she says, "there's no reason not to start drinking coffee."
And no, she does not take money from the coffee industry.8 years ago
Walking the halls of the Congress, you never know who you might run into – and today it was a blast from the past.
I sat down in the subway that runs beneath the Capitol, and across from me was none other than former Senator Larry Craig.
The Idaho Republican greeted me with a smile and told me that he was now back "making the rounds" to see his former Senate colleagues for his clients.
Craig is now a lobbyist – and Senate rules prohibit former senators from lobbying any lawmaker or aide for two years.
It's hard to believe – but it has now been more than two years since Craig retired from the Senate following his infamous 2007 alleged foot tapping scandal in a men's bathroom at the Minneapolis airport. He was arrested in a sex sting – accused of using a signal "used by persons wishing to engage in lewd conduct." Craig pleaded guilty, but later said he regretted doing that.
As we took the short subway ride from the Capitol to the Russell Senate office building, a cheerful Craig told me he still spends most of his time in his home state of Idaho with his children and grandchildren. He then said goodbye, and was off to his next appointment.*****3.1 UPDATE*****
Spoiler
The build is just as viable as it was last league but has a few new options for items. The items I'm talking about are Lightpoacher, abyss jewels and some elder/shaper mods. I haven't tested the build with Lightpoacher but I don't see a reason not to use it, it should clear up stranglers nicely. You can still get cooldown recovery from belt and boots but I'd say Inya's is still best for the boots slot with the insane power charge generation. In regards to vaal pact, I think the build functions just fine without it, vaal pact mostly helped with reflect and was way too op and 1 point away on the tree for us but after running a few maps on my char from last league I didn't feel like its needed. Also, I think Assassin and Pathfinder combo for ascendancy choices is strictly better now due to reflect getting removed.
INTRODUCTION
Welcome to the update for our build "The New Fakener". In this thread I'll be going over all the changes, gear, passive tree and ascendancy. This variant of the build is made purely for farming maps and most likely not suitable for doing guardians/shaper.
If you want a build that deletes shaper take a look at my guildie's guide:
The Unshaper by Xevos
I will be playing and answering questions about the build live on twitch:
SKILL TREE + ASCENDANCY
SKILL TREE
Spoiler
Bandit: Alira
Skill tree before uber lab respec:
~lvl 90 tree #1:
~lvl 90 tree #2:
~lvl 90 tree with pathfinder instead of witch
Best tree if going for lvl 95 and beyond:
AliraSkill tree before uber lab respec: http://poeurl.com/bvwO ~lvl 90 tree #1: http://poeurl.com/bvq4 ~lvl 90 tree #2: http://poeurl.com/bvq5 ~lvl 90 tree with pathfinder instead of witch http://poeurl.com/bwDu Best tree if going for lvl 95 and beyond: http://poeurl.com/bvq6
ASCENDANCY
Spoiler
I picked Scion for the following reasons:
1. Assassin's "Deadly Infusion" nerf makes the crit too inconsistent
2. The Assassin node in Ascendant's tree provides base crit chance which solves the problem listed
above.
3. The Elementalist node makes us pretty much immune to reflect along with "Soul of Yugul" in the pantheon system
4. Extra Skill points allow us to grab more life around the tree as this build starves for points
5. Added pathfinder as an option instead of Elementalist, personally I prefer Elementalist but Pathfinder provides more comfortable flask sustain.(If going pathfinder take the pathfinder node in merciless lab and go path of the shadow instead path of the witch)
I picked Scion for the following reasons:1. Assassin's "Deadly Infusion" nerf makes the crit too inconsistent2. The Assassin node in Ascendant's tree provides base crit chance which solves the problem listedabove.3. The Elementalist node makes us pretty much immune to reflect along with "Soul of Yugul" in the |
Evans, a partner at Andreessen Horowitz, Silicon Valley’s hottest venture capital firm, which is an investor in Lyft. “Fascinating city-by-city algebra to make the numbers work, plus massive burn in a play to conquer the world.” He’s referring to the online delivery service that, at the height of the dot-com boom, promised 30-minute delivery of groceries to users in cities like Chicago, L.A., and Dallas, as well as across Northern and Southern California. It raised hundreds of millions in funding to try and achieve hypergrowth, but in the end it just couldn’t make the numbers work, and went bankrupt in July 2001. Supporters may scoff at the comparison — c’mon, man, it was years ago, the world’s different now, we’ve all learned our lessons — but there are plenty of similarities. That’s because the math of any city-by-city operation is tough: You spend money to get control of the market in the hope that eventually the numbers come good — but it’s all down to how much cash you have, how much you spend, and how long you wait. Uber has plenty of investment, but the scale is gigantic. Consider Groupon, a shooting star that just a few years ago had the same kind of trajectory, and the same kind of problems, and now is a dot-com also-ran. But even though all of this might be true, it still doesn’t answer the question of why Uber is so hated. After all, what do we really care if Uber blows up, or collapses in disgrace? The question’s still there.From phony news on Web sites to terrorist propaganda on social media to recruitment videos posted by extremists, conflict in the information domain is becoming a ubiquitous addition to traditional battlespaces. Given the pace of growth in social media and other networked communications, this bustling domain of words and images—once relegated to the sidelines of strategic planning—is poised to become ever more critical to national security and military success around the globe.
Understanding and operating in the information domain poses a number of novel challenges, however. Many tools are available today to reveal whether rockets and bombs hit their targets or otherwise achieved their tactical goals. But no such tools are available to rigorously assess the effects of the volleys of information that are traded through social media and other communications channels.
DARPA’s Quantitative Crisis Response (QCR) program aims to address those challenges. It is developing suites of largely automated digital tools that can help operational partners better understand how information is being used by adversaries and to quantitatively predict and assess—in real time and at scale—the effects of those campaigns and of countermeasures.Rec Room is a phenomenal social network VR game from Against Gravity and is available on the Vive, Rift, and PSVR.
There are so many different activities in the game that we decided to make an in-depth guide for people to read. In this guide, we have detailed descriptions of each activity. We talk about what the game does well and what it can improve on as a formidable game in the VR space. Quests
Curse of the Crimson Cauldron Featuring weird dancing trolls with mighty cannons. Easily one of the most action-packed Rec Room quests. Stay back and snipe the enemies with your bow or go up close and personal with a boom with the explosive stick. My favorite combination is the shield and crossbow. Protect yourself from any potential bombs. At the end of the level is the most interesting thing I have seen in VR. All the trolls have grenade launchers and dance around the fire trying to murder you. It’s super fun. I wish Rec room would implement a better movement system for high action paced moments.
Rise of Jumbotron Quest Rise of Jumbotron Quest is my favorite Rec Room activity. You hop into a futuristic looking lobby with 3 other players filled with pistols, assault rifles, snipers, and shotguns. Once your team is ready you are immediately plunged into a world with angry laser shooting bots. I highly recommend starting off with a machine gun as you can position yourself in the back and give your team back up from the bots. My favorite feature of this gun is the sight that you can use to grab the other end with your other hand and aim down the sight. On my most eventful quests, I matched in a lobby with 3 other charismatic adventurers. We made it through 9 levels and developed a high-five clapping virtual reality pact for life. Overall, I highly recommend playing this quest. Play it strategically and help your rec mates!
Golden Trophy Golden Trophy has similar enemies and a familiar landscape as Curse of the Cauldron. Bow and arrow are highly recommended due to flying bots that shoot exploding fireballs. Duck, kneel and dodge fireballs. I had an extremely intense moment in VR where the flying creatures surrounded me and I had a shield and dodged all of the fireballs while jumping and ducking. I bashed one of the flying creatures with my shield but then it got up and killed me.
Paintball There are six different maps you can choose from: River
Homestead
Quarry
Clearcut
Spillway There are two modes in paintball, capture the flag and team deathmatch. For capture the flag, I prefer to stay on defense, protecting the flag. With the game controls, it is difficult to run around on offense. You start out the game with a pistol. But you can pick different guns and items on the map. I was surprised by the wide of array of weapons to choose from. Weapon Arsenal includes: Pistol
Shotgun
Assault Rifle
Sniper
Grenade Launcher
Grenade
Shield
Laser Tag Laser Tag is very similar to the Quest of Jumbotron. Battle a combination of bots and real live multiplayer friends in a futuristic neon arena. Players can teleport around with a shotgun and wreck the game or use a sniper in the back and provide covering fire for your team.
Dodgeball The goal of this game is quite simple, tag the other player with the ball before they tag you. When you begin the game, you start at the end of the court and have to teleport to the center to grab the ball. Reaching for the ball can be confusing, my first time I ended up bending all the way down to grab it. All you need to do is aim your controller towards the ball and it will highlight in green and should be able to pick it up. The game can become really immersive leading to you running around dodging everything.
Soccer Not recommended to play soccer in Rec Room until the control scheme is changeable. When I was ported to the soccer field it didn’t feel right. Your ability to teleport and try to hit the lagging ball with everyone else teleporting wasn’t too much fun. Sticking to a high action paced game mode is my preference when playing Rec room.
Disc Golf The goal of the game is to get the frisbee to the goal post. There are several obstructions in the way that can cause your frisbee to fly off like winds or walls. Disc Golf is one of my least favorite of the list of games in Rec Room. It is really hard to control the frisbee when throwing it. The slightest mistake could send your disc flying in the wrong direction.
Dorm Room In between games, one of the rooms you can hang out in is the dorm room. There are several activities in the dorm room that some of which you wouldn’t expect to be there. Activities include: Character Customizer
Basketball
Darts
3D Gun
Whiteboard When you enter the dorm room, you will have your back to the door to the recreation room. The character customizer is on the dresser to your left. In the customizer, you are able to change your avatar’s clothes, skin color, hair color, hairstyle and accessories. To the right of the dresser is a small basketball hoop with a basketball lying on the ground. Nothing too interesting about it, just a bit of fun. If you look behind you, from the dresser, you will see a desk. On that desk, there are 2 cups, a bottle of water, two darts and a glue gun. You can interact with all of these objects. With the glue gun, you can make 3D objects and play around with them. You can throw the darts around the room and drink from the water bottle. Finally, there is a ladder to the left of the dresser which leads to a small upper floor. On that upper floor, there is a whiteboard with several markers and an eraser on the floor. You can draw all over the board and it feels a lot more realistic than you would think.blog Remember how a coalition of most of Australia’s major ISPs proposed a scheme about a year ago which would see Australians issued with warning and educational notices if they were caught pirating content online? The one which could have seen users’ details handed over to the copyright lobby with a subpoena? Well, it’s looking increasingly like the scheme is dead in the water. The Australian reports today (we recommend you click here for the full article):
“A scheme to help Hollywood movie studios catch online copyright infringers is on the verge of collapse after iiNet, the nation’s third-largest telco, abandoned plans to trial the new system.”
In our view, it wouldn’t be a bad thing if the scheme collapsed with the withdrawal of iiNet. As your writer wrote when the scheme was first announced, it would have opened the door for content owners to start taking hundreds of thousands of Australians to court for minor offences such as downloading a few TV episodes — you know, the kind of mass BitTorrent lawsuits which we’ve seen in the US. Yuck.
Image credit: mtellin, Creative CommonsFrom the time I wrote my first computer program about 38 years ago as a college student there has always been a bit of magic about the process. A bit of a super power sort of feeling if you will. Back in those days the average college/university had one computer, perhaps two, and they were kept locked away from normal people. It took special training and permissions to actually touch a computer let alone write a program for it. As a computer science student I was able to control those powerful computers and make them do things other people couldn’t. I felt empowered in a way I never felt before.
I was reminded a bit of that feeling when I read a recent blog post by Eugene Wallingford (@wallingf) titled “Programming, Literacy, and Superhuman Strength.”
It’s all a good post but I especially like this part:
All I know is, if we can put the power of programming into more people's hands and minds, then we can help more people to have the feeling that led Dan Meyer to write Put THAT On The Fridge:... rather than grind the solution out over several hours of pointing, clicking, and transcribing, for the first time ever, I wrote twenty lines of code that solved the problem in several minutes.
I created something from nothing. And that something did something else, which is such a weird, superhuman feeling. I've got to chase this. We have tools and ideas that make people feel superhuman. We have to share them!
There are people out there who Wallingford refers to as non-programmers. In Microsoft we call them “non-professional programmers.” These are people who write programs for fun, for personal satisfaction and to solve personal/business problems. We, our society, really needs to enable those people.
There are more programs that should be written than professional programmers can ever write. Most of these are small, manageable problems. They range from spreadsheet macros to some programs to analyze large data sets. And games. And programs to solve interesting little problems. And the list goes on.
One of the things I hear when I suggest that all students take a computer science or programming course is “these kids are not going to be [professional] computer programmers.” And that is true. But we don’t say “why teach English? These kids are not going to be professional novelists.” That would be ridiculous. We know that pretty much everyone needs to write well. Like wise we are getting to a point where many more people than ever before really should be able to write some computer code.
Right now people think of programming as some sort of “super power” and something that few can handle. Computer programming is a hugely empowering skill but it is more approachable than many realize. They just need training, tools and opportunity. We really owe it to our students to give them that.
This empowering of non-professional programmers is what the Beginning Developer Learning Center BTW. Young, old, student, experienced life-long learner? There is probably something there for you.This is where your childhood dreams come to die.
Photographer Seph Lawless has been traveling around the US capturing abandoned theaters, racetracks and other urban decay. His most recent project has put him in some of the creepiest abandoned amusement parks across the US where he snapped striking images of their decay.
Of the many deteriorating parks he went to, one of the toughest to shoot was the Land of Oz in North Carolina. The theme park sat atop Beech Mountain, which has the highest peak of anywhere on the East Coast and is only accessible by ski lift. Getting there was "a challenge on a lot of levels," Lawless describes in his book.
Lawless also visited abandoned parks in Ohio, California and Louisiana where he found out that an alligator had taken up residence in one of the man-made pools. His photos serve as a reminder of the past and how even the happiest of places can turn nightmarishly desolate when given enough time.
Wizard of Oz theme park, North Carolina Image: Seph Lawless
Wizard of Oz theme park, North Carolina Image: Seph Lawless
Joyland, Kansas Image: Seph Lawless
Six Flags Amusement Park, New Orleans Image: Seph Lawless
Geauga Lake Amusement Park, Ohio Image: Seph Lawless
Enchanted Forest Playland, Southern U.S. Image: Seph Lawless
Chippewa Lake theme Park, Ohio Image: Seph Lawless
Shawnee Amusement Park, West Virginia Image: Seph Lawless
To see more of Seph Lawless's work, check out his Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Tumblr pages.A "centrally relevant" witness in a multimillion-dollar cartel conduct case against Moses and Paul Obeid and Sydney businessmen John McGuigan and Richard Poole has vanished overseas, the Federal Court has heard.
The hearing of the cartel conduct case, launched by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission last year, kicked off on Monday with allegations the Obeids received "substantial benefits" including $28 million in cash for rigging a NSW government tender for two lucrative coal exploration licences.
Moses Obeid and and Paul Obeid, right, leave the ICAC in April 2014. Credit:AAP
One of the licences was over Cherrydale Park, the Obeid family's farm at Mount Penny in the Bylong Valley.
The court heard an alleged Obeid frontman, Andrew Kaidbay, left the country last year and "attempts to locate him haven't been successful".Image copyright Reuters Image caption Theresa May spoke in Edinburgh alongside Scottish Conservative leader Ruth Davidson
Theresa May has been in Scotland as part of a whistle-stop tour of the UK as the general election campaign enters its final days.
The prime minister's visit came as election campaigning got under way again following Saturday night's terror attack in London.
SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon faced questions from the public in a BBC Question Time special in Edinburgh.
The programme also featured Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron.
It had originally been scheduled to be broadcast on Sunday evening, but was postponed in the wake of the London attack.
Speaking at a rally in Edinburgh, the prime minister warned of Labour taking power with the backing of the SNP in the event of a hung parliament.
She said: "The fact is, if we lose just six seats, the government loses its majority. That means Jeremy Corbyn in Number 10, and Nicola Sturgeon pulling the strings from Bute House.
"But I think there is another question as well - who do you trust to strengthen the bonds across this United Kingdom? Who do you trust to stand up for our precious union?
"Me - I'm a passionate unionist. I want to ensure the United Kingdom stays together, and we strengthen those bonds across the whole of the United Kingdom.
"Or Jeremy Corbyn, negotiating with the SNP for a second referendum which he says is 'absolutely fine' by him. I think he's going to find out there's a different view from the Scottish people."
Image copyright PA Image caption Nicola Sturgeon resumed a helicopter tour of key constituencies
Nicola Sturgeon, who spent the day campaigning in a number of seats, said she was not in favour of coalitions but she would want the SNP to be part of a "progressive alternative" to the Tories.
However, speaking on BBC Radio Four's Women's Hour programme, she said she believed the Conservatives were still on course to win the election UK-wide.
She said: "If the parliamentary arithmetic after the election supported this, I would want the SNP to be part of a progressive alternative to a Tory government.
"I don't favour formal coalitions, I'm talking about something which would be much more on an issue-by-issue basis to make sure we had a government which invested in public services not cut them, and supported pensioners' rights not undermined them.
"But I've also said very clearly that, albeit the polls have narrowed, I still think the likelihood is that the Tories will win this election. But it's no longer inevitable that Theresa May will have a bigger majority, and Scotland could stop that happening by making sure we don't elect Tory MPs."
Image copyright kezia dugdale Image caption Kezia Dugdale has ruled out any formal deal between the SNP and Labour at Westminster
Scottish Labour leader Kezia Dugdale has previously said Mr Corbyn has "absolutely 100% refuted any prospect" of any pact or deal with the SNP.
Launching a new party election broadcast, she said: "On Thursday, people can send Nicola Sturgeon a message that she should focus on the day job, rather than forcing another independence referendum that people in Scotland don't want.
"After 10 years of the SNP campaigning for independence, Scotland's schools and hospitals have suffered. Nicola Sturgeon's answer is another referendum - she is playing a broken record.
"On Thursday, voters can elect a Labour MP who will spend every day fighting for local services, or they can elect an SNP MP who will spend every day campaigning for another divisive independence referendum."
Image copyright PA Image caption Lib Dem leader Tim Farron was out on the campaign trail in East Dunbartonshire
Meanwhile, Mr Farron visited two of the Liberal Democrats' key target areas, Edinburgh West and East Dunbartonshire, as his party fights to win the seats back from the SNP.
He said his party was the only "plausible alternative", both to the SNP and to the Conservatives.
He said: "In many parts of Scotland we are the only plausible alternative to a divisive nationalist government, who does nothing in Westminster but bang on about independence.
"But across the whole of the UK let's remember this is an election Theresa May called herself and is expecting a landslide majority. Let's just remind ourselves that unless Nicola Sturgeon goes on an aggressive foreign policy south of the border, she can only gain one seat off the Tories.
"The Labour Party are expecting to lose dozens of seats to the Tories and some to the Liberal Democrats.
"That leaves the one party that you can vote for with some hope of stopping the Conservatives getting that landslide is the Liberal Democrats."Nietzsche and the Meaning of Noir
Movies and the ‘Death of God’
Mark Conard looks at definitions and the meaning of Film Noir in this excerpt from The Philosophy of Film Noir. A Metaphilm exclusive.
The Postman Always Rings Twice (1946) was adapted from a novel by the hard-boiled writer James M. Cain. The movie is interspersed with voice-over narration by the protagonist, Frank Chambers (John Garfield), indicating that he is recalling events in the past. Frank is a drifter who takes a job at a remote diner owned by an older man, Nick (Cecil Kellaway), after getting a look at Nick’s stunning young wife, Cora (Lana Turner). There is a strong sexual attraction between Frank and Cora, and, after one aborted attempt, they succeed in killing Nick and making it look like a car accident in order to be together. A suspicious D.A., however, hounds them and finally tricks Frank into signing a statement claiming that Cora murdered Nick. Cora beats the rap, and the lovers are bitterly estranged for a short period. In the end (after some other twists and turns), they come back together, knowing that they’re too much in love to be apart, knowing that they’re fated to be together. Ironically, they have a car accident in which Cora is killed. The D.A. prosecutes Frank for Cora’s murder, and Frank is convicted and sentenced to death. We learn at the end that he has been telling the story to a priest in his prison cell, awaiting execution.
The Postman Always Rings Twice The Postman Always Rings Twice
Postman displays all the distinctive conventions of film noir: the noir look and feel, as well as a typical noir narrative, with the femme fatale, the alienated and doomed antihero, and their scheme to do away with her husband. It has the feeling of disorientation, pessimism, and the rejection of traditional ideas about morality, what’s right and what’s wrong. Further, a great many noir films were either adapted from hard-boiled novels or heavily influenced by them. Last, it’s told in flash-back form through Frank’s voice-over, another noir convention. Indeed, Postman is considered to be a quintessential film noir.
But what does that mean? What exactly is film noir? Is it a genre (like a western or a romantic comedy)? Is it a film style constituted by the deep shadows and odd scene compositions? Is it perhaps a cycle of films lasting through a certain period (typically identified as 1941 to 1958)? Is noir a certain mood and tone, that of alienation and pessimism? Each of these answers, amongst others, has been given by one theorist or another as an explanation of just what film noir is. And, given that there is widespread disagreement about what film noir is, there is likewise disagreement about which films count as film noir. Clearly, Postman is a film noir, but is Citizen Kane (1941), for example? Or, perhaps more pointedly, are Beat the Devil (1953) or The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948) noir films? Like The Maltese Falcon (1941), both films star noir legend Humphrey Bogart, and both were directed by John Huston, but whereas The Maltese Falcon is considered to be a noir film, indeed a classic noir, the other two movies are often not so regarded.
In this essay, I’ll give a brief history of the various attempts at defining film noir. I’ll then discuss Nietzsche and the problem of definition, and I’ll conclude by making a modest proposal for a new way of looking at film noir and the problem of its definition.
Socratic Definition
Before examining the various, proposed definitions of film noir, I want to look at one approach to the question of definition generally, namely Socrates’. As a philosopher, Socrates’ central concern was ethics: he wanted to know how to live his life, and he believed that the key to living well was knowledge, specifically knowledge of the virtues. If he’s going to be pious or just, Socrates believes, he has to know what piety and justice are. So, in Plato’s dialogues,[1] in order to achieve the knowledge he wants, Socrates searches for the form of these virtues.
Plato’s theory of forms is a theory of universals and essences. A universal is the category into which things fall. So, for example, individual, physical chairs or desks are what philosophers call “particulars,” whereas the category, “chair,” or “desk,” is the universal or the species, under which those physical items are organized. Particulars are concrete, individual things; whereas universals are abstract categories. So, if the form is film noir, then the particulars would be the individual films which fall into that category: Out of the Past (1947), The Maltese Falcon, and so on.
But, more than this, the notion of the forms is the cornerstone of Plato’s metaphysics, his theory about the nature of reality. For Plato, the continuously changing everyday world of physical objects and events, the particulars, which we see and hear around us is not ultimate reality; it is a pale imitation, like a shadow on a cave wall (to use Plato’s famous analogy).[2] Ultimate reality is not what we perceive with our five senses. Rather, it’s what we grasp with our minds, the universals. The forms are intelligible rather than sensible, they lie outside space, time, and causality, and they’re eternal and unchanging. Further, the forms are the essences of the particulars: they’re what make the individual physical objects and events what they are. If someone wants to know what this individual thing made up of plastic, metal, and fabric is, you mention the form: chair (or “chairness,” the essence of any physical object of that type). The individual object comes into existence, changes and decays, and ultimately is destroyed. The form, on the other hand, remains the same throughout. So, even if every chair in the world were destroyed, what it means to be a chair—that essence and form—would still be the same, Socrates believes.[3]
So when Socrates asks for a definition, he is not asking for a dictionary definition, which tells us the way we use a word. Rather, he wants a description of the form. He wants to know what real, essential properties these virtues (in his case) have. And if we can do that, articulate the form, then we’ll know exactly what we’re talking about, and we’ll be able to identify anything of that type.
So is there a way of identifying the “form” of film noir? Can we pick out its essential properties and articulate that in a definition?[4]
Defining Film Noir 1: It’s a Genre
There is now a relatively long history of discussion about film noir and, as I mentioned above, a continuing debate about what noir really is.[5] One of the central issues in defining film noir is whether or not it constitutes a genre. So, what’s a genre?[6] Foster Hirsch says: “A genre... is determined by conventions of narrative structure, characterization, theme, and visual design...” And, as one of those who argues that film noir is indeed a genre, he says that film noir has these elements “in abundance”:
Noir deals with criminal activity, from a variety of perspectives, in a general mood of dislocation and bleakness which earned the style its name. Unified by a dominant tone and sensibility, the noir canon constitutes a distinct style of film-making; but it also conforms to genre requirements since it operates within a set of narrative and visual conventions... Noir tells its stories in a particular way, and in a particular visual style. The repeated use of narrative and visual structures... certainly qualifies noir as a genre, one that is in fact as heavily coded as the western.[7]
So, film noir is a genre, Hirsch says, because of the consistent tone, and story-telling and visual conventions amongst the movies. We see all of these, for example, in The Postman Always Rings Twice, as I mentioned above: the tone of dark cynicism and alienation; the narrative conventions like the femme fatale and the flash-back voice-overs; and the shadowy black and white look of the movie. These are the conventions running through the classic noir period, Hirsch says, which define film noir as a genre.
James Damico likewise believes that noir is a film genre, and precisely because of a certain narrative pattern. He describes this pattern as the typical noir plot in which the main character is lured into violence, and usually to his own destruction, by the femme fatale.[8] Again, this is exactly the pattern of Postman: Frank is coaxed into killing Cora’s husband and is ultimately destroyed by his choices and actions. Damico, unlike Hirsch, however, denies that there is a consistent visual style to the films: “I can see no conclusive evidence that anything as cohesive and determined as a visual style exists in [film noir].”[9]
Defining Film Noir 2: It’s Not a Genre
Those who deny that film noir is a genre define it in a number of different ways. In the earliest work on film noir (1955), for example, Raymond Borde and Étienne Chaumeton define noir as a series or cycle of films, whose aim is to create alienation in the viewer: “All the films of this cycle create a similar emotional effect: that state of tension instilled in the spectator when the psychological reference points are removed. The aim of film noir was to create a specific alienation.”[10]
Andrew Spicer also identifies noir as a cycle of films, which “share a similar iconography, visual style, narrative strategies, subject matter and characterisation.”[11] This sounds a good deal like Hirsch’s characterization of noir, but Spicer denies that noir can be defined as a genre (or in most other ways, for that matter), since the expression, “film noir” is “a discursive critical construction that has evolved over time.”[12] In other words, far from being a fixed and unchanging universal category, like one of Plato’s forms, “film noir” is a concept which evolved as critics and theorists wrote and talked about these movies, and is an expression which they applied largely retroactively, to movies in a period of cinema that had already passed.[13]
Further, in arguing against Damico’s version of noir’s essential narrative, Spicer points out that “there are many other, quite dissimilar, noir plots” than the one Damico describes. Classic examples might include High Sierra (1941) and Pickup on South Street (1953), neither of which includes a femme fatale who coaxes the protagonist to do violence against a third man.[14] In Pickup, for example, pickpocket Skip McCoy (Richard Widmark) steals classified microfilm from a woman, Candy (Jean Peters), on the subway. She’s carrying it for her boyfriend, who is—unbeknownst to her—passing government secrets along to the Communists. The story, then, concerns the efforts of the police to get McCoy to turn the film over to them—which would mean admitting that he’s still picking pockets, thereby putting him in the danger of becoming a three-time loser; and it concerns the efforts of the conspirators to retrieve the film from McCoy by any means necessary, including killing his friend and information dealer, Moe (Thelma Ritter). This is a classic example of a film noir, but doesn’t follow Damico’s narrative pattern.
Spicer goes on to say:
Any attempt at defining film noir solely through its ‘essential’ formal components proves to be reductive and unsatisfactory because film noir, as the French critics asserted from the beginning, also involves a sensibility, a particular way of looking at the world.[15]
So, noir is not simply a certain plot line or a visual style achieved by camera angles and unusual lighting, Spicer says. It also involves a “way of looking at the world,” an outlook on life and human existence.
In addition to a series or cycle of movies, film noir is often identified by, or defined as, the particular visual style, mood, tone, or set of motifs characteristic to the form. Raymond Durgnat, for example, says that: “The film noir is not a genre, as the western and gangster film, and takes us into the realm of classification by motif and tone.”[16] The tone is one of bleak cynicism, says Durgnat, and the dominant motifs include: crime as social criticism; gangsters; private eyes and adventurers; middle class murder; portraits and doubles; sexual pathology; psychopaths, etc.
Paul Schrader likewise denies that noir is a genre. He says: “[Film noir] is not defined, as are the western and gangster genres, by conventions of setting and conflict, but rather by the more subtle qualities of tone and mood.”[17] He thus rejects Durgnat’s classification by motif, and focuses his definition on the important element of mood, specifically that of “cynicism, pessimism and darkness.” He goes on to say that “film noir’s techniques emphasize loss, nostalgia, lack of clear priorities, insecurity; then submerge these self-doubts in mannerism and style. In such a world style becomes paramount; it is all that separates one from meaninglessness.”[18]
In a classic essay, Robert Porfirio says that “Schrader was right in insisting upon both visual style and mood as criteria.”[19] The mood at the heart of noir, says Porfirio, is pessimism, “which makes the black film black for us.”[20] The “black vision” of film noir is one of “despair, loneliness and dread,” he claims, and “is nothing less than an existential attitude towards life...”[21] This existentialist outlook on life which infuses noir didn’t come from the European existentialists (like Sartre and Camus), who were roughly contemporaneous with the classic American noir period, says Porfirio. Rather, “It is more likely that this existential bias was drawn from a source much nearer at hand—the hard-boiled school of fiction without which quite possibly there would have been no film noir.”[22] The mood of pessimism, loneliness, dread and despair are to be found in the works of, e.g., Raymond Chandler, Dashiell Hammett, James M. Cain, and David Goodis, whose writings were a resource for and had a direct influence upon those who created noir films in the classic period, as I mentioned above. I’ll have more to say about Porfirio and the existentialist outlook of noir films below.
Last, R. Barton Palmer likewise rejects the definition of noir as a genre, calling it instead a “transgeneric phenomenon,”[23] since it existed “through a number of related genres whose most important common threads were a concern with criminality... and with social breakdown.” The genres associated with noir include: “The crime melodrama, the detective film, the thriller, and the woman’s picture.”[24] In other words, whatever the noir element in a film noir is, it can be expressed through a number of genres, melodrama, thriller, etc., and so film noir is not itself a genre. It’s “transgeneric.”
Defining Film Noir 3: It Can’t be Defined
Another writer, J. P. Telotte, focuses his discussion of film noir’s definition on the issue of genre, and he, perhaps prudently, somewhat sidesteps the issue of whether or not any of these characterizations of film noir do in fact establish it as a genre. The element of noir films that Telotte claims unites them—without necessarily providing a basis for a calling it a genre[25]—is their rejection of traditional narrative (story-telling) patterns. More than any other type of popular film, Telotte says, “film noir pushes at the boundaries of classical narrative...”[26] This classical narrative would be a straightforward story told from a third-person omniscient point of view, which assumes the objective truth about a situation, involves characters who are goal-oriented and whose motivations make sense, and which has a neat closure at the end (boy gets girl, etc.). Telotte goes on to say that “[noir] films are fundamentally about the problems of seeing and speaking truth, about perceiving and conveying a sense of our culture’s and our own reality...”[27] So what’s common to noir films, Telotte says, is unconventional or non-classical narrative patterns, and these patterns point to problems of truth and objectivity and of our ability to know and understand reality. Some of the techniques which underpin or establish these non-traditional patterns are: 1) Non-chronological ordering of events, often achieved through flashback. As we saw, this is the technique used in Postman, but the best example of this is perhaps The Killers (1946), which brilliantly weaves together Jim Reardon’s (Edmond O’Brien) investigation of Ole Andersen’s (Burt Lancaster) death with flashbacks which tell the story leading up to the murder. 2) Complicated, sometimes incoherent, plot lines, as in The Big Sleep (1946), for example; and 3) Characters whose actions aren’t motivated or understandable in any rational way. For example, why does Frank agree to go ahead with the second (and successful) attempt on Nick’s life in Postman, when it’s such a poor plan and sure to get them caught?
Whereas Telotte sidesteps the issue of definition, James Naremore puts his foot down and concludes that film noir can’t be defined. “I contend that film noir has no essential characteristics,”[28] he says. “The fact is, every movie is transgeneric... Thus, no matter what modifier we attach to a category, we can never establish clear boundaries and uniform traits. Nor can we have a ‘right’ definition—only a series of more or less interesting uses.”[29] Part of the reason film noir can’t be defined, Naremore says, is that—as mentioned above—the term is a kind of “discursive construction,” employed by critics (each of whom has his own agenda), and is used retroactively. The other reason has to do with the nature of concepts and definitions generally. Most contemporary philosophers believe that we don’t form concepts by grouping similar things together according to their essential properties—the technique employed by Socrates and seemingly by most film theorists in talking about noir.
Double Indemnity Double Indemnity
Rather, says Naremore, we “create networks of relationship, using metaphor, metonymy, and forms of imaginative association that develop over time.”[30] In other words, our concepts are not discrete categories, but are rather networks of ideas in complex relationships and associations, which we form with experience. Consequently, “categories form complex radial structures with vague boundaries and a core of influential members at the center.”[31] This certainly seems to describe film noir: we all agree that there is a core set of films in the noir canon, such as Double Indemnity (1944) and The Maltese Falcon; but there is a fuzzy boundary, such that we disagree about a great many films and whether or not they fall into the canon, e.g., Casablanca (1942), Citizen Kane, or King Kong (1933).
So Naremore argues that film noir can’t be defined, that it has no essential |
in the post-World War II era, Obama admitted it wasn’t perfect, but argued “the UN, the IMF, and a whole host of treaties and rules and norms that were established really helped to stabilize the world in ways that it wouldn't otherwise be.”
He argued, however, that the efficacy of this idealistic, Wilsonian, rule-based system was severely tested by the fact that “there are bad people out there who are trying to do us harm.”
READ MORE: ‘Unexceptional’ US, Russia scrap over Putin’s NY Times Op-Ed
In the president’s view, the reality of those threats has compelled the US to have “the strongest military in the world.” Obama further says that “we occasionally have to twist the arms of countries that wouldn't do what we need them to do if it weren't for the various economic or diplomatic or, in some cases, military leverage that we had — if we didn't have that dose of realism, we wouldn't get anything done, either.”
'We occasionally have to twist the arms of countries that wouldn't do what we need them to do'
Obama argues that the US doesn’t have “military solutions” to all the challenges in the modern world, though he goes on to add that “we don’t have a peer” in terms of states that could attack or provoke the United States.
“The closest we have, obviously, is Russia, with its nuclear arsenal, but generally speaking they can't project the way we can around the world. China can't, either. We spend more on our military than the next 10 countries combined,” he said.
Within this context, Obama said that “disorder” stemming from “failed states” and “asymmetric threats from terrorist organizations” were the biggest challenges facing the international community today.
Obama also argued that tackling these and other problems entailed “leveraging other countries” and “other resources” whenever possible, while also recognizing that Washington is “the lead partner because we have capabilities that other folks don't have.”
'We spend more on our military than the next 10 countries combined'
This approach, he said, also led to “some burden-sharing and there's some ownership for outcomes.”
When asked about the limits of American power, Obama conceded that there were things that his administration simply cannot do in terms of power projection, but remained upbeat.
“Well, American leadership, in part, comes out of our can-do spirit. We're the largest, most powerful country on Earth. As I said previously in speeches: when problems happen, they don't call Beijing. They don't call Moscow. They call us. And we embrace that responsibility. The question, I think, is how that leadership is exercised. My administration is very aggressive and internationalist in wading in and taking on and trying to solve problems.”
This appeal to US leadership, which has often been couched within the notion of American exceptionalism, has regularly been questioned by Moscow.
'American leadership, in part, comes out of our can-do spirit'
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov took issue with the notion past September, following Obama’s speech before the UN in which the US president named “Russian aggression in Europe” along with the Ebola epidemic and ISIS as threats to international peace and security.
Lavrov said that Obama’s address to the UN was the “speech of a peacemaker – the way it was conceived,” but added that he had “failed to deliver, if one compares it to real facts.”
READ MORE: Russia tops ISIS threat, Ebola worst of all? Lavrov puzzled by Obama’s UN speech
The Russian foreign minister added that Obama had presented a worldview based on the exceptionality of the United States.
“That's the worldview of a country that has spelt out its right to use force arbitrarily regardless of the UN Security Council's resolutions or other international legal acts in its national defense doctrine,” Lavrov said.
In a September 2013 Op-Ed article in the New York Times, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that the concept of American exceptionalism was a precarious one in the global arena.
"It is extremely dangerous to encourage people to see themselves as exceptional, whatever the motivation," Putin wrote. "There are big countries and small countries, rich and poor, those with long democratic traditions and those still finding their way to democracy. Their policies differ, too. We are all different, but when we ask for the Lord’s blessings, we must not forget that God created us equal."Police give permission, but traffic control reject application for fifth Queer Azaadi Pride march in Mumbai, India
Traffic control has refused Queer Azaadi (freedom) Mumbai (QAM) permission to march through the city on Saturday 2 February.
Local police has agreed permission for the parade, which has been held every year since 2008, but traffic control rejected the organizers’ application.
‘They have just rejected our file without even meeting us or giving us any clear explanation,’ organizer Pallav Patankar told Gay Star News.
‘But we intend o speak to higher authorities and not let it go so easily.’
Patankar said he believed the hiccup was ‘just Indian bureaucracy’ rather than attempt to censor an expression of LGBT rights. He said there have been a lot of public protests in Mumbai recently and the authorities may feel that because QAM are not a political party, nor have political backing, ‘we are the easiest voices to silence’.
‘We, the LGBT community, walk the pride march to tell the nation that we are part of this country,’ Patankar told Times of India. ‘By denying us the right to march, we are being denied our right of free expression.’
The QAM festival started on Sunday with a kite flying event on Mumbai’s Juhu Beach and a queer games competition.
The full program includes theatre, a meeting for families, a treasure hunt, an open mic night, films, a rock concert and a flashmob.
QAM 2012 was a resounding success despite police interrupting a pre-festival fundraiser at the behest of a maverick ‘moral guardian’.
Last September police in the southern Indian city of Hyderabad refused permission for the first LGBT pride march there.by Lon Seidman | Apr 17, 2013 11:16am
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Posted to: Education 2.0, Tech Biz
A new apprenticeship program for computer science and engineering student developers is springing up in the hopes of retaining more high-quality programming talent in Connecticut.
The program, called A100, combines hands-on training with paid internships at Connecticut technology companies. The training portion runs concurrently with the internships through the summer and will be facilitated by New Haven-based developer Independent Software.
Independent Software CEO Derek Koch says that the training component will help students apply the theoretical knowledge they are learning in the classroom to the type of real-world development work small startups need. Koch says that this transition from school to startup can be difficult and often recent graduates and their employers are not ready for that learning curve.
“While there are a lot of great students in Connecticut, the startup community and smaller companies in Connecticut don’t really have the wherewithal to tap into them as a resource. Even if they do it takes much too long to get those students up and running.”
Often, those students go to work in New York City or Silicon Valley where larger communities of technology companies exist and have the resources to transition new hires into working in small, agile startup teams.
Koch says the program has about 50 student applicants so far and he expects about 15 to 20 will be accepted this cycle. Applications will be accepted on a rolling basis so students are encouraged to get their applications in so they can be placed as new cycles are started. More than 15 local companies have agreed to participate and will offer paid internships to the apprentices.
The program is not limited to computer science majors. Koch says math and electrical engineering students also should consider applying. Students with other academic backgrounds but who have coding skills also are encouraged to submit an application.
Koch says more than half of the A100 training component is funded through the New Haven Grid — a program announced last year as part of Connecticut’s $5 million “Innovation Ecosystem.” Compensation for the paid internships will be funded by the participating companies.
An application form can be found on the The Grid New Haven’s website.
Connect with Lon:To my eyes, the Atticus is one half of a two part experiment by Zach Mehrbach, Founder and CEO of ZMF Headphones. His past has been dominated by the venerable, but in my opinion underperforming, Fostex T50RP planar magnetic driver. I guess Zach sees his future with a more modernthough more commondynamic driver. It seems to me he's designed these latest two headphones as an experiment to find out just how good a headphone he can build using two different types of dynamic driver: the Atticus with a TPE (Thermoplastic Elastomer) diaphragm driver; and the Eikon with its bio-cellulose cone and rubber surround.
The Eikon with bio-celulose driver at left, and Atticus TPE driver at right.
With the exception of the driver itself, possibly some minor changes in the damping, and an "A" instead of an "E" on the headband, the Atticus is identical to the Eikon. So rather than redescribe the product I'll point you of to my Eikon review for info on build quality, styling, and comfort...all of which are pretty darn good for a hand made headphone.
The one place worth a good look, however, is inside at the damping. Here's the photos:
There does appear to be minor differences in the materials: damping in the tube behind the driver is pink instead of white. Had a little chat with Zach and he said the bio-celulose driver of the Eikon needs a little less damping than the TPE driver of the Atticus, so the yellow foam of the Eikon is 3lb. foam, and the pink of the Atticus is 5lb. foam. Evidently the various colors of the other parts in the photo do not indicate differing materials.
Sound Quality
Like the Eikon, the Atticus is generally a warm and pleasent headphone that is a bit veiled and uneven in the treble. Bass has a stronger emphasis with a broad hump centered at around 120Hz but does not extend into the sub-bass as well as the Eikon. Looking at the measurements would have me thinking I might hear the bass bleeding into the midrange, but my experience was that the bass was just more emphatic on the Atticusthe mids seem relatively unmolested. Like the Eikon, the presence region is a bit withdrawn, but the Atticus has a much larger dip in response at 6kHz making "ss" sound more "th" than the Eikon.
Going back and forth directly between these two headphones I find it hard to believe the magnitude of difference I hear. It's not that they're terribly different in their tonal character, they're not, it's the overall character of the sound. The Eikon sounds more authoritative; the Atticus more lackluster. The Eikon is more alive and engaging; while the Atticus is a bit dead and boring in comparison. Vocals are more organic and realistic with the Eikon, and rather more artificial and obviously reproduced with the Atticus.
I asked Zach about the differences between bio-celulose and TPE drivers, and how much of this release is about the differences between the two. He answered that it was more accidental than intentional. In his search for a custom specified, high impedance driver he tended to prefer a bio-celulose design, but ended up spending quite a bit of time with the vendor of this particular TPE driver. He does feel that bio-celulose driver probably do have the edge over TPE drivers in terms of sound quality, and though initially he had not planned to build two headphones, he felt this particular TPE driver did some things he liked so he figured he'd build a product around it as well.
He said he does prefer the Eikon to the Atticus, and that most people who get the chance to hear them both side-by-side do as well. But he cautions that both these headphone do respond quite actively to differing amplification, and a number of well respected enthusiasts find the Atticus preferable with high-end tube gear. Having done a little listening comparing the Simaudio Moon NEO 430HA and my Bottlehead Crack I'm going to have to acknowledge the difference is significant with a more fluid and sparkling character.
Summary
I had a great time with the ZMF headphones. Most enjoyable was the ability to compare as directly as possible the TPE (Thermoplastic Elastomer) diaphragm driver of the Atticus with the bio-cellulose cone and rubber surround of the Eikon. I've long thought that the micro-fiber diaphragms of the old Sony R10, Sony CD3000, and Denon D5000 had something special. In this comparison the more authoritative character of the bio-celulose cone driver of the Eikon was crystal clear to me.
I'm going to recommend the Eikon over the Atticus, but I'll need to note that the high impedance coils of these headphones make them quite responsive to upstream tube gear. If you're gear is of the electron valve persuasion, I would suggest the Eikon alone, or both if you've got the dosh, for their lively response to high output impedance amps and the great fun one might have with these cans when playing music through that glowing glass. Enjoy!
Resources
ZMF Headphones home page and Eikon product page.
Super Best Audio Friends threads here.
Head-Fi reviews and thread.City of Sydney Library gives fines the flick prompting flood of overdue returns
Posted
Hanging on to an overdue library book has long been seen as a victimless crime and now, in Sydney at least, it has no punishment.
The City of Sydney Library has given fines for overdue books the flick, after a successful trial that saw 67,945 volumes returned to their shelves — about three times better than previous levels.
Some of the books returned during the seven-month trial had been missing for more than 10 years.
Sydney Lord Mayor Clover Moore said it was a case of reverse psychology.
"Library fines have always been used to deter people from leaving their books at home," she said.
"But we've found that in most cases they had the opposite effect, frightening members into never returning their overdue items.
"This new approach encourages positive community responsibility and sharing, rather than penalising people."
The City of Sydney Library has decided to waive fines at its nine branches until 2021.
'It's never too late'
Lynette Makin, CEO of the New South Wales Public Library's Association, said fines amnesties had a history of success, citing similar results from her time in charge of the Upper Murray Regional Library.
"We actually appealed to people and said if they didn't return the books, that other people couldn't borrow them," she said.
"That worked beautifully. We went from having a third of our collection overdue, to under 10 per cent."
"After that, our overdue items stayed a very low level."
Ms Makin urged people to return their overdue books, even if they were embarrassed.
"It's never too late to hand a book back, sometimes when you hand them back we don't know, it might be very valuable," she said.
"Around the world you hear stories about books that get returned after 50, 60 or 70 years."
Topics: arts-and-entertainment, library-museum-and-gallery, local-government, community-and-society, community-organisations, sydney-2000Samsung, the largest TV manufacturer in the world, announced a deal with cloud streaming platform Gaikai to launch its Samsung Cloud Gaming service on its Smart TVs.
In the coming weeks, consumers who own one of Samsung's internet-connected Smart TVs will be able to stream and play console-quality video games without needing to deal with long download times or extra hardware.
Samsung will begin rolling out the service to its 2012 LED Smart TVs (Samsung 7000 series and up). Gaikai says that because its technology does not require a newer microprocessor, Samsung could activate the platform on its older Smart TVs if it wishes to.
Gaikai has been aggressive in striking deals with market leaders to implement its cloud gaming network, securing partnerships with Youtube, Facebook, and Walmart.com The company's goal is to make digital game distribution ubiquitous, similar to how consumers can stream popular films from countless platforms (e.g. set-top boxes, mobile devices).
In recent weeks, many outlets reported an imminent deal between Gaikai and Sony that would bring the game streaming service to PlayStation 3, but the platform holder made no such announcement during its E3 press conference on Tuesday night, and Gaikai has declined to comment on the gossip.
Game industry veteran and Gaikai CEO David Perry, however, tells Gamasutra, "We've talked to all of [the console makers]. Literally all of them. I wouldn't want to be a console without cloud gaming. Let's put it that way. I think that all of them are going to need this technology."
For now, Perry and Gaikai are focused on bringing console-quality titles (e.g. CD Projekt's The Witcher 2, Adhesive Games' Hawken, and Playdead's Limbo) to platforms that don't have access to them. The company previously struck a similar deal with TV manufacturer LG, but it has not yet launched that
Perry says that when he talks to firms like Samsung, he asks, "Did you guys realize that Call of Duty was the biggest launch in entertainment history? And none of you participated? None of you? Not a single one? Literally all of you? Nobody participated in the biggest entertainment launch in history. Don't you think it's probably time to start changing that?
"The only way you can change it is to use cloud gaming," he argues. "The only way you can put the absolute best that the game industry can make on your devices is with cloud gaming. If you want, you can put lame games on TV. You could put Call of Duty trivia or something like that, or you can put the real thing. If you do, you're going to use cloud gaming."Your browser does not support HTML5 video tag.Click here to view original GIF
There’s a Kickstarter campaign for Blasphemous, a game which looks very cool for a number of reasons, but mostly because it looked like some guys went “hey we should make a side-scrolling Dark Souls” then actually went and did it.
Here’s the pitch:
Blasphemous is an action-platformer that combines the fast-paced, skilled combat of a hack-n-slash game with a deep and evocative narrative core, delivered through exploration of a huge universe comprised of non-linear levels.
But perhaps of more interest to you, as someone who can’t actually play the game (yet), is pixel art like this:
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and this:
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and this:
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The development team—the same studio behind The Last Door—are looking at bringing Blasphemous to PC, with stretch goals present to try and get it to console as well.
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Blasphemous is asking for $50,000. You can back it here if you want.I was recently invited to be on a panel at the University of Victoria with a selection of local freelancers and contractors, providing a bit of insight into what you can do with your degree. It was an excellent experience, with lots of great questions and good conversation. And chocolate.
One of the questions that came up was “What’s a typical day for you?” and I thought this might be a great topic for Freelance Focused. I’ve asked a few local freelancers to contribute, and over the next week or two we’ll be sharing our stories. If you’re interested in contributing, shoot me a note and we’ll work you into the schedule.
My Typical Day as a Fulltime Freelance Copywriter
4:30 – 6:30am: up and at’em. This is when I get my focus for the day, check emails, respond to overseas clients, and check/tweak my books on Amazon. If I’m feeling particularly ambitious, I’ll write a couple of pages of my next short story or do a blog post. 6:30 – 9:00am: Feed the pups, walk the pups, chat with Mrs. Brandscaping, exercise (hate it but doing it anyways), and check the news. 9:00 – noon: Client projects/prospecting. I use ColdTurkey to turn off my social media distractions, and coffitivity to stay focused on the work in front of me. Noon – 12:30pm: Lunch and social media. Hello reddit! 12:30 – 2:00pm: Continue with client projects. My goal is to complete one thing per day, which is quite easy with small projects, but bigger jobs are done in stages. Completing something each day tends to be much more enjoyable. 2:00 – 4:00pm: Admin. The exciting part about being a freelancer. The benefit of doing this in the afternoon is it’s not likely to affect your clients if you push it off. Take care of the billable work first, then the office stuff (but you can’t skip the office stuff)Wind down for the day and prep for tomorrow.
Now that’s the structure I try to follow, but what I actually do during the day will depend on the needs of my clients. On any given day, I’ll be working on:
Blog post/ghost writing
Product copy
Pitching a new project
Writing a creative brief for a new project
Ad copy
Landing pages
Sales letters
Taglines
Web content
I’ve been trying to follow the 20% rule that Google uses: 20% of my time is for personal projects, whether that’s putting up a new site or spending some time on creative writing. Like every copywriter on the planet, I have a novel burning inside me, desperate to get out. I’ve been fighting it every step of the way, but I think I’m losing that battle and may actually break down and start writing it soon. Time will tell…
Future “Day in the Life” stories will feature other writers, web designers, and marketing experts – stay tuned!Brazilian biologists have discovered the world’s first venomous frog the hard way. When Carlos Jared of the Butantan Institute in São Paulo, Brazil, picked up a Brazilian hylid frog (Corythomantis greening, pictured)—a small, lumpy, green amphibian—while doing fieldwork in a jungle in the Goytacazes National Forest near the southwest coast of Brazil, the frog raked the spines hidden within its upper lip across his hand. He dropped the frog, and excruciating pain shot up his arm for the next 5 hours. Several other species of frogs are poisonous, but until now none have been shown to be venomous—that is injecting a toxin into their host. C. greening’s venom is twice as potent as that of the deadly pit viper, the researchers report online today in Current Biology. The team found another venomous Brazilian hylid frog, Aparasphenodon brunoi, also in the Goytacazes National Forest. Its venom was a whopping 25 times more deadly than that of a pit viper, but this time the researchers were smart—they didn’t pick it up. Both frogs deliver their venom from head spines resting in toxic glands in their skin. When the animals attack, the skin contracts and the poison-coated spines protrude from the frog’s lip. Researchers imagine as a hungry predator closes its mouth over the frog, it begins shaking its head and jabbing the spines into every corner a frog’s face can fit. These two frog species are not very closely related, so researchers think several more frogs could have evolved to be venomous. It’s possible the adaptation evolved multiple times in the perilous rainforests, but scientists just never picked up on it.Tottenham Hotspur's latest addition Davinson Sanchez has revealed why he turned down Barcelona in favour of making the move to North London this summer.
Speaking to Sport, the 21-year-old Colombian explained his choice of move that took him from the Europa League finalists Ajax to Mauricio Pochettino's Spurs, instead of the Nou Camp..
“For me, Barcelona has always been one of the best in the world but the conditions I was going to arrive to were not the best,” Sanchez said.
Sanchez says that his decision to sign for Tottenham was a football decision and not based on anything else: “Luckily, a decision was taken based on football, not on marketing”.
Now the player is just “thinking about Tottenham and the national team and continuing to perform well like I am doing”.
Sanchez, a raw, powerful central defender, had long been tipped for stardom by regular watchers of the Dutch Eredivisie, and caught the eye of a number of Europe’s top clubs with his performances during Ajax’s run to the Europa League final last season.
Spurs fans will certainly be glad of the fact he chose to join their club ahead of the behemoth that is Barcelona, and will look forward to his youth and energy in what will be a testing season for the club.Spread the love
San Diego, CA – Caught on surveillance video gunning down a mentally ill veteran last year, San Diego Police Officer Neal Browder is under investigation again for accidentally shooting a baby’s crib weeks after returning to duty. Although Browder does not face criminal charges for recklessly firing his service weapon into a crib, the controversial cop is facing a federal civil rights lawsuit.
While conducting a probation check on the morning of February 20, Browder and several officers entered an apartment occupied by Kimberly Espinoza, her 11-month-old son, her 54-year-old grandmother, and her uncle who was on probation. After removing Espinoza’s uncle from the residence, Browder and another officer ordered the family into the living room before searching their bedrooms.
Entering Espinoza’s bedroom with his gun drawn, Browder suddenly fired a bullet into her son’s crib for no reason.
“If my son had been in that crib, he wouldn’t be here today,” Espinoza told the LA Times. “And if he was in it, and it had missed my son, he would still be traumatized.”
Espinoza recalled Browder immediately appearing uneasy and nervous after firing the shot in her bedroom. Other officers removed Browder from the scene and began investigating the apparently accidental shooting.
After striking the right side of the crib, the bullet ricocheted left and became embedded into the wall behind it. The police eventually located the bullet several hours later, according to Espinoza.
Although Espinoza’s family was traumatized by the incident, the police refuse to answer whether the department will pay for any counseling that they might require. Espinoza recently told NBC7, “Because how can you be so reckless? My son wouldn’t be here. I mean I’m grateful nothing happened to him but officers like that, you’re not supposed to be scared of an officer.”
Espinoza continued, “It made me more mad because if that would’ve hit my son and he started firing because he saw a little boy in there. That’s what he did last year. He didn’t even give the guy a chance.”
On April 30, 2015, Browder responded to a call concerning a homeless man harassing people in a parking lot. Suppressed surveillance videos showed Browder pull up in his cruiser to confront 42-year-old Fridoon Rawshan Nehad. After failing to turn on his body camera before arriving, Browder could be seen exiting his vehicle before immediately firing at Nehad.
Instead of brandishing a weapon, Nehad had been twirling a pen in his hand when Browder abruptly shot the mentally ill veteran. After watching the surveillance video roughly two dozen times, nearby KECO employee Wesley Doyle stepped forward declaring Browder did not bother to use his Taser or give Nehad any physical warning that he was about to shoot him.
After the fatal police shooting last year, San Diego County District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis announced that her office decided not to file criminal charges against Browder. Two months after Nehad’s death, his family filed a lawsuit in federal court accusing Browder of violating his civil rights while alleging flaws in the department’s investigation of the officer-involved shooting.
Due to the fact that Browder has claimed that the baby crib shooting was an accident, the department launched an administrative, not criminal, investigation into this second shooting. Evaluated by a police psychologist after his initial shooting, Browder fired his gun at a baby’s crib only weeks after returning to active duty.A number indecent photos depicting models whose genital areas have been censored or covered have been widely disseminated on the Internet and proved to be extremely popular. The question is whether these “incomplete nudes” on the Internet can induce sexual cognition. To answer this question, this study presented 25 male college students with 4 types of images. Results found that pictures of females induced larger positive potential (P2) amplitudes and shorter latencies than did pictures of males, and that pictures of nude females induced larger negative potential (N2) amplitudes than did pictures of nude males. Moreover, pictures of covered or nude females evoked larger P300 waves than did pictures of fully-dressed or underwear-wearing females. Pictures of nude models also evoked larger PSW than did other types of pictures. These results suggested that P2 and N2 reflect early gender processing and early sexual cognition, respectively, while P300 reflect inferential sexual cognition which meant that covered models were indeed perceived as nude models. This study revealed that censored (covered) sexual information disseminated through the Internet could still evoke inferential sexual cognition.Protesters told to pack their bags
Updated
Protesters camped in Hindmarsh Square will be forcibly removed if they have not left the site by Tuesday afternoon, the Adelaide City Council says.
About 25 Occupy Adelaide protesters set up a dozen tents on Saturday.
Lord Mayor Stephen Yarwood spoke to the protesters on Monday afternoon before council staff gave them a deadline to leave.
The council's chief executive Peter Smith says the group has until 3:00pm on Tuesday to pack up.
"We just have a simple by-law, which is by-law Three, which prohibits people setting up camp or tents in the city's parks or squares," he said.
"Generally in these situations we try and say to people, 'Look, without discussion of your right to protest and all those things, our main interest is upholding the law'."
The group is part of the global Occupy movement which started in New York as a protest against corporate greed.
The group says it is peacefully demonstrating against social injustice in the interest of profit.
One of the group, Sean, says he is standing up for what he believes in.
"I think it's very important to recognise that something is fundamentally wrong with our economic and political system and people here want to see something change, they want to at least provide a forum where ordinary people can talk about problems that society has, outside of the parliamentary system," he said.
Topics: activism-and-lobbying, adelaide-5000, sa
First postedA centuries-old stone wall, stretching for miles; enormous pictures scratched into the ground of a desert; rocks arranged in a circle. You know what these landmarks are, right?
Guess again. Instead of the Great Wall of China or Stonehenge, these are all ancient American ruins and landmarks. The United States is a relative newcomer to the world stage, but there have been people long living on this continent, and they’ve left traces of their presence just as mysterious as those found in other countries.
SALEM, NEW HAMPSHIRE
Although locals sometimes call this “America’s Stonehenge,” Mystery Hill bears little resemblance to the English megalith. Instead, it’s a complex of stone structures and artificial caves, most likely only as old as the 17th century. However, exact dating may never be possible, as the ruins suffered from tampering at the hands of a 1930s landowner who was convinced the structures were the remains of a 7th-century Irish monastic colony. So convinced, in fact, that if parts of the site didn’t match his theory, he’d “fix” them.
The site’s “mysterious” reputation has made it a popular tourist attraction for decades, and it’s even earned some pop culture fame—H.P. Lovecraft reportedly visited the site for inspiration, and The X-Files set one episode nearby.
COOLIDGE, ARIZONA
Archaeologists understand some things about Casa Grande in Arizona. They know that it was probably constructed in the early 13th century, that the builders used adobe, and that the full complex included several other adobe structures and a ball court, and was once surrounded by a wall.
What they don’t know is what the four-story central building was for: a guard tower, a grain silo, a house of worship, or something else. The site was abandoned nearly half a century before Columbus’s voyage to the Americas, long after the nearby Hopi had moved away, and was too ruined for early Spanish explorers to do their own investigating into what it was.
Today the main building is under a protective roof built by Civil Conservation Corps workers in the 1930s, and the full ruins are a federally protected national park—the first prehistoric ruins to become such a park in the United States.
BLYTHE, CALIFORNIA
One of the Blythe Intaglios, prehistoric Geoglyphs in the Mojave Desert, near Blythe, California. Ron’s Log/CC BY-SA 3.0
Several landmarks compete for the title of “America’s Stonehenge,” but it’s clear that the Blythe Intaglios are “America’s Nazca Lines.” Much like their Peruvian cousins, the Blythe Intaglios are a set of geoglyphs depicting giant human figures etched into the California desert sometime between 450 and 2,000 years ago. The figures are so big—the largest is over 170 feet long—that they escaped the notice of California settlers, and remained undisturbed until the 1930s when a pilot bound for Nevada spotted them from the air.
Researchers believe the local Mojave people were the likely creators of the site. However, as with the Nazca Lines, they can’t explain how the Mojave would have seen them from their intended aerial view, or what purpose they served.
SYLVA, NORTH CAROLINA
The Judaculla Rock petroglyph located in Jackson County, NC. Spjctim/Public Domain
For years, the Cherokee people who lived near the soapstone boulder now known as Judaculla Rock used it as a sort of billboard, etching so many petroglyph designs into the North Carolina stone that even today it’s difficult to tell exactly how many there are. The boulder also sports seven grooves, the mythical footprints of a legendary giant, which contemporary archaeologists attribute to ancient masons mining the soapstone to make bowls.
Research has been slow; soapstone is naturally fragile, and the Cherokee also still see the rock as a sacred artifact. But the Cherokee are working with visitors and researchers to give them access while still preserving the stone.
LOVELL, WYOMING
There are several “medicine wheel” monuments scattered around North America, with stones arranged in a wheel shape—a structure sacred to several tribes across the northern Great Plains. But at 75 feet in diameter, Wyoming’s Bighorn Medicine Wheel is the biggest. Surprisingly, it also pre-dates the time when the neighboring Crow people first lived in the area.
In the 1970s, Astronomer John Eddy also noticed that some of the wheel’s spokes pinpoint the direction of the sunrise on different solstices, and other spokes mark the rising point of other stars, suggesting the site may have once been an observatory. It’s still a mystery, though, who first built the wheel.
BERKELEY, MASSACHUSETTS
Like the Judaculla Rock, this is another petroglyph-clad boulder, yet no one knows who made carved it. Most scholars credit Massachusetts’ Dighton Rock to the local pre-Columbian tribes, and one of the petroglyphs does resemble a mark on a similar rock in Vermont. Other theories credit Vikings, Portuguese sailors, and even Phoenicians.
The rock itself is now housed in a museum inside Dighton Rock State Park, complete with exhibits making the case for each theory.
HILLSBORO, OHIO
This 1,300-foot earthwork shaped like an undulating snake swallowing an egg was first spotted by European settlers in 1812, and left undisturbed until the Smithsonian sent two surveyors out to map the site in the 1840s. The Great Serpent Mound has been the subject of study ever since. But while scholars agree it was built by pre-Columbian peoples, they disagree on who and when.
They also can’t decide on on the mound’s purpose, with some claiming it was a vast tomb, and others suggesting it had an astronomical purpose.
SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA
Also known as the East Bay Walls, the Berkeley Mystery Walls are a series of stone walls running in a rough path through the Bay Area of California, from Berkeley to San Jose. Their purpose is unknown; they’re too low to be a defensive wall, there are gaps in the structures, and at one point they form ornamental spiral patterns. It’s also unclear who made them. Early Spanish settlers found them already standing, and the local Ohlone people reported they’d always seen them there, too.
Whenever they were built, it was long enough ago for sections of the stones to have sunk into the earth. A 1904 archaeologist suggested they were built by Mongolian sailors who’d come to the California coast well before the time of Columbus, but his theory seems to have been based more on wishful thinking than scholarship.
MIAMI, FLORIDA
A recent discovery, the Miami Circle was only unearthed in 1998 when a Florida developer knocked down a 1950s apartment complex, revealing a circular pattern of holes in the limestone bedrock. Further excavation turned up tools similar to those used by the once-local Tequesta people, and radio-carbon testing suggests the site is nearly 3,000 years old.
The State of Florida now owns the plot, which still sits at the water’s edge beside a series of high-rises, to protect it from developers. Archaeologists believe the holes are actually signs of a bit of prehistoric development: post-holes for some kind of permanent shelter.
HEMET, CALIFORNIA
Unlike the other stones in this list, the Hemet Maze stone only has a single carving, but an intriguing one: a three-foot square with an |
to expand operations, marketing, production, and sales…as well as to launch an all-electric car. Bramscher says that the prototype is 85% complete, and methinks the Brammo CEO is looking at Tesla’s incredible sales with envious eyes.
Perhaps he should get Brammo’s electric motorcycle business in firm footing first though.
Source: Sustainable Business Oregon via Autoblog GreenDhaka has been ranked second in terms of having the most active Facebook users in the world according to Global Digital Statshot of Q2 report of 2017. In the last 30 days, 22 million people in Dhaka used the social media website, the report says. Dhaka is the third most densely populated mega city in the world, with 23,234 people living per square km area, according to World Population Review. The report, conducted by Hootsuite, says Thailand's capital Bangkok is the most social city in the world, with 30 million active users per month. Jakarta holds the third position with 22 million users followed by Mexico City (17 million), Sao Paulo (13 million), New Delhi (13 million), Lima (13 million), Istanbul (12 million), Cairo (12 million) and Ho Chi Minh (11 million).Hootsuite is a platform for managing social media, created by Ryan Holmes in 2008. The organisation deals with the latest essential internet, social media and mobile states from around the world. According to Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission, as of February 2017, Bangladesh had 67.24 million internet users, of whom 63.12 million are accessing the web on their mobile phones. There are 129.58 million mobile users in Bangladesh. “This is a good sign for Bangladesh if it is used for networking, e-commerce and reading the news,” former president of Bangladesh Association of Software and Information Services (BASIS) Shameem Ahsan told the Dhaka Tribune last night. “But, there is a negative side to this when it is used to just waste time like chatting for hours,” Shameem said. He also remarked that parents needed to regulate the Facebook usage by their children to make sure it is being used for good things.This is one of the best videos ever. Watch Rachel Dolezal take the stage and rile up a bunch of protesters to go burn down businesses for black power!
The most amazing thing about that video is how this obviously white lady runs around with what is clearly a fake tan with her terribly white mannerisms and vocal inflections. How was this not obvious to everyone that was there?!
More from Baltimore Brew:
Rachel Dolezal, the Washington state NAACP president whose racial identity has been called into question, spoke in Baltimore at a May 20 post-Freddie Gray protest outside police union headquarters. Dolezal, president of the Spokane NAACP, waited by her car outside the FOP union hall that day for about an hour before protesters marching from West Baltimore reached the building on Buena Vista Avenue in Hampden. As she waited, Dolezal said she had come to Baltimore to try to help community leaders working on the issue of improper use of force by police. Dolezal talked about the challenges for the miniscule black community in Spokane, noting that they comprise “just, like, one percent of the population.” She discussed police brutality issues there including the case of Lorenzo Hayes, 37, who died in Spokane police custody on May 13.
Photos Rachel Dolezal took with Marilyn Mosby (left) posted by the Spokane NAACP on Twitter.Photos that Rachel Dolezal took with Marilyn Mosby were posted on Twitter on May 22 by the Spokane NAACP. Speaking with The Brew and local activist Kinji Scott, who was also waiting for the marchers, Dolezal also talked about her experience of having received anonymous threats.
Will this story ever end?! I hope not. Every single little tidbit is better than the last.Valerie Caproni, up for judgeship in important terrorism court, likely to come under fresh scepticism in wake of NSA revelations
A former senior FBI official implicated in surveillance abuses is poised to become a federal judge in one of the US's most important courts for terrorism cases.
Valerie Caproni, the FBI's top lawyer from 2003 to 2011, is scheduled to receive a vote on Monday in the Senate for a seat on the southern district court of New York.
Caproni has come under bipartisan criticism over the years for enabling widespread surveillance later found to be inappropriate or illegal. During her tenure as the FBI's general counsel, she clashed with Congress and even the Fisa surveillance court over the proper scope of the FBI's surveillance powers.
And Caproni faces renewed skepticism for describing surveillance conducted under the Patriot Act as more limited than it actually is, now that the Guardian has revealed and the Obama administration confirmed that the National Security Agency uses the act to collect and store the telephone records of hundreds of millions of Americans.
"It is a shame that the White House has chosen to nominate former FBI general counsel Valerie Caproni to a lifelong position as a federal judge given her narrow views of Americans' privacy rights as demonstrated by her actions in the George W Bush administration," said Lisa Graves, a Justice Department official in the Clinton and early Bush administrations.
"Government officials that secretly approved of overbroad surveillance programs the public is only seeing now because of leaks, and whose testimony on the issue obscured rather than revealed these abuses, should be held to account for their actions in a public forum," said Mike German, a former FBI agent.
German, now a lawyer with the ACLU, would not comment on Caproni specifically, citing ACLU policy of neutrality on nominations. But he continued: "Excessive secrecy always threatens democracy, but misleading and incomplete testimony before Congress and the courts simply cannot stand unaddressed without doing real damage to constitutional government."
A Senate staffer who requested anonymity predicted that Caproni would probably win confirmation, but added, "lots of procedural options are available to gum up the works" when her nomination moves to a Senate floor vote.
A representative of the defense company Northrop Grumman, where Caproni currently serves as an executive, said Caproni was not available for interviews.
Even before the Guardian's phone records revelations, provided by NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden, lawmakers found Caproni to be complicit in surveillance abuses.
A 2010 report by the Department of Justice's internal watchdog found that the FBI misused a type of non-judicial subpoena known as an "exigent letter" to improperly obtain more than 5,500 phone numbers of Americans.
"The FBI broke the law on telephone records privacy and the general counsel's office, headed by Valerie Caproni, sanctioned it and must face consequences," said John Conyers, then the chairman of the House judiciary committee, in April 2010, who called for then-FBI director Robert Mueller to fire her.
Conyers said he was "outraged" that the FBI invented "exigent letters" to more easily obtain phone records, and intimated Caproni was responsible for it. "It's not in the Patriot Act. It never has been. And its use, perhaps coincidentally, began in the same month that Ms Valerie Caproni began her work as general counsel," Conyers said in a hearing that month. The FBI stopped using exigent letters in 2006.
Lawmakers' dissatisfaction with Caproni over surveillance has a long pedigree.
In an April 2008 House hearing, Caproni told lawmakers that if a phone number obtained from a telephone company using a nonjudicial subpoena ostensibly authorized by the Patriot Act was unrelated to a "currently open investigation, and there was no emergency at the time we received the records, the records are removed from our files and destroyed".
In fact, the NSA, at the time of Caproni's testimony and today, stores phone records such as phone numbers on practically all Americans for up to five years, whether or not they are connected to an "open investigation".
Numerous intelligence, Justice Department and law enforcement officials have testified this summer that the NSA can pass phone records to the FBI that it has "reasonable articulable suspicion" are connected to terrorism, although NSA deputy director John C Inglis could not cite a single case where the phone records have clearly disrupted a domestic terror attack.
"Caproni knew that the Bush administration could use or was using the Section 215 provision in the Patriot Act to obtain Americans' phone records on a broad scale, an issue that has recently been documented by the whistleblower material first printed in the Guardian," said Graves, a former deputy assistant attorney general who dealt with Caproni extensively while working on national security issues for the ACLU.
At one meeting in 2007, Graves recalled, "Caproni said she thought civil libertarians were wasting their time complaining about the NSL [national security letter] powers because the government could just obtain all that information and more through a 215 order by the Fisa court or through a grand jury subpoena issued by a single federal prosecutor and because those orders are secret we would never know. When pressed about that, she insisted that going around the limits on the NSL powers by using 215 or grand jury subpoenas was no big deal and a perfectly permissible use of those powers."
Graves said: "That may be technically true, but it also demonstrates her lack of regard for Americans' countervailing interest not to have records about their communications or business transactions swept up in secret by government agencies without any indication that they themselves have done anything wrong."
In 2007, the Justice Department's inspector general found "widespread and serious misuse of the FBI's national security letter authorities" to obtain business records, including "unauthorized collection of telephone or internet email transactional records," as the inspector general, Glenn Fine, summarized in March 2007 House testimony. That finding did not even hint that the collection of phone records in secret was even more widespread.
Without disclosing the full scope of the surveillance, Caproni called the improper collection of those phone records "a colossal failure on our part".
Acknowledging bipartisan anger on the House judiciary committee, Caproni testified: "We're going to have to work to get the trust of this committee back, and we know that's what we have to do, and we're going to do it."
A 2008 Justice Department inspector general's report into surveillance under the Patriot Act found that Caproni clashed with the Fisa court, a secret court that oversees surveillance for the purposes of foreign intelligence, over the scope of the court's authority.
The heavily redacted report found that in 2006, the Fisa court indicated it would not sign off on an FBI request for business records under section 215 of the Patriot Act – the section used to justify the bulk phone-records database – "because of first amendment concerns." It is extremely rare for the Fisa court to deny the government a surveillance request.
Caproni, the FBI's general counsel at the time, "told the OIG [office of inspector general] that the Fisa court does not have the authority to close an FBI investigation," according to a footnote in the report.
Caproni "believed there was enough information to predicate the investigation", the Justice Department inspector general found. "She said she disagreed with the court and nothing in the court's ruling altered her belief that the investigation was appropriate."
Because of redactions, it is unclear if the FBI investigation in that case continued against the Fisa court's objection.
While Caproni's nomination by President Obama has largely flown under the Washington radar, it has not been without controversy. Senator Chuck Grassley, the ranking Republican on the Senate judiciary committee, threatened in June to block Caproni's impending judgeship when it goes for a vote on Monday.
Grassley had been seeking records from the FBI about the exigent-letters surveillance controversy for at least six years, only to be told by Caproni in 2008, when she was the FBI's top lawyer, that "that the documents I was waiting for were on her desk, awaiting her review", Grassley said on the Senate floor June 13.
Having not received the documents he wanted, Grassley warned: "While I did not hold Ms Caproni's nomination in committee, I reserve my right to do so on the Senate floor." Grassley's office did not return requests for comment about his plans for Caproni's floor vote.
In order to win approval from the Senate judiciary committee, Caproni had to take the rare step of vowing to recuse herself from a broad category of cases "where my impartiality could be reasonably questioned", including those where "I had personal or supervisory involvement in a matter while at the FBI."
"I would certainly recuse myself if I were presented with a case that would require me to rule on the legality of a national security program as to which I provided legal advice while I was a government employee, unless there was controlling precedent already in place regarding such a program," Caproni wrote to senator Richard Durbin on 8 July.
Caproni will be very likely to hear many of those cases as a federal judge. Her nomination is for one of the country's most important federal courts for terrorism cases: the southern district court of New York.
"The southern district of New York has historically been the premier venue for terrorism cases. Today, many of the most high profile of these cases continue to find their way into this district court. Its historical memory, and the experience of its judges, are second to none," said Karen Greenberg, director of Fordham University's Center on National Security.
"For all of her virtues, you have to think twice about putting someone on the court with this level of concern about her role in surveillance abuses," Greenberg said. "The symbolism of this is significant. The courts are torn over this issue."AIVA Technologies, one of the leading startups in the field of AI music composition, developed a deep learning-based system that is the world’s first non-human to officially acquire the worldwide status of Composer.
AIVA is registered under the France and Luxembourg authors’ right society (SACEM), where all of its works reside with a copyright to its own name – AIVA’s first album called Genesis was recorded in collaboration with human artists. The musical pieces will be used by advertising agencies, film directors and game studios.
Using CUDA, TITAN X Pascal GPUs and cuDNN with the TensorFlow deep learning framework, “we have taught a deep neural network to understand the art of music composition by reading through a large database of classical partitions written by the most famous composers (Bach, Beethoven, Mozart, etc),” mentioned the Avia team. “Aiva is capable of capturing concepts of music theory just by doing this acquisition of existing musical works.”
Once trained, GPUs help AIVA compose its very own sheet music – the partitions are then played by professional artists on real instruments in a recording studio.
The AIVA team has plans of teaching the AI how to play any style of music.
Read more >It's difficult to make microbes, telescopes and mathematical equations appear sexy. But the Business Insider blog managed to find 50 scientists who are rising stars in their fields of research, as well as being sexy. Two of them are from Israel.
One of the scientists is Uri Laserson, from the Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology. Laserson, who holds a Ph.D in biomedical engineering and mathematics from MIT, co-founded Good Start Genetics in 2007, a company that screens parents-to-be for hereditary diseases like cystic fibrosis, which they could pass on to their children. Business Insider wasn't the first to notice Laserson, who works today at the Cloudera software company. He also made Forbes' 30 Under 30 list back in 2011.
The second sexy scientist from Israel who made the Business Insider list is Tali Sharot, a doctor of psychology and neuroscience who works at University College London. She is considered to be one of the world's most promising cognitive researchers.
Sharot studies emotion, social interaction, decision making, and memory, specifically how our experience of emotion impacts how we think and behave on a daily basis, and when we suffer from mental illnesses like depression and anxiety. Sharot, who Business Insider also said is a descendant of Karl Marx, is also the author of "The Optimism Bias: A Tour of the Irrationally Positive Brain." The book presents research showing that humans believe their future selves will be better than the past or present.
Screen shot of Tali Sharot from businessinsider.com.
skip -You have a life outside of work. Fun Friday gear reviews are just like they sound. These are posts for those who play as hard as they work. This post is on how to make an excellent homemade ultralight backpacking stove.
Watch the Video for Step by Step Instructions
Why do you need an ultralight stove?
Wilderness areas often prohibit campfires and a portable stove is your only ticket to a hot meal on a cold night. If you are bugging out, smoke from even a small campfire is a surefire way to get your camp raided, or worse. Dry and dark camping may be your only option.
Why ultralight?
On an escape route, your ability to move quickly and silently may save your life. Every ounce matters because weight and bulk slows you down.
Why denatured alcohol?
High tech means high maintenance. Compressed gas or white gas stoves are relatively noisy. They hiss or roar like a small jet engine when in operation. It may not seem like much but your escape route may mean a trek through the wilderness. Wilderness areas at night are dead silent. Any noise is bad noise.
Silence and the darkness are your friends. Stay dark, stay silent, say hidden, stay alive. The alcohol stove makes no noise and the blue flame is dimly lit. Denatured alcohol can also be found much easier than compressed gas canisters or white gas.
Shelter, food, water. Those are the essentials. Once you are in a temporary safe place, you want to quickly boil water to make it safe to drink. You will then want to boil water to rehydrate, and heat, a freeze dried meal. This is not a time for gourmet meals. This little stove will deliver on the promise to a fast, safe, and stealthy way to boil water and provide much needed nutrients.
This post is about how to create hot meals with a reliable stove that does not weigh as much as a brick or cost as much as a five course meal. This stove was cheap, easy to make and serves its purpose very well. The goal with this stove is to boil water. We are not cooking a pot full of seafood gumbo or your favorite chili recipe. The point here is to make something hot, edible, fast!
Here is what you will need:
Cheap $1 extruded aluminum bottle from the Dollar Tree or similar bargain store. DO NOT go out and buy a $20 SIGG bottle. The cheap versions are less rigid and work best.
A cutting tool. It is not necessary to use a dremel tool with cutting wheel. It just made the job easier. You can use an affordable hand saw as well.
Drill and drill bit in the size of 1/32. You can also use 1/16 bit and make less holes.
Sandpaper in 60 grit.
Measuring tool like a small tape measure or a ruler.
Sharpie or permanent marker.
Additional items:
This stove burns denatured alcohol (preferred). It will also burn isopropyl alcohol (rubbing alcohol 70%). 2oz lasts about four minutes in the stove. You can get denatured alcohol at almost any hardware store.
Make a wind screen and ground mat out of tin foil. This serves as a wind break which greatly improves efficiency. The ground mat helps prevent your stove from catching the forest on fire. Make the tin foil windscreen and ground mat by sneaking into your kitchen while your wife is asleep and snag all of her tin foil. Make two pieces 12″x12″ each. Fold them in half for strength.
Step 1: Measure
Make a mark on your bottle approximately two inches from the top, not including the plastic cap. This mark should be 1/2 of an inch below the spot where the bottle starts to expand.
Step 2: Cut the top and base
Carefully cut the circumference of the bottle separating the two inch section from the rest. Do your best to maintain the 2″ measurement all the way around, evenly.
Use the freshly cut two inch bottle piece, place it next to the base of the bottle. Mark the base of the bottle two inches from the bottom to mach the piece that was previously cut. Your goal here is to create two pieces that mach when pressed together. The bottom cut should be two inches in height just like the top piece.
Step 3: Invert and Press
Place the two inch high base facing up. Invert the two inch piece, with the bottle spout, facing down. Press the two pieces together. Note: DO NOT press the top of the bottle all the way into the bottom. There should be a small gap inside the pressed pieces so the fluid can seep into the chamber. This gap should be 1/32 in width.
Invert the newly pressed pieces together. Lightly sand the open end of your new stove on a flat hard surface. This should even out the ends of the two pieces that have been pressed together.
Step 5: Drill the holes
IMPORTANT: Only drill through the outer layer of the stove. If you drill all the way through the flames won’t come out the holes.
Measure one drill hole approximately 1/2 inch from the top or just slightly below where the expansion chamber starts from the top. If you are using a 1/32 bit then you will have twice as many holes as you have if you are using 1/16 bit. Be sure they are evenly spaced all the way around. These holes are where the heated alcohol that transforms from liquid to gas escapes creating flames.
NOTE: I had to use a larger drill bit because my 1/16th bit broke…oops. The smaller the holes, the lower the flame will be. You can see from the picture my flame is a little too much.
Step 4: Sand
Make sure and sand any sharp edges off for safety. You can sand as little, or as much as you would like. I wasn’t too concerned about the cosmetic appearance of this DIY camp stove myself.
Step 5: Fill and Light
Fill your new stove with approximately 2oz of denatured alcohol. DO NOT OVERFILL. Swirl the liquid around in the bottom for it to seep into the chamber.
Light the small amount of alcohol that is left in the bottom of the stove. The flame will be faint and difficult to see. In approximately 30 seconds to 1 minute, you should hear and see the alcohol start to slightly boil and turn to a gas. Small flames should begin to emerge from the drilled holes in the side of the stove.
Good to go
After the flames start to aggressively exit the drilled holes, you can place your pot on the stove. Expect boiling water in less than 3 minutes.Played the wrong Private Ryan?the one Tom Hanks finds before Matt Damon.
”All I had to do was cry. That’s all I did on that soap opera. I could cry at the drop of a hat. But I was so tense, so nervous. Steven Spielberg was very encouraging. He said, ‘You’re acting it, but whatever you’re feeling, it’s not coming out.’ And then he told everyone to take five, and he took me for a walk and sat me down behind this Army truck and we started talking. He gave me all these things to think about, and I just started crying on the spot. He said, ‘You look ready.’ And I did it, because he took the time to help me. I ran into Steven Spielberg years later. He said, ‘Hey! Do you remember me? [Laughs] Yessir, I do.”These are the Star Wars Stormtrooper decanter bottles and shot glasses available from The Fowndry. They were based on the stormtrooper mask molds created by industrial designer Andrew Ainsworth in 1976 for the original Star Wars film. The decanter costs £22 (~$27) and the shot glass £12 (~$15, or two for £22, ~$27) but the shot glasses aren't really shot glasses. They're 150ml, or 5-ounces, which I would only consider shot glasses if you're from the school that believes that taking four shots should definitely be able to kill you.
Keep going for several more pictures including one of what the "shot glass" looks like full of milk. SPOILER: VERY SLEEK AND APPROPRIATE.
Thanks to GetOffMyBack, who I didn't even notice was giving me a piggyback ride. No, this is fun, I think I'll stay.With the influx of new players through the humble bundle, I thought to type out some tips/tricks and general knowledge about the game to make an otherwise hard to get into game a little bit easier. If there’s anything I’ve missed or gotten wrong, let me know and I’ll edit the original post
EDIT: Some additional tips from /r/battleborn!
EDIT:SHiFT Codes (go to extras -> SHiFT) for free loot packs. The green codes are still active, and more are constantly released on Twitter, Facebook and during events.
Introduction
This guide will cover the basics of both PvP and PvE in Battleborn along with some tips, tricks and general things to keep in mind. Most important thing to keep in mind though is: Battleborn is not an easy game to get into!
It combines aspects of both the FPS and MOBA genres, and does so in a unique and very Gearbox way. And while this makes the game incredible compelling and in-depth, it also makes it complex and hard to grasp at times. But when you do, the sense of accomplishment exceeds that of those gotten from games of the ‘parent genres’. -But that is just my opinion, find out for yourself!-
##PvP
A lot of people will be drawn to Battleborn for the PvP side of the game, but jumping in unprepared can be quite a harrowing experience with how much is happening at the same time. Here are some things to keep in mind:
Don’t neglect PvE
PvE is a very important aspect of Battleborn, and it’s highly recommended to run at least a couple of story missions on normal to get acquianted with the game, your preferred characters and the majority of the game’s mechanics. Preferably run through the entire story (all missions can be done solo with all characters), but it’s understandable that you’d want to jump into PvP as soon as possible.
PvE is also the quickest and most efficient way of getting gear, which I’ll be getting into later.
PvP is completely objective based
Kills are nice to have, and make your job easier, but the primary win condition is capturing and holding points in Capture, escorting minions in Meltdown or destroying the second sentry in Incursion.
Kills only come into play when the score is completely tied (which can be seen at the top of the screen at all times). This happens most often in Incursion where each sentry represents 50 points, so when both teams have lost their first sentries, but the second ones are untouched, the winning team will be decided by kills/assists. Each kill is worth 2 points, and each assist 1.
Buildables (turrets, supply stations etc) and Thrall camps can win games for you
Building and controlling the various buildable options on the map can give you more control and pressure than most players can. Thralls and Elite Bots have immense health pools and most characters (with a few notable exceptions, especially late game) struggle with clearing them. These also help a lot with shredding a Sentry’s shield so you can get to its health quicker.
Turrets give you increased control over the area they affect, and can make it incredibly hard for the opponent to enter that area. Especially Thumper turrets, with the slowing effect on their rockets, can make it nearly impossible for the enemy to close in, so use them to your advantage.
Conversely, taking down turrets and Thralls/Elite Bots should be your highest priority, right after clearing the enemy minions. If you let them be, it will be an uphill struggle to regain control.
Besides these tactical benefits, building buildables and capturing Thrall camps grants you some experience, and each higher tier (buildables can be upgraded up to 2 times after building) gives you more experience than the tier before that. Use this to level up faster and gain a double advantage over the enemy. This is for PvP only! In PvE buildables do not grant experience.
Get to know the map
As an extension on the point above, take some time to get to know the map. This is probably best done through private bot matches. You can set up anything from 1 to 5 players on a team and get some experience with the PvP maps and against Battleborn bots, which are (a tad) more impressive than the Story AI minions.
For exploring the map I’d recommend making the match a 1v1. This way you have plenty of space to scour all the nooks and crannies of the map and find all the turret locations, shard spawn points etc. Bot matches can also help you get a little bit of experience with a new character. In this case, fill out the teams with bots to give you an idea of that character functions in teamfights as well as their base mechanics. Just don’t expect that people are going to behave the same way as the bots because face it: bots are kinda dumb.
Gear does matter
One of the unique things about Battleborn is its gear system. Loudouts can give you a monumental edge in the fight, and going into a PvP match without a loadout will severely cripple you.
There are two main thoughts about loadouts and how to put them together:
Cheap gear for an early spike and plenty of shards for buildables Expensive gear for maximizing stats and effects late game
Each has their own pros and cons, so go out there and experiment.
When you get a piece of gear with negative stats, don’t immediately throw them away! Negative stats reduce the activation cost of the item and some don’t even affect your character. An easy example is Rath: as a melee character he is unaffected by reload speed and recoil, so gear with those negative stats don’t affect him at all. Similarly, none of the Eldrid have shields, so stats negatively impacting shields do not affect them.
Grab the large shard clusters whenever you can
In Meltdown and Incursion, when the match timer hits 28:00 minutes, large shard clusters spawn on the map. These give you a significant number of shards which are necessary for activating gear and building turrets, Elite bots etc. Grab these whenever you can. A small percentage of the shards you grab are shared with your teammates, so don’t worry about ‘hogging the shards’. Better you get them than the enemy team. Shards are also in relatively short supply (especially compared to PvE), so anything and everything you can get helps both you and the team.
If you find yourself with a lot of shards, start looking for buildables to build. There are a lot of them strewn about the map, and you can take over turrets in the enemy base after destroying them. This doesn’t only give you an asset, but denies the enemy one.
Try not to die
Seems simple enough, no? Well, it actually isn’t. Remember that Battleborn is a FPS/MOBA hybrid, and with that comes a lot of crowd control and respawn timers. Dieing not only means you can’t help your team for a little while (up to a minute or so late game) but you also give the enemy more experience, resulting in higher levels and a harder fight.
Another thing to remember is that while the game is classified as a ‘Hero Shooter’, you aren’t Saitama/Superman/Hercules/[enter superhero of your choice here]. You cannot dash into 2 enemies alone and expect to survive, let alone dashing into more. Even when playing an Initiator (see character tags below), you need your team with you to have a chance at success. Battleborn IS a team game after all.
When you’re low on health you can teleport back to your base and get full health instantly. All you need to do is make sure you’re in place that’s safe for the next couple of seconds and hit ‘B’ on PC or down on the d-pad for PS4/XBOX One. After a short (and pretty cool looking animation tbh) you’ll be teleported back to base and have your health fully restored. This can be a big difference in your success and effectiveness, as a teleport back to base is always faster than dying and respawning.
##PvE
The majority of the charm of the game - the characters, humor and setting overall - really come to life in the PvE and as a result really adds to the complete Battleborn experience. And while the PvE is a little more forgiving than PvP, it still has its difficulties that you need to master.
Do each mission on normal before jumping into advanced
The difficulty spike between normal and advanced is pretty big, especially on missions like the Saboteur. Advanced missions are designed under the presumption you’re familiar with the flow and enemy spawns of that mission, and then really ups the ante.
Jumping into advanced missions blindly instantly cripples your team’s chances of completing it. Some spawns can be brutally unforgiving, and these can be worsened by unlucky RNG. Especially the defense missions, in which you must keep a point/structure alive, can be nigh on impossible if you don’t know the patterns.
This will not only end in wasting your and your team’s time, but also in a lot of frustration that could easily be avoided.
Team composition is important!
To be fair, less so on normal, but on advanced a bad team composition can lose you the mission before you start. The difficulty ramps up really quickly with more people in the team, as the missions are designed with healers and tanks in mind as soon as the team size reaches 3 or more.
The following things need to be present in teams of 3 or more characters:
Someone who can heal or shield allies Someone who can draw aggression from groups/enemies and survive Someone with good area of effect damage for mobs Someone with good single target damage for bosses/elites
A number of characters can fulfill multiple roles, for example Ambra has good heals and AoE damage, while Galilea has good survivability and single target damage (and later on in her helix AoE as well, though not nearly as potent as Oscar Mike or Thorn for example). All characters are viable in PvE, as long as these points are covered.
Communication matters!
Yes, you’re fighting AI and they’re predictable in their patterns (to some extent), but what they lack in capability they compensate through sheer numbers, both in bodies and damage output. Bad communication can lead to people accidentally triggering multiple spawn points, overwhelming you with an army of mindless enemies or an inefficient defense of a mission critical point, letting through enemies that tear through its health like it’s wet tissue paper.
However, also respect the fact that there are multiple ways to move through the mission and its spawns. Some prefer to rely a lot on buildables, while other don’t mind running the risk of taking some damage to a defense point or waste a few lives in the process. There are very few places in the story which requires you to use buildables, and even those points can be done without buildables by well coordinated teams. Which will never be in PUGs.
There are no ‘true’ checkpoints in the game
While the game does feature checkpoints, these are merely spawn points for if you die. Running out of lives or losing a mission critical objective means you fail the mission and need to start from the beginning again. This can be incredibly frustrating when you’ve spent the last 30 minutes fighting through hordes of enemies, even more so in PUGs where people have expectations of you.
A side note to this is that while you do have lives, it’s generally better to conserve them as much as possible. Throughout the mission, the number of remaining lives affects the number of score drops (little yellow orbs): more lives equals more score drops. This can be important if you’re trying to unlock certain characters before you reach the Command Rank at which they automatically unlock.
Explore the map
The story missions include a lot of lootable boxes spread throughout the map, and they’re definitely worth checking out. They include things like temporary buffs, bonus score/credit, lives and just flat level ups. Using these can give you the edge you need to complete a mission successfully.
Sometimes it’s better to wait a little while with picking these up. If you’re close to leveling up, grabbing a helix orb is effectively wasting it. The same goes with health drops, buffs and overshields when there are no enemies around and you’re waiting for the next wave to spawn.
Don’t hog all the shards!
Shards are relatively common in PvE, especially if you look around a little, but that doesn’t mean you should run out and get them all for yourself. The rest of the team also needs them to activate gear and build buildables. While not a hard set rule, it is part of a generally accepted code of conduct among avid PvE players, so respect that.
There are also some shards that are hidden behind a varelsi shield and require a turret to be built to be accessed. It’s a generally accepted practice to let the one who built the turret to get the shard cluster inside.
##Characters
One of this game’s defining features is it’s diverse cast of characters, and there’s almost guaranteed to be one that perfectly fits your playstyle. Which leads me into my first point:
Try a lot of different characters!
Don’t judge a book by its cover is exceptionally true in Battleborn. Each character has a unique playstyle and you might be surprised how much you enjoy some of them. And don’t be discouraged if you struggle with a character the first time you play them. Some of them are quite complex and require a bit of experience to pull off properly.
Here are some good starter characters:
Oscar Mike. He looks like one of the most boring designs ever, but looks are deceiving. He has some of the (arguably) best lines in the game and has very beginner friendly mechanics.
. He looks like one of the most boring designs ever, but looks are deceiving. He has some of the (arguably) best lines in the game and has very beginner friendly mechanics. Thorn. Both similar and dissimilar to Oscar Mike, Thorn is the quintessential archer character. A little more skill required to pull off, but she will teach you a lot about mobility and movement.
. Both similar and dissimilar to Oscar Mike, Thorn is the quintessential archer character. A little more skill required to pull off, but she will teach you a lot about mobility and movement. Mar |
guy changed my life,’ and it feels good. I love that I can change lives like Veasna's.”Wisconsin is on the verge of becoming the 49th state to allow its citizens to carry concealed guns, leaving only Illinois without such a law.
"It's embarrassing. We're the last ones," said state Rep. Brandon Phelps, D-Harrisburg.
Wisconsin is on the verge of becoming the 49th state to allow its citizens to carry concealed guns, leaving only Illinois without such a law.
"It's embarrassing. We're the last ones," said state Rep. Brandon Phelps, D-Harrisburg. "Every other state tends to believe this is a right, not a privilege, and they have let their law-abiding citizens do it, and I don't know why we should be any different.
"We're not going to go away. We're going to keep pushing it."
But Phelps faces stiff opposition from Chicago and suburban lawmakers and Gov. Pat Quinn, who said last week he is proud Illinois is the last state not to allow concealed carry and that he would veto any bill allowing it.
So Phelps said he plans to talk to officials in Cook County and Chicago about a compromise, including the possibility of allowing local officials to decide whether people can carry concealed weapons.
"I don't want to leave anybody out, but you know what, we've got to start looking at things and maybe try a different approach," said Phelps, acknowledging the National Rifle Association believes any Illinois law should allow every citizen in the state who is eligible to carry a concealed gun. "A lot of their (NRA) members would support it (allowing local governments to decide). We're going to talk to them. We're going to talk to every other group, too."
Six votes short
Hoping to break the logjam, a group of downstate Republican lawmakers introduced a bill last week that would allow county boards to decide whether or not their citizens could carry concealed firearms. Phelps' bill received 65 votes in the House, a majority, but not enough of one to overcome a decision by the House Democratic leadership that the bill needed 71 votes to pass because it overrules the home rule powers of local governments.
"Forty-nine states can't be wrong, and to be the very last state is unfortunate,' said Rep. Michael Unes, R-East Peoria, a chief co-sponsor of the bill.
Rep. Bill Mitchell, R-Forsyth, believes his legislation, House Bill 3794, would solve that problem.
"It came up through people, constituents, calling and frustrated that you get 65 votes, which is usually a constitutional majority, and yet it didn't move on (to the Senate). So the frustration is, OK, Cook County legislators, Chicago don't want it, well, let us have it," Mitchell said.
Mitchell agrees the gun lobby won't like his bill because the same rights wouldn't apply to every Illinoisan and the possibility exists gun owners carrying concealed weapons could run afoul of another jurisdiction's law if they cross county lines with a concealed firearm.
Mitchell views his bill as a backup plan in case Phelps cannot find the votes for his bill or if the courts do not determine concealed carry is a constitutional right, which is the contention of several lawsuits filed on the subject.
"I have never been on a district tour saying another bill is better than the bill I just filed. But I did yesterday," Mitchell said. "There's problems with it. And I understand that completely."
Chicago vs. downstate
In recent years, neither side of the gun debate has been effective at getting their bills passed.
Chicago lawmakers who favor banning assault weapons or limiting gun purchases on a monthly basis have been unable to gain traction, due to lack of downstate support.
Democratic Rep. Edward Acevedo, a Chicago police officer and opponent of concealed carry, said there may be room for urban lawmakers to consider Mitchell's bill, if he and other gun-rights supporters are willing to compromise on other issues, such as placing more restrictions on assault weapons.
"It's something I might be willing to look at. I think this subject will continue to come up. If I'm willing to deal with that... then maybe they should hear me out as far as my ban on assault weapons," Acevedo said. "I would be willing to sit at table and negotiate a deal where you give me something and I'll give you something."
The arguments for and against concealed carry remain largely the same. Phelps argues that fears about Wild West-style shootouts have been unfounded.
"Every other state that's had concealed carry has not repealed this, has not even tried to repeal this. it's working. I know it'll work here," Phelps said, noting his legislation, House Bill 148, does not allow guns in bars and restaurants.
But Brian Malte, director of state legislation for the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, points to a study by the Violence Policy Center that shows more than 300 people have been killed by those who have concealed carry permits, including 11 law enforcement officials and 18 cases of mass shootings. The Brady Campaign opposes concealed carry laws in which citizens do not have to have permits and/or law enforcement does not have discretion over who gets a permit and how many permits are issued.
"We have never seen a state government release an audit of their concealed carry system," Malte said.
"Not only do you have permittees actually committing homicide or murder, but you also have dangerous people slipping through the cracks with what appear to be valid concealed carry permits."
_____
Concealed carry lingo
SHALL ISSUE: A law that says a governmental body has to issue a concealed carry permit if a citizens meets certain requirements, such as age limits, completing a gun safety course and going through a background check. All of Illinois' neighboring states currently or will fall into this category, once Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker signs a bill allowing the practice in that state.
MAY ISSUE: A law that says a governmental body can issue a concealed permit if citizens meet certain requirements and law enforcement believes they should have a permit. These types of laws allow police to exercise discretion in whom they allow to carry a weapon and how many permits are issued in any jurisdiction. Larger states, such as New York and California, and several Northeastern states have this type of law.
UNRESTRICTED: Residents can carry concealed weapons without a permit. Alaska, Vermont, Arizona and Wyoming (as of July 1) are the only states that allow unrestricted concealed carry.
Michael Boren of the Journal Star contributed to this report.IC: How do you see his support among other Shias? I know he’s had issues with Moqtada al-Sadr, but do you think he’s fairly secure right now?
VN: I would say that there is criticism of him at a tactical level, and at a strategic level. There are those Shiites who think that he’s gone too far in being sectarian and he’s been too abusive of Sunnis. There are others who think that he’s made tactical mistakes. I remember a number of months ago, some Shiites in Iraq I was talking to said they wanted the Iraqi military to completely destroy these guys. And you know ISIS attacks are only the latest. We’ve had months and months of suicide bombing and the Shias want to know what’s he doing about it. And the Shias in Iraq do not blame suicide bombing on Shia megalomania. They blame suicide bombing on Sunni hatred and other regional powers who support them. So in some ways, Maliki’s also being blamed for having failed them. But I think the pressure to remove Maliki is also creating an opportunity for other politicians to begin to smell blood in the water, which is true of any political system. So there’s a lot of people who now see international pressure on him mounting and are beginning to jockey for being the anointed next prime minister.
IC: What’s your sense of how the Iranian regime currently sees Maliki and how happy it is with him?
VN: Well the Iranian regime is not beholden to Maliki in person, but again they also have a very different approach to things. They don’t dump friends that readily, as we're seeing in Syria. They’re not beholden to al-Sadr either, but they’re not going to automatically get up and say, "you gotta leave." The Iranians have a larger interest in Iraq, which is to protect their position and to protect the Shias. Also they have to know there’s enormous amounts of anxiety among average Iranians about ISIS’s threat to the shrine city, and there are reports in the Iranian press that say the defense of the city is a religious duty of every Iranian. So Iranians don't want the whole thing to fall. If Maliki becomes too much of a liability, then they will let him go, but they will do this in a way that the entire Shia apparatus of power does not unravel. So Maliki for Iran is both a liability and a threat, and right now he’s keeping the Shia part of Iraq together. He does have, as far as even a bankrupt political process in Iraq is concerned, a mandate. And Iranians are not willing to exchange Maliki for some leader who would be acceptable to the Sunnis. They’re not going to accept somebody whom ISIS and the tribal leaders would agree to.
IC: Well, ISIS isn’t going to agree to anyone, right?
VN: Right.
IC: How much common ground do you think there can be between the U.S. and Iran?
VN: There is room. Iranians may come to the view that Iraq obviously needs a new leader. The more America stands up and shouts that Maliki has to go, the less we’re going to get cooperation from Iran. This, in the region, sounds like some kind of an imperialist exhortation. And they’re not going to do our bidding. These are times when actually quiet diplomacy is much better than these kinds of public pronouncements.
IC: So what do you think is the proper American policy at this point?
VN: I think the proper American policy is much more of a diplomatic engagement, which means that you have to talk to all kinds of regional leaders, to create a certain common ground about what’s the way forward. So even if the Shiites agree to change the leader, what comes next, what’s the road map here? Are the Sunni regional governments going to pressure the tribes to join the government? Are they making that commitment? Are they going to join hands and recognize the new prime minister and embrace him? So we have to work with our allies and we also have to keep telling Iran, “we’re not going to embarrass you publicly, but you don’t want ISIS, we don’t want ISIS, and at least the starting point for the road map is a figure other than Maliki, who’s become too polarizing, and let’s work on that.” But we’re neither leaving Iraq completely to regional actors to figure out themselves, nor are we actually really getting involved in a way to be the decider.
IC: In less than a month the Iranian nuclear deadline is coming up. And I’m just wondering if you think that’s going to play into the Iraq stuff at all or vice versa?
VN: They are on separate tracks, but the fact that Iran and the U.S. have been talking, have made progress on the nuclear issue, actually makes it much more likely that they could at least have constructive conversations around Iraq. It doesn’t mean they’re going to arrive at any agreement. Secondly, I think Iran has now, based on its own internal politics and its own revolutionary foreign policy, way more room to maneuver on Iraq than it has in the past. So the idea of talking to America, or if there were an international conference on Iraq somewhere down the road, that Iran would participate in it, is much more of a realistic expectation than it would have been before. So the nuclear talks can help some kind of regional engagement with the United States, and Iraq on the other hand will not wreck the nuclear issue.
IC: But if the nuclear stuff goes badly in the next month, could that hurt things in Iraq?
VN: Well it could hurt Iraq first of all if the U.S. and Iran stop talking to each other altogether and there’s no more positive momentum in the process. It’s much more difficult to say, “ok let’s forget about this gargantuan issue on which we failed, let’s focus on this other issue.” So you’re gonna make it much more difficult. The nuclear issue has now become the pivot of U.S.-Iran relations: It either creates an environment in which they can have constructive engagement more broadly, or not. Iran is going to follow its own policy, completely separate from the United States. But the irony is, unlike Syria, in Iraq, Iran’s independent policy is much more in line with the United States’, whereas in Syria they were clearly on opposite sides.
IC: Still are.
VN: Still are. Although ISIS is the main issue in both sides, but there, the U.S. is against the government Iran supports, here the U.S. has relations with the government Iran supports and still is supporting the government against the opposition, which was not the case in Syria. In Syria, the U.S. supported the opposition against the government. And that basically is the common denominator between them. So even if they don’t talk at all, so long as they don’t get in each other’s way, they are basically dealing with the same problem and are supporting the same government in the capital city.
IC: It’s like a couple staying together to raise the kids. Even though they have no relationship they can just kind of go their separate ways and allow the kids—
VN: But look, on two other occasions, Iran and the United States, without talking to each other, facilitated Maliki’s election.
IC: Right, that’s what I’m saying. They can make it work even if they’re not talking. Anyway, it’s pretty remarkable we’re in a situation where Iran can control the governments in both Iraq and Syria—it’s pretty amazing.
VN: It is. But it goes to something that in the region everybody understands, which is long, patient investment. And Iran has invested in these two governments for decades. That's why actually it’s so difficult for Iran to give them up and I think in the case of Iraq, Iran has a lot more say there than it has in Syria, because in Iraq the Shiites are the majority. So at some level what we have to understand is that, as Tip O’Neill said, “all politics is local,” and there’s a lot politics here and it’s not limited just to Maliki personally. There is a constituency in Iraq. There are Shiites who are petrified of ISIS and are petrified of these backers that are behind ISIS and they take the talk of Sunni restoration quite seriously.
This interview has been edited and condensed.DUNEDIN, Fla. — It’s easy to forget that Brett Cecil tore his left calf muscle clean in half less than five months ago. Lost in the mayhem and pandemonium that was October, 2015 for the Toronto Blue Jays was Cecil’s unfortunate, freak injury which held him out of the ALCS and has required a full winter of rehab to get over.
It happened in game two of the ALDS vs. Texas, when Cecil spotted Mike Napoli wandering too far off the bag at first. Napoli was caught in a run-down that Cecil became a part of as the Rangers first baseman darted back and forth between the bags. As soon as Cecil took his feed at first base from Troy Tulowitzki, he took a stride forward to close ground on Napoli and felt something pop. His calf had torn, but adrenaline took over, and Cecil caught up to Napoli and applied the tag. After that, he could barely walk off the field
“I don’t know how I took the extra steps,” Cecil says. “I cried walking back to my locker.”
What was strange about Cecil’s injury was that the severity of it would have allowed him to pitch in the World Series if the Blue Jays had gotten there. With the muscle torn clean across, the area felt numb to him, as if there was nothing even there. That meant Cecil simply had to train the other muscles in his lower leg to provide the force and stabilization that his calf was no longer offering in order to pitch.
He spent hours with the Blue Jays training staff, working through endless balance and strengthening exercises, and lying on a trainer’s table as his leg was contorted in every direction. He even pitched off a mound a few times during the ALCS, and told the team he’d be ready for the World Series if they made it there.
They didn’t. But all the work Cecil did in order to get himself ready for the possibility of pitching in it only served to jumpstart his rehabilitation.
“It helped so much that we were getting after it so hard there, trying to get me back. I feel like it really alleviated the length of time it’s taken to heal,” Cecil says. “It made the offseason a lot easier.”
That offseason began with Cecil mostly staying off of the leg for weeks as he received daily treatment to help it heal, whether it was massage, acupuncture or simple ice. By mid-November he was able to start sessions with physical therapists in Dunkirk, Maryland, his hometown. He went through three sessions a week for a month, focusing on balance and muscle endurance. By December, Cecil wasn’t bothered by it at all.
“I was walking everywhere, no pain, no limp, nothing,” Cecil says. “I went on vacation and stopped doing the physical therapy stuff and it was fine.”
Walking was fine, but running was still an issue. Shortly after he finished physical therapy, Cecil tested his calf by running for 10 consecutive minutes on a treadmill. He felt good when he finished, but the next morning the pain was agonizing and he spent two straight days walking with a limp. He stopped running entirely at that point and focused on strengthening the area, up until a week before spring training when he tried sprinting.
Interestingly, sprinting went better than running, as he found the calf responded well to short bursts of high exertion rather than long periods of moderate effort. He sprinted eight times for four consecutive days and felt no ill effects, which was when he knew he was ready for the season.
“I’m not really worried about long distance running. I can jog to the mound from the bullpen,” Cecil says. “The main thing is being able to use that sprint action to get to a ball here or a ball there. And that’s been totally fine.”
This spring, the Blue Jays training staff is continuing to treat the area, using dry needles and Graston technique to work down the built-up scar tissue around the site of the tear. That process can be painful, but Cecil feels immediately better afterwards and says the scar tissue has gone down dramatically since he arrived in Dunedin.
When he’s pitching, Cecil feels a hint of tension for a quick moment at the height of his delivery, but at that point in his mechanics Cecil pivots his foot and begins to drive to the plate, which doesn’t bother him at all. Of course, he pitched when it was completely torn as well, so he doesn’t expect his performance on the mound to be affected in the slightest.
For now, Cecil is on his own spring training program separate from the other pitchers, a step taken in order to limit the amount of unnecessary running and fielding work he performs during camp. Cecil’s been playing baseball his entire life; he knows how to field a bunt. The organization doesn’t want to risk him aggravating the injury on a drill he’s performed thousands of times before.
He wasn’t scheduled to pitch in any of the team’s first five Grapefruit League games, completing his mound work in the bullpen instead. “That’s just for the first couple weeks,” Cecil says. “After that, I’ll be free to go.”
That’s good news for the Blue Jays who will look to the 29-year-old to be the team’s go-to left-hander in late and close situations. Cecil’s been one of the best left-handed relievers in baseball over the last three seasons, pitching to a 2.67 ERA in 168.1 innings of high leverage relief. He hasn’t allowed an earned run since June 24 of last year, a stretch of 33.2 innings including playoffs. He’ll try to extend that streak as far as he can into 2016.
“I just want to have a good year, be right in line with my last three,” Cecil says. “I’m not trying to hit any specific number or whatever. I’m just trying to get outs whenever I’m put in.”
Of course, this is an incredibly important year for Cecil, who will become a free agent at the end of it. This winter has been an exceptionally profitable one for pitchers in Cecil’s mold: late-game relievers who don’t close games. While they aren’t awarded saves, these pitchers frequently face a game’s highest leverage situations, as they’re often called upon to get their teammates out of jams, as opposed to closers who generally get to start an inning fresh.
Baseball is beginning to reward their efforts, as several non-closing relievers earned hefty paydays as free agents this offseason, including Darren O’Day (four years, $31 million), Ryan Madson (three years, $22 million), Tony Sipp (three years, $18 million) and Shawn Kelley (three years, $15 million).
“I’m definitely glad that’s happening,” says Cecil, who will make $3.8 million this season. “Some of the toughest outs to get are in the seventh or eighth when you get brought in and there’s runners on base. It’s well deserved for those guys that are getting paid.”J.P. ELLIOT | Western Australia | Contact
A Perth man has made the shocking discovery that his wife of 8 years has been secretly working as a “high-class” escort, after he inadvertently booked her services through an online agency.
40-year-old FIFO miner Peter Anderson uncovered his wife’s clandestine side-career last week when he and several workmates solicited female escort services at a hotel in East Perth.
On Saturday July 11th, Mr Anderson and several workmates had their flight to Port Headland cancelled, prompting them to check into nearby hotel accommodation for the night.
“I guess I could’ve driven the 45 minutes home, but seeing work was paying for the rooms for the night I thought I’d just get on the beers with the boys,” Mr Anderson said.
“As far as the missus was concerned, I was gone for another 14 day swing, so I figured I needn’t bother even telling her.”
Mr Anderson said he and three colleagues spent several hours drinking in the lobby bar before there was a general agreement to book escorts through an online website.
“These sites do a great job of smudging out the identities of the girls,” Mr Anderson said.
“But, looking back, I guess there’s some resemblance to the missus. But I never in a million years believed she would walk through the door.”
Mr Anderson described the discovery of his wife’s secret occupation as a horrible shock.
“At first when I saw her, I thought ‘holy crap I’m busted’, then I noticed she was quite literally dressed like a hooker,” Mr Anderson said.
“After a short domestic in the hallway she ended up staying the night and we even ordered in room service.
Mr Anderson is seeking legal advice on recovering money paid to the escort agency, on the basis that he has firsthand knowledge they falsely advertised his wife’s escort profile.
“I do still have mixed feelings about the whole thing, but one thing I’m sure of is I want a bloody refund.”
“I don’t why on earth she is hooking, lord knows we don’t need the money… I guess she just gets lonely when I get sent away,”
Mr Anderson has stated he is seeking legal advice for recovering the prior $1600 payment made to the escort service for a two hour “girlfriend experience” package, on the basis of false advertising.
“I made a booking in good faith for a 28 year old lingerie model,” Mr Anderson said.
“Now, I know for a fact that she isn’t 28. I had to buy her tickets to a fucking Katie Noonan concert for her 30th, which was at least five years ago. I’ll never forget that experience. I’m also calling bullshit on the 6-8 dress size and any mention of her being interested in cooking and the outdoors.”
Mr Anderson said as shocking as the incident was, he was in some regards grateful for making the discovery.
“I guess I can be thankful she didn’t knock on the hotel room next door,” Mr Anderson said.
“If she’d been booked by my shift supervisor Bruce Colbran, I couldn’t live with the shame. That bloke might be a great diesel fitter but he’s a notorious grub and a total fucking pig with no respect for women.”
If you would like anymore information regarding this story – please contact [email protected]
The Betoota Advocate is Australia’s oldest newspaper, click here to find out more, or join our ever-growing Facebook community.Senior Madhya Pradesh minister Kusum Mehdele was caught on camera kicking a minor boy on Sunday after he begged her for money in the state’s Panna district.
The video -- shot while Mehdele was entering her car -- showed the boy bowing at Mehdele’s feet and the minister hitting him. She then left the spot in her vehicle.
The video, which went viral shortly after the incident, also showed a security personnel in Mehdele’s profile pushing the boy and asking him to leave the spot. The boy could not be traced immediately after the incident.
A policeman who was on duty during the minister’s visit said the boy begs at a bus stand. “The boy suddenly came from nowhere and bowed at the feet of ‘Jiji’ (Mehdele) and demanded Re 1,” the policeman said on condition of anonymity.
In this video frame, Madhya Pradesh minister Kusum Mehdele is seen kicking the boy’s head. (HT Photo)
Mehdele -- is in charge of law and legislative affairs, public health engineering, animal husbandry and a few other departments -- was in her hometown Panna to participate in a programme organised on the occasion of the MP Foundation Day.
She also took part in a cleanliness drive at a bus stand, the spot where the incident took place. Repeated calls to Mehdele for a comment went unanswered.
This is not the first time Mehdele has been at the centre of a controversy. She recently said if farmers did not commit suicide after their sons died, how could one believe that they killed themselves over crop damage.
The Congress condemned the minister’s act and demanded action against her.
“This shows the attitude of the state government towards the poor and the downtrodden. Drunk on power, ministers of Chouhan-led state government have been crossing their limits for a long time. Mehdele’s act exposed the chief minister’s tall claim that he and his government always stood by poor and farmers,” Congress spokesperson KK Mishra said.
First Published: Nov 01, 2015 20:50 ISTA special inspection of U.S. nuclear plants after the Fukushima disaster in Japan revealed problems with emergency equipment and disaster procedures that are far more pervasive than publicly described by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, a review of inspection reports by ProPublica shows.
While the deficiencies don't pose an immediate risk and are relatively easy to fix, critics say they could complicate the response to a major disaster and point to a weakness in NRC oversight.
The NRC ordered the inspection in response to the March earthquake and tsunami that crippled Fukushima's reactors. The purpose was to conduct a fast check on the equipment and procedures that U.S. plants are required to have in place in the event of a catastrophic natural disaster or a terrorist attack.
Agency officials unveiled the results in May, stating in a news release that "out of 65 operating reactor sites, 12 had issues with one or more of the requirements during the inspections."
But ProPublica's examination of the reports found that 60 plant sites had deficiencies that ranged from broken machinery, missing equipment and poor training to things like blocked drains or a lack of preventive maintenance. Some of the more serious findings include:
Plant officials said they have moved to fix those problems and that none would have prevented them from responding in an emergency. The NRC told ProPublica that all the issues raised by inspectors "fell well short of being imminent safety concerns" and were being addressed.
In a summary attached to the inspection findings, however, the NRC expressed some concern.
"While individually, none of these observations posed a significant safety issue, they indicate a potential industry trend of failure to maintain equipment and strategies required to mitigate some design and beyond design-basis events," the summary says.
The NRC reported fewer problems at the plants than ProPublica because it only counted those in which a plant had a problem demonstrating how its emergency preparedness plan would work. The agency said that, despite these questions, all the plants could protect their reactors.
The special inspection covered equipment and procedures for use in disasters that are beyond the scope of the plant's design -- major earthquakes, tornadoes, floods, hurricanes and terrorist attacks.
Many of the items covered in the special inspection are supposed to be checked by NRC inspectors on a regular basis. Items that were required after the 9/11 attacks to respond to large explosions and fires -- like extra pumps, hoses and generators -- are supposed to be reviewed as part of regular triennial fire protection inspections.
David Lochbaum, a nuclear engineer with the Union of Concerned Scientists, says the large number of problems uncovered in the special inspection shows that NRC must strengthen oversight.
"I think they need to look at the inspections," said Lochbaum, whose group monitors safety matters. "Why did they find so much in these inspections? Shouldn't these have been found sooner?"
Nuclear plants conduct emergency drills every two years, and Lochbaum said that one possible improvement would be for inspectors to check the condition of the emergency response equipment then.
Mary Lampert, executive director of the advocacy group Pilgrim Watch in Massachusetts, said many of the deficiencies uncovered by the NRC may seem minor but could quickly turn into bigger problems in an emergency situation.
"They all add up. They cannot wait for a disaster to start looking around for a screwdriver that is required to open a valve because time is typically of the essence," she said.
Lampert said it is important for the NRC to keep an eye on the problems they found and not simply assume the nuclear companies will fix everything.
The Fukushima accident has focused the NRC's attention on the risk that a natural disaster or attack could knock out a plant's safety systems for an extended period and lead to a radiation release.
Although all plants are designed to withstand natural disasters, U.S. nuclear facilities are aging. Recent studies have shown that earthquake risks are now higher than they were predicted when some plants were built, although the NRC says reactors can still withstand the highest expected quake. Now historic flooding on the Missouri River is testing design limits at two Nebraska plants.
Flood waters are expected to come within a few feet of levels the Fort Calhoun and Cooper nuclear plants were built to withstand. At Fort Calhoun, a special berm providing backup protection collapsedSunday after being damaged. Operators briefly turned on emergency diesel power but said there was no risk to reactor cooling systems. The plant has been shut down for refueling since early April.
On April 1, the NRC launched a task force of senior agency managers to examine the ability of plants to respond to events that might overwhelm existing safety systems and procedures. The panel is concentrating on disaster preparedness and the ability to survive a lengthy blackout, as at Fukushima.
The six-member group is scheduled to report its findings to the commission on July 19, and the NRC has held two briefings on the subject so far. Until the task force reports back, the NRC said it would not comment on what, if any, changes the agency might propose.
The Union of Concerned Scientists and other watchdog groups have said that Fukushima points to the need for some obvious improvements, such as adding backup generators and moving used nuclear fuel out of cooling pools and into safer storage locations.
The nuclear industry's main trade group, the Nuclear Energy Institute, is teaming up with the Institute for Nuclear Power Operations and the research organization the Electric Power Research Institute to develop disaster preparedness guidelines for nuclear companies, said Thomas Kauffman, a spokesman for NEI.
Kauffman said U.S. nuclear plants have survived hurricanes, tornadoes and extended power outages without damage to their reactors, but the industry is looking hard at Fukushima nevertheless. "We want to take the lessons learned and make sure they are applied across the industry," he said.
Chairman Gregory Jaczko raised the issue of emergency preparedness this month at an International Atomic Energy Agency conference in Vienna. According to a copy of his speech, he brought up the post-Fukushima inspection results.
"While I see nothing that calls into question the safety of our plants, I see areas where performance was not as good as would be preferred," Jaczko said. Changes are likely, he added, "although it is too early to say right now precisely what those changes might be."
Jaczko visited the Nebraska plants this week and declared that, while flood conditions were likely to continue for some time, the plants are safe.
"Water levels are at a place where the plant [workers] can deal with them," Jaczko said at Fort Calhoun on Monday, according to the Iowa Independent. "The risk is really very low that something could go wrong."
ProPublica intern Ariel Wittenberg contributed to this story.We haven’t heard a lot about the progress of the SAG-AFRTA video game strike after the initial picketing, despite the fact that the strike is still ongoing. Initially the strike took place back in late October of 2016, and has carried through up until the present date. We heard about the picketing outside of offices like Electronic Arts and WB Games, but it didn’t seem like a lot of progress was being made. However, behind the scenes new contracts were being written up, new deals were being made, and game companies were quietly adding signatures to SAG’s agreements.
A representative for SAG-AFTRA notified One Angry Gamer that since starting the strike in late October of 2016, 22 games and 15 companies have signed the new agreement. According to the rep, those signatures have doubled within the “first three months of 2017”, which would mean up to 30 companies could be signed to the new agreement.
Chief contracts officer for SAG-AFTRA, Ray Rodriguez, commented about the increased signatures to the new agreements, explaining in a statement to One Angry Gamer…
“Over the past two months, we’ve doubled the number of games and almost doubled the number of companies signed to our new video game agreements,” “This success is a testament to our union’s willingness to work closely with employers who want the best talent in the business to work on their games. As projects ranging from AAA titles to low-budget experimental games continue to go union, our momentum will only build.”
We don’t know exactly which of those 15 companies have signed the SAG-AFTRA agreements, nor are there details on the other companies who joined the initial 15 in signing the new agreements.
Additionally, we don’t exactly know if any of the conditions have been altered based on what was originally proposed back in October regarding residual royalties for voice actors after a game hits a specific set of sale milestones.
Back in November of 2016, SAG-AFTRA president Gabrielle Carteris explained that voice actors only received about 0.03% of Call of Duty’s $15 billion in revenue, and that the strike would put an end to the “culture of exploitation”.
Scott Witlin, chief negotiator for the publishers, had also stated back in November of 2016 that publishers were willing to increase the upfront payments to voice actors by $950 and that publishers were also willing to acquiesce to various demands, save for the conditions relating to residuals and the condition about offering more details about a project before the actor signs on.
It’s not clear if all of the original SAG-AFTRA conditions are being met with the new agreements or if there were some concessions that were made closer to what Witlin put on the table following the strike. What we do know is that more companies seem to be quietly signing SAG’s new agreement in hopes of ending the video game voice actor strike.2014 has overall been a pretty good year for movies, with some fantastic Oscar contenders (and winners) released back in January and February, not to mention a summer packed full of great blockbusters and superb low-budget Indie movies like Jon Favreau’s Chef and comedies such as The Inbetweeners 2.
Superhero movies have dominated though, with Captain America, the X-Men and the Guardians of the Galaxy all keeping fans and regular moviegoers alike happy. The next one won’t be released until 2015 with Joss Whedon’s Avengers: Age of Ultron, and there are still plenty of other big movies to look forward to in the rest of 2014.
Some are sequels and others are potentially the first instalment in a new franchise. Meanwhile, we also have plenty which could dominate come awards season, as well as more than enough movies which simply look like a fun time at the cinema as the nights draw in and temperatures drop over the next few months.
If there are any notable movies which are missing from this list (Marvel and Disney’s Big Hero 6 is one such example), it’s only because they unfortunately don’t reach the UK until early next year!
20. The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1
Like Harry Potter and Twilight before it, Lionsgate will be splitting the final instalment of Suzanne Collins’s hugely popular YA novels in two for The Hunger Games: Mockingjay. Some fans have argued over whether or not this is actually necessary, but those involved with the movie say that it was done in a bid to do the story justice.
Regardless, after directing Catching Fire, Francis Lawrence returns for the two-part finale which will up the stakes – yes, even higher than teenagers brutally murdering each other in a giant arena – as Katniss (Jennifer Lawrence) fights alongside those who want to bring down President Snow and the evil Capitol.
Most of the original cast returns, and they will be joined by Game of Thrones star Natalie Dormer and more.
Here’s our interview with Mockingjay director Francis LawrenceThe Johns Hopkins Institute for Computational Medicine, acclaimed worldwide for its groundbreaking research, has launched the nation's first undergraduate minor in the emerging field of computational medicine.
The minor course of study exposes students to the fundamentals of computational medicine—a discipline devoted to the development of quantitative approaches to understanding the mechanisms, diagnosis, and treatment of human disease.
A core faculty of 19 researchers, who hold primary and joint appointments in multiple departments and schools, will act as advisors to students. Courses will guide students through recent advances in modeling and computing technologies that have opened the door to new possibilities for identifying, analyzing, and treating diseases.
The program, which is open to any Johns Hopkins undergraduate, is expected to attract students interested in computer science, biomedical engineering, electrical and computer engineering, applied mathematics and statistics, biology, neuroscience, biophysics, and public health, as well as those interested in medical school.
"We can no longer pretend that our mental models and |
and over in our thoughts.
Or we get lost in scenarios about what could happen in the future. Maybe through wishful daydreams.
Or maybe by building monsters in our minds as thoughts go round and and round and create scary and dangerous mountains out of molehills or just air.
Or your thoughts may become split and unfocused between several different things and tasks.
If you spend a lot of your everyday moments and time in the future or the past or you have difficulty focusing and you feel this may have a negative effect on your life then maybe you want to learn to live more in the present moment.
Here’s what works for me to do that. Just a few simple things that I use in my normal day.
1. Single-task not only your work.
I and many others have often written and talked about the importance of single-tasking your work to get it done more effectively.
I have found that it becomes easier for me to stay present for more time throughout my day if I single-task everything as best I can.
That means to not use tabs when I browse the internet but to just be fully engaged with one thing online at a time. It means to not use my smartphone or my computer as I also try to watch the TV.
Or to use any of those internet-devices during a conversation.
Get a good start to your day and set the tone for it by doing one thing at a time as soon as you wake up.
If you have to multitask, then try to set off some specific time for it during your day. Maybe an hour or so in the afternoon.
2. Do it slowly.
When you wake up and starting doing your first thing of the day, then slow it down a bit.
Do it and the next few things at a relaxed and calm pace. It will probably not take that much longer than if you do it quickly.
And you’ll be able to stay present more easily, to focus on each thing you do and to find a simple joy or stillness in it.
Do that instead of increasing your stress right away and getting stuck in worries or though loops about what may happen today before you even have had your breakfast.
And as you move through your day, try to do it slowly when you can.
3. Tell yourself: now I am…
As I do something I simply tell myself this in my mind: Now I am X.
For example, if I am brushing my teeth, then I tell myself: Now I am brushing my teeth.
This habit is maybe most important when doing things where it is easy to drift away to the future or past. It could be when you brush your hair or teeth or when you are taking a walk to the supermarket.
I don’t tell myself this line all the time, but I pepper it in a couple of times throughout my day.
4. Minimize what you let into your head early in the day.
If I check the email, Facebook and other websites online early in the day then I have found that I will have more thoughts bouncing around in my head.
And so it becomes a lot harder to concentrate on anything, to stay present and to not be dragged away into some negative thought loop.
So the kind option towards myself has become to not check anything early in the day. And to check things as few times as I can.
If I minimize such things then my day becomes lighter and simpler and I not only stay present more easily but I also tend to get more things of importance done.
5. No, no, no + reconnect with the here and now.
The four tips above make it easier to stay in the present moment and to use it and enjoy it fully.
But each day I still drift into the past or the future. Or my thoughts become split between different things.
If you have read any of my stuff on self-esteem then you know that I often use a stop-word or phrase to quickly disrupt and stop the inner critic or a self-esteem damaging train of thought. I do the same thing here.
As quickly as I notice that my thoughts have drifted away I say to myself: No, no, no.
Then I quickly follow that up with focusing on just my breathing or just on what is happening around me right now with all my senses for a minute or two to draw myself back into this present moment.poster="http://v.politico.com/images/1155968404/201511/660/1155968404_4626963545001_trump.jpg?pubId=1155968404" true Donald Trump says he would bring back waterboarding and interrogation if elected president. Trump would bring back waterboarding He also doubles down on a statement he made about New Jersey Muslims cheering 9/11.
Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump said Sunday he would allow U.S. interrogators to waterboard suspected terrorists in the wake of the recent attacks in Paris.
“I would bring it back, yes,” Trump said on ABC’s “This Week.”
Story Continued Below
Trump cited the Islamic State's treatment of its captives to justify bringing back the so-called enhanced interrogation technique — widely considered a form of torture — that the Obama administration has discontinued.
“I would bring it back,” Trump said. “I think waterboarding is peanuts compared to what they’d do to us, what they’re doing to us, what they did to James Foley when they chopped off his head. That’s a whole different level, and I would absolutely bring back interrogation and strong interrogation.”
Trump also doubled down on his call for a database for Muslims entering the U.S., suggesting the migration of Syrian refugees could be a “Trojan horse.” And he brushed aside statistics showing that the majority of those fleeing violence there are women and children.
He also said the U.S. should conduct surveillance of mosques, and he didn't back down from his claims — disputed by police — that Arabs in New Jersey cheered the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center in New York.
"It was on television. I saw it," Trump said Sunday morning on ABC.
Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulop angrily rejected Trump's assertions.
"Either @realDonald Trump has memory issues or willfully distorts the truth, either of which should be concerning for the Republican Party," Fulop tweeted.
On Sunday morning, Trump also addressed an incident in which a Black Lives Matter protester was reportedly roughed up at a Trump campaign event Saturday in Alabama.
"Maybe he should have been roughed up," Trump told Fox's Ed Henry," because it was absolutely disgusting what he was doing."
The protester, according to Al.com, was Mercutio Southall Jr., who was characterized as "a well-known Birmingham activist." According to their account, Southall said that at one point, "he was being pushed and punched from every direction."
Trump’s latest round of inflammatory remarks, however, has not derailed his campaign.
Almost one-third of registered Republican voters and Republican-leading independents said they would support the real estate mogul, according to a new poll by The Washington Post and ABC News. He also showed gains in a new Fox News poll.
Still, he wouldn’t rule out an independent run.
“I will see what happens,” Trump said. “I have to be treated fairly.”Warning: this article contains major spoilers for House Of Cards seasons one and two.
Thank God for Netflix. The online streaming website has gone on to become a necessity for the viewing public around the world and has soared in popularity, becoming a hotspot for binge-watching and telly addiction. Weekends get taken over by the oh-so-tempting ‘next episode’ button and holidays are split-second affairs, consumed by Breaking Bad marathons.
I was introduced to House Of Cards early this spring and I finished it early this spring. The rule was two episodes per night – outrageous in the eyes of regular Netflix viewers – and it was swiftly devoured. The first season was engrossing; the second season more so as we watched the rise and rise of Frank Underwood, former Vice President of the United States, and now the most influential man in the world.
The third season of Netflix’s homemade political drama can’t come sooner – and while the climax of the second run gave us some answers, it didn’t tie everything up. As the saying goes, when one door closes another one opens. So what can we expect from House Of Cards next year now that the Underwoods are residing in the White House?
More metaphors
Frank Underwood, ex-House Majority Whip, ex-VP, double killer, longtime figure of speech addict. Before you sit down to watch House Of Cards you can easily draw up a tick-list of requisites. Firstly, Frank must always address the camera directly (in Chapter 14, the second season opener, as an in-joke to the audience he does not break the fourth wall for the majority of the episode and then, with an all too familiar smirk, says, “Did you think that I’d forgotten you?”). Second of all – and this ties in with the first item – Frank has to glance at the camera exasperatedly whenever someone is talking hokum to him. It’s such a wonderfully scathing look. Lastly, the metaphors and similes: Frank’s signature.
Over the two seasons we’ve had such figurative gems as, “The president is like a lone tree in an empty field - he leans whichever way the wind is blowing” or “He’s in the darkness now and I’m the only beacon of light. Now to gently guide him towards the rocks”. Frank Underwood is like a lion, he must use… no, I’m not good at these.
The repercussions of Peter Russo and Zoe Barnes’ death
Ah, Miss Barnes and Congressman Russo. The latter was one of the saddest of House Of Cards’ cast of characters and while he received a properly rounded arc, it was a tragic one. He fought substance addiction and prejudice from top-drawer politicians in order to achieve a highbrow gubernatorial position – and he very nearly did, until Frank sent him tumbling down, leaving two young children behind. Russo’s case was on the verge of being cracked at the beginning of season two before Frank bumped off the ringleader, his lover, Zoe Barnes – and this sent her co-conspirators, Lucas Goodwin and Janine Skorsky scurrying (though the former didn’t go down without a fight).
What House Of Cards has yet to do is show any cracks. At no point has Frank contemplated what he has done or shown any remorse or upset. The show is bottling every single wrongdoing up and, either in the third season (this seems likely) or in the possible fourth season, it will all spill out and have devastating emotional and physical ramifications.
Rachel Posner and the ‘death’ of Doug Stamper
Doug Stamper, Frank’s trusted aide and close friend, met his untimely ‘demise’ in the last half hour of season two as he was clobbered by Rachel, a young woman he had been infatuated with and whom he had manipulated. Now, we saw Doug’s bloodied body lying on the forest floor and he just might not be dead. The man behind him, Michael Kelly has refused to comment on whether or not he perished so Doug’s fate hangs in the balance. For now let’s say he’s dead, given how likely it seems – if he is alive one theory to nurture is that he’ll probably be comatose for much of season three.
Doug was a slimy character but another one of House Of Cards’ wretched characters. An orphan, he had little life outside of work and his unrequited lusting for Rachel was both creepy and incredibly sad. By the end of season two Frank was uninformed of Doug’s death but his passing – or not – will surely be addressed in the third season opener. What’s all the more saddening is that Doug never got to see his boss ascend to presidency, something he had helped him reach.
Rachel, twisted almost beyond repair, has had her life ruined by Doug and offing him was probably the best and worst thing she’s ever done. Rachel now has her freedom but the question of how she will get away with Doug’s murder remains. Easily, she could claim self-defense because she fled into those woods for fear of her life but Frank could step in and have her locked up in one fell swoop. Of all the story arcs that we’ll be seeing in season three, this is the one I’m most looking forward to – as well as finding out if Doug really is dead.
The further adventures of Gavin Orsay and his sidekick, Cashew.
When the story of FBI informant Gavin Orsay first appeared I was quite baffled. He’s a cliché, a geeky, floppy-haired hacker with a pet guinea pig whom he is devoted to, and as a character, is just that bit unconvincing. Gavin was brought in by the Feds to ensnare Lucas, who was on a mission to discover the truth about Zoe’s death, but after the journalist was successfully trapped and incarcerated, Gavin was still around. The last we saw him he was trying to extort his freedom from Doug but if he’s really dead then how will Gavin break away from his position as an informant?
Undoubtedly, Gavin’s guinea pig has more charm than him. The black-and-white rodent has faced a lot of trauma in its short little life and I’m sure we all bit our lip when Gavin’s handler threatened to trample his pet. What fate will season three bring little Cashew?
More Robin Wright
Robin Wright is a complete scene-stealer. Her svelte, icy-cool presence is one of House Of Cards’ strong points and she works incredibly well with her onscreen husband, Kevin Spacey. Spacey is also magnificent but Wright more so and Claire Underwood, Frank’s equal in so many respects, is the most fascinating character on the show. In Chapter 26, the second season finale, she was seen breaking down after visiting Megan Hennessey, a rape victim who had approached Claire after a candid TV interview and who had tried to commit suicide. Claire weeping is the first sign of guilt in either of the Underwoods and it was always going to be Claire that was the first to give way; nobody is quite as evil as Frank. The question is, when will she crack?
The second season of House Of Cards was significantly different to the first in that it widened its scope and zoomed out from Frank, extending the limelight to the likes of Lucas, Gavin, Rachel, Remy Danton and Jackie Sharp amongst others. Claire’s role was also expanded and we were given a fair bit of drama in her workplace, initially. Going by Claire’s involvement in season two and the fact she’s now the First Lady, I’ll wager that she’ll get a fair bit more to do in season three.
Someone else in Frank’s road
In the first season we had Michael Kern for a brief time and then in the second season it was Raymond Tusk, an unctuous businessman who happened to be close friends with the former President. Raymond was surprisingly good at getting his way and sweet-talking the President though he was no match for Frank. Still, things started to get nasty in the Tusk vs. Underwood war of season two and there were casualties, namely Frank’s BBQ ribs dealer Freddy who got caught in the crossfire. The ex-President, Garrett Walker also proved a threat to Frank when he finally, after so very long, cottoned on to his Vice President’s machinations. But now with Walker disgraced, Tusk behind bars and Frank sitting comfortably in the Oval Office – who could possibly stand in his way?
Read our reviews of House Of Cards season one and season two.
Follow our Twitter feed for faster news and bad jokes right here. And be our Facebook chum here.If spirits are actually the personalities of those who once lived and refused to cross over to the other side at the moment of death.... then wouldnt these spirits reflect the turmoil of that former life? And if hauntings are the residual effects of trauma being imprinted on the atmosphere of a location, then wouldnt places where terror and insanity were commonplace be especially prone to these hauntings?
Construction on the first buildings here actually began in 1885 and were completed in 1887. The hospital, when completed, resembled a medieval castle with battlements and turrets. It was a foreboding structure and one not fit for the kind of progressive medicine that was planned for it. Despite the huge costs involved in building it, it was never used and was torn down in 1897. The reason for the demolition was given as structural and design flaws. According to early reports, the castle-like building had been constructed over an abandoned coal mine and wide cracks were beginning to appear in the walls. The decay was believed to be caused by the collapsing of the old mine shafts.
In 1902, the hospital would reopen with Dr. George A. Zeller, a pioneer in mental health, at the helm. The new hospital implemented the "cottage system" and 33 different buildings were used to house patients. There was also a nurses home, a store, a power house, and a domestic building with a laundry, bakery and kitchen. Zeller also implemented a system with no window bars or restraints, something that was unheard of in those days.
Shortly after taking over the hopsital, Dr. Zeller created a burial corps to deal with the disposal of those who passed away while in care of the hospital. The corps consisted of a staff member of the hospital and a half-dozen of the patients. While these men were still disturbed, all of them were competent enough to take part in the digging of the graves.
Dr. Zeller also realized that a system was needed for the burial of the dead at the hospital. He decided that the asylum would take care of the burials of the unclaimed, but that all other deceased persons would be shipped home to their relatives. The hospitals burial ground eventually grew to include four cemeteries, which were located behind the main buildings. The older cemeteries are marked with stones that only bear numbers, as many of the patients came there without names. The newer cemeteries have stones bearing names, birth and death dates, and patient numbers upon them. The oldest cemetery here would mark the location of the very first ghost story to be associated with the hospital. But this is no mere folk legend or rumor, this was a documented account of a supernatural event.... and the teller of the tale was none other than Dr. George Zeller himself!
Of all of the gravediggers, the most unusual man, according to Dr. Zeller, was a fellow called A. Bookbinder. The man was completely mute so no one knew his real name. Apparently, the man had suffered a breakdown while working in a printing house, possibly in Chicago, and his mental illness had left him incapable of coherent speech. The officer who had taken him into custody merely wrote in his report that the man had been employed as "a bookbinder". A court clerk listed this as the mans name and he was sent to the hospital as A. Bookbinder.
Dr. Zeller described the man as being strong and healthy, although completely uncommunicative. Soon, the attendants enlisted him to assist in the burial corps. Strangely, "Old Book" as he began to be called was especially suited to the work. Ordinarily, when the coffin was being lowered, the gravediggers would stand back out of the way and wait silently for the funeral to end. At that point, they would set to filling the grave. Nearly every single patient at the hospital was a stranger and unknown to the staff, so the funeral services were mainly done out of respect, rather than because of personal attachment to the deceased. Because of this, everyone was a little surprised when, at his first internment, Old Book proceeded to remove his cap, wipe his eyes and begin weeping loudly for the patient who had died. He would do the same thing at each service.... first his sleeve would be used to wipe away his tears and then he would walk over and lean against the old elm that stood in the center of the cemetery and begin sobbing loudly. This tree, where Book would give vent to his grief, was known as the "Graveyard Elm". It was a massive old tree which had been standing for many years.
Time passed and eventually Old Book too passed away. Word spread among the employees and as Book was well-liked, and noted for his peculiarities, everyone decided they would attend his funeral. Dr. Zeller wrote that more than 100 uniformed nurses attended, along with the male staff members and several hundred of the patients. Dr. Zeller officiated the service. Old Books casket was placed on two cross beams above his empty grave and four men stood by to lower it into the ground at the end of the service. Dr. Zeller wrote, "Just as the choir finished the last lines of Rock of Ages, the men grasped the ropes, stooped forward, and with a powerful, muscular effort, prepared to lift the coffin, in order to permit the removal of the crossbeams and allow it to gently descend into the grave. "At a given signal, they heaved away the ropes and the next instant, all four lay on their backs. For the coffin, instead of offering resistance, bounded into the air like an eggshell, as if it were empty!"
Needless to say, the spectators were a little shocked at this turn of events and the nurses were to said to have shrieked, half of them running away and the other half coming closer to the grave to see what was going on.
"In the midst of the commotion," Dr. Zeller continued, "a wailing voice was heard and every eye turned toward the Graveyard Elm whence it emanated. Every man and woman stood transfixed, for there, just as had always been the case, stood Old Book, weeping and moaning with an earnestness that outrivaled anything he had ever shown before.
After a few moments of this, Dr. Zeller summoned some men to remove the lid of the coffin, convinced that Old Book could not be inside of it. The lid was lifted and as soon as it was, the wailing sound completely stopped. Inside of the coffin lay the body of Old Book.... unquestionably dead. It was said that every eye looked upon the still corpse and then over to the Graveyard Elm. The apparition had vanished.
"It was awful, but it was real," Dr. Zeller wrote. "I saw it; 100 nurses saw it and 300 spectators saw it."
A few days later, the Graveyard Elm mysteriously began to wither and die. In spite of efforts to save it, the tree declined over the next year until it was completely dead. Later, after the dead limbs had dropped, workmen tried to remove the rest of the tree, but stopped working after the first cut of the ax caused the tree to emanate an "agonized, despairing cry of pain". After that, Dr. Zeller suggested the tree be burned, however as soon as the flames started around the trees base, the workers quickly put them out. They later told Zeller that they heard a sobbing and crying sound coming from it.
"Today, Old Books grave remains without headstone or monument," Dr. Zeller wrote about his shared experience. "But if anyone asks where he is, those of us in the know point with a shudder to the remains of the Graveyard Elm."Indigenous Australian belief
Within the animist belief system of Indigenous Australians, a songline, also called dreaming track, is one of the paths across the land (or sometimes the sky)[1] which mark the route followed by localised "creator-beings" during the Dreaming. The paths of the songlines are recorded in traditional songs, stories, dance, and painting.
A knowledgeable person is able to navigate across the land by repeating the words of the song, which describe the location of landmarks, waterholes, and other natural phenomena. In some cases, the paths of the creator-beings are said to be evident from their marks, or petrosomatoglyphs, on the land, such as large depressions in the land which are said to be their footprints.
By singing the songs in the appropriate sequence, indigenous people could navigate vast distances, often travelling through the deserts of Australia's interior. The continent of Australia contains an extensive system of songlines, some of which are of a few kilometres, whilst others traverse hundreds of kilometres through lands of many different indigenous peoples — peoples who may speak markedly different languages and have different cultural traditions.
Since a songline can span the lands of several different language groups, different parts of the song are said to be in those different languages. Languages are not a barrier because the melodic contour of the song describes the nature of the land over which the song passes. The rhythm is what is crucial to understanding the song. Listening to the song of the land is the same as walking on this songline and observing the land.
In some cases, a songline has a particular direction, and walking the wrong way along a songline may be a sacrilegious act (e.g. climbing up Uluru where the correct direction is down). Traditional Aboriginal people regard all land as sacred, and the songs must be continually sung to keep the land "alive".
Molyneaux and Vitebsky note that the Dreaming Spirits "also deposited the spirits of unborn children and determined the forms of human society," thereby establishing tribal law and totemic paradigms.[2]
Examples [ edit ]
Descriptions [ edit ]
Anthropologist Robert Tonkinson wrote about Songlines among Mardu indigenous people in his 1978 monograph The Mardudjara Aborigines - Living The Dream In Australia's Desert.
Songlines Singing is an essential element in most Mardudjara ritual performances because the songline follows in most cases the direction of travel of the beings concerned and highlights cryptically their notable as well as mundane activities. Most songs, then, have a geographical as well as mythical referent, so by learning the songline men become familiar with literally thousands of sites even though they have never visited them; all become part of their cognitive map of the desert world.[5]
In his 1987 book The Songlines, British novelist and travel writer Bruce Chatwin describes the songlines as:
... the labyrinth of invisible pathways which meander all over Australia and are known to Europeans as "Dreaming-tracks" or "Songlines"; to the Aboriginals as the "Footprints of the Ancestors" or the "Way of the Lore". Aboriginal Creation myths tell of the legendary totemic being who wandered over the continent in the Dreamtime, singing out the name of everything that crossed their path - birds, animals, plants, rocks, waterholes - and so singing the world into existence.[6]
See also [ edit ]
References [ edit ]The Constitution of Medina (دستور المدينة, Dustūr al-Madīnah), also known as the Charter of Medina (Arabic: صحيفة المدينة, Ṣaḥīfat al-Madīnah; or: ميثاق المدينة, Mīthāq al-Madīnah), was drawn up on behalf of the Islamic prophet Muhammad shortly after his arrival at Medina (then known as Yathrib) in 622 CE[1] (or 1 AH), following the Hijra from Mecca.
The preamble declares the document to be "a book [kitab] of the prophet Muhammad to operate between the believers [mu'minin] and Muslims from the Quraysh tribe and from Yathrib and those who may be under them and wage war in their company" declaring them to constitute "one nation [ummah wāḥidah] separate from all peoples". It established the collective responsibility of nine constituent tribes for their members' actions, specifically emphasising blood money and ransom payment. The first constituent group mentioned are the Qurayshi migrants, followed by eight other tribes. Eight Jewish groups are recognized as part of the Yathrib community, and their religious separation from Muslims is established. The Jewish Banu Ash shutbah tribe is inserted as one of the Jewish groups, rather than with the nine tribes mentioned earlier in the document. The constitution also established Muhammad as the mediating authority between groups and forbids the waging of war without his authorization.
The constitution formed the basis of a multi-religious Islamic state in Medina.[4]
The constitution was created to end the bitter intertribal fighting between the rival clans of Banu Aws and Banu Khazraj in Medina and to maintain peace and co-operation among all Medinan groups. Establishing the role of Muhammad as the mediating authority between the two groups and the others in Medina was central to the ending of Medinan internal violence and was an essential feature of the constitution. The document ensured freedom of religious beliefs and practices for all citizens who "follow the believers". It assured that representatives of all parties, Muslim or non-Muslim, should be present when consultation occurs or in cases of negotiation with foreign states. It declared "a woman will only be given protection with the consent of her family" and imposed a tax system for supporting the community in times of conflict. It declared the role of Medina as a ḥaram (حرم, "sacred place"), where no blood of the peoples included in the pact can be spilled.
The division of the constitution into numbered articles is not in the original text and the numbering of clauses differs in different sources, but there is general agreement on the authenticity of the most widely-read version of the charter, which is found in Ibn Ishaq's Sirah Rasul Allah.[7]
Background [ edit ]
In Muhammad's last years in Mecca, a delegation from Medina from its twelve important clans invited him as a neutral outsider to Medina to serve as the chief arbitrator for the entire community.[9][10] There had been fighting in Medina involving mainly its pagan and Jewish inhabitants for around 100 years before 620. The recurring slaughters and disagreements over the resulting claims, especially after the Battle of Bu'ath in which all the clans had been involved, made it obvious to them that the tribal conceptions of blood feud and an eye for an eye were no longer workable unless there was one man with the authority to adjudicate in disputed cases.[9] The delegation from Medina pledged themselves and their fellow citizens to accept Muhammad into their community and to protect him physically as if he was one of them.[11][page needed]
After emigration to Medina, Muhammad drafted the constitution, "establishing a kind of alliance or federation" of the eight Medinan tribes and Muslim emigrants from Mecca and specifying the rights and duties of all citizens and the relationship of the different communities in Medina, including that of the Muslim community to other communities: the Jews and the other "Peoples of the Book".[9]
Historical sources [ edit ]
Instead of the original document, several versions survive in early Muslim sources. The most-widely read version is found in the pages of Ibn Ishaq's Sirah Rasul Allah; alternative copies are in Sayyid al-Nas and Abu ‘Ubayd's Kitab al-Amwal. The historical authenticity of the document is acknowledged by both Muslim and Western scholars.[7][12][13][14]
Montgomery Watt states that it must have been written in the early Medinan period because if the document been drafted later, it would have both had a positive attitude towards the Quraysh and given Muhammad a prominent place. Hubert Grimme states that it was drafted after the Battle of Badr. However, Leone Caetani claims that the document was complete before the battle.
According to RB Serjeant, 3:101-104 of the Qur'an refer to the constitution. He proposes it underwent recension, a hypothesis first proposed by Richard Bell. In its first recension, the text sanctioned the establishment of a confederation. In its second, it admonished the Aws and Khazraj to abide by their treaty. In its third, in conjunction with the proceeding verses, it is an encouragement of Muhammad's adherents to face the Meccan forces they eventually fought at Uhud. He states that even if the proposal of three recensions is unacceptable, the verses must make reference to the two different treaties.[16]
Quraysh [ edit ]
Muhammad's Quraysh (or Quraish) tribe appear in the document as both a principal constituent of the community and the enemy. The Quraysh referred to are sometimes the followers of Muhammad as "migrants" or "believers", but other times, the word refers to those members of the tribe who expelled Muhammad and his followers from Mecca, the Qurayshi capital.
Analysis [ edit ]
Bernard Lewis claims that the charter was not a treaty in the modern sense but a unilateral proclamation by Muhammad.[17] One of the constitution's more interesting aspects was the inclusion of the Jewish tribes in the ummah because although the Jewish tribes were "one community with the believers", they also "have their religion and the Muslims have theirs".[18]
L. Ali Khan says that it was a social contract derived from a treaty and not from any fictional state of nature or from behind the Rawlsian veil of ignorance. It was built upon the concept of one community of diverse tribes living under the sovereignty of one God.[19]
It also instituted peaceful methods of dispute resolution among diverse groups living as one people but without assimilating into one religion, language or culture.[20] Welch in Encyclopedia of Islam states: "The constitution reveals Muhammad's great diplomatic skills, for it allows the ideal that he cherished of an ummah (community) based clearly on a religious outlook to sink temporarily into the background and is shaped essentially by practical considerations."[21]
Tom Holland writes, "The Constitution of Medina is accepted by even the most suspicious of scholars as deriving from the time of Muhammad. Here in these precious documents, it is possible to glimpse the authentic beginnings of a movement that would succeed, in barely two decades, in prostrating both the Roman and the Persian Empires".[22]
Significance of Ummah [ edit ]
Another important feature of the Constitution of Medina is the redefinition of ties between Muslims. It sets faith relationships above blood-ties and emphasizes individual responsibility.[23] Tribal identities are still important to refer to different groups, but the "main binding tie" for the newly-created ummah is religion.[24] That contrasts with the norms of pre-Islamic Arabia, which was a thoroughly tribal society, but Serjeant postulates the existence of earlier theocratic communities. According to Denny, "Watt has likened the Ummah as it is described in the document to a tribe, but with the important difference that it was to be based on religion and not on kinship".[24] That is an important event in the development of the small group of Muslims in Medina to the larger Muslim community and empire.
Rights of non-Muslims [ edit ]
The non-Muslims had the following rights on the condition they "follow" the Muslims:[25]
The security of God is equal for all groups,[26] Non-Muslim members have the same political and cultural rights as Muslims. They have autonomy and freedom of religion.[27] Non-Muslims take up arms against the enemy of the nation and share the cost of war. There is to be no treachery between the two.[28] Non-Muslims are not obliged to take part in the Muslims' religious wars.[29]
Reforms [ edit ]
See also [ edit ]
References [ edit ]
Further reading [ edit ]Machiavellianism is characterised by distrust, manipulation, and a willingness to exploit others. Previous research indicates that Machiavellianism is associated with a preference for short-term sexual relationships and low levels of relationship commitment. The present study investigated the relationships between Machiavellianism, pretending orgasm, and need for sexual intimacy. Heterosexual women (N = 226) aged 17–57 years (M = 27.06, SD = 8.63) completed the Mach IV (Christie & Geis, 1970), Reasons for Pretending Orgasm Inventory (McCoy, Welling, & Shackelford, 2015), and Need for Sexual Intimacy Scale (Marelich & Lundquist, 2008). Machiavellianism predicted the deception and manipulation but not improving partner's sexual experience or hiding sexual disinterest reasons for pretending to experience orgasm. The influence of Machiavellianism on deception and manipulation was moderated by relationship length. Women with high levels of Machiavellianism were more likely to pretend to experience orgasm in order to deceive or manipulate their partner. Machiavellianism also predicted the sex, affiliation, and dominance needs for sexual intimacy. Those with high levels of Machiavellianism reported a greater need for sex and for dominance but a lower need for affiliation as motivations for sexual intimacy.Early Wednesday evening at a sweaty loft party in Bushwick, hipster clichés sipped all-natural, hibiscus- and mint-flavored soda and admired their host’s artwork: small swaths of canvas stenciled with slogans for Bernie Sanders’s grassroots 2016 presidential campaign, from the traditional (“Go Bernie!”), to the alliterative and playful (“Bernie or Bust” and “Feel the Bern”), to the millennial (“Bernie is Bae”).
The latter was particularly popular among 70 or so young anti-establishment liberals who filed into the Bushwick loft Wednesday night, where Steve Panovich, 36, was hosting one of 3,300 “online house parties” across the country organized by Sanders’s Democratic campaign.
Panovich apologized to guests for the venue’s sauna-like temperatures, but no one seemed to mind much: For refreshments there were Tostitos, nuts, and warm beer.
GALLERY: Inside a Brooklyn Bernie Grassroots Party (PHOTOS)
“Feel the Bern! Literally!” one ebullient Bernie fanboy shouted from the crowd of hipsters-in-uniform: Converse sneakers, crop tops, tattoos, purple hair, and ironic T-shirts.
Everyone laughed, fanning themselves with fliers they’d picked up at the door, their faces shiny with sweat and optimism.
They whooped and cheered as the 73-year-old Vermont senator held forth on income inequality during a livestreamed broadcast, projected onto a white bedsheet Panovich had hung from the ceiling.
“Enough is enough!” the gravelly voiced statesman repeated again and again, reciting his campaign goals: Grow the middle class, raise the minimum wage, create jobs by rebuilding infrastructure, and raise taxes for the “millionaires and billionaires.”
The Bushwick crowd knows his spiel by heart: “It is not acceptable that the rich get richer and the poor get poorer.”
That kind of zero-sum thinking doesn’t fly in mainstream economics, but there’s nothing mainstream about Sanders—and that’s exactly why young progressives can’t get enough of him.
One woman apologized for “frothing at the mouth” as she gushed about Sanders’s policies with a wild twinkle in her eye, as though he were Mick Jagger or Gandhi.
Hillary Clinton, on the other hand, is too mainstream.
She doesn’t fire up the radicals gathered in Bushwick like Sanders does, though she has a significant lead |
we’re employees of a company that supports you when you’re down,” said Greene.
Kovic gave credit to the Rooster Teeth team helping them out cumulatively, saying “We also have a terrific sales team who daily are giving us ad opportunities on top of stuff like Dude Soup and Filmhaus. It’s really awesome that we have this team of dedicated sales people working in Austin handling our sales.”
Chilled is one of the lucky few where things have stabilized and is back on course to keeping his channel active with different kinds of games. But at the same time, he’s going to keep an eye on YouTube and wishes the company would be more transparent and trusting toward those who use their service and bring in viewers daily.
“For me, it will be a trust exercise. Can we get more answers to questions before it happens again? Can you help us make our videos more advertiser friendly? Can you tell us exactly what it is we’re doing wrong so we don’t repeat it? We all want YouTube and its creators to be successful, we just need the tools to know how to do it.”
As for Hutch, he also continues to stream and create videos for YouTube, but has taken more of a “come what may” approach to the future with a platform he doesn’t control, while tackling things he can. And advises anyone still hurt or affected by the “Ad-Poclypse” to turn their focus inward so they aren’t as reliant on it.
“I think the best approach is to focus on the things you can control, and think of things in terms of the long term and not the short term. If you’re not where you want to be in terms of ad rates or viewers or subscribers or whatever, try to work out a new formula and where you want to be in two or four months. I think a lot of people put a lot of pressure on themselves to turn something around tomorrow or the next day and I think that’s a quick way to make sure you go insane.”
About Gavin Sheehan Gavin has been a lifelong geek who can chat with you about comics, television, video games, and even pro wrestling. He can also teach you how to play Star Trek chess, be your Mercy on Overwatch, recommend random cool music, and goes rogue in D&D. He also enjoys standup comedy, Let's Play videos and trying new games, along with hundreds of other geeky things that can't be covered in a single paragraph. Follow @TheGavinSheehan on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Vero, for random pictures and musings.
(Last Updated )
Related PostsIn a world with Uber and Lyft, it's interesting to consider whether it's still worth owning a car or if it's easier to just hail a ride from your phone.
Luckily, a Deutsche Bank market research team led by Rod Lache and Tim Rokossa took a look at this question.
In a a recent note to clients, the Deutsche Bank team examined the cost of vehicle ownership today, the cost of "on-demand mobility" today, and the estimated cost of a driverless taxi in the future for the top 20 largest metro areas.
Overall, the cost of vehicle ownership in those metro areas presently averages $0.90 per mile, although there was a lot of variation by city: The NYC/Tri-State area was the most expensive at $1.53 per mile (with a whopping $3.10 per mile in Manhattan), while St. Louis was the cheapest at $0.67 per mile.
Deutsche Bank then used the cost of Uber and Lyft's base non-shared ride offering as a proxy for "on-demand mobility," and found that the average was $1.54 per mile in the top 20 metro areas. Deutsche Bank estimates that for options like UberPool, where customers can share the ride with strangers, the cost was an estimated 20%-50% cheaper.
Although the average price per mile is higher for Uber/Lyft than the average cost of vehicle ownership, Deutsche Bank found that for about 14% of households in high density urban core areas (or 4.2% of total households in the broader metro areas) it might be cheaper to use the basic versions of Uber or Lyft instead of owning a car.
So, basically, for some people who live in city centers (like Manhattan), ditching a personally owned car in favor of ride sharing apps might make financial sense. However, even if it is cheaper for some, many people will still prefer owning cars for convenience, flexibility, family necessities, and longer distance trips.
Deutsche Bank also estimated what driverless taxis might cost in the future in these same metro areas using some back-of-the-envelope calculations, and they concluded that it is likely that costs for users will decline even further.
"Without human drivers we estimate that on-demand mobility companies, without [dynamic ride sharing] noted above, will be able to generate a 20% ROIC at $0.89 per mile; close to the $0.90 per mile average cost of operating a car in the top 20 US [metro areas]," the team wrote (emphasis ours).
In other words, based on Deutsche Bank's assumptions and estimates, using driverless taxis in the future might cost about the same as owning a vehicle in major US urban areas.
For a good visual, check out the chart shared by the Deutsche Bank team comparing the cost per mile of various transportation options in the top 20 metropolitan areas.Mavericks owner Mark Cuban has more to say about losing DeAndre Jordan to the Clippers, specifically ESPN dingus Chris Broussard’s reports that he was driving around Houston like a madman trying to find Jordan’s house on Wednesday night.
Here’s what Cuban had to say in a statement released this morning:
Dear Mavs fans, After all the nonsense coming from an ESPN employee on twitter, I thought I would provide the events of the day on Tuesday. Through all of Monday [DeAndre and I] were texting back and forth discussing players available, the amount of cap room we had left. Who our staff liked. Who he liked. How excited he was. Then on Tuesday the communications basically stopped and we started hearing rumblings from multiple people that something was up. So I flew down to Houston and got a room at the Galleria, which is just a few minutes from his house. I had my driver take me to his house. It’s inside a small gated community but the gate was wide open so we drove in and I literally walked up to his door. There was no one home. So I texted him saying that I was there, “I know something is up. Let’s talk.” He texted me that he was on a date. I told him to have fun. I wasn’t in a rush, that I was happy to come by there and say hi or if he wanted to make the date fun, take them to Dallas for a night out. He didn’t respond.
From there Cuban claims that he went back to his hotel and texted Jordan to tell them that they could talk after his date was over. What isn’t exactly clear in this statement is if Cuban went to Jordan’s house on Tuesday or Wednesday. I hope it was Wednesday, because that would mean there’s a chance Jordan was actually hiding out in the backyard with Blake Griffin when he told Cuban he was “on a date.”GLENDALE, Ariz. — Arizona was always Radim Vrbata’s preferred destination, but if the newly-signed Coyote hadn’t reached a deal by Aug. 15, he told Arizona Sports he was seriously considering retiring to spend more time with his wife, Petra, and their three sons, Krystof (7), Oliver (2), and Vincent (2½ months).
“Obviously, the No. 1 goal was to sign back in NHL but if that didn’t happen in time for us and we had to stay in Czech (Republic) with a young family, I just don’t think we’d want to travel anywhere else,” Vrbata said. “There was a time when I talked about maybe playing for a season or two in Switzerland to finish my career, but it would be tougher to go play in a new country with a big family.
“The other option was to play in Czech for my hometown team (BK Mladá Boleslav of the Czech Extraliga) or just retire and be a dad.
“It’s more work now as parents. There’s three of them and two of you and Krystof is coming to the age where he really needs me around — even Oliver when I was with Vancouver and we’d go on a two-week road trip, he wasn’t happy about me leaving, so that’s why I was thinking this way, but with us going back to a place we’re familiar with, I think we can postpone this discussion until next summer.”
Vrbata, 35, said he will evaluate his career on a year-by-year basis now, but with the salary cap driving so many teams toward younger, faster players, he thinks the days of 35-plus players are numbered.
“I don’t think there will be too many players going until they’re 40 like (Shane) Doaner or (Jaromir) Jagr or (Patrik) Elias,” he said. “In the next few years, 40 will become 35 and 35 will be 31 or 32. The game is getting so much quicker and harder and faster with those young guys coming in. It will take a toll on players.”
NO CHANGE IN RIEDER TALKS
Coyotes general manager John Chayka said Tuesday that there was no change in the status of contract talks with restricted free-agent forward Tobias Rieder.
“It’s status quo for the most part,” Chayka said. “We continue to talk about things. Tobi’s a good player. He’s a player that we like a lot.
“We think the right place for him is Arizona, and I think our offers have been consistent with that in valuing him highly, as well. We hope that we can come to an agreement that can have Tobi in camp because I think that’s the best place for him short-term and long-term and obviously the best thing for our team, as well. He’s an important piece of what we’re doing here.”
Rieder’s agent, Darren Ferris, was at the Ivan Hlinka Memorial Cup last week in the Czech Republic, where the host team won gold with a 4-3 win over the United States. As of two weeks ago, Rieder’s camp was seeking a two-year deal with an average annual value of $2.75 million, but the Coyotes are more likely thinking somewhere around $2.2 million or $2.3 million.
Coyotes coach Dave Tippett will see Rieder at the upcoming World Cup of Hockey in Toronto. Tippett is an assistant coach for Team North American while Rieder will play for Team Europe. Before the tournament begins on Sept. 17, the two teams will play a pair of exhibition games against each other.
Training camps for the tournament begin on Sept. 4-5. Team Europe plays Team North America on Sept. 8 at the Videotron Centre in Quebec City, and on Sept. 11 at the Bell Centre in Montreal.
VERMETTE SHOCKED BY BUYOUT
Former Coyotes center Antoine Vermette signed a two-year, $3.5 million deal with Anaheim on Monday. In a conference call with reporters, Vermette said the Coyotes’ decision to buy him out last week was surprising.
“At no point had (a buyout) been discussed or brought up on their part,” Vermette told reporters. “That caught me off guard a little bit, that’s for sure.”
Vermette will help fill a roster hole with Nate Thompson out until March with an Achilles injury. The Coyotes will pay Vermette $1.25 million each of the next two seasons after buying out the final year of his $3.75 million salary.
LOOSE PUCKS
• Calgary hired former Coyotes GM Don Maloney as a pro scout on Wednesday. Maloney was with the Coyotes for nine seasons until he was fired in April after the Coyotes’ fourth straight season without a playoff berth.
• Tippett was packing up his things at his summer home in Minnesota and preparing to return to the Valley this week for two weeks of coaches meetings before he heads off to the World Cup of Hockey.
• Goalie Mike Smith and wife Brigitte Acton Smith gave birth to their fourth child on Tuesday, and their first girl, Kingsley Acton Smith. They have three sons: Aksel, Ajax and Nixon.
• Single game tickets for the team’s three preseason home games and the first half of the regular season go on sale to the general public on Aug. 23 at 10 a.m. Tickets for all remaining home games from Jan. 21 through Apr. 8 will go on sale at a later date. For more information on Coyotes tickets, call 480-563-PUCK (7825) or visit www.ArizonaCoyotes.com
Follow Craig Morgan on Twitter
Follow @craigsmorganLook, no one's going to sit here and claim the 2015 New York Giants are a good team. Losers of three straight games and four of their last five, they may well be out of gas. While they are technically in a three-way tie for first place at 5-7, they have major tiebreaker issues that will require them to outperform the other teams in the tie. And the way they look right now, there's no guarantee they'll win another game all year.
That said, it's the holiday season -- a time for hope and good cheer. And with that in mind, and four weeks left in the dirty, lowdown NFC East, here are five reasons the Giants can still emerge with the division crown:
The Eli Manning-Odell Beckham Jr. connection gives the Giants a shot in the wide-open NFC East race. AP Photo/Bill Kostroun
1. They have the best quarterback. Eli Manning has his faults, and his greatest glories have come when surrounded by considerably more talent than he has around him now. But if you had the first pick in an NFC East quarterback draft for the rest of this season, you'd run to the podium with Manning's name. He's the only one of the four you'd trust to lead a game-winning drive in a must-win game. And in a league in which the team with the best quarterback wins, you can't count out Manning in a division that features Kirk Cousins, Sam Bradford and Matt Cassel.
2. They have the best coach. I know, I know, the clock management. Tom Coughlin's decisions have backfired at nearly every critical fourth-quarter juncture this season, which he admits. And Sunday's decision to reject three free points with his team up 10 in the fourth quarter was unconscionable. But those who would fire Coughlin over fourth-quarter game management ignore the larger part of the head coach's job. Few are as good and experienced as Coughlin is at managing his team through the game week. None of his NFC East counterparts has brought a team back from late-season adversity to win a title. Coughlin's teams always win at least as many games as they should, and the fact that he still has a mathematical chance to post a winning record with a roster that looks like one of the thinnest in the league on paper is more proof of same.
3. Odell Beckham Jr. The quarterback issues in Dallas downgrade Dez Bryant enough to leave Beckham as the division's most dangerous player. Manning is throwing to him at an incredible rate, and Beckham is delivering dazzling catches and game-breaking plays. He'll be the best player on the field in every game they play from here on out, with the possible exception of Cam Newton. And his presence gives them a chance every week.
4. They may have found something with the pass rush. If they keep Jason Pierre-Paul at left defensive end the rest of the way, his first-step quickness will make him a nightmare for right tackles and could force teams to direct some extra attention his way. Robert Ayers benefited from that Sunday, and if Ayers can keep himself healthy, he could have a big pass rush finish in him. The Giants' defensive line was more disruptive against the Jets than it's been all season. Should they keep it up, they could outperform expectations against the likes of Ryan Tannehill, Teddy Bridgewater and Bradford.
5. It's their turn. The Giants won this division in 2011. Washington won it in 2012, the Eagles in 2013 and Dallas last year. So it makes sense that the Giants would get their turn to win it this year, right? No? Pfft. Makes as much sense as anything else about this division.It feels like its share of the limelight is being increasingly taken by rival championships, but GP3 continues to be a very effective junior series as it enters its sixth year.
Three of its champions have raced in Formula 1, and the other two are major players in GP2, including last year’s winner Alex Lynn.
For a while over the winter, the driver market appeared uncertain and only eight drivers had been confirmed by the start of March, but a three-week rush after that ensured that all but one of the 24 seats (the grid was reduced to eight teams by Manor’s administration) had been secured by day one of pre-season testing.
And despite it taking a while to come together, the final field is a pretty strong one. There’s a large contingent of drivers continuing from last year, including three of last year’s top five, while there’s also a strong rookie crop with promising drivers sourced from ADAC Formel Masters to Formula Renault 2.0 and Euroformula Open.
Undoubtedly though, the headline draw is the arrival of Esteban Ocon and Antonio Fuoco from European Formula 3. With the latter a Ferrari protege and the former now receiving Mercedes support, they add some much needed star quality and demonstrate GP3’s relevance as a stepping stone to higher categories.
The lack of decent racing provided by the current iteration of GP3 car remains a big issue, but in what is the final season of its scheduled life, the prospect of Ocon and Fuoco scrapping with the likes of Marvin Kirchhofer should attract plenty of attention.
Carlin
Last year, Carlin added GP3 titles to their ever-growing haul of silverware from the junior single-seater categories. Alex Lynn led the drivers’ points from start to finish, and the squad went on to wrap up the teams’ title and halt ART’s previously unbeaten record in the series. They’re well placed to retain the latter crown this year with a strong trio, even though none of them start as favourite this time around.
1. Antonio Fuoco
Italy, age 18
2014: European F3, 5th
It was something of a surprise at the end of last year when it became clear that Fuoco would be switching to GP3 this season, instead of remaining in F3 for an assault on the title his compatriot and fellow Ferrari protege Raffaele Marciello won in 2013.
It’s possible that politics may have played its part but there’s probably some method to the move too. GP3 acts as a good intermediate step for drivers looking to go from F3 to GP2 – a direct jump that Marciello hasn’t found easy – and this offers Fuoco the chance to sample life outside of Italian team Prema, with which he was Formula Renault Alps champion as a rookie in 2013.
Beating ART’s pairing of the best returning GP3 driver and the F3 champion who dominated Fuoco as team-mate last year is a tough ask, but on paper he’s the man most capable of troubling them. On his day he can be out front, but he didn’t have enough of those days last year.
2. Jann Mardenborough
United Kingdom, age 23
2014: GP3, 9th
Mardenborough has been rewarded for his performances since winning the Nissan GT Academy competition by being named as a full-time driver for the Japanese marque’s new LMP1 project, but he’ll also get to continue his single-seater career for another year.
Staying in GP3 for a second season, he returns to the Carlin team that he previously raced for in F3 in 2013. His debut GP3 campaign came with Arden but the team struggled in qualifying – all-important in GP3 where races are short and overtaking is tough.
Mardenborough outpaced and outscored two team-mates who had been in GP3 for as long as he had been racing, so if Carlin remains as competitive as it was last year, he could be a real contender.
His pre-season preparation was rocked by a fatal GT crash at the Nurburgring in March. The GP3 schedule has allowed him to get back behind the wheel outside of the spotlight though, and he’s looked fast.
3. Mitch Gilbert
Australia, age 20
2014: European F3, 16th; GP3, 8 races
After a tough couple of years, Gilbert heads into 2015 keen to get his reputation back on track. And in a GP3 seat with reigning champions Carlin, the Kuala Lumpur-born Aussie is well-placed to do so.
A race winner in both Formula Renault 2.0 UK and German F3 in his first two years in single-seaters, the step up to European F3 for 2013 wasn’t kind to Gilbert.
Last year began more promisingly with a trio of top-six finishes inside the first three rounds, but things soured afterwards and he chose to switch to GP3, doing four rounds with Trident after an initial debut at Silverstone was stymied by a qualifying roll.
With Carlin, Gilbert has what it takes to be a frontrunner, but while his pre-season seemed to start well in Estoril, Barcelona looked to be more of a struggle.
ART Grand Prix
Finishing runner-up in the GP3 teams’ standings, less than a victory off first place, is ‘great’ by most squads’ standards, but not by ART’s – certainly not after four consecutive titles. And going by a 2015 lineup that features their top driver from last year and an FIA F3 champion, the French team are dead set to retake their GP3 honours.
4. Alfonso Celis
Mexico, age 18
2014: GP3, 21st
Celis was the first driver to announce a GP3 deal for 2015 and has since not only confirmed a concurrent Formula Renault 3.5 campaign, but already scored points in that series’ season opener.
He’s definitely the least-known driver in ART’s lineup, having scored only two points in his first GP3 campaign in 2014. But his CV is reasonable, with podiums in Formula Renault 2.0 and Formula BMW Talent Cup and the two aforementioned points in GP3 coming with a drive from 16th on the grid to seventh.
A fast rise up the ranks has often meant he’s lacked experience relative to the competition, so the stability of a second year in GP3 should help him.
His pre-season showing was not bad, if somewhat inconsistent, and a mid-pack presence should be a solid goal to aim for. But the pressure isn’t off – he’ll absolutely need to score points on a regular basis to help ART’s title campaign.
5. Marvin Kirchhofer
Germany, age 21
2014: GP3, 3rd
After titles in ADAC Formel Masters and the national F3 series, Kirchhofer’s third place in GP3 last year was the first time the German was beaten in a full-time campaign in cars – and there was no shame in losing to Alex Lynn and Dean Stoneman.
There was some raggedness in his rookie year in the series, but it was well overshadowed by a sublime lights-to-flag win on home soil at Hockenheim and a streak of five consecutive podiums in the second half of the season. And while he wasn’t the top GP3 newcomer, those who finished ahead of him were vastly more experienced in cars.
Nothing but the title is likely to suffice for the championship’s top returnee in 2015. It won’t be an easy task though given the sheer number of highly-rated newcomers, and in particular the Frenchman alongside him…
6. Esteban Ocon
France, age 18
2014: FIA F3, champion
It has long been obvious that Esteban Ocon is the real deal – he’s demonstrated it many times in karting and in Formula Renault. But last year’s European F3 was where the Frenchman ascended to superstardom, beating junior single-seater’s best lineup in his first campaign in F3 cars.
The fact that his brilliant 2014 has failed to lead to a seat in GP2, FR3.5 or even DTM has been well-documented and is unfortunate. Yet the move to GP3 is reasonable and he could hardly be making it with a better team.
His F3 title makes him eligible for an FIA Superlicense, but to get a good chance to use it he’ll probably have to take back-to-back championships. And that is one tough ask – not in the least because of his German teammate.
The Frenchman enjoyed a solid pre-season with an especially good showing at Valencia, although he hasn’t quite matched Kirchhofer. But Ocon defied a lack of series experience last year – who’s to say he won’t do it again?
Status Grand Prix
Status recovered from a massively difficult 2013 season to take third in the teams’ standings last year. Experienced GP3 driver Nick Yelloly and single-seater returnee Richie Stanaway delivered a race victory each but both have now moved on. The Silverstone-based squad is set to kick off the season with three new drivers but all three are strong, with one of the most experienced drivers in the field joined by two talented rookies.
7. Seb Morris
United Kingdom, age 19
2014: Formula Renault 2.0 NEC, 3rd
Last year, Morris finally moved onto the European scene after four years of racing in British national series by taking part in Formula Renault 2.0 NEC with Fortec, something he had initially planned to do a year before.
Similarly to his preceding campaign in BRDC F4, Morris had to play catch up after an inconsistent start to the season, despite winning at his home track Silverstone. By the end of the year he started to constantly deliver with four consecutive podiums but he still had to settle for third in the standings.
Skipping the obvious step to the Eurocup and instead entering GP3 makes sense, given his five years of experience in car racing.
He is capable enough of being a regular point-scorer from the beginning but he will probably need to work on his consistency if he’s to make the most of his pace.
8. Alex Fontana
Switzerland, age 22
2014: GP3, 11th
2015 will the fifth consecutive year we’ll see Fontana racing in GP3. It’s his third full-time campaign, as in 2011 and 2012 he only made guest appearances for Jenzer.
He finally joined the series full-time in 2013 and although he could only finish higher than tenth three times, one of these occasions saw him stepping on the podium at Silverstone. Switching to ART, everything was set for a great sophomore season, but Fontana failed to score a single point in the first half of the season and his two sprint race podiums later on did not fully make up for the sloppy season start.
Teaming up with two rookies at Status, he will be expected to lead their assault. Going by testing, Fontana does not seem to be ahead of Morris or Stuvik in terms of pace but his racing experience ought to help him in the first half of the season.
9. Sandy Stuvik
Thailand, age 20
2014: Euroformula Open, 1st
After starting his career by winning the Asian Formula Renault Challenge, Stuvik made the move to Eurocup Formula Renault at the age of 16. Ending the year with no points, a 14th place in NEC the following season really stalled his career momentum.
Stuvik then made the switch to F3 Open – now known as Euroformula Open – and impressed, finishing every race in the top five and only losing out on the title due to the championship’s dropped score system.
Staying in the series for a second season last year, Stuvik lived up to the expectations of the obvious title favourite and triumphed in a dominant manner, winning 11 out of 16 races.
Although he tested in GP2 at the end of the season, has has instead joined GP3, a sensible step that will still test his abilities. There is no reason why he shouldn’t challenge his team-mates throughout the year.
Koiranen GP
Koiranen’s expansion to GP3 has been very productive as the team’s blue cars have racked up six wins in two years and became a very familiar presence among the series’ frontrunners. And while a teams’ championship challenge appears unlikely in 2015, the Finnish squad shouldn’t be far from the top, having secured another solid line-up and retained its top scorer from last year.
10. Adderly Fong
Hong Kong, age 25
2014: GP3, 21st
Fong’s been around in a junior single-seaters for a long time, but his occasional successes in formulae don’t really stack up to his outings in the Audi R8 LMS series in Asia, where he’s been champion and runner-up.
So it’s a surprise to see him return to GP3 and in a role of a Lotus F1 development driver no less. He’s previously done 22 races in the series, scoring a best finish of ninth at Silverstone in 2013.
Having Koiranen behind him will probably give Fong his best chance to bolster his CV with good results in GP3. And, while he was outside the top ten in the Estoril test, he noticeably moved up by Barcelona.
11. Jimmy Eriksson
Sweden, age 24
2014: GP3, 4th
Interestingly enough, the 2015 season will see Eriksson reunited with Fong as a GP3 teammate, the Hong Kong driver having actually outscored the Swede in 2013 at Status.
That was a bad year for the Swede, who seemed off the pace in GP3 after an excellent 2012 saw him claim the German F3 crown. Obviously talented, he proved 2013 was a fluke in no time as he was reinvigorated by a switch to Koiranen, claiming fourth after being Lynn’s closest rival for much of the year.
Eriksson should probably be in GP2 by now, but a return to Koiranen might be the next best thing. Right now, the Swede stands among the few drivers who could feasibly give ART’s duo a run for their money.
He didn’t top any of the sessions in the pre-season although was usually in or around the top five. He may have more up his sleeve for the upcoming campaign, but highly-rated new arrivals could make improving upon last year difficult.
12. Matt Parry
United Kingdom, age 21
2014: Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0, 11th
After back-to-back titles in Intersteps and FR2.0 NEC, Parry had a rather muted campaign in the Eurocup – although, admittedly, so did his usually superb team Fortec. He wanted another try at the main FR2.0 series, but couldn’t pass up an opportunity to move to GP3.
Despite his 2014 hardships, the Welshman, a laureate of the prestigious McLaren Autosport BRDC Award, is definitely among the championship’s most exciting newcomers, especially paired with a squad as strong as Koiranen.
He’s shown steady improvement over the pre-season, culminating in a third-best time on the afternoon of the penultimate day at Barcelona.
Targeting a top-ten result in the standings is probably a realistic goal and it’s quite feasible that we’ll see the Welshman on the top step of the podium in one of the reverse-grid races.
Arden International
After driver’s titles in 2012 and 2013, Arden looked a good shout to dethrone ART in the teams’ standings with last year’s lineup, but something just did not go right. Their two very capable experienced drivers were both outperformed by rookie Mardenborough and they finished the season only fifth. 2015 brings a similar approach – two proven GP3 drivers alongside a rookie – but the British team can and should aim for a better overall campaign.
10. Kevin Ceccon
Italy, age 21
2014: GP3, 8 races
Having won the 2011 Auto GP title a week after turning 18, the Italian has been bouncing between GP2 and GP3 ever since, struggling to find a permanent home.
He finished an extremely sensible ninth in GP3 in 2012, giving the now-defunct Ocean squad their only podium in the series. He then moved up to GP2 with Trident and was on the podium in the reverse-grid Monte Carlo race, only to be replaced midway through the season.
After eight races with Jenzer in 2014, Arden represents his big break in GP3. He’s certainly earned it but the expectations to deliver will be very high indeed. Arden probably don’t demand he becomes their next GP3 champion, but they are unlikely to be content with a couple of reverse-grid podiums either.
His pre-season has been extremely inconclusive, although he signed off by finishing runner-up in the final test session.
11. Emil Bernstorff
United Kingdom, age 21
2014: GP3, 5th
Once a close runner-up to DTM star Pascal Wehrlein in ADAC Formel Masters, Bernstorff is not the most well-known racer in the field but is certainly a great signing for Arden.
The Briton, after all, exceeded many expectations with an extremely smooth transition to GP3 last year. He took four races to claim a win, played a vital part in Carlin’s title and scored in all but three races.
As the third top returnee from 2014, he’s probably not among the title favourites heading into the opener, but he cannot and should not be counted out.
His pre-season got off to a great start at Estoril but he hasn’t reached the same heights at the Spanish tracks. One question is whether, given last year’s relative form, he can be as quick with Arden as he was for Carlin.
12. Alex Bosak
Poland, age 21
2014: Formula Renault 2.0 Alps
By making his debut with Arden, Bosak has big shoes to fill – every driver, who’s run their first GP3 campaign with the team since 2011, has scored at least a podium.
It will be a tough ask for the Polish racer, who has spent all three years of his single-seater career in Formula Renault Alps.
He didn’t score points in his first or second season in that championship, albeit a switch to Prema for year three yielded a big improvement, with Bosak finishing 11th as their only full-time entrant.
His best result of the pre-season was tenth in the final session but matching that from the get go at Barcelona will be extremely difficult.
Jenzer Motorsport
Two-thirds of Jenzer’s driver line-up remains the same for this season, but plenty has otherwise changed. The signing of a promising rookie for the third car has brought a vibrant new livery and coincided with a serious upturn in pace over the winter, with the team setting the best time at two of the three pre-season testing. It’s not yet clear if the progress is genuine, but the Swiss squad could be about to leave a quiet couple of years behind it.
20. Pal Varhaug
Norway, age 24
2014: GP3, 17th
Five years on from winning the first ever GP3 race at Barcelona, Varhaug continues his series comeback into a second season. He finished further down the standings last year than he did back in 2010, but if his pre-season form is to be believed, he could be returning Jenzer to the top step soon.
He topped a quarter of the 12 sessions of running, including the best time of the final test at Barcelona, and was a consistent frontrunner.
It’s not unheard of for such strong testing results to mean absolutely nothing come race day, but if this does translate into an improvement for Jenzer upon last year, Varhaug could yet make something out of a GP3 return that hasn’t otherwise shown much purpose other than to simply get him on track.
21. Matheo Tuscher
Switzerland, age 18
2014: GP3, 12th
Entering GP3 last season after a year on the sidelines, Tuscher was quickly able to show the kind of speed that saw him finish runner-up in Formula 2 as a 15-year-old in 2012.
His P2 finish in the second Barcelona race was the first of several missed opportunities to win, though. He was involved in a collision when fighting for the victory at Spielberg, spun out of the lead at Spa and failed to make anything of a reverse-grid pole at Monza.
A package underneath him that’s consistently quick would help Tuscher, but although he’s remaining at Jenzer for another season, the team look like they might have made the step forward he needs.
Intriguingly, Tuscher was quieter in pre-season than his two team-mates, but it’s hard to imagine any scenario other than him leading the line when it matters.
22. Ralph Boschung
Switzerland, age 17
2014: ADAC Formel Masters, 7th
Boschung steps up to GP3 after two seasons in ADAC Formel Masters in Germany, finishing seventh on both occasions. Last year was going better before technical issues began to hamper his campaign.
On the face of it, it’s quite a big jump, but it was a sensible one after Boschung acquitted himself well with the GP3 car and the Jenzer team in Abu Dhabi at the end of last year. He went even better at the start of 2015, setting the best time of the opening test at Estoril. He’s shown that was no fluke by regularly appearing in the top places since.
With Jenzer looking in good form, Boschung could be possible of springing some surprises against his better known team-mates, and should be a solid rookie at the very least.
Campos Racing
The entry originally held by Atech in 2012 will have a fifth different owner in four seasons, after Hilmer Motorsport pulled out after only one campaign and have been replaced by Spanish outfit Campos Racing. Campos enjoyed a successful return to GP2 last year and their GP3 expansion |
there are aspects of it that are less than clear. For example, the diagram gives Congressional leaders the clear impression that the Private Sector somehow creates the U.S. Dollars we all use, though there is no exact articulation about how this occurs. The PS pot is clearly full of Dollars—they had to come from somewhere, right?—but the diagram shows no source other than the PS pot itself. There is a vague “story” about entrepreneurs investing Dollars in business ventures which make profits, allowing them to hire more and more workers, which enables them to generate more and more Dollars, etc. How the money is actually created seems to matter less than the “obvious” fact that if the two spigots draining Dollars out of the PS pot are opened too wide—if too many Dollars are drained out of the PS pot into the FG pot—the entrepreneurs won’t have enough money left to invest in creating jobs and making profits, and the Private Sector GDP (Gross Domestic Product), as a consequence, will begin to shrink.
It is fear of this shrinkage that appears to constrain the number of Dollars that Congress can allow to flow into the FG pot, and this, of course, constrains the amount and kind of public goods and services that can be planned for in the National Budget. This fear is exacerbated by another which can be visualized by looking at the diagram in more detail:
As illustrated, the “BORROWING” spigot appears to require that the Federal Government not only to pay back the Treasury Bond’s principal at some point in the future, but also to pay interest on that principal. Following the logic of what we’re looking at, it appears the Federal Government will be forced to collect even more taxes at some point in the future (to pay the principal plus interest) creating a huge financial burden for our children and grandchildren. As a result, it seems clear to Congressional leaders that the “BORROWING” spigot must be carefully constrained to not exceed a certain percentage of the Private Sector pot, or else—it seems mathematically obvious—the TAX spigot ultimately will have to drain the P.S. pot completely just to pay for the government’s debt! This is what is meant when the Congressional leaders say the Federal Government’s debt is “out of control” or “unsustainable”.
We can also look at a close-up of the FG spending side of the diagram, the side which generates the Public Goods and Services we collectively benefit from.
Looked at more closely, that spending is really of two kinds: “Entitlement” spending and “Discretionary” spending. Here too the diagram seems to illustrate the enormity of Congress’ fiscal dilemma: As Entitlement spending (Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, Food Stamps etc.) grows larger, it has to compete with the Discretionary spending (infrastructure, education, medical research, etc.) for the limited number of Dollars that can be allowed to flow into the PG pot. Thus, if we plan to take care of our elderly, under-nourished, poorly housed, accidentally disabled, under-educated and unemployed citizens—which somehow seems an ever-growing need as the population increases and ages—our airports, highways and bridges, our water and sewer systems, our electrical grid and public transit systems, all of that (and more) must inevitably fall into disrepair.
Or, as many Congressional leaders warn us against, we’ll be forced to borrow even more Dollars from China, hastening the inevitable wreckage and bankruptcy of our economy:
It is easy to see how, using this diagram as a guide, it is literally impossible for our Congressional leaders to come up with a rational and constructive budgetary plan to build America’s future. This has got to be a big part of why, whenever they appear on television, our Senators and House Representatives are wearing such pained expressions. And, no doubt, this diagram is a large part of the reason they so relentlessly fight and bicker over every topic imaginable, because every topic imaginable seems ultimately tied to the frustrating fact that we simply don’t have enough “money”.
3. Diagram Reality Check
In order for a diagram to be useful, it has to be accurate. But how do we know if a diagram is accurate—that it reflects the actual realities we are dealing with? First, we could ask if all the “parts” have been accounted for. Maybe some important things have been left out. Then we could ask if the relationships and flows are correctly portrayed. Since our diagram seems to naturally follow a “plumbing” metaphor**, we could ask, in essence, have we got the “plumbing” right?
The first thing we can see pretty easily is that the diagram has, indeed, left out some key parts of the fiscal “plumbing”. The Dollars that flow out of the FG pot to pay for public goods and services—either entitlement or discretionary spending—don’t just disappear into the right page margin after they are spent. They go somewhere. They are paid to somebody. And who might that be?
In fact—and when you think about it, it’s obvious—the Federal Government buys its public goods and services from the Private Sector. Aircraft carriers and submarines are built by Private Sector shipyards. Weather and GPS satellites are designed and built by private engineering laboratories. And while the space-launch facilities at NASA are a “public” enterprise, all the scientists and technicians who work there are private citizens. Even the Navy’s Vice-Admiral in charge of sea-recovery operations, when he goes home on weekends and changes into his gardening clothes, is a private citizen.
With the exception of some payments that go to foreign contractors, the Dollars for discretionary spending, then, flow into the bank accounts of private U.S. citizens—into, that is, the PS pot. Obviously the same is true with entitlement and transfer payments: Social Security checks are directly deposited into private bank accounts, food-stamp Dollars flow into the bank accounts of farmers and food processors and distributors. Dollars for unemployment aid are used by the unemployed to buy shoes and subway tokens and cups of coffee—all going by some direct or indirect route into the private bank account of a U.S. business or citizen.
I don’t want to be overstating the obvious here, but if we change the “plumbing” of our fiscal diagram to reflect the realities just described, as shown above, it makes a significant difference in what we see.
Please note that I have also changed the plumbing on the other side of the FG pot: the “principal & interest” payments on the Federal Government’s “debt” also are deposited into private bank accounts as well—the overwhelming majority of which belong to private-sector U.S. citizens.
We still have a hopeless budgetary problem, however. Even though we can now clearly see that the government’s spending goes back into the Private Sector pot—benefiting U.S. citizens and businesses with both public goods and Dollar deposits—the amount of Dollars available for government spending is still limited to what can be “safely” taxed or borrowed out of the Private Sector pot in any given budget-year. Even though we have a better picture of the complete cycle of the fiscal flow, we still have the dilemma that if we open the TAX and “BORROWING” spigots too wide, the private entrepreneurs won’t have enough Dollars left to start ventures, create jobs, and make the profits that generate the PS pot’s money in the first place.
So our plumbing changes haven’t really solved the budgetary riddle that has Congress—and the President as well—tied up in knots. Many people will conclude that the optimum solution is to close the PS spigots as much as possible, allowing just enough Dollars to trickle into the FG pot to pay for the absolute minimum public goods and services necessary to maintain public order (and a strong military). Allowing the Private Sector to keep vastly MORE of the Dollars it creates through entrepreneurial ventures, they argue, will enable those private ventures to create more and more jobs, so there will be less need for government assistance programs like unemployment aid and food stamps. Small government and free markets are the ticket—and the diagram (even the “complete” one we are now looking at) seems to support this perspective.
Except for one problem—one fundamental flaw in the diagram’s most basic logic: it is not possible for the Private Sector pot to “generate” its own U.S. Dollars! This is because, by law, a U.S. Dollar can only be created—printed or issued electronically—by the U.S. sovereign government. Anyone else who tries to create or issue a U.S. Dollar is a counterfeiter and subject to imprisonment. This simple, undeniable, fact forces us to look at the diagram again and wonder if we really understand what is happening in it.
Here’s a simplified version that focuses on the direction of flow:
What we think we are seeing is this: Dollars get created in the PS pot and flow into the FG pot, from which they then flow, by means of government spending, back into the PS pot. The key thought-phrase here is “Dollars get created in the PS pot…” because it suggests that the PS pot is the “driver” or “generator” of the flow of Dollars. But if it is an unequivocal fact that only the sovereign U.S. Government can issue U.S. Dollars, then it must be the case that the FG pot is actually the “driver”—which means, first of all, we’ve got the diagram upside down! Basically, it should look like this:
4. Hmmmm…?
What we are seeing now is a completely new fiscal perspective: The sovereign government issues U.S. Dollars in the FG pot and then spends those Dollars through it’s own SPENDING spigot into the PS pot! Entrepreneurs in the Private Sector then use the Dollars the FG has issued and spent—leveraging them with bank loans and creative financing—to launch business ventures that generate private sector jobs and wages. Can this possibly be the way it actually is? Let’s see.
Before looking at this new diagram in more detail, let’s consider its most basic implication: As the FG spends, the number of Dollars in the PS pot grows. If the number of goods and services available for people to buy in the PS pot does not grow by an equivalent amount, the additional Dollars flowing in will cause prices to go up—perhaps dramatically. This is the “inflation” that Congressmen and economists are constantly warning against. To prevent this from happening—or to prevent the rate of inflation from getting disruptively high—there has to be some means for taking Dollars out of the PS pot.
This essential REMOVAL operation is accomplished with two pieces of “plumbing” we can now add, one at a time, to the new diagram:
The first plumbing addition is a “drain” that simply takes Dollars out of the PS pot and destroys them. This drain is Federal Taxes. Drained out and destroyed, Dollars paid in Federal taxes are no longer available for Private Sector spending—and, therefore, can no longer contribute to price-inflation.
Obviously, this plumbing feature—the TAX DRAIN—needs some further explanation: Why would the Sovereign Government destroy the tax Dollars it collects? Doesn’t it need those tax Dollars to pay for its spending? Shouldn’t the “drain” really be a sump-pump that lifts the tax Dollars back up and dumps them into the FG pot?
It would be a mistake, though, to add the “sump-pump” plumbing to our diagram. The reason is the underlying reality of what a U.S. Dollar actually is: It is simply a promise, by the U.S. sovereign government, that it will accept the Dollar as payment for a Dollar’s worth of taxes. That’s it. A Dollar—whether it’s a paper Dollar or an “electronic” Dollar—is nothing more than that promise. The sovereign government doesn’t promise to exchange a Dollar for gold or silver, or for anything else of intrinsic value. It promises only to accept the Dollar in exchange for the cancellation of a Dollar’s worth of taxes due. In other words, a Dollar is the I.O.U. of the sovereign government. The Dollar says: “I owe you one Dollar’s worth of tax credit.”
This I.O.U. means a lot more to all of us in the Private Sector (households and businesses) because we also use this I.O.U. Dollar for our MONEY—we use it to buy goods and services from each other, to invest in business ventures, and to save for future spending in our retirement. But at its most official heart, the U.S. Dollar is simply the I.O.U. promise of our sovereign Federal Government.
This underlying reality of what a Dollar actually is has a lot of importance for our new Diagram. First, it tells us why we (all of us citizens working in the Private Sector) are willing to accept Dollars in exchange for our very real goods and efforts: Because we need those Dollars in order to pay the taxes we owe the Federal Government! We can’t pay our taxes with apples or Pesos. We can only pay our U.S. Taxes with U.S. Dollars. So that’s why the FG SPENDING spigot works in the first place—because all the citizens and businesses in the Private Sector are willing to provide goods and services to the Federal Government in exchange for the Dollars they need to pay their Federal Tax bill.
The second thing the underlying reality explains is why the Dollar is “destroyed” when it is used to pay U.S. Taxes. You give the Federal Government back its I.O.U., the FG declares your taxes paid, and the I.O.U. is cancelled. That I.O.U. is of no further use to the Federal Government. It is illogical for the FG to “keep” an I.O.U. that says it owes something to itself. It could recycle the I.O.U. and use it to buy new goods and services from the Private Sector. But even that is illogical, because it is far easier and more efficient, when the Sovereign Government needs to spend again, for it to simply issue a new I.O.U. This is especially true since the vast majority of Dollars issued and spent are electronic—simple keystrokes on a computer screen.
So the “TAX DRAIN” really is the correct diagram! Federal taxes drain Dollars out of the Private Sector pot and—POOF!—they’re gone. How many Dollars should be drained every year to keep price-inflation in check is a crucial question, but we don’t need to answer that to get our diagram right. We do need to add some additional plumbing pieces, however. This is because there is a another, very important, means for taking Dollars out of the PS pot to control inflation.
**I am indebted to L. Randall Wray for first illustrating his “bathtub” metaphor in his book, “Modern Money Theory”.OLATHE, Kan. — During a news conference Wednesday morning the FBI, Johnson County prosecutor and sheriff said they are looking for additional victims they believe were also attacked by two men now charged with the kidnapping and rape of a Johnson County deputy. They urged other possible victims and anyone who had contact with the suspects the day the deputy was abducted to come forward.
Both William Luth and Brady Newman-Caddell are charged with kidnapping, two counts of rape and sodomy. Each are in the Johnson County jail on a $1 million bond.
They were arrested in Missouri and spent the day at the Jackson County jail before both waived extradition to Kansas and were brought to Johnson County Tuesday.
On Wednesday afternoon, Luth and Newman-Cadell appeared in court for a quick first appearance. Newman-Caddell asked for a public defender. Luth’s attorney tried to enter a not-guilty plea for him but the judge told him this was not the time to enter pleas; their pleas would be accepted at the next court appearance on Oct. 20.
Charges against the suspects state they overpowered the female sheriff`s deputy, forced her into a blue Mazda 3 – and abducted her in the parking lot of the Johnson County Sheriff`s Office as she was going to work.
Several hours later, after police say she was raped multiple times, they released the deputy in Missouri near the Jackson County Sheriff`s Department where she ran for help.
Sources say one of the men told investigators where to find the deputy’s pink gym bag and jacket that were missing after the incident, which, with that information, were found and are now evidence in this case.
“Now that we have the faces of the two individuals that have been charged in this case, if anyone had contact with either one of those individuals in and around the date of October 7th, to please contact either the Johnson County Sheriff’s Office or TIPS Hotline,” Johnson County District Attorney Steve Howe said during the news conference.
Authorities say they cannot discuss why they believe there are other victims, but did say they ‘know’ there are other victims.
“The other thing is we know that there are other victim or victims, and we’re asking that now that these two individuals are in custody we’re asking that if people have had contact with these two individuals that they contact the TIPS Hotline or the Johnson County Sheriff’s Office,” Howe said.
In addition, Howe said, “I can’t talk about why we believe this, but I will tell you that we feel like now that hopefully with these two being in custody, that we can empower these individuals to come forward and to talk to law enforcement about what happened to them.”
Sheriff Frank Denning and Howe were not willing to go into relationship between the two men and victim, their motivation for the crime, or the opportunity of the suspects.
“All I can say is, based on the charges, those are the facts of the case, and we really don’t want to talk about anything beyond that,” Howe said.
Authorities said the deputy was doing okay given the circumstances and was currently spending time with her family and friends.
Howe also said all the deputy’s belongings have been recovered and there is no risk of anyone posing as a Johnson County deputy in her gear.
Anyone with information regarding the case is asked to contact the Johnson County Sheriff’s Office or call the TIPS Hotline at (816) 474-TIPS.
Keep up with the latest updates on fox4kc.com and the FOX 4 App.
Replay the entire news conference below:Major heartbreak for Jimmy McGill in “Pimento” — “the man” keeping him down isn’t Howard Hamlin, but rather Chuck McGill, the big brother he idolizes. With just one more episode left in Better Call Saul’s first season, Emmy-winning Breaking Bad alum Thomas Schnauz, who wrote and directed “Pimento,” talks with Yahoo TV about how the Saul writers feel about Jimmy, the truth behind Chuck’s illness, pimento sandwiches, the character inspired by The Big Lebowski, and the new “direction” Jimmy takes in the season finale.
Congratulations on the episode, which is yet another fantastic one, but heartbreaking for those of us who have fallen in love with Jimmy.
We knew people would hopefully like the character. I don’t think any of us were prepared in the writers’ room for how much people would actually love this character, given that they know who he is in the future as Saul Goodman, but we’re very pleased.
Do you find yourselves feeling that way about him?
Oh yeah, absolutely. He’s a real underdog, and you root for him. And it wasn’t even intentional. We didn’t decide in the beginning, “Let’s make this character an underdog.” He’s trying his best. He’s genuinely trying to be a good person and keep the promise that he makes to his brother. The flashback we saw in episode three where he says, “Just tell me what to do, and I’ll do it.” He does. He gets his crap together, and he becomes a very good lawyer.
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That is what makes Chuck’s betrayal so heartbreaking, not just that Jimmy did get his act together, but that to him, emulating Chuck was the highest thing he could do. It was the biggest level of success he could reach for, and he did it, and now to be rejected is just crushing.
Being a good person is one thing, but being Chuck’s equal, Jimmy learns, is absolutely a whole other ball of wax. He discovers that there is a jealousy his brother has for him, that people like him. He makes people laugh. Where Chuck has dedicated his whole life to the law and studying and being the best that he can and being really, really good at it, here comes his brother who was a screw-up and almost in jail in Chicago. He comes along and puts together this amazing case. He’s going to have an office next to Chuck’s. Chuck thinks, “No, that’s not going to happen… You can’t do it that easily. You have to dedicate your whole life to this kind of thing and not just come waltzing in and make friends and then all of a sudden, ‘Here I am, I’m your equal.’”
Related: 'Better Call Saul' Recap: 'What the Hell Just Happened?'
It’s funny that’s how Chuck sees it. I think those of us who see Jimmy as an underdog and how determined he is, how he doesn’t let any of the many indignities he faces on a daily basis in his pursuit of his career keep him down, don’t necessarily. Chuck thinks all this comes coming easily to Jimmy, but from another perspective, nothing has come easily to Jimmy.
Oh no, no. He’s crawled through dumpsters. He was out in the desert and his life is threatened. He’s living in the tiniest office ever. Who knows if Chuck is even aware of his living conditions right now? What I like about the final scene that I had so much fun writing is that a lot of the stuff that Chuck says, the law is sacred, and you’re Slippin’ Jimmy, and you’re a chimp with a machine gun… we know what the future is, we know Jimmy becomes Saul Goodman. The question is, was he always going to become Saul Goodman, or did Chuck’s actions turn him into Saul Goodman? I think that’s open for debate. I would never want to answer that question one way or the other, but I think, hopefully, some people in the audience will hear Chuck and say, “You know what? We know who Saul Goodman is, and Chuck might be right about this. Maybe being a lawyer is not the best thing for this guy,” whereas another half of the audience are going to think, “You know, he’s really trying his best, and he is a good lawyer.”"While it is extremely disheartening to see the rise in tick-borne diseases across the US, we are encouraged by the involvement of more researchers in trying to solve the mysteries of this disease and growing awareness of the general public," said Linda Giampa, executive director, Bay Area Lyme Foundation. "We are immensely appreciative of how the combined efforts of the science, environmental, technology and financial communities attending LymeAid make our important research programs possible."
Kristen T. Honey, PhD, who holds positions with The White House Office of Management & Budget, Stanford University, and co-founder of Lyme Innovation, shared the challenges she faced in being diagnosed with Lyme disease after more than 10 years of misdiagnoses. Ultimately disabled from Lyme between 2009 and 2012, Kristen outlined her hopes for the future with patient-powered medicine and emerging public-private partnerships providing a path forward to contain and cure Lyme disease.
As master of ceremonies for this year's LymeAid, actor Alec Baldwin, kept the crowd laughing throughout the event, but also shared some sobering statistics about Lyme disease along with his personal experiences with the disease.
"We need more researchers to help us find a cure, or at least a treatment that works for more people," said Alec Baldwin, who is known for his comedic talent as well as his defense of the environment on Long Island. "Lyme disease is so much more common than the statistics suggest – I have family and friends with Lyme disease in NY, LA and everywhere in between."
A deeply committed environmental activist and Grammy award winning writing and recording artist, Kenny Loggins entertained the enthusiastic LymeAid crowd with his songs, "Conviction of the Heart" and "Footloose", among other hits.
The event also afforded attendees the opportunity to learn more about Lyme disease by interacting with:
Pathogen hunter Pardis Sabeti, MD, DPhil of Harvard University and MIT, who explained how she and her lab colleagues will leverage their experience with Ebola, Lassa fever and Babesia using the latest in gene sequencing techniques, to provide much needed information on which Lyme disease strains are circulating in patients. In addition, she will sequence any additional but uncharacterized pathogens found in Lyme disease patient samples. Highlighted as the Fund-In-Need, this research garnered significant attention from attendees anxious to advance research toward new information about Lyme disease co-infections.
and, who explained how she and her lab colleagues will leverage their experience with Ebola, Lassa fever and Babesia using the latest in gene sequencing techniques, to provide much needed information on which Lyme disease strains are circulating in patients. In addition, she will sequence any additional but uncharacterized pathogens found in Lyme disease patient samples. Highlighted as the Fund-In-Need, this research garnered significant attention from attendees anxious to advance research toward new information about Lyme disease co-infections. Liz Horn, PhD, MBI, principal investigator, Lyme Disease Biobank, who was joined by medical professionals from Direct Urgent Care, to explain how the Lyme Disease Biobank is advancing Lyme disease research. Initial funding for the biobank came from funds raised at LymeAid 2014 specifically for this important research effort.
, PhD, MBI, principal investigator, Lyme Disease Biobank, who was joined by medical professionals from Direct Urgent Care, to explain how the Lyme Disease Biobank is advancing Lyme disease research. Initial funding for the biobank came from funds raised at LymeAid 2014 specifically for this important research effort. Nate Nieto, PhD, Assistant Professor, Northern Arizona University, who shared insights related to the research resulting from the Free Tick Testing Citizen Study, another program funded by Bay Area Lyme Foundation.
, who shared insights related to the research resulting from the Free Tick Testing Citizen Study, another program funded by Bay Area Lyme Foundation. Ally Hilfiger, who experienced eleven years of misdiagnosis and debilitating Lyme disease symptoms. Allie signed copies of her book, "Bite Me: How Lyme Disease Stole My Childhood, Made Me Crazy and Almost Killed Me."
Laure Woods and Bonnie Crater, founders of Bay Area Lyme Foundation, awarded $350,000 in Emerging Leader Award grants, which are designed to attract promising researchers to the study of Lyme disease.
James J. Collins, Ph.D., Professor, Massachusetts Institute of Technology was presented with the Alexandra Cohen Emerging Leader Award and a $250,000 grant to research an RNA direct detection diagnostic for early Lyme disease
, Ph.D., Professor, was presented with the Alexandra Cohen Emerging Leader Award and a grant to research an RNA direct detection diagnostic for early Lyme disease Yuko Nakajima, Ph.D., Postdoctoral Fellow, Brandeis University received the Laure Woods Emerging Leader Award and a $100,000 grant to investigate potential treatments to block immune evasion by the bacteria causing Lyme disease.
The scientists and clinicians who participated in the event included Bay Area Lyme Foundation Scientific Advisory Board members: John Aucott, MD, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine; Monica E. Embers, PhD, Tulane University Health Sciences; Christine Green, MD, clinician and William Robinson, MD, PhD, Stanford University.
Other researchers and medical professionals in attendance are also making incredible contributions to Lyme disease research, including Sunjya Schweig, MD, Andreas Koglenik, MD, PhD of Open Medicine Institute, Dan Salkeld, PhD, Colorado State University; and Jayakumar Rajadas, PhD, Stanford Lyme Working Group.
Arlene Inch, Jane Inch, Lucy Kuchen, Carolyn Margiotti, Lisa Najarian, and Kathleen O'Rourke were chairs of the event, along with Laure Woods, who hosted the event at her home in Portola Valley.
Honorary hosts included: Daryl Hall, Elet Hall, Jon & Pete Najarian, Jane Seymour, Dana Parish, Davorin Kuchan, Elaine Mellis, Gib & Susan Myers, Jennie Savage, Kirsten & Josh Stein, Mason Tenaglia, and Amy Rao & Harry Plant.
Premier event sponsors included: Whittier Trust, Salesforce, Jaguar and Land Rover of San Francisco and Redwood City. Other event sponsors included: McEvoy Ranch, Erin Mac Jewelry, Benovia Wine, CNBC's Fast Money and Halftime Report.
About Lyme disease
One of the fastest growing vector-borne infectious diseases in the United States, Lyme disease is a potentially debilitating infection caused by bacteria transmitted through the bite of an infected tick to people and pets. If caught early, most cases of Lyme disease can be effectively treated, but it is commonly misdiagnosed due to lack of awareness and unreliable diagnostic tests. There are approximately 329,000 new cases of Lyme disease each year, according to statistics released in 2015 by the CDC. As a result of the difficulty in diagnosing and treating Lyme disease, as many as one million Americans may be suffering from the impact of its debilitating long-term symptoms and complications, according to Bay Area Lyme Foundation estimates.
About Bay Area Lyme Foundation
Bay Area Lyme Foundation, a national organization committed to making Lyme disease easy to diagnose and simple to cure, is the leading public not-for-profit sponsor of innovative Lyme disease research in the US. A 501c3 non-profit organization based in Silicon Valley, Bay Area Lyme collaborates with world-class scientists and institutions to accelerate medical breakthroughs for Lyme disease. It is also dedicated to providing reliable, fact-based information so that prevention and the importance of early treatment are common knowledge. A pivotal donation from The Laurel STEM Fund covers all overhead costs and allows for 100% of all donor contributions to Bay Area Lyme Foundation to go directly to research and prevention programs. For more information about Lyme disease or to get involved, visit www.bayarealyme.org or call 650-530-2439.
SOURCE Bay Area Lyme Foundation
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http://www.bayarealyme.org/There were so many accidents reported Wednesday morning on icy roads across the Triangle and central North Carolina it quickly got hard to keep track. In Raleigh alone, the city had nearly 40 - compared to about a dozen on a typical day. Freezing rain put a light glazing of ice mainly on bridges and elevated surfaces. Among the dozens of trouble spots reported were overpasses on I-540, Wade Avenue and some of the I-440 ramps, I-40, U.S. 70, Highway 64, I-795, and I-85.On U.S. Highway 64 in Nash County, a tractor-trailer truck hit the car of a deputy helping a motorist in the Nashville area. Three people were injured, including Deputy Matthew Joyner, were rushed to the hospital with non-life threatening injuries. Two drivers were charged in connection with the crash.On I-540 at Creedmoor Road, a multi-vehicle accident left one person hurt. Pictures from the scene showed a vehicle ran into a North Carolina Highway Patrol officer's car, causing minor damage.A taxi ran off the road at Hebron Road at West Avenue in Durham and slammed into a tree. A black mustang was also involved in this wreck but there weren't any serious injuries. On Erwin Road, a car ran off the shoulder and down an embankment. It then crashed into a tree. The car suffered serious damage to the front end of the car. At least one person was injured.In Orange County, the ice was too much for a fire truck that was responding to an accident when it lost traction and flipped onto its side.In Chatham County, a pick-up truck lost control on U.S. Highway 64 over Jordan Lake. The driver ended up crashing into a guard rail on the median. He got out and called for help but ended up jumping back into his truck when he saw a tractor trailer swerving and coming right for him. No one was seriously injured in that collision.On I-40 West on the bridge over Gorman Street, a Wake County Public Schools refueling truck overturned -- leaking a small amount of fuel -- creating a hazardous materials situation.In Orange County, a fire truck responding to an accident flipped on its side on Phelps Road at Mason Keyon Road. All the firefighters got out without serious injuries.HYDERABAD: Imagine your parents getting you raped to bring you on to the right path! That’s a reality that several homosexuals in India are facing. According to statistics with the Crisis intervention team of LGBT Collective in Telangana, there have been 15 instances of ‘corrective rapes’ that have been reported in the group in the last five years. “We are sure there are many more cases, but they go unreported, says Vyjayanti Mogli, a member of crisis intervention. “We came across such cases not because they reported the rape, but because they sought help to flee their homes.”In most cases of corrective rape, the perpetrators are family members because of which the victims refrain from seeking legal recourse. “Victims find it traumatising to speak of their brothers/ cousins turning rapists and prefer to delete the incident from their memories and cut off ties with their families. Which is why such cases almost never get reported,” Vyjayanti says.Shockingly, it’s all in the family — the parents are in the know, the rapist is usually a relative that is handpicked by them, and it’s like a ‘disciplining project’ designed to ‘cure’ and ‘correct’ the homosexual. “It’s usually a cousin who’s roped in for this ‘project’. In some communities in South India, marriages amongst cousins are common. Many times, a girl’s parents may decide that she would be married off to a cousin (i.e. her father’s sister’s son or mother’s brother’s son) soon after her birth. Now, if this girl happens to be queer and if it is found out that she is in a relationship with another girl, elders in the family believe having sex with the ‘would-be’, even if it’s forcibly, will cure her,” Vyjayanti explains.The use of rape as a tool to correct the sexual orientation of LGBT people with the objective of getting them to toe the societal norms. The term was coined in South Africa where such crimes are rampant. Often it is the family members of the victim who facilitate it.Hyderabadi filmmaker Deepthi Tadanki’s upcoming film, Satyavati deals with the subject of corrective rape. The film is based on some “shocking real life instances” that took place in Bangalore. “When I was researching on this subject for my film, I came across two gut wrenching stories of corrective rape — one, where a gay girl was raped by her cousin so that she could be “cured” of homosexuality; and another, where family members forced a gay boy to have sex with his mother, in a bid to turn him ‘straight’. I tried reaching out to these victims, but they refused to talk,” says Deepthi.Explaining how difficult it is to find statistics for a topic so taboo, Deepthi says, “I wrote to NGOs who work with victims of such hate crimes seeking help with statistics. but to my surprise, not one organisation got back. Many rapes go unreported in India, and it will take years before something like corrective rape even gets talked about. That’s why I wanted to tell this story. I knew it is a sensitive subject, something that has never been dealt with before. I didn’t even have any statistics, but I had the conviction.”Satyavati talks about a lesbian couple and their straight friend. “When the family members of the ‘straight’ girl visits her, they doubt that she is in an ‘unnatural’ relationship with one of the lesbian girls. And so, they plot a ‘corrective rape’ on their daughter as well as the gay girl,” reveals the 27-year-old Guntur native, who has turned to crowdsourcing to raise funds for the film. “Forty per cent of the film is now complete, but I am facing a financial crunch. I have been trying to crowd source money to complete the rest of the film,” she says, adding, “While lot of people said ‘kudos’ and ‘hats off’, very few are willing to make monetary contribution. But I won’t give up because a discussion on corrective rape needs to be initiated.”As the House and Senate work their way through the tax cut and reform effort, let me make one thing clear: Both plans are pro-growth, with the economic power coming from the business side. And where it comes from the personal side, there will be very little growth. That has always been the bet.
During the spring and summer of 2016, economist Steve Moore and I, working with Trump campaign officials Steven Mnuchin and Stephen Miller, saw major tax reductions for large and small businesses as the centerpiece of the candidate's tax policy. Whatever Congress came up with on the personal side, so be it.
So, one way or another -- even with the glitches and differences between the House and Senate tax plans -- Congress will come up with a significant pro-growth bill because business tax cuts are still the centerpiece. And they should do it this year.
I spoke at a Senate Republican breakfast in Washington, D.C., last Tuesday. The whole leadership was there. And I observed a total commitment among the GOP senators to get a tax bill through by year-end. This will not be another health care breakdown.
Particularly after recent GOP electoral setbacks, the party knows it needs a strong tax-cut and economic-growth narrative for the 2018 midterms. If Republicans don't get it, they'll lose control of Congress. And if they do get it, they may pick up seats.
The political stakes are high.
As mentioned, there are glitches in both the Senate and House tax plans. But most of them can be corrected. And the differences between the two plans should narrow in conference.
The all-important business tax rate will come down to 20 percent from 35 percent. That's the key to economic growth. And the biggest beneficiaries will be middle-class wage earners.
The issue of small-business pass-throughs is not completely resolved. It seems the Senate has a better take on this than the House. But there's a small-business tax cut coming.
The Senate's idea to phase in the new corporate tax rate in 2019 is a bad idea. (President Trump agrees.) To be sure, the GOP senators want full cash expensing for capex projects for 2018. Good. But as economist Art Laffer warns, if you hold back the actual rate reduction, you'll see a lot of tax avoidance and sheltering next year.
That will include offshoring. A delay will deter foreign companies from coming to the United States. You may wind up losing revenues -- perhaps $100 billion.
On the House side, the so-called bubble rate of 45.6 percent is also not a good idea. It's being done to claw back the 12 percent rate high-end earners move through on the way to 40 percent. But why punish success?
Those upper-end folks are largely investment-oriented. As FedEx CEO Fred Smith says, it's time to stop punishing investment. That includes businesses and individuals.
Let the Democrats be the class warriors who tax |
/wiki/Google_Authenticator v1.0 2014-01-15 v1.1 2017-06-28 remove Windows dependency by Stephen Ball } interface // ie: GoogleAuthenticatorCode('JBSWY3DPEHPK3PXP') function GoogleAuthenticatorCode( const Secret: string ): string ; implementation uses // Windows, System.DateUtils, SysUtils; { for Windows only function UnixTime: Int64; var SystemTime: TSystemTime; begin GetSystemTime(SystemTime); with SystemTime do Result := Round((EncodeDate(wYear, wMonth, wDay) - UnixDateDelta + EncodeTime(wHour, wMinute, wSecond, wMilliseconds)) * SecsPerDay); end; } function UnixTime: Int64; var SystemTime : TDateTime; aYear, aMonth, aDay, aHour, aMinute, aSecond, aMilliseconds : Word; begin SystemTime := TTimeZone.Local.ToUniversalTime(Now); DecodeDate(SystemTime, aYear, aMonth, aDay); DecodeTime(SystemTime, aHour, aMinute, aSecond, aMilliseconds); Result := Round((EncodeDate(aYear, aMonth, aDay) - UnixDateDelta + EncodeTime(aHour, aMinute, aSecond, aMilliseconds)) * SecsPerDay); end ; type TBytes = array of Byte; function Base32ToBin( const Str: string ): TBytes; const Base32Chars: string = 'ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ234567' ; // RFC 4648/3548 var Index: Integer; Count: Integer; Bits : Integer; Val : Integer; Ofs : Integer; begin Count := (5 * Length(Str)) div 8; SetLength(Result, Count); bits := 0; val := 0; ofs := 1; for Index := 0 to Count - 1 do begin while Bits < 8 do begin Val := (Val shl 5) or (Pos(UpCase(Str[ofs]), Base32Chars) - 1); Inc(Ofs); Inc(Bits, 5); end ; Dec(Bits, 8); Result[Index] := Byte(Val shr Bits); Val := Val and ((1 shl Bits) - 1); end ; end ; function IntToBytes(Value, Len: Integer): TBytes; var Index: Integer; begin SetLength(Result, Len); for Index := Len - 1 downto 0 do begin Result[Index] := Byte(Value); Value := Value shr 8; end ; end ; type TSHA1Context = record Size : Integer; Hash : array [0..4] of Cardinal; // 20 bytes Index: Integer; Block: array [0..63] of Byte; end ; procedure SHA1Reset( var Context: TSHA1Context); begin Context.Size := 0; Context.Hash[0] := $67452301; Context.Hash[1] := $EFCDAB89; Context.Hash[2] := $98BADCFE; Context.Hash[3] := $10325476; Context.Hash[4] := $C3D2E1F0; Context.Index := 0; end ; function SHA1CircularShift(bits, data: Cardinal): Cardinal; begin Result := (data shl bits) or (data shr (32 - bits)); end ; procedure SHA1ProcessBlock( var Context: TSHA1Context); const K: array [0..3] of Cardinal = ($5A827999, $6ED9EBA1, $8F1BBCDC, $CA62C1D6); var W: array [0..79] of Cardinal; t: Integer; index: Integer; A, B, C, D, E: Cardinal; temp: Cardinal; begin // Initialize the first 16 words in the array W for t := 0 to 15 do begin index := 4 * t; W[t] := Context.Block[index] shl 24 or Context.Block[index + 1] shl 16 or Context.Block[index + 2] shl 8 or Context.Block[index + 3]; end ; for t := 16 to 79 do begin W[t] := SHA1CircularShift(1, W[t - 3] xor W[t - 8] xor W[t - 14] xor W[t - 16]); end ; A := Context.Hash[0]; B := Context.Hash[1]; C := Context.Hash[2]; D := Context.Hash[3]; E := Context.Hash[4]; for t := 0 to 19 do begin temp := SHA1CircularShift(5, A) + ((B and C) or (( not B) and D)) + E + W[t] + K[0]; E := D; D := C; C := SHA1CircularShift(30, B); B := A; A := temp; end ; for t := 20 to 39 do begin temp := SHA1CircularShift(5, A) + (B xor C xor D) + E + W[t] + K[1]; E := D; D := C; C := SHA1CircularShift(30, B); B := A; A := temp; end ; for t := 40 to 59 do begin temp := SHA1CircularShift(5, A) + ((B and C) or (B and D) or (C and D)) + E + W[t] + K[2]; E := D; D := C; C := SHA1CircularShift(30, B); B := A; A := temp; end ; for t := 60 to 79 do begin temp := SHA1CircularShift(5, A) + (B xor C xor D) + E + W[t] + K[3]; E := D; D := C; C := SHA1CircularShift(30, B); B := A; A := temp; end ; Inc(Context.Hash[0], A); Inc(Context.Hash[1], B); Inc(Context.Hash[2], C); Inc(Context.Hash[3], D); Inc(Context.Hash[4], E); Context.Index := 0; end ; procedure SHA1Input( var Context: TSHA1Context; const Data: TBytes); var i: Integer; begin for i := 0 to Length(Data) - 1 do begin Context.Block[Context.Index] := Data[i]; Inc(Context.Size); Inc(Context.Index); if Context.Index = 64 then SHA1ProcessBlock(Context); end ; end ; procedure SHA1PadMessage( var Context: TSHA1Context); var i: Integer; begin i := Context.Index; Context.Block[i] := $80; Inc(i); if i > 56 then begin FillChar(Context.Block[i], 64 - i, 0); Context.Index := 64; SHA1ProcessBlock(Context); FillChar(Context.Block[0], 56, 0); end else begin FillChar(Context.Block[i], 56 - i, 0); end ; Context.Index := 56; // Store the message length as the last 8 bytes Context.Block[56] := 0; Context.Block[57] := 0; Context.Block[58] := 0; Context.Block[59] := Context.Size shr 29; Context.Block[60] := Context.Size shr 21; Context.Block[61] := Context.Size shr 13; Context.Block[62] := Context.Size shr 5; Context.Block[63] := Context.Size shl 3; SHA1ProcessBlock(Context); end ; function SHA1Result( var Context: TSHA1Context): TBytes; var i: Integer; begin SHA1PadMessage(Context); SetLength(Result, 20); for i := 0 to 19 do begin Result[i] := Byte(Context.Hash[i shr 2] shr (8 * (3 - (i and 3)))); end ; end ; function XorBytes( const Src: TBytes; Value: Byte): TBytes; var Len : Integer; Index: Integer; begin SetLength(Result, 64); Len := Length(Src); if Len > 64 then Len := 64 else FillChar(Result[Len], 64 - Len, Value); for Index := 0 to Len - 1 do begin Result[Index] := Src[Index] xor Value; end ; end ; function HMAC_SHA1( const Key, Value: TBytes): TBytes; var opad: TBytes; ipad: TBytes; sha1: TSHA1Context; begin opad := XorBytes(key, $5C); ipad := XorBytes(key, $36); // Result := SHA1(opad + SHA1(ipad + Value)) SHA1Reset(sha1); SHA1Input(sha1, ipad); SHA1Input(sha1, Value); Result := SHA1Result(sha1); SHA1Reset(sha1); SHA1Input(sha1, opad); SHA1Input(sha1, Result); Result := SHA1Result(sha1); end ; function BytesToHex( const Value: TBytes): string ; const hx: array [0..$F] of Char = '0123456789abcdef' ; var Len: Integer; Idx: Integer; b : Byte; begin Len := Length(Value); SetLength(Result, 2 * Len); for Idx := 0 to Len - 1 do begin b := Value[Idx]; Result[2 * Idx + 1] := Hx[b shr 4]; Result[2 * Idx + 2] := Hx[b and $F]; end ; end ; function GoogleAuthenticatorCode( const Secret: string ): string ; var key : TBytes; epoch : TBytes; hmac : TBytes; offset: Integer; index : Integer; otp : Cardinal; begin key := Base32ToBin(Secret); //WriteLn('Key = ', BytesToHex(key)); epoch := IntToBytes(UnixTime div 30, 8); //WriteLn('Epoch = ', BytesToHex(epoch)); hmac := HMAC_SHA1(key, epoch); //WriteLn('HMac = ', BytesToHex(hmac)); offset := hmac[19] and $F; otp := 0; for Index := 0 to 3 do begin otp := otp shl 8 + hmac[Offset + Index]; end ; otp := otp and $7fffffff; Result := IntToStr(otp mod 1000000); if Length(Result) < 6 then Result := StringOfChar( '0', 6 - Length(Result)) + Result; end ; end.The digital world is starting to resemble Europe of the 19th century. The major players of Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google, and Apple are repeatedly switching from allies to adversaries and back. Microsoft and Yahoo resemble the crumbling (or crumbled) dynasties of the previous century still trying to control the continent.
Battles are boiling up between two companies, pulling in others, and creating a tangled mess.
I would love to see what a Venn diagram of all the patent battles involving these companies looks like.
It now appears that each of these companies is attempting to strengthen its borders and create walled gardens in which to keep users and exclude the other major players.
Instagram is no longer on Twitter.
Twitter is no longer allowing tweets to be displayed in LinkedIn.
Facebook decided that everyone needs a Facebook email on their profile instead of the personal email used to create the account in the first place.
It is the political equivalent of cutting off trade and travel between countries.
And just like the political equivalent, these actions really only serve to hurt the citizen-users of these nation-state/companies and the merchants attempting to do business in their ecosystems.
Citizen-users are forced to completely segregate their possessions (data) between these companies, or alternatively choose to deal with just one.
Merchants (apps, plug-ins, etc…) face a similar choice. They can do business with each company individually without leveraging their product across borders, or they can risk being caught “smuggling” and cut off by the powers that be.
…so?
But why shouldn’t the companies create their walled gardens? It makes sense – especially if you work for or are a major investor for one. Each company is just trying to maximize profit by increasing its user base and user engagement.
When users spend time in other applications, that is time lost, right? There are only so many people in the world and so many hours in the day – isn’t this a zero sum game?
This is the dangerous fallacy of isolationism. It is not a zero sum game. It is about maximizing the value for your user and growing the pie. The more value a company creates for its users, the more valuable the company is to its users and customer retention goes up!
Customers are becoming much more aware of what value can be added by each company or application and want to choose the combination that works best for them.
We truly are entering a world of best of breed with cloud computing, APIs, and applications that aggregate and distribute data for the customer. Just like the connectedness of the modern world makes political isolationism difficult, it will make tech isolationism self defeating.
Do tech companies really want to be like North Korea?
How can this work? We can’t expect all of these players to get along all of the time. There also are always going to be instances in which there is too much overlap in the interests of at least two companies, requiring head-to-head competition. In addition, these are for-profit companies that need something in it for them in every transaction.
It boils down to two things: quid pro quo and Switzerland.
Quid Pro Quo
Let’s start with quid pro quo (“this for that” in Latin). Almost every business transaction is a variance of this agreement to exchange two items of perceived equal value. When one side of the transaction perceives that they are on the receiving end of an unequal exchange you end up with some of the disagreements discussed in the beginning of this piece.
In the case of Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn, they often feel that someone else is gaining value from the networks they have spent enormous resources to build that exceeds the value provided in return.
This situation often results when an application allows users to see specific content from a network while avoiding visiting the actual network. Leaving the argument of why users prefer these applications (UX, ability to leverage multiple networks, etc…), one can see how this minimizes the networks ability to engage users with advertising or other revenue generating features.
GigaOM did a nice job covering this issue a while back in the post “Why links matter: Linking is the lifeblood of the web”. Those who want to use the networks built by these companies are going to need to figure out how to give credit or compensate accordingly.
The Swiss
The second key element to maintaining tech world peace is Switzerland – or at least a digital version. We need some parties that are neutral and agnostic.
Now I’m sure some European History or Political Science major will want to argue whether or not Switzerland has ever truly been neutral, but let’s go with the popular opinion of Switzerland where it is neutral and does not take sides but tries to conduct business fairly across all parties.
Users need platforms that will allow them to conduct their trade across these walled garden kingdoms without incurring the wrath of the rulers. Without this there is a very good chance that sooner or later you will see the users abandoning the kingdoms and moving to new ones that do not have such strict borders.
We at FullContact are striving to be that digital Switzerland for users’ contacts. We believe that users should be able to access their contacts on any platform and know that their contacts are complete, accurate, and up-to-date.
There need to be other Switzerlands that enable trade between the walled gardens like Evernote, IFTTT, and the number of business apps that integrate with multiple sources. Combine these neutral parties and fair treaties (maybe users would be willing to pay for premium accounts to share content across platforms!) and we might actually avoid spinning into a digital world war.Sam Droege's idea has lots of applications to the type of work that ecologists, foresters, land managers, and environmental citizen groups do and provides an easy (and actually information dense) way of tracking long-term changes using volunteers using the smart phone that many carry in their pocket. The concept is broad and is meant to be applicable to any location you would like to create uniform documentation of change over long or short periods of time without having to install a permanent camera.
The concept uses little more than a camera phone and a stout piece of bent steel to start.
A piece of angled steel is firmly mounted to provide a consistent height, angle and direction from which to shoot images using nearly any camera. When collected together, photo-stitching software aligns and pieces together images to show changes over time.
It ends with many smart minds coming together to create apps and sites that help communities collect images and stitch together a picture of change. Sign up to be involved.Cayne is a follow-up to Stasis, and has you guiding a pregnant woman trapped in a facility to safety (all while solving puzzles, naturally).
South African developer The Brotherhood has announced that Cayne will release on 24 January, which, by golly, happens to be tomorrow. Not unlike Stasis, it’s a sci-fi horror game that puts you in dark environments and surrounds you with dark deeds. Unlike most horror games, though, it’s got a comfortable isometric view, far out from the action. So if Resident Evil VII: Biohazard is too terrifying for you, this is a good alternative.
Cayne centres on Hadley, a woman nine months pregnant who finds herself in a facility. There’s some foul stuff going on, and they want Hadley’s baby. The answers to why Hadley is in this situation and how she can escape are revealed by solving point-and-click puzzles.
It’s a little surprising that The Brotherhood chose to release Cayne for free, considering the package it comes with. While its gameplay length is still unknown (and dare I say irrelevant?), it offers full 3D FMV sequences, sleek visuals, voice acting and even translation into a number of languages. The Steam page even advertises support for 6:10 monitors, for some reason. At least, I hope it’s 6:10 and not a typo of 16:10. That would crush my heart.
Cayne is out tomorrow for PC, Mac and Linux. You can get it from its Steam page, but it should also be available on the official website, if you’d rather stick it to the man in Bellevue.
Of course, if this sort of thing really interests you, you might also be interested in The Brotherhood’s previous work, Stasis. Also horror, also sci-fi, but set on an abandoned spaceship. The Brotherhood is also working on a properly gorgeous looking game called Beautiful Desolation and its Kickstarter begins… tomorrow!
Like this: Like Loading...How We Built a Backend System for Uber-like Map with Animated Cars Using Go.
Andrew Minkin Blocked Unblock Follow Following Feb 14, 2017
Hello there. It’s my first blog post in English and I’m going to tell you how we built simple in-memory storage for animated cars. We show animated cars on the main screen of “Namba Taxi for clients” applications. This post is about the completed journey, algorithms and not about Go.
The beginning
The story begins in 2015 with the graduation work of our mobile developer. The work topic was ‘Driver application for taxi service’. In the application, he animated the car. It looked like this.
We thought. Why not using this on the screen when the client can track driver location. And our first challenge was a lack of data. We get new driver location every 15 seconds. We can’t just decrease update interval, because when driver mobile application sends data to us it gets the current order, next order and if there are any open alerts. Alert works like SOS button. When the driver presses it other drivers are in hurry to help him. And when we decrease update interval we can get more traffic to our systems. We weren’t sure that we can handle it.
First steps
Our first try was simple and stupid:
Make the request and save coordinates. Make another request and animate the car.
As you can guess there were problems with it. We can’t animate car properly and it moves through fields, forests, lakes and quarters. It looks like this
The Cab Is Waiting screen
As the solution of the problem, we used OpenStreetMap Routing Machine (OSRM) for building routes and our algorithm improved. We have the same timeout.
We make a request. Save coordinates. Send saved coordinates to the backend. Build route via OSRM. Return it to client app and animate marker.
It seems that it works now, but we faced with different problem with one-way roads
For instance, driver stays at the intersection at red point. But his device has bad accuracy and on location update driver stay on the opposite side of the crossroad. At client app we get these coordinates, save them and send to the backend. OSRM build a legit route and returns to the app and it looks ridiculous. Because marker moves very fast.
We solved this problem in a naive way. We check the shortest distance between two points and not build a route for distances less than 20 meters. With that algorithm after few days of testing, we decided to release our application and get feedback from customers.
And you know, we live in not ideal world so we decided to go to second iteration, because several things needed improvements.
First thing was a trip cost calculator. All calculations were on the driver side. In this case we save server resources because we don’t send useless requests. On the another hand we have only one trust point. It’s a driver’s mobile app. So we need to duplicate data and save It on the server side. Furthermore, we realized that 1 track per 15 seconds it’s so little and lots of customers don’t get sight of new feature because car starts moving In 15 seconds after the screen is opened. I know not so many people, who can look at the screen where nothing is going on for 15 seconds. Moreover, we have lots of problems with GPS module on the driver side. GPS problems are associated with driver’s device. Finally, we wanted animated cars on the main screen.
Now we have several issues to solve:
Start to collect more tracks from drivers Show animated cars on the main screen Store intermediate trip cost on the server side Save mobile data Collect each track per one second
I want to tell a few words about saving mobile data. We need it because in our country we have a very cheap taxi receipt. We use taxi like public transport. For instance, you can get from one side of the city to another just for 2 euros. It’s like metro in Paris. Also mobile internet cost is too high. If we save 100 bytes per second, then we’ll save 2000$ at company scale.
What the data in track?
Driver location (Latitude, Longitude) Driver session that we give upon login Order information (OrderID and trip cost)
We decided that one track should be less than 100 bytes. And we started to look transport protocol to solve this issue
As you can see we watched for several protocols:
HTTP WebSockets TCP UDP
And for us ideal option was UDP, because:
We send only datagrams We don’t need guarantees Minimalism Save lots of data We have only 20 bytes overhead Not blocked in mobile networks in our country
As for data serialization, we watched on:
JSON MsgPack Protobuf
We chose protocol buffers because it’s so efficient on little data.
And as you can see the nearest competitor is heavier twice.
What do we have in total?
We have 42 bytes of payload + 20 bytes of IP headers = 62 bytes per track. PROFIT.
But when we get data also we need to store it, right?
Data storage
We need to store this data:
Driver’s session to identify driver Cab number to perform search for client’s mobile application Order id and trip cost to save trip data from driver’s mobile application on server Last location to perform search N last locations to build route
Used storages
Percona — to store all data. We store drivers, orders, fares and everything. Redis as key-value storage for caching purposes. Elasticsearch for geocoding
As mentioned above we have 600 online drivers and using these storages to save data seems non-expedient. So we need geo index
We watched for two geo indices:
KD-tree R-tree.
We had requirements for geo index:
We need to search N nearest points. We need a balanced tree to provide the best search in the worst scenario
KD-tree
And KD-tree doesn’t fit our needs because it’s unbalanced and can search only one nearest point. We can implement k-nearest neighbors over kd-tree, but we won’t reinvent the wheel because R-tree already solves this issue.
R-tree
It looks like this. We can perform search N nearest points and it’s balanced tree. We chose this one
You can get it there for Go programming language. https://github.com/dhconnelly/rtreego.
Also we need an expire mechanism because we need to invalidate drivers and show actual information to operators. For instance, remove driver via 900 seconds of inactivity. And also we need LRU data structure for storing last locations. Because we initialize storage for N items. When we try to add an item, when storage already filled. We remove the least recently used item and we add a new one. So here is our storage architecture
We store all data in-memory. We use R-tree to perform a search of nearest drivers. Also we use two maps for storing drivers and perform search by cab number or by session
Final algorithm.
Here is the final algorithm on the backend:
Get data by UDP Try to get driver from storage If doesn’t exist — get driver from redis Check and validate data Set driver to storage If doesn’t exist — initialize LRU Update r-tree
HTTP Endpoints
We implemented these endpoints to integrate to our systems
Return nearest drivers Remove driver from storage(by cab number or session) Get information about trip Get information about driver
Conclusion:
In the end, I want to give these conclusions that we used in our backend system:
UDP+Protobuf for data savings In-memory storage R-tree for nearest drivers LRU cache for storing last locations OSRM for map matching and building routes
As the example, you can watch on https://github.com/maddevsio/openfreecabs. It’s too simple but implements lots of features described in the article.Ashley Farley of the Gates Foundation: “Knowledge should be a public good.”
Hi Ashley, and thanks for joining us here! Could you start off by letting us know a little bit about your background?
Certainly! I began college aiming for a Zoology degree while working at the University’s library. My love for information grew in proportion to my struggle for mastering Physics and Organic Chemistry. My senior year I transferred disciplines and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts (BA) focused on Library and Information Science. For the next decade, I worked in both public and academic libraries and began pursuing my Masters in Library and Information Sciences from the University of Washington (to be completed this summer. Yay!) Now I have found myself submersed in the realm of scientific knowledge and research dissemination. I find this to be a perfect way to combine all my passions – science, knowledge, and service to others.
When did you first hear about open access and open science? What were your initial thoughts?
The first time I heard about these topics was while interning at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation in the Knowledge and Research Services department. My initial thought was “How have I not heard of this before?!”. Having worked in libraries for many years I was familiar with the serials crisis and the importance of research, but I had not been introduced to the Open Access movement. Then I thought, “Of course Open Access should be the norm!”. Knowledge should be a public good.
“Of course Open Access should be the norm!”. Knowledge should be a public good.
What’s it like working for the Gates Foundation? How much of your time do you spend working on ‘open’ related things?
I really love working for the Gates Foundation – it’s providing me with the opportunity, each day, to work towards a greater good. A message that is posted throughout the foundation is “All Lives Have Equal Value” and I take this to heart. This is the first institution where I have been employed to embrace innovation and move initiatives forward fairly quickly. One of our tenets is that we will take risks that others can’t or won’t and I’m proud of this. Currently, I spend about 90% of my time on Open Access. This encompasses internal and external communications, advocacy of our policy, and working with our grantees to make their research open access. We’ve recently joined the newly launched Open Research Funders Group (ORFG) to work with other research funders worldwide to adopt mandates like ours. Together we can create a funding environment where Open Access or even Open Science is the norm. I am beginning to see the impact that my work has on the scientific community and it’s very exciting. We have other partnerships in the works that will be announced soon to continue to support the Open Access movement.
The Gates Foundation has what we might consider a quite progressive Open Access policy. How did this policy come about, and what was your role in its development?
Since 2003 with the creation of the Global Access Strategy the foundation is continuing to improve on transparency and openness. Why should we and our grantees pay to access the work that we fund? The policy was formulated by a small working group, which included people with diverse rules within the foundation. As the policy would affect all grants throughout the entire foundation, it was important to include the individual perspectives and experiences of the different program teams. After an in-depth landscape analysis of Open Access, a policy was presented to the Executive Leadership Team, and it was accepted and officially announced November 2014. The policy included a two-year transition period, which was critical for its success. It gave us the time to communicate the policy, both internally and externally, as well as working with publishers to reach policy compliance. Other funders, such as Wellcome Trust, were indispensable in helping form the policy and we are so grateful to follow their lead.
I came on-board during the implementation stage of the policy. I played a role in the development of Chronos. This is a tool/service developed to help make compliancy easier for our grantees when they are ready to publish their research. As many have experienced (and I recently learned) the publication process is complicated and time consuming. Our goal in creating Chronos is to ease the frustration, speed up the publication process, and more effectively track our research impacts. This will be the first time that the foundation can easily see articles published by our researchers.
Do you think it’s easier for ‘private’ funders such as the Gates Foundation and Wellcome Trust to adopt stronger stances towards open than say government funders? Why do you think this is?
Yes, overall I think it’s much easier for private funders to enforce a mandate than government funders. I think there are a lot of factors at play here, including financial and political aspects. We are lucky to be able to pay for the Open Access fees for all grantees. Other funders might not have this capability and the financial burden would fall to authors. I also hear concerns surrounding the concept of “academic freedom” and the publication needs surrounding academic advancement. While we don’t have the answer to these concerns, our first goal is finding innovative solutions to the health problems facing the world. We care very much about our grantees and their career goals and are working consistently to ensure all needs are met. I hope through the ORFG we can work with other funders to have conversations about these concerns and work on implementing solutions.
The ‘zero embargo’ policy is quite counter to the much longer embargoes demanded by some publishers for self-archived work. Why did the Foundation choose to adopt this, and what do you think the impact of it will be?
The overall goal of our policy is to ensure the research we fund is available to the global community as soon as possible and we live in a time when technological advances support this goal. The outbreak of Ebola taught us a critical lesson about the flow of scientific information during a health crisis. Research saves lives and timing is important. Waiting for research to be published, which can take a year or more, stalls needed answers to a health crisis. Our Open Access policy reflects our belief that barrier-free access to foundation-funded research advances innovation and helps create a world where everyone has the opportunity to lead a healthy and productive life. First, I hope that the impact means research becomes openly available more quickly to solve outstanding issues to improve and save lives. Secondly, I hope others in the community recognize the importance of time in knowledge dissemination and we frontload openness in the research process instead of it being an afterthought.
The outbreak of Ebola taught us a critical lesson about the flow of scientific information during a health crisis. Research saves lives and timing is important.
Why did the Foundation require an Open Data policy alongside research papers it funds?
Having underlying data available is critical in furthering research and supporting reproducibility of experiments. It will aid in avoiding duplication and research fund waste. This is a step towards setting a foundation of Open Data and Open Science. I recently helped a researcher who was looking for a specific data set from a project that we funded, however the data wasn’t public. The researcher then exclaimed that his team would have to collect this data themselves before starting their research project. These experiences cost researchers time, money, and other resources unnecessarily.
Having underlying data available is critical in furthering research and supporting reproducibility of experiments.
How have researchers and publishers responded to the new policy? Are there plans to change it in the future in line with feedback from the broader community?
Overall, we have received fantastic support from researchers (both grantees and not), publishers, and Open Access advocates. Especially, researchers in the global south who struggle with access to research or affording to make their research open to others have positively responding to the announcement of our policy. To me, making science more equitable globally is extremely important. We have been very fortunate to have met many advocates in Open Access in the past several years and I am very excited to see how we continue to grow Open Access initiatives. At this time, we do not have any major plans to adapt our policy. We are working on developing Open Data and Open Science goals. As our policy only covers peer-reviewed journal publications, I can see us including more information article types in the future. The policy’s transition period ended at the start of 2017 and our focus right now is collecting data on our open research to better inform our decisions moving forward.
To me, making science more equitable globally is extremely important.
What are the greatest barriers to open science for researchers, and how can we overcome these?
These are the barriers I see that the entire Open Science community can work on overcoming:
Academic advancement – I think it’s critical that there is a shift in focus from where researchers publish to how they influence their discipline. Openness should be lauded. Funding and research focus – I hope to see a shift from research needing to be ground-breaking to also supporting reproducibility studies. Curation – As openness is embraced and with the current deluge of information, curation and discoverability is very important. As a librarian, I want to see tools that curate the entire body of knowledge to help everyone find the information they need to stay up-to-date and aid in discoverability.
One of my favorite articles on the issues facing the scientific community today was published by Vox. I appreciate the conclusion that science is not doomed.
How can platforms like ScienceOpen help younger researchers develop their skills in open research?
I think that platforms like ScienceOpen are critical to helping younger researchers – not only in providing them with the tools they need to hone their skills – but by providing them with a welcoming community. Providing a space for dialog is the best way to continue to grow as a researcher. As Open Science grows I am seeing a hunger to form more collaborations and to foster conversations globally to reach research goals. Organizations, like ScienceOpen, are calling on new generations of researchers to question the status quo of science and implores them to set a new standard.
What other tools or platforms would you recommend to researchers?
There are many amazing tools that have been establishing themselves in the open science space. A few of my favorite are:
F1000 – Which offers researchers an alternative to traditional publishing “offering immediate publishing and transparent peer-review”.
Protocols IO – I love to see tools that help bring transparency to how research is actually done, thus strengthening the research and helping the community improve as a whole.
Open Science Framework – This is a fantastic example of how openness can be frontloaded in the research process, providing transparency from the very start.
Where do you see the future of scholarly communication? What steps are needed to get there?
I see the future of scholarly communication being an open and community based process from start to finish. Open clinical trials, open protocols, open peer-review, open data – I can’t wait to see it all! There will be no walls or privilege dictating how science if conducted or who can partake.
Change can be scary, but it will be less scary if the community embraces these changes together.
Whose responsibility do you think it is to lead this change?
This is a great question. I think that any stakeholder within science (librarian, researcher, student, publisher, funder, tax-payer) who believes in Open Science should lead within their own community. Open Science is complex and will take leadership from more than one sector of the complexity to create the change needed. As a funder we can lead, but we won’t be successful without the support of researchers, librarians, and other funders. A researcher can take lead, but will need the support of their funder, institution, and community. Stronger together!
If you could give one piece of advice to students looking to pursue a research career, what would it be?
My piece of advice would be to reach out to the scientific community and share your career goals. Find a mentor who supports these goals. Share your research from start to finish and build collaborations with fellow researchers.
Wonderful, thank you so much, Ashley! We look forward to hearing about future developments from the Gates Foundation.
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PrintIn this YouTube, Rep. Dennis Kucinich describes the process of how, within a few weeks, he’ll force the issue of impeachment on the floor of the U.S. House. He does this to inform the public so that the public can assist in the process. The likely scenario is that a congressperson will immediately make a parliamentary move to ‘table’ the motion. The vote on whether to ‘table’ the impeachment motion WILL BE THE IMPORTANT VOTE. If the motion is tabled, it’s dead. So, Kucinich is calling on every citizen (yes, that means you) to contact their representative to tell them to vote NOT to table the impeachment motion, but to let it be discussed on the floor of the U.S. House! Call Congress Toll Free at 800 828 0498.The UK’s own doomlords, |
plorables. Right?" she told the crowd, which reacted with laughter and applause. "The racist, sexist, homophobic, xenophobic, Islamaphobic — you name it. And unfortunately there are people like that.
"And he has lifted them up," Clinton continued. "He has given voice to their websites that used to only have 11,000 people — now have 11 million. He tweets and retweets their offensive, hateful, mean-spirited rhetoric."
The remarks sent the Trump camp into full attack mode, with campaign spokesman Jason Miller quickly issuing a statement saying Clinton’s comments are what's deplorable.
“Just when Hillary Clinton said she was going to start running a positive campaign, she ripped off her mask and revealed her true contempt for everyday Americans,” he said.
Wow, Hillary Clinton was SO INSULTING to my supporters, millions of amazing, hard working people. I think it will cost her at the Polls! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 10, 2016
Trump's vice presidential running mate, Indiana Gov. Mike Pence, who spoke at a conservative Value Voters Summit in Washington, D.C., Saturday, also took issue with Clinton saying millions fall into the deplorable basket.
"They are Americans, and they deserve your respect," he tweeted. "No one with that low of an opinion of the American people should ever be elected to the highest office in the land."
Clinton’s campaign pointed out late Friday that she has spoken at length about the “alt-right” movement and how its members are using Trump’s campaign to advance an agenda of hate.
“Obviously not everyone supporting Trump is part of the alt right, but alt right leaders are with Trump,” Clinton spokesman Nick Merrill tweeted. “And their supporters appear to make up half his crowd when you observe the tone of his events.”
But #BasketOfDeplorables quickly lit up Twitter on Saturday — and the campaign, spurring Clinton's mea culpa — with both sides weighing in with some clever snark and more than a few epic burns.
Many racist Trump supporters were stung by Clinton's speech calling them a "basket of deplorables." The rest had to go look up "deplorable." — George Takei (@GeorgeTakei) September 10, 2016
Hillary shows contempt for people in her "basket". I think she blew a gasket. Her campaign headed for a casket. — Gov. Mike Huckabee (@GovMikeHuckabee) September 10, 2016
Look at the #BasketOfDeplorables in Pensacola Florida last night! What a horrible statement. #CrookedHillarypic.twitter.com/GfevT0KUjd — Eric Trump (@EricTrump) September 10, 2016
I once saw #BasketOfDeplorables open for #HamperOfGodawfuls (and Nickelback). — Justice Don Willett (@JusticeWillett) September 10, 2016
Read or Share this story: http://usat.ly/2ceOITBSochi, Russia – Human Rights First condemns the arrests of four Russian LGBT activists in St. Petersburg. The four, including Anastasia Smirnova, with whom Human Rights First’s delegation met yesterday, were arrested for displaying a banner promoting Principle 6 of the Olympic Charter.
“Having just met with Anastasia and her fellow activists yesterday, we were shocked to hear of her arrest,” said Human Rights First’s Shawn Gaylord. “This confirms our concerns about growing violence and discrimination, and increased use of the anti-propaganda law. We renew our calls for the International Olympic Committee and the U.S. Olympic Committee to speak out publicly against these discriminatory laws.”
When meeting with the Human Rights First delegation in St. Petersburg yesterday, Smirnova, who is coordinating LGBT work related to the Olympics, said, “The most alarming thing is despite the international attention, the authorities are still bringing more charges under the law and it is being applied on a larger scale.” She also added, “Whatever happens in Sochi is not illustrative of how cases will be treated after the Olympics.”
Principle 6 of the Olympic Charter states, “The practice of sport is a human right. Every individual must have the possibility of practicing sport, without discrimination of any kind and in the Olympic spirit, which requires mutual understanding with a spirit of friendship, solidarity and fair play.” This principle has been invoked by opponents of Russia’s anti-propaganda law in efforts to urge the International Olympic Committee to take a tougher stance against Russia’s discriminatory policies. Human Rights First is a member of the Principle 6 Campaign.
“It is alarming to see that even with the world’s attention on Russia, the authorities are still continuing with their repressive crackdown on the LGBT community,” said Human Rights First’s Shawn Gaylord. “If this is how Russia behaves when all eyes are on Sochi, how will authorities act when the torch leaves? It is more important than ever that we remain vigilant after the Games are over.”
Human Rights First’s delegation, which includes gay athlete David Pichler, an Olympic diver, is currently in Russia for the Sochi Games. While there, they will engage the international media and human rights defenders about the crackdown on civil society in Russia. They will also work to ensure that attention to these issues continues once the Games are over. Human Rights First continues to urge the U.S. government to keep up the pressure on Russian lawmakers to repeal the anti-propaganda laws and prevent the passage of further discriminatory laws.
For more information or to speak with Gaylord, contact Mary Elizabeth Margolis at MargolisME@humanrightsfirst.org.Drinkery Drinkery is The Takeout's celebration of beer, liquor, coffee, and other potent potables.
In the winter of 1994, Sam Calagione was living in Manhattan and working as a waiter when he fell in love with beer and bought a beginner’s homebrewing kit. On a whim, he added overripe cherries from the corner bodega when he brewed an English Pale Ale in his kitchen in Chelsea.
“It felt awesomely rebellious to ignore the recipe and go on my own creative journey,” Calagione told The Takeout.
The whole process was so inspiring to Calagione that he threw a party to share the finished product. Everyone agreed the beer was really good, even Ricki Lake, who Calagione says attended the party after he’d done a modeling gig on her talk show. She wasn’t the only celebrity sampling this cherry pale ale. Calagione lived with actors Joe Lo Truglio and Ken Marino, who’d just started the MTV show The State. He remembers them, along with castmates Thomas Lennon and Michael Ian Black, watching as he climbed on top of his coffee table and declared this was what he would do with his life: brew beers with culinary ingredients. Seven batches of homebrew later, he opened Dogfish Head Brewery.
While most origin stories aren’t this dramatic, you’d be hard-pressed to find a brewery operating today that doesn’t have homebrewing in its DNA. It’s no coincidence that America’s craft brewing movement really got going after 1978, when President Jimmy Carter signed the law that federally legalized homebrewing. In 1979, Ken Grossman established Sierra Nevada Brewing Company and in 1982, Colorado hosted the first Great American Beer Festival. The industry expanded in the years that followed, as growth really bloomed in states with permissive homebrewing laws. It wasn’t until 2013 that all 50 states had legalized the practice. Mississippi was last to allow it and also ranks dead last in number of breweries.
But while we owe America’s beer boom to homebrewing, many got into the hobby for down-to-earth, practical reasons. Turning the brewing industry on its head wasn’t even a pipe dream to these folks.
Randy Mosher, author of Mastering Homebrew, remembers a big motivation for his early homebrewing: learning what the exotic beer styles he’d read about tasted like, since they weren’t available in America in the early 1980s.
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“When we got Michael Jackson’s big World Guide To Beer, we went through that thing like crazy and sorta thought, ‘Hmm, a witbier? That sounds kinda good, I wonder how you make that?’” Mosher said. “Fortunately his books are pretty detail-heavy, so we figured out a lot of Belgian styles by kinda making it up.”
His brewing partner Ray Spangler won the American Homebrewers Association’s Homebrewer of the Year award in 1989 with a saison at a time when most American beer drinkers had never tasted the style.
In some parts of the world, homebrewing is simply the cheapest way to get alcoholic beverages. Pete Brown, author of Miracle Brew, says this was the case for most British homebrewers until ten years ago.
“We pay the second highest beer duty in the whole of Europe, so we have very expensive beer,” Brown said. “Traditionally over most of the past 40 years homebrew wasn’t about quality. It wasn’t about flavor. It was about getting cheap beer.”
The same was true in the U.S. pre-1978. “Back to the land” activists in Vermont circulated an illicit homebrewing guide in the 1970s that’s been republished as Mountain Brew. It details a process similar to what Brown described: reconstituting malt extract, adding a lot of sugar and hoping the end result gets you drunk.
For American drinkers, there are certainly cheaper and more convenient ways to get a buzz than homebrewing in 2017. Consumers also have access to a wider variety of beer styles now than possibly at any other point in human history. So why homebrew? For beer aficionados, there’s no better way to deepen your connection to the beverage you love than to try to make it. It’s like watching the World Series, then going to the batting cages.
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Photo: Jenna Eason/Charlotte Observer/TNS via Getty Images
Getting by with a little help from robots
Today, there’s a whole universe of options for getting started in homebrewing. The only thing simpler than a malt extract kit like Calagione first used is a countertop brewing device, an emerging area of home beer making that’s half Keurig coffee maker and half late-90s bread machine. You won’t earn much cred for using these machines, but it’s also less likely you’ll screw the whole thing up somehow.
The biggest player in this area is PicoBrew, offering a range of sleek, app-controlled products that look like something you’d find in The Sharper Image or Brookstone. Their main products use PicoPaks: sealed, branded K-cups of grain and hops that are sold through their website. The idea is that you can buy a pod of, say, Tallgrass Brewing’s Buffalo Sweat oatmeal cream stout, and after pressing a few buttons and waiting a few days, drink the freshest possible version of that beer short of visiting the brewery in Manhattan, Kansas. All this runs about $700 depending on the features you select.
The HOPii takes that idea and makes it even more foolproof. Breweries send customers sealed containers of unfermented wort, the liquid that eventually becomes beer, which pop into an appliance that looks like an electric water filter. You pitch the yeast yourself and add hops, but that’s pretty much it. The beer ferments in very controlled conditions and after a few days, you drink it from the appliance’s tap. The closed loop keeps oxygen out and claims to offer the closest replacement for drinking beer straight from a brewery’s fermenter. The Kickstarter for this product blew past the $50,000 goal, raising more than $380,000. If you pledged $299, you’re getting a countertop fermenter this month.
Brew 101: malt extract
For folks who want a more hands-on experience, or just don’t have as much money to burn, you can join the estimated 1.1 million Americans who manually homebrew. Many start by using a malt extract kit. These kits cut out the step of extracting sugars from malted barley, allowing even beginners to experiment with adding odd ingredients.
If you start with a one-gallon batch (rather than the more traditional five-gallon batch), you can use a regular stockpot and get a kit with most everything else you’ll need for around $50. MoreBeer! has a large selection of these kind of kits and supplies, as does Northern Brewer, though Anheuser-Busch InBev acquired them last year. As Calagione told me, “Frankly, I’d stay away from that one if you’re independently-spirited.”
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Nerding out at the homebrew shop
Most urban areas have homebrew shops where you can also buy kits, raw supplies and random helpful doohickeys from real live human beings, too. The added benefit of buying supplies IRL is that you can ask shop employees any questions you might have after reading your kit’s instructions.
A homebrew shop can also tell you if one of the 1,700 homebrew clubs in the U.S. meets in your area. These meetings are a good place to get advice or share samples once you’ve brewed a batch or two. While most of these clubs are groups of homebrewers who brew in their own homes, some like Chicago’s C.H.A.O.S. Brew Club offer a shared space to actually do the brewing and store all the gear and supplies you use making beer. That’s a great option if you’re like Pete Brown and have family members who won’t tolerate brewing supplies at home. “My wife says if I homebrew, that’ll be the last straw,” he told me.
If you can’t find a homebrew club or just feel like going it solo, there are a plethora of books on homebrewing you can consult for advice. My favorite is “Brew Better Beer” by Emma Christensen, probably because her background writing food recipes makes her brewing instructions more user-friendly, with thorough descriptions and reassurances for common anxieties. But even she wouldn’t advise jumping into homebrewing alone.
“If at all possible, brew with somebody who has brewed before. Have a friend come, but don’t let them do everything,” Christensen said. “Make yourself be an active participant, but have them there to help you and answer questions. It makes a big difference.”
Photo: John Ewing/Portland Press Herald via Getty Images
Stepping up to all-grain
Feeling confident and have experienced friends willing to help you with your first batch? You might want to try an all-grain kit from Brooklyn Brewshop or your local homebrew supply store. Brooklyn’s standard kits make one-gallon batches and come with easy-to-follow instructions. Even if you don’t start with all-grain brewing, you’ll probably end up there. It’s how commercial breweries make beer and if you ever want to enter a homebrewing competition, you’ll need an all-grain batch to have a shot at winning. Plus, all-grain brewing has the added benefit of leaving you with spent grain, which can inspire another whole project.
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However your beer comes out, Randy Mosher says you’ll be a practitioner in a most intimate form of art.
“You’re making something that other people are putting in their bodies and the sensations of aroma and taste and flavor go into some of the more emotional and primitive parts of our brains. So you have this ability to really reach out and affect people in really deep ways with flavor. For me, that’s the magic of beer: being able to kind of get inside there and mess with people’s heads a bit.”
Advice for novice homebrewers from old pros
Sam Calagione: “Start with two books: the original bible of homebrewing, The Joy of Homebrewing by Charlie Papazian, and then second, (shameless plug) ‘Project Extreme Brewing”’by me and the Alström brothers. Those two books are both geared toward beginner homebrewers. Both have really interesting recipes and if you love a lot of current American up-and-coming cult breweries like Treehouse and Other Half, etc. ‘Project Extreme Brewing’ allows you to not have to wait in line at their tasting rooms, but replicate their awesome beers right in your own kitchen.”
Randy Mosher: “Be ambitious, but not too ambitious. You don’t have to brew a starter baby pale ale. Pick a style you like. Don’t decide you’re going to make a lambic the first time out. Probably not best to try and brew a super-high alcohol beer because you’re not going to have the patience. Pick something kind of normal-strength that you like. Read a book. Be creative. It’s all about the art. You’ve got to understand the science, but you’re doing it for art reasons. Make something you want to make, don’t just copy somebody else’s beer.”
Emma Christensen: “Brew with an experienced friend. Know that there’s a lot of wiggle room in things. People get really obsessed with hitting the right mash temperature or how active the fermentation is or how much yeast to pitch into the wort. Know that if you at least get it in the ballpark it’s going to be OK. It is important to pay attention to sanitation and cleanliness, but know that if you do your best with it, you’ll probably be OK. Also, make a one-gallon batch.”
Pete Brown: “Recognize what you’re doing is cooking. And cooking is about creating reactions within and between the ingredients that you’re using. I’m a keen amatuer cook and I would often get frustrated by cookbooks that would say, ‘OK, now do this’ and I’m like, ‘Yeah, but why?’ And then I read ‘Cooked’ by Michael Pollan and he said, ‘OK, when you’re sorting onions in a pan, this is the reaction that’s happening. This is why the flavors change. This is the Maillard reaction when you’re grilling meat. That’s why it’s important to do it in this way.’ If I ever do homebrew, I’ll treat it in exactly the same way: understanding why I’m taking each step and what each step is doing to the ingredients. Because if I understand why I’m doing it, I’ll understand more about when I get it right and when I get it wrong.”Photos in this article are part of my on-going “Somewhere in America” Urban Landscape series.
I recently finished a book titled: “Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less”, which made me think a lot about my life, the blog, and street photography. To sum up the book, the author praises the “less is more” ethos, and encourages us to do “less, but better”.
I got inspired to write this article on how being an “essentialist” can help us in our street photography. Below are some ideas you can apply to your work and approach:
1. Almost everything is noise, focus on the essential
Dieter Rams is one of the most famous designers, well known for his minimalist and functional designs. His philosophy of design was that almost everything is noise and distraction, and the most important thing was to focus on the essential. He is the grandfather of: “Less, But Better“.
The biggest problem I see in most street photographers work is that there is too much clutter and “noise” in their photography. In street photography, we want to remove clutter and noise in our images. We want to cut out distractions in the background and inessential elements.
Rather, we should focus on the “signal” or the essential parts of a photograph, and try to eliminate everything else. You can do this by focusing on a single person, a single gesture, or expression or mood.
If you are into layers and multiple subjects, you can still create more complex frames (without making them “complicated”). I would say the difference between a “complex” frame and a “complicated” frame is the following:
Complex photos: have multiple layers, multiple interesting points of emotion, and little overlap and distracting figures.
Complicated photos: have too much clutter in the photos, poor figure-to-ground (separation of subjects from the background), and too much noise an distractions.
So when you’re out shooting, focus on the essential parts of the photo. What you decide not to include in the frame is more important than what you decide to include in the frame.
2. Only show photos that are damn good
Another tip I learned from the book is when making decisions, you should only make decisions that make you go “hell yeah” (or else it should be no). So for example, if you get a potential job offer and you are on the fence about taking the job, don’t take the job. It is better not to settle for mediocre opportunities. Your excitement for a new job should be a “hell yes”. Only follow opportunities that you are “damn certain” about.
We can also apply this methodology to editing photos (choosing which photos to keep and which photos to ditch). I often have difficulty judging my own shots and I get a lot of “maybe” photos. But based on my experiences, when I get really excited about a photo and think it is “damn good”– it is generally quite strong. Photos that are in my “maybe” folder rarely make the final cut.
Of course it is still helpful to get second opinions from other photographers or curators you trust. So when you are having them review your work, ask them to be brutal. Take note when they are either surprised, impressed, or stare at one of your photos. Ask them which photos are your “damn good” photos, and ask them to help you kill the rest.
3. Have fun
According to the author, the life of the “essentialist” is to follow what he or she enjoys. What feels like play, not work.
99.9% of us our there shoot for fun as a hobby, not as a way of making a living. Even myself– I don’t shoot for a living. I teach for a living.
We have enough stress from our jobs, our families, and everyday lives. We shouldn’t have more stress from street photography. We should only be shooting subject matter or projects which we enjoy. We should have fun. If we’re not having fun, we won’t have the energy, inertia, or passion to continue.
So the second you aren’t enjoying your street photography, consider switching it up. Perhaps shoot in a new neighborhood, go travel somewhere, go on a road trip, pursue a new project, try out digital or film, try out a new format. Continue to keep fresh with your creativity and let curiosity and fun lead the way.
4. Find focus in your work
An “essentialist” doesn’t try to pursue too many things at once. He or she focuses on one thing at a time– and aims to do it well.
Many of us photographers have “photography A.D.D.”. We try to shoot too many different types of photography (landscape, macro, street, portrait, wedding, etc) and we try to shoot with too many different cameras and focal lengths. Rather, by finding focus can we truly become great photographers.
If you are reading this and you are just dabbling in street photography– ask yourself the question: do you want to become a great street photographer? If the question is yes, I’d recommend you to cut out the other types of photography you are pursuing to just focus on your street photography. Life is short, and according to Malcom Gladwell in his book: “Outliers“, we need to dedicate at least 10,000 hours to our craft to become an expert and master. If you split your time between street, landscape, macro, etc– you will never become great at one.
The same thing goes with cameras and gear. If you shoot with too many different cameras and focal lengths, you will never really master one camera and approach. For a certain project, focus on sticking either to black and white or color, with one camera, and one prime lens. By eliminating other options, these constraints will force you to be more creative– and also create a more consistent artistic vision.
5. Prioritize your photography
There is a saying I got from the book: “If you don’t prioritize your life, someone else will for you.” There are so many obligations we have in our life, and it can be hard to prioritize our photography. But if we don’t prioritize our photography, our passion will simply get swept under the rug.
Don’t be the guy who dies and has the gravestone: “This person had a lot of money, cars, and houses, and answered all his emails.” What do you really want out of your life? If photography is your true passion and makes you feel fully alive, make it a priority in your life. Disregard money, fame, and power. This will cause you to become a workaholic and not have any time for your photography.
Make it clear to others how important your photography is to you, and set boundaries. Have alone time to go out and shoot with yourself or with friends. If you don’t prioritize your street photography, you will never have enough time to go out and actually take photos.
Conclusion
If you want to live a life with more purpose and focus, I highly recommend the “Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less”. I think that by applying these ideas of essentialism we will find more purpose, meaning, and happiness through our street photography.
Rebel against the culture of trying to do more. Try to do less by cutting out unimportant schedules, events, and people out of your life. Focus on what makes you happy and what you enjoy– your photography. Carve out time to shoot, and don’t compromise.
Integrate photography as a part of your life, be laser focused in your work, and with enough patience, sweat, and time– you will become a great photographer.
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Michael Grab has mastered the art of stone balancing. He explains how he does it. “The most fundamental element of balancing in a physical sense is finding some kind of “tripod” for the rock to stand on. Every rock is covered in a variety of tiny to large indentations that can act as a tripod for the rock to stand upright, or in most orientations you can think of with other rocks. By paying close attention to the feeling of the rocks, you will start to feel even the smallest clicks as the notches of the rocks in contact are moving over one another. In the finer point balances, these clicks can be felt on a scale smaller than millimeters. Some point balances will give the illusion of weightlessness as the rocks look to be barely touching. Parallel to the physical element of finding tripods, the most fundamental non-physical element is harder to explain through words. In a nutshell, I am referring to meditation, or finding a zero point or silence within yourself. Some balances can apply significant pressure on your mind and your patience. The challenge is overcoming any doubt that may arise.”
Michael Grab
Michael Grab
Michael GrabStudents at an American university have sparked anger after reportedly forming a white student union to counter what they describe as “terrorism” from black students.
Amid ongoing racial tensions across US and Canadian campuses, a Facebook page entitled ‘Illini White Student Union’ (IWSU) surfaced - saying it sought to “organise against the terrorism we have been facing from Black Lives Matter activists on campus.”
Standing with Her (SWH) - a movement at the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign (UIUC), which says it stands with black women to “keep racist colleges and universities accountable” - wrote an open letter to administrators in the aftermath of a national day of staff and student action called the Student BlackOut.
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It urged staff to take action over the apparent formation of the IWSU.
This week’s national day of action saw thousands of faculty members and students from across both countries stand in solidarity with students of colour, particularly the black students of the University of Missouri (Mizzou), which has recently been the focal point of race rows that saw its president, Tim Wolfe, resign.
But according to the open letter, the IWSU told its members: “Feel free to send in pictures you take of any black protestors on the quad so we know who anti-whites are.”
SWH also expressed concern after, it said, the IWSU posted the details of a black female student who spoke out against their Facebook page.
Citing quotes from university emails - which acknowledge how “black students at UIUC are at risk” - SWH urged staff to partner with them in order to “address [the] anti-black terror now occurring on campus.”
The IWSU page was removed from Facebook after it was brought to the attention of the university’s administrators. Some reports, however, have suggested that the mage has not been completely removed and is, instead, being moderated by Facebook.
According to the university’s student newspaper, The Daily Illini, vice-chancellor of student affairs, Rene Romano issued a statement describing how administrators have notified Facebook of the page, asking for its removal because it “violates the company’s own standards.”
Ms Romano said: “We also are reaching out directly to those responsible for the postings, notifying them that the usage of our name is in violation of our trademark rights and ordering them to cease and desist.”
Despite denouncing the content on the Facebook page, The Daily Ilini reported that campus spokeswoman Robin Kaler cited “the creator’s first amendment rights” and said that, if the creator of the page is a UIUC student, the university “will not take any actions against them.”In the final months of his third term as speaker of the Texas House, Joe Straus appears to be in pretty decent shape politically. He will probably keep his job; whether he will be able to control the legislative agenda next year is another question.
He is not without opposition, most of it from inside his own party. State Rep. Scott Turner, R-Frisco, says he wants to be speaker. And the resentments that formed in 2009, when Straus unseated a fellow Republican, Tom Craddick of Midland, still bubble under the surface.
Replacing a speaker requires either a change in the makeup of the House, like the 2002 election that put a Republican majority in place, or enough dissent and conflict within the House to undermine the leadership, which is what got Craddick after three terms.
This election season has not led to significant changes in the makeup of the House. The opposition to Straus is evident among some Tea Party members as well as other conservatives, but there are also representatives in those ranks who do not fault his leadership or are not worked up enough to risk taking part in a failed coup. A candidate looking for 76 votes — the number needed to win the job in the 150-member House — has to either find that many unhappy Republicans, or enough Democrats to help make up the winning majority.
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Straus won the speakership in a House that was split almost evenly between the parties. Nearly all of the Democrats and fewer than two dozen Republicans formed the majority that unseated Craddick. The coalition blew up in the 2010 elections, when Republicans won a supermajority.
Straus, however, successfully pivoted, won a majority from Republicans and kept the backing of Democrats in spite of a challenge from the conservative wing of his party.
Now, Republicans maintain an overwhelming majority in the House — enough to make it clear that a Democratic takeover is next to impossible. Since it is unlikely that Democrats, outnumbered 95 to 55, can elect one of their own as speaker, they are left to vote for the Republican who will do them the least amount of damage or who will let them get some things done despite their minority status.
If this were a purely partisan decision, that would be asking Democrats to choose a more conservative Republican. Many of the conservatives hoping to replace Straus want to do so because they think he is insufficiently conservative. That might be popular in some political circles, but probably not in Democratic ones.
The Texas House is not run purely along partisan lines. It is common for Democrats to join with Republicans when there is a mutual benefit. When Craddick came into power, it was with the help of a dozen or so “Craddick D’s” — Democrats who voted for him in return for positions they had been denied under previous Democratic leaders. With enough turnover among his committee chairmen and other leaders, Straus has been able to promote lawmakers who might otherwise join an opposition candidate.
The biggest risk to the speaker and his cohort comes from outside the brass rail that separates the House from the rest of us — if not to his job, then to his agenda.
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The conservatives, the Tea Partyers, the insurgents — whatever you want to call them — are the loudest and most vibrant wing of the Republican Party. They are well financed, but their representatives do not make up a majority of the House.
They will probably make up the majority of the state Senate in 2015, however, and the legislation sent from that body to the House could force votes on issues that currently split Republicans, requiring members and their leaders to line up on one side or the other.
Barring an upset, Straus will get a fourth term. His political challenges will flow from the dance with a conservative Republican Senate that might be under new leadership, and with a new governor.
His political risk is not that he might lose his post, but that the sectarian fights from this year’s Republican primaries might dominate the next session.An article recently came out lamenting that a larger number of women were incurring student loan debt and that debt was larger per capita among women than men. It is based on a report (click this, the graphs are worth looking at) by the “American Association of University Women.” Certainly this sounds like a factually unreliable organization with an obvious agenda. However, their findings are broadly in line with what I would expect from my own research. Of course, the Fortune article is filled with a lot of ideological garbage blaming the patriarchy, racism, and the mythical wage gap. Feel free to read the article at the first link, but the only really useful information is the numbers.
56% of all college enrollments in the fall of 2016 were women.
833 billion dollars of the 1.3 trillion dollars of American student loan debt is owed by women. This is approximately 64.1% of student loan debt.
At the end of a bachelor’s degree, women have on average about 1500 dollars more debt than men.
Black women incur the most debt, with the average owing about 30,000 dollars.
Women on average take about 2 years longer than men to pay off their debt.
Women earn about 20% less than men 5 years after receiving their bachelor’s.
Within four years of graduation, men had paid on average 38% of their debt vs. 31% for women.
It is interesting that women are over-represented in incurring debt relative to their overall presence at universities. Possible explanations include affirmative action placement at more expensive schools, better scholarship opportunities for serious degrees which are male-dominated, or male workforce participation during college years, which enables them to take on less debt. Or something else.
As usual, there are some substantial racial differences involved. These differences almost certainly correlate with known racial differences in IQ which explain overall income differences. It is better to analyze gender differences after controlling for race; when possible.
However, the overall pattern is the same across races even if the absolute numbers are different. More women are taking on more debt, earning less, and taking longer to pay that debt back. I really have no trouble believing this is true. Unlike the Fortune writer, I don’t believe it has anything to do with patriarchy or gender discrimination. Biologically based gender differences can explain approximately the totality of the differences in outcomes here. For one thing, men have an innate superiority in visuospatial reasoning which makes them tend towards harder sciences, engineering, and computer science which more usually offer a higher wage. This makes it easier to pay back loans regardless of price. The following is a brief excerpt from my book, Smart and Sexy which goes over degree choices by gender. There is of course much more detail and information in the book about this topic. You can see additional excerpts and reviews here.
If a closer look is taken at the specific degrees women are receiving the picture isn’t quite as rosy as is often implied. To be sure, men also succumb to pursuing essentially worthless degrees, but they do so at a lesser rate than women and since the absolute number of men pursing college degrees is less, the problem is quantitatively less severe even when they do. Some of the most common degrees women are getting, such as business, health, and biological sciences, do make them more employable and socially valuable. Most, however, are notorious for conferring little value in the job market and can be expected not to improve income significantly. Among the top ten most common subjects studied by women as undergraduates are education, social science, psychology, visual and performing arts, communications, liberal arts and humanities, and English. Graduate studies which can also be expected to produce less or no human capital and do not confer much in the way of high income also seem to be much more attractive to women than men. The following tables show the graduate degree paths that are dominated by women (i.e., 50% or more of the students are female) and men respectively, as well as the average GRE score for each major. All of the degree paths examined by the particular study and found to be female dominated are included. A number of these paths are essentially just “professionally” training women to be mothers or surrogate mothers of children. Elementary and early childhood education sticks out in this regard, though probably all of the education paths do this to one degree or another. How anyone could possibly think it is necessary for women to have expensive post-tertiary degrees to watch young children play is hard to understand. Women have been watching young children successfully without any education for millennia before this farce was introduced at universities. Other degree paths which seem particularly useless include English and foreign literature, art history, home economics (i.e., how to be a housewife; where is grandma when you need her?), and student counseling. Disciplines which in theory might be useful if properly designed, such as psychology, sociology, and anthropology, have the problem of being almost totally infested and controlled by people with very radical, far-left ideologies. Considering how far these ideologies force these areas of study away from realistic understandings of reality, their utility is heavily undermined. Though the study this table comes from does not provide information on the relative number of women pursuing each field, it does provide a general idea of the type of degrees women are more attracted to |
or converted mana cost. If an effect (such as the one from Lodestone Golem) imposes an additional generic mana cost to casting Khalni Hydra, the Hydra’s ability will reduce it too. It’ll reduce the amount of green mana you need to spend first, though.Emma Ruth Rundle is a singer-songwriter from Los Angeles who performs with various local L.A. bands in addition to penning her own solo work. Marked For Death is Rundle's next solo release, a sophomore effort of Cat Power-like tenderness and PJ Harvey-level intensity, out September 30 on Sargent House (preorder it here).
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Today Rundle shares the album's eponymous, opening track, a moody, romantically apocalyptic song that sets the stage for the rest of the record. Who else is gonna love someone like you who's marked for death? goes Rundle's rumbling, ominous refrain. Who else is gonna be with you when you breathe your last breath?
"'Marked For Death' was the first song I had written for this record," Rundle wrote to The FADER. "It's a defeated love song of sorts: from the self loathing alcoholic in flames to her one time truly broken, lost and mentally ill friend."Giving death sentence to two Italian marines charged with the killing of Indian fishermen will be an act of war, a top Italian lawmaker has warned.
"(If the punishment is approved, it will be) an attack on Italy," chairman of the lower house foreign affairs committee Fabrizio Cicchitto was quoted as saying by ANSA news agency today.
He recently met the marines - Massimiliano Latorre and Salvatore Girone, currently lodged at the Italian Embassy in New Delhi.
The two marines were deployed on the Italian-flagged oil tanker MT Enrica Lexie when they shot dead two Indian fishermen off Kerala coast in February, 2012, sparking diplomatic tensions between India and Italy.
They had said they mistook the fishermen for pirates.
India's National Investigation Agency (NIA) has sought sanction to prosecute the two marines under the 'Suppression of Unlawful Acts Against Safety of Maritime Navigation and Fixed Platforms on Continental Shelf' Act (SUA), a provision which has only death penalty as punishment.
India has, however, given an assurance to Italy that the two would not be awarded death penalty.
The NIA today told a special court in New Delhi it was "ready" with a chargesheet against the marines and would file it after the Supreme Court decides on the issue raised by the Italian government.
According to the agency, the apex court is scheduled to hear the plea of Italian government challenging invocation of anti-terrorism law against the marines on February 3.
Rome wants the marines to be tried in Italy, claiming the incident took place in international waters. However, India said it has the right to try the Italian personnel as the victims were Indians on board an Indian fishing boat.
First Published: Jan 30, 2014 22:40 ISTAutoGuide.com
Ferrari has revealed its latest drop top, the 488 Spider, and it made its public debut at the Frankfurt Motor Show.
Power comes from the same turbocharged 3.9-liter V8 as the new 488 GTB, making 660 hp and 561 lb-ft of torque, with max power coming on at 8,000 rpm. That juice is sent through a seven-speed “F1 transmission” as the brand calls it. The sprint from 0 to 62 mph will come in three seconds flat in this car, the same as its coupe conterpart, while top speed is pegged at 203 mph with the roof up or down.
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Previewed in a great shade of blue, Ferrari says that the new hard top convertible roof can be fully raised and lowered in 13.6 seconds. It is also about 55 pounds lighter than the old fabric roof on the last-generation F430 Spider, though the 488 Spider weighs 110 pounds more than the 488 GTB.
SEE ALSO: Ferrari 488 GTB Sounds as Good as it Looks
To keep the ride inside as quiet and smooth as possible, Ferrari has added a rear electric glass wind stop, which can be raised or lowered to adjust noise levels in the cabin.
Ferrari also tweaked the Slide Slip Angle Control System on this car, allowing the driver to have greater freedom than with the car’s predecessor, the 458 Spider. Ferrari says that the 488 Spider accelerates out of corners 12 percent faster than the 458 Spider.
Discuss this story at our Luxury Lifestyle ForumISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Pakistan is holding 700 suspected Islamist militants without charge under a law that has come under fire from human rights groups, its attorney general said on Thursday.
The admission marked the first time that the strategic U.S. ally detailed how many militants it is holding in the tribal areas of the northwest under the Actions in Aid of Civil Power Regulations law.
“There is a military operation in Waziristan. Under the law we cannot try these 700 people, nor can we release them, unless the operation is over,” Attorney General Irfan Qadir told the Supreme Court, referring to a tribal area near the Afghan border.
In December, Amnesty International condemned the law, saying it “provided a framework for widespread human rights violations to occur with impunity”.
“Many of the men held by the Armed Forces are subjected to enforced disappearance, tortured or otherwise ill-treated while in custody,” said the report.
Pakistan’s military has denied allegations of abuses.
Pakistan’s Taliban, which is close to al Qaeda, is waging a violent campaign to topple the government and impose its radical interpretation of Islam. It has carried out suicide bombings and assaults which have killed both civilians and security forces.
Pakistani intelligence services and security forces have come under closer scrutiny by the Supreme Court, which has challenged intelligence agencies and ordered investigations into missing persons.
The Supreme Court is currently hearing a case of seven suspected militants held without charge since May 2010.
Pakistan’s intelligence agency produced the men in court last February on judicial order. Several were in terrible physical condition and could barely walk.
The Supreme Court is calling for their release and has asked intelligence agencies to explain why the men are being held.Image copyright PA Image caption The report advises that e-cigarettes should be banned unless, and until, they become medically regulated
Industry body Oil and Gas UK is advising companies not to allow e-cigarettes to be used offshore.
Current safety measures permit workers to smoke in designated locations on offshore installations.
But Oil and Gas UK's 2015 health and safety report has recommended e-cigarettes should be banned unless, and until, they become medically regulated.
It suggested the industry should be consistent with public health measures aimed at reducing tobacco smoking.
The report said the increasing use of e-cigarettes had prompted employers across the industry to request advice.
It read: "The common argument for e-cigarettes is that they are an aid to smokers who wish to stop smoking.
"This is not supported by the only scientifically-led investigation to date of this concept, which shows that e-cigarettes are not more effective than existing nicotine replacement therapies (gums, patches, etc) in helping individuals to stop smoking.
"Existing nicotine replacement therapies are medically-regulated, but e-cigarettes are not, although it is expected that those containing more than 20 milligrams/litre of nicotine will be regulated from 2016."
It added: "The advice recommends that the industry is consistent with well-established public health measures to reduce tobacco smoking and that unless, and until, they become medically regulated, e-cigarettes should not be permitted offshore."
Last November, offshore operator Talisman Sinopec Energy UK banned e-cigarettes from its North Sea platforms after one overheated while it was charging.Voice acting agency Herringbone reported on Thursday that actor Shinji Ogawa (birth name Haruhiko Ogawa) passed away on Saturday due to bronchiolitis obliterans organizing pneumonia. He was 74. His family held a private funeral on Wednesday.
His many roles in anime included Chief Fukushima in Patlabor: The Movie, Dr. Lychee in Dragon Ball Z: Plan to Destroy the Saiyajin, Genya in Giant Robo, Kagemitsu Hazama in Black Jack 21, Maestro Franz von Stresemann in Nodame Cantabile, General Douglas McArthur in Junod, Dr. Faker in Yu-Gi-Oh! Zexal, among many others. His most recent anime roles include Kōji Okamura in Makoto Shinkai's Dareka no Manazashi short, Ryuu Kazama in Ping Pong, and Rayregalia Vers Rayvers in the currently-airing Aldnoah.Zero. He was replaced in the role of Gilbert F. Altstein in the upcoming Blood Blockade Battlefront anime by Banjou Ginga due to the his poor health.
He was also well-known for being a regular voice-over artist of Michael Douglas, Robert de Niro, and Timothy Dalton in the Japanese dubs of their movies. He also performed in television dramas and live-action film, and will appear in the movie Yuzuriha no Koro, which opens in Japan on May 23.
Source: Sankei Sports via 0takomuNew Jersey Sen. Cory Booker testified today against the confirmation of Alabama Senator Jeff Sessions as Attorney General in a speech as impassioned as it was unprecedented. A sitting U.S. Senator had never testified against the Cabinet appointment of a colleague, and he was joined in that effort by Rep. Cedric Richmond (D-La.), the chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus, and Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.).
Each of these men highlighted Sessions’ noted history as a virulent opponent of civil rights — especially when it comes to people of color, women and the LGBT community.
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“The arc of the moral universe does not just naturally curve toward justice, we must bend it,” Booker said. “America needs an attorney general who is resolute and determined to bend the arc. Sen. Sessions record does not speak to that desire, intention or will.”
You name the minority group, and Sessions has spent his long, varied career in public life fighting its members basic rights. The Cabinet nominee, who has alternatively served as a legislator, district attorney and the attorney general of Alabama, is known for his antipathy toward the black community. Thomas Figures, an assistant U.S. attorney who worked under Sessions in the 1980s, claimed that his boss frequently referred to him as “boy.” Figures further alleged that Sessions had called the NAACP “un-American” and joked that his only problem with the Ku Klux Klan was that its members smoke marijuana.
During Tuesday’s confirmation hearings, Session attempted to assuage concerns that he would gut legal protections for marginalized groups if officially named attorney general. Sessions claimed that he would uphold “the statutes protecting [LGBT people’s] safety” and ensure that the community’s “civil rights are enforced.”
That statement seems to be more supportive of LGBT rights than it actually is. The problem with Sessions’ pledge is twofold: First, there are extremely few federal laws that ensure equal rights for the LGBT community. Second, Sessions voted against the introduction of the handful of nationwide protections that do exist. For instance, he came out against reauthorizing the Violence Against Women Act in 2013, a bill that prevents shelters for victims of domestic violence from shutting their doors to LGBT abuse survivors. He wanted a watered-down version of the legislation without provisions about gender identity and sexual orientation.
An earlier vote shows why he opposed the Violence Against Women Act: Sessions doesn’t believe that LGBT people experience discrimination. When voting against the passage of the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act in 2009, Sessions claimed that the legislation simply wasn’t necessary.
“Today, I'm not sure women or people with different sexual orientations face that kind of discrimination,” Sessions said. “I just don't see it.”
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Sessions is wrong on both counts. LGBT people, particularly trans women of color, are more likely than any other group to be targeted for a bias attack. Research also shows that queer individuals are just as likely as heterosexuals to be victims of domestic violence, but shelters often ignore LGBT survivors when it comes to resources and programming, turning them away.
Research from the Center for American Progress shows that 10 percent of workers claim to have been terminated from their place of employment because of their sexual orientation or gender identity, but no federal statutes protect LGBT people from being fired on the basis of their identity. That treatment is still perfectly legal in 28 states. Surveys have shown that 9 out of 10 Americans believe that these nondiscrimination protections in the workplace already exist. When they discover that such laws are not currently in place, they are overwhelmingly in favor of enacting them.
These protections do not exist largely due to the work of people like Sessions. The Alabama senator has voted against a federal law, known as the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, that would prohibit LGBT workers from being fired just because of who they are.
In fact, Sessions has often acted to undermine proposed protections. In addition to refusing to sign a pledge saying that his office wouldn’t fire staffers for being LGBT, he is a co-sponsor of the First Amendment Defense Act. FADA is a “religious liberty” bill that would allow businesses to openly discriminate against LGBT people based on the belief that marriage is a union between one man and one woman. The bill, which President-elect Donald Trump has pledged to sign in office, would hypothetically let an employer terminate a gay man for keeping a photo of his husband on his desk.
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Sessions has been a leading critic of same-sex marriage rights during his two decades in the Senate, a stance that has earned him a zero rating on equality from the Human Rights Campaign. He more than deserves the score. Sessions once claimed that the Supreme Court's 2015 Obergefell v. Hodges decision regarding same-sex unions “goes beyond what I consider to be the realm of reality.” As the highest-ranking attorney in the nation and head of the Department of Justice, Sessions would be charged with upholding this decision.
Sessions has supported adding an amendment to the Constitution that would limit the definition of marriage to heterosexual couples. The right-winger has said he would continue to push Congress to block same-sex marriage “again and again,” as the Human Rights Campaign has reported.
Those who believe that appointing Sessions to replace Loretta Lynch — a fierce advocate for LGBT equality — will be a disaster for the community won’t have a difficult time finding additional evidence to support that thesis.
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In 1996 he attempted to prevent the yearly Southeastern Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual College Conference from being held at the University of Alabama. Sessions, then the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Alabama, claimed that the conference was prohibited from meeting because of a 1992 law making it unlawful for state-funded universities to support any organization that promotes “actions prohibited by the sodomy and sexual misconduct laws.” Judge Myron Thompson, a former federal judge for the Middle District of Alabama, overturned the law in response, saying it violated the conference’s First Amendment rights.
Defenders of Sessions’ record, which have included Delaware Democrat Sen. Chris Coons, would argue that it’s difficult to judge how he would lead the Department of Justice from his previous positions as a legislator and a U.S. district attorney.
But unfortunately, we do know what his tenure as attorney general would be like. Sessions stated during his confirmation hearing that he would “consider” bringing back the Obscenity Prosecution Task Force, a disbanded office in the Department of Justice that was shuttered by President Barack Obama. While that office is charged with prosecuting cases of child pornography, obscenity laws have frequently been used to target the freedom of expression of LGBT people. Most famously, beat poet Allen Ginsberg was brought to trial in 1957 concerning “Howl,” an epic poem that describes sexually explicit acts between men.
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America has come a long way in terms of LGBT acceptance since then, but Sessions hasn’t. This is the same man who once threatened to pull funding for the National Endowment for the Arts due to its financing of “Watermelon Woman,” a 1996 film that was the first full-length feature to be directed by a black lesbian filmmaker. A pivotal scene in the movie features graphic sex between its interracial romantic leads.
“I understand the demands for justice and fairness made by the LGBT community,” Sessions testified on Tuesday. “I understand the lifelong scars born by women who are victims of assault and abuse.” That would be easier to believe if he had not spent his entire career inflicting those very wounds.The District's dogs and dog lovers had reason to celebrate Tuesday, when the D.C. Council unanimously decided to end a ban prohibiting canines from bar and restaurant patios.
For years, the ban went unenforced, and a host of dog-friendly bars and restaurants thrived in the increasingly young and affluent city.
But the health department began enforcing the ban in September, telling the owner at Midlands, a beer garden in Parkview, and Wonderland Ballroom in Columbia Heights that the pups on their patios had to go.
"It was really sad not having all those fuzzy faces around," said Midlands proprietor Peyton Sherwood, who received a visit from a city health inspector Sept. 19. "So today is really nice. It was awesome to see everyone working together to get this done so quickly."
His dog, Andypants — Midland's unofficial mascot — will be excited to return to his doghouse and friends on the patio, he added.
[‘This is not a war on pets’: D.C. mayor backs off proposed chicken ban]
Health Committee Chairman Vincent C. Gray (D-Ward 7) introduced emergency legislation to end the ban, which he called the most recent example of "regulatory overreach" on the part of Mayor Muriel E. Bowser (D). Gray's legislation, dubbed "Dining with Dogs Emergency Declaration," allows business owners to decide whether to allow dogs on their patios.
Gray, widely seen as a potential challenger to Bowser in 2018, said the health department should devote its resources to serious "health equity challenges," including its deeply troubled public hospital and widespread opioid crisis.
Following the vote, Bowser's office said it would update the regulations.
"We agree with our partners on the council that our residents and visitors — whether they have two or four legs — should be able to enjoy the patios in our great restaurants," Bowser spokeswoman Susana Castillo said.
A Twitter account, @PupsOnPatios, that had been created to advocate for the canines, celebrated the decision with puppy pictures and dog puns.
"The Dining with Dogs emergency legislation introduced in @councilofdc today leaves it up to DC restaurants & bars to decide whether to allow dogs on patios, while ensuring safety & sanitation," the account tweeted, with a picture of dogs on a dias. "We determine that to be pawesome."
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr"><a href="https://twitter.com/PupsOnPatios/status/915265497633054721"></a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Gray, who served one term as mayor and lost his reelection bid in the 2014 Democratic primary to Bowser, said the episode was the most recent in Bowser's "war on pets." He has also blocked the health department's efforts to ban backyard chickens and require licenses for cats.
The Bowser administration's health department is pursuing other frivolous regulation, Gray said. He pointed to a new rule by health officials that requires a lifeguard for private pools five feet deep or greater. Previously, the requirement was in place for pools six feet deep or more. More private pools will have to absorb the cost of hiring a lifeguard, Gray said.
In response, Gray and Council Member Jack Evans (D-Ward 2) have introduced "Pools without Penalties Act of 2017," which reverses the health department regulation.The man reportedly chased customers through the aisles (Picture: Google)
A man allegedly crashed his car outside a branch of Toys R Us before getting naked and rampaging through the shop swinging a cricket bat.
Police said yesterday that a man was reported to have driven his car into a trolley park in Dundee’s Kingsway West Retail Park before stripping off and marching into Toys R Us wielding a cricket bat at around 2.35pm on Easter Sunday.
And as many as 20 shoppers at the toy shop attempted to pin down the man, who was ‘ranting and raving in a foreign language’ and chasing customers, witnesses said.
‘There must have been 20 other folk who jumped on him and took him down,’ said Gavin Watt, who was at the store.
‘He was big and bulky and tattooed all over and very strong.’
MORE: Naked woman found in electrical cupboard after trying to rob store
One witness said the man ‘wanted to cause carnage’ (Picture: Getty Images)
Another witness said she saw him kicking the doors of the ladies’ toilet before chasing a woman and her young daughter through the aisles.
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‘The man was crazed – he wanted to cause carnage,’ the witness said.
Security at the store were able to overpower the man and police were called.
A spokeswoman for Police Scotland’s Tayside Division said one woman sustained a facial injury during the disturbance and required medical attention.
‘Anyone who remembers seeing anything suspicious in or around the store is asked to contact Police Scotland immediately on 101,’ she said.
MORE: Naked man gyrates in front of speed camera, because, you know, why notBerkeley scientists reveal promising speech gains SCIENCE
In experiments whose results may one day provide synthetic speech to people who have lost the ability to speak, UC Berkeley scientists have taught computers to read and reproduce the electrical signals in the brain produced by the sound of the human voice.
The achievement could give future hope to those who have lost their speaking ability because of stroke or paralysis, and allow them to converse once again, the researchers said.
"But this is only the first step toward a goal like that, and it's a long and complicated road we're traveling," said Brian Pasley, a UC neuroscience researcher who is leading the effort.
More immediately, he said, the research is "helping us understand how the normal brain processes the sounds of speech."
Severely wounded soldiers in today's wars have already challenged scientists and engineers to create extraordinary prosthetic arms and legs that move solely by the directed thoughts of the wounded, but fashioning artificial voices that respond to unspoken thoughts will be an even more complex challenge, Pasley and his colleagues said in a report published today in the open-access journal PLoS Biology.
In studying decades of research into how animal brains process sounds, Pasley said, scientists concluded that the nerve cells active in human speech are located in specialized centers of the temporal lobe of the brain.
So Pasley and his colleagues sought the help of patients who had suffered from epileptic seizures or brain tumors and who were undergoing brain surgery at UCSF. Their neurosurgeons were seeking to locate the precise areas of their brains where the seizures were triggered so they could remove the tiny damaged areas.
To do that, Dr. Edward Chang, a neurosurgeon at UCSF, and his colleagues implanted hundreds of tiny electrodes into the temporal lobes of their patients - a normal procedure for this type of surgery.
For his part, Pasley found 15 patients who volunteered to let him record the brain wave signals their implanted electrodes detected from their conversations.
The signals, first collected by the hospital's computers, were later transmitted to Pasley's computer in his Berkeley lab for analysis.
Pasley tested two highly complex computer models of the brain waves that seemed to match the conversations. The volunteer patients then tested the models by speaking single words while the computers reproduced their sounds.
The sounds produced by the best computer model were accurate enough for Pasley and his colleagues to guess the actual words that were spoken in many cases. That was a result of their first efforts, and the researchers expect more accuracy with more repetitions over a longer period, Pasley said.
"This research is a major step toward understanding what features are represented in the human brain," said Robert T. Knight, a professor of psychology and neuroscience at UC Berkeley and a co-author of Pasley's report.
The thought-controlled artificial limbs developed for war veterans came after years of highly complex research, Pasley and his colleagues point out.
"But that work, while not easy, is relatively simple compared to reconstructing language," Knight said. "This experiment takes that earlier work to a whole new level."
Colleagues at the University of Maryland and Johns Hopkins University also contributed to the research.Thieves arrested outside a McDonald's less than one mile away
Bungling robbers try to fire a weapon, which jams several times
This is the moment two bungling robbers carry out what may be the most amateur jewellery heists ever caught on camera.
The robbery took place inside a shopping mall in a suburb to Sweden's capital Stockholm shortly after 10.30am last Friday.
In addition to struggling to open the door to the shop, the weapon jamming and using IKEA bags to carry their loot, the pair were later arrested outside a nearby McDonald's.
Dumb and dumber: The two men were filmed as they robbed a jewellery and watch shop in Kista Galleria shopping centre in Stockholm, Sweden
The two men arrive on a moped wearing nylon stockings over their heads, armed with a crowbar and what looks like a pistol in Kista Galleria in Stockholm.
Video shows the men park up outside a Klockmaster watch and jewellery shop, having somehow managed to get their moped inside the shopping centre.
'I saw two guys with nylon socks over their heads, but they hadn't pulled them down over their faces, and looked like they were following some weird fashion trend,' Mario, the witness who filmed the robbery, told Expressen.
Mario's mobile phone video shows the men running into the shop, after which one of them runs back out to back the moped in through the door.
Poor Hardy: The portlier of the robbers tried several times to fire his pistol into the ceiling, but the weapon jams and he can be seen looking at it incredulously
Epic fails: In addition to their gun jamming and decision to park the moped in the doorway of the shop, the pair had brought IKEA bags to carry their spoil
Facepalm: After first parking the moped inside the store, one of the robbers run outside again after realising they need their crowbar to actually get to the jewellery
The first robber then threatens staff with the gun, and appears to try to fire it, but the weapon fails him.
'The guy looked like he wanted to fire the gun into the cieling, but he can't really make it work. The pistol looks like it's jammed,' he added.
The second robber runs out to get a bigger plastic bag and a crowbar and they begin to grab watches from behind the counter.
Satisfied with their loot, they leave the shop and attempt to make a quick exit, but struggle to start their moped.
The bungling robbers were armed with the broken gun and a crowbar, and threatened staff in the shop
Amateur criminals: As his companion breaks the glass fronts and fills their huge plastic bag with loot, the robber with the pistol keeps trying to figure out what is wrong with the gun
If at first you don't succeed: The robbers try to make a swift exit, but the moped won't start properly and it takes them a few moments before they're on the run
The pair finally speed down the hallway, with the bag of jewellery trailing behind the moped as they go.
Stockholm police later reported that a significant amount of the spoil was found along the robbers' escape route.
They were arrested shortly after the robbery outside a McDonald's less than a mile down the road from the shopping centre.
The two men have been charged with aggravated robbery.'Corn Sugar' Makers Hope You'll Buy The New Name
toggle caption The Corn Refiners Association
Would "high fructose corn syrup" sound so sweet by any other name? The Corn Refiners Association sure hopes so. Last week, the industry group applied to the federal government for permission to use a new name for the ingredient on food labels: "corn sugar."
Whether it's called high fructose corn syrup or corn sugar, the ingredient makes up a significant part of Americans' diets. According to the Agriculture Department, the average American ate 35.7 pounds of high fructose corn syrup last year. That's not such a surprise considering it's used as a sweetener in everything from fruit-flavored drinks and energy bars to jams, yogurts and breads.
Consumers Cut Back, Companies Follow
High fructose corn syrup became a popular choice for companies decades ago because it's less expensive than traditional sugar and comes in a handy liquid form that makes it easy to use. But during the last few years, its reputation has taken a beating.
It started in 2004, when a widely read report suggested high fructose corn syrup was a major cause of the obesity epidemic.
Documentaries such as Fast Food Nation and King Corn also raised concerns about the ingredient and blamed it for contributing to diabetes and obesity. Although the American Medical Association says there isn't enough evidence yet to restrict the use of high fructose corn syrup -- and the professors who published that paper in 2004 have recanted -- public perception of high fructose corn syrup is plummeting.
Scared of losing customers, major companies are pulling the ingredient from their products. Sara Lee switched to sugar in two of its breads last month. Snapple, Gatorade and Hunt's Ketchup all made the move in the past two years.
The Truth About High Fructose Corn Syrup
But Audrae Erickson, president of the Corn Refiners Association, tells NPR's Mike Pesca that the public has it all wrong.
"The challenge is they think [high fructose corn syrup] is high in fructose, when it's actually not," Erickson says. "The name has been misleading to consumers and it is confusing, which is why we petitioned the Food and Drug Administration to allow it to be called corn sugar."
It's true that high fructose corn syrup is not particularly high in fructose. In fact, it contains just as much fructose as sugar does. But that doesn't mean the public won't be skeptical about the name change and rebranding efforts.
Part of the Corn Refiners Association attempt to rebrand corn syrup is a series of TV ads that try and clarify confusion about the ingredient. They show people eating brightly-colored lollipops and drinking juice, explaining, "whether it's corn sugar or cane sugar, your body can't tell the difference. Sugar is sugar."
Even More Of The Truth
But sugar, whether it is corn sugar or any other type is the problem, says Michael Jacobson, executive director of the Center for Science in the Public Interest.
"The bottom line is that people ought to be eating less sugar, whether it's high fructose corn sugar or sugar," he says.
Jacobson thinks it does make sense for the Corn Refiners Association to choose a new name that more accurately reflects their product, but he does not think their new choice is quite right.
"The term 'corn sugar,'" he says, "may also be misleading, suggesting that the product is kind of squeezed right out of corn rather than being produced through an industrial process."
Until the Food and Drug Administration makes a decision on the name change -- which could take years -- labels will still read "high fructose corn syrup."Yesterday was my trial run for the Nation's triathlon. It was a sprint triathlon held at the local YMCA. I had a blast and Bill and the kids came out to support me. I was delighted to see the kids standing next to the pool exit when I hopped out and cheering me on as I finished the bike leg. Everyone was so supportive and I raced with my TNT teammate Jenifer and a couple other first timers I've met from the YMCA tri club. Best of all, it was cloudly and a bit cooler than it has been lately.
There are a few differences between the tri yesterday and the Nation's tri. Mainly, the Nation's is twice as long (yikes!), and the swim will be in the Potomac River, not the swimming pool. I'm thinking I might like the open water because people were on top of each other in the pool. It was a little creepy and made me feel a bit claustrophobic.
Overall, the tri yesterday gave me a sense of the training I still need to do. I didn't think the sprint tri would be too hard but I was really pooped afterwards! Running after being on the bike felt like I had cement blocks tied to my legs! Of course, being called a "sprint" tri did make me want to sprint it, so I gave it my all. For Nation's, I'll definitely need to pace myself.
Thank you to all my friends and family who have been so supportive! You are really keeping me going! From here on out, training will be getting more intense with longer distances for all three sports. I'm so thankful I'm able to participlate in Nation's tri and I know the training is nothing compared to the difficulty of going through treatment for blood cancers.
Thank you everyone!Arkansas State Trooper Sammy D. Koons, 47, of West Memphis, reported to State Police Troop D Headquarters at Forrest City today where special agents of the Criminal Investigation Division issued him a misdemeanor citation for assault in the third degree. Koons is a twenty-one year veteran of the department and holds the rank of corporal. He is assigned to highway patrol duties in Troop D.
Koons is alleged to have struck a juvenile during an off-duty incident.
On September 19, 2015 witnesses allege Koons stepped outside his home where several juveniles were gathered and a disturbance ensued. Koons allegedly confronted one juvenile and reportedly struck the juvenile on or near the face.
Special Agents of the Arkansas State Police Criminal Investigation Division were assigned on September 21, 2015 to begin an investigation of the allegations. The investigative file was subsequently submitted to Prosecuting Attorney Scott Ellington to consider whether Koons should be criminally charged.
A conviction of Assault (3rd degree) could result in a defendant facing a fine of no more than $500 and/or up to 30 days in jail
A January 29, 2016 court date in West Memphis District Court has been set in the case against Koons.
Koons has been on paid administrative leave since shortly after the incident and will remain in that status while the case is before the court.
A formal internal complaint is also pending against Koons and will be investigated by the State Police Office of Professional Standards.
Theannounced today that, a state trooper on administrative leave since September, has been charged with misdemeanor assault for striking a 12-year-old West Memphis boy on or near the face in an off-duty encounterThe State Police statement:A misdemeanor assault conviction alone isn't ground for loss of a State Police job, but a true finding of physical mistreatment of a child can get a person placed on the central state registry and that could be a disqualifier, apart from whatever evaluations superiors might make of Koons' actions that night and his accounts of it to investigators, along with the trial testimony.The case file is sealed because it involves a juvenile, so other details of the altercation aren't available.Get the latest news and videos for this game daily, no spam, no fuss.
Destiny was criticized because few non-player characters had important roles in gameplay, but Bungie is intent on fixing that in Destiny 2. Today, the studio released a new video introducing one of the NPCs who will appear in Destiny 2's story.
Hawthorne is a fighter who you'll encounter alongside more familiar characters. She wields a sniper rifle and seems to be a Hunter-type character, although Hunter leader Cayde-6 remarks that she's not a part of his group. She also has a really cool-looking hawk named Louis. Check out the video:
This is Hawthorne. When all was lost, she stayed to fight. pic.twitter.com/i4yOGkUyQH — Destiny The Game (@DestinyTheGame) August 24, 2017
It's encouraging to see Bungie focused so much on improving the game's characters; even in the opening Homecoming mission that was playable during Destiny 2's beta, there were a lot more NPCs actually fighting and interacting.
Bungie released another video this week that re-introduces Cayde-6. The wise-cracking Hunter, voiced by Nathan Fillion, will be very important in the game's story.
Destiny 2 launches on September 6 for PS4 and Xbox One, and on October 24 for PC. The PC beta will go live on August 28 for those who pre-order the game, and it'll open to the public on August 29.
This week, Bungie also released Destiny 2's launch trailer, and we learned that loadouts won't be locked in Raids (as they will be in other high-level activities). Finally, you can check out our new preview of Destiny 2 and watch footage from the European Dead Zone area.The flotilla is aiming to provide aid to Gazans in defiance of an Israeli blockade
A decision on exactly when a departure might take place was to be taken later on Saturday, Audrey Bomse of the Free Gaza Movement (FGM) told the AFP news agency.
Negotiation
"A final decision is expected to be made about the flotilla's departure as some people are still trying to negotiate their way on the Turkish ship" in the flotilla, Bomse said.
It was expected that the flotilla would set sail on Saturday but only attempt to land in Gaza on Sunday.
The flotilla "will not approach Gaza until tomorrow [Sunday] because we don't want to enter during the dark. These problems won't stop us," Bomse said.
Thomas Sommer-Houdeville, a French activist on board one of the boats, said: "We are currently sailing to the limits of Cypriot waters to try and negotiate with authorities."
Sommer-Houdeville said that the Cyprus authorities had briefly detained the captians of the boats that were aiming to take the politicians on board on Friday night.
He said that the captains were later released.
'Provocation'
The flotilla organisers have said that Cypriot officials have not fulfilled a pledge to let the boats sail from its waters. The activists have alleged that Israeli pressure has swayed the authorities.
Hamas, the de facto rulers of the Gaza Strip, have said that the flotilla was about to make history, sending "a strong message that the blockade imposed on the Gaza Strip... will be broken."
Israel said the boats were embarking on "an act of provocation" with the Israeli military rather than providing aid, and that it had issued warrants to prohibit their entrance to Gaza.
It asserted that the flotilla would be breaking international law by landing in Gaza, a claim the organisers angrily denied.
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find a way to report it to them (on August 26).
Easier said than done. They don’t have a responsible disclosure process in place, so there was no e-mail address I could mail my findings to. I called a phone number on their web site and the lady that I spoke didn’t seem to understand the problem and said: “our technical guy will look at your finding”. I asked for her e-mail address so I could mail the details to her but she said that wasn’t possible. I didn’t get the feeling I was taken seriously, so I started looking on LinkedIn for IT security personnel that worked at the bank.
Found someone that worked in the security incident response department and mailed him my findings. That worked! I saw that within 24 hours the vulnerability was patched.
Danske Bank responds
I was eagerly looking at my mailbox for feedback on my finding that I just sent them, but that didn’t came soon. After twelve days (on September 7) they finally sent me the following:
Thank you for reporting a potential security vulnerability on our website. We investigated your report immediately. However, the data you saw was not real customer sessions or data, just some debug information. Our developers corrected this later that day.
A potential vulnerability? Are you serious? The server was leaking all kinds of highly technical data. And what about using not real customer data? Is it suggested that Danske Bank is using test customer data in their production environment? That would be against all safety guards and all best practices. And creating test cookie data in production in combination with an IP address and user agent? Never seen that one before.
I’m not buying that. Over the last 17 years I’ve performed countless responsible disclosures and developed a good sense when companies are downplaying the situation. Someone at Danske Bank has messed up pretty hard and they’re now covering the situation. That’s not honest and certainly not transparent.
Wrapping up
For at least two weeks, but probably a lot longer, very confidential customer data in the form of session cookies were leaking on Danske Bank’s web site. With these cookies it should have been possible to hijack internet banking accounts of their customers. They closed the security hole quickly, but are now in denial of it.
Update October 8: Because of all publicity this story gets, Danske Bank now admits that their production server was in debug mode and that I saw information and cookies from other visitors (!). That’s quite a turn! Seems that media attention forces the bank to be honest. They still hold on that I couldn’t hijack banking sessions.
Update October 9: Danske Bank has now implemented a responsible disclosure process and created a web page about it so security researchers have now contact details to get directly in touch with their security team.
Links
Sites that link to this story:The White House is now openly declaring that Senate Democrats who support new sanctions against Iran are itching for war, but their campaign to pressure their own party members has been going on for months and has done little to dissuade Democrats from supporting sanctions.
The White House brought their fight with Congressional Democrats out in the open Thursday evening when National Security Staff member Bernadette Meehan sent an incendiary statement lashing out at pro-sanctions Democrats to a select group of reporters, accusing them of being in favor of a strike on Iran.
“If certain members of Congress want the United States to take military action, they should be up front with the American public and say so,” said Meehan. “Otherwise, it’s not clear why any member of Congress would support a bill that possibly closes the door on diplomacy and makes it more likely that the United States will have to choose between military options or allowing Iran’s nuclear program to proceed.”
Meehan’s statement was issued the same day Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Robert Menendez (D-NJ) published a Washington Post op-ed arguing in favor of legislation that would spell out Congressional parameters for a final nuclear deal with Iran and propose new sanctions that would take effect if diplomacy falls through.
In the op-ed Menendez called his legislation a “diplomatic insurance policy” and “an act of reasonable pragmatism.”
But the White House both privately and publicly has warned Democratic lawmakers that supporting the Menendez legislation could mean they will be blamed if the negotiations collapse, according to both administration officials and Congressional staffers engaged in the legislative process.
The message from the White House echoes warnings from Iran’s foreign minister, Javad Zarif, who last month said new sanctions in Congress would derail the interim agreement he signed at the end of November. Senior Obama administration officials themselves have warned privately that even the introduction of the new sanctions measure, let alone its passage, jeopardized the new round of talks in Geneva.
But the White House’s warnings have had little effect. Menendez and Sen. Mark Kirk introduced their bill on Dec. 16 with 13 Republican co-sponsors and 14 Democratic co-sponsors. The bill now has 59 co-sponsors, including 16 Democrats.
White House Press Secretary Jay Carney declined Friday to back down from Meehan’s characterization of pro-sanctions Democrats as warmongers.
“I don’t know every one of 100 senators what their personal views on, on whether or not military force ought to be used in Iran, so I can’t give a blanket statement about how they all feel,” he said. “What I do know is, when it comes to Senator Menendez and all of the partners who have assisted this administration over the years in building a sanctions regime is that we share a common goal, which is to deprive Iran of the opportunity of acquiring a nuclear weapon and to do so through negotiations. That’s why we built the sanctions regime.”
That explanation glosses over the fact that the Obama administration worked against several sanctions measures Congress has passed in recent years, despite claiming credit for those sanctions after the fact.
Regardless, both Democrats who support the administration and those who support Menendez told The Daily Beast that the White House’s tactic of going after their own party’s legislators is over-the-top and ineffective, alienating allies, creating bad will on Capitol Hill, and wasting political capital the administration may need on this issue down the road.
“The White House has clearly overreached in calling Democratic supporters of the Menendez-Kirk bill warmongers,” one senior Democratic Congressional aide said. “These are Democrats, some who have been in public service for decades and have long supported increasing sanctions against Iran. It’s just not credible and not helpful for them to use such extreme language when it’s clearly not true.”
Even those who support the administration’s overall position on Iran sanctions say the White House’s tactics are backfiring. Trita Parsi, the executive director of the National Iranian American Council, which opposes new sanctions legislation, said that the White House doesn’t appreciate that to oppose the Menendez-Kirk bill is a risky decision for Democrats because it puts them at odds with the pro-Israel lobby and many of their constituents.
“The approach of the White House towards Congress, particularly towards allies, is not one that tends to build political capital and as long as they continue to use that approach, there is going to continue to be unnecessary resistance,” said Parsi. “The sense in Congress is that the White House is asking them for political cover but not giving them political cover. There’s a widespread perception that there’s no reciprocity.”
The White House first hinted that new sanctions will lead to war on Nov. 12, when Carney rejected the idea of new sanctions legislation by saying, “The American people do not want a march to war.”
Menendez personally told Obama such rhetoric was unhelpful in a 30-minute meeting on Dec. 11 at the White House. Menendez conveyed to Obama that the White House characterization of the bill as a march to war was inconsistent with the objective of finding a peaceful solution to the Iran crisis, said a source briefing on the meeting.
The Obama administration pulled out many stops at the time to dissuade Menendez from introducing his sanctions legislation. Senior administration officials, including White House Chief of Staff Denis McDonough and Undersecretary of State Wendy Sherman, in November and December made personal phone calls to Senate Democrats claiming that Iran would walk away from the negotiations if Menendez introduced his sanctions bill.
“Wendy Sherman and Dennis McDonough burned up some credibility last month when they told Senators that the mere introduction of the legislation would kill the Iran talks,” a senior Senate aide said. “They were fear mongering at the end of session telling Senators that Iran would walk away if the Senate merely introduced the legislation. It didn’t happen.”
So far, the talks have not ended even though Menendez introduced his legislation nearly a month ago. Indeed experts point out that the one time Iranian officials walked away from the implementation talks last month, it was in response to the Treasury Department’s designation of several Iranian companies for sanctions, not in response to the actions of Congress.
“If the Iranians walk away over this bill, the blame is on the Iranians, not Bob Menendez, and we should question their intentions from the beginning. If the Iranians walk away over the enforcement of existing sanctions, would that be the Obama administration’s fault?” asked Mark Dubowitz, executive director of the Foundation for the Defense of Democracy, a group that supports the sanctions bill.
Some senior Democrats have sided with the White House. Democratic National Committee Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz was reported to be working against the introduction of a companion to the Menendez-Kirk legislation in the House. Her spokeswoman, Mara Sloan, told The Daily Beast that Wasserman Schultz was not working against introducing Iran legislation, but she does support holding off on new sanctions until the diplomacy plays out.
“The Congresswoman is confident based on the administration’s words and actions that they are not going to do anything that is not in our nation’s and Israel’s long term security interest. We need to give that a chance to work,” said Sloan.
Eli Lake contributed to this report.Ask Trent University history professor John Milloy, and he will tell you Canadians have been “much too polite” about their history.
While the FLQ was blowing up mailboxes in Quebec in the 1960s, Canada became so bent on selling an uncontroversial national narrative that it neglected all the meaty details: The hard-drinking Prime Minister who lied and cheated his way towards a cross-continental railway; anti-government rebels shot dead on Yonge Street in Toronto; voyageurs who slept their way across the frontier; and the hundreds of 1940s Vancouverites who looked the other way when authorities came for the Nakumura family next door.
“Blood, sex, greed,” he said. “That’s the good stuff, that’s what brings people into the movie theatres.”
[np-related]
Similar sentiments may have been on the mind of heritage minister James Moore this week when he mustered a crowd at the Museum of Civilization in Gatineau, Que., to announce that it was not the Museum of Civilization anymore, but the Canadian Museum of History. It was also going to have a lot more cool artifacts, like Rocket Richard’s jersey and the Last Spike of the Canadian Pacific Railroad.
“Our children,’’ said Mr. Moore, ‘‘need to know more about Canada’s past.”
Almost as soon as Canadians penned their first history books, other Canadians were quick to dismiss them as boring. Indeed, after decades of dry textbooks on “responsible government” and community museums packed with rusty tractors, the classification seems well-earned. But in a country whose past is riddled with explosions, sex, warriors, drinking and insanity, is it really so hard to make Canadian history interesting?
When the Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum opened in Springfield, Illinois, its displays were so immense — and so theatrical — that stuffy academics dismissed it as “Lincoln Land.” Far from just a collection of Lincoln artifacts, the $150-million attraction hosts full-scale mockups of a Southern slave market, Lincoln’s boyhood home and his 1865 assassination. Adjacent theatres featured holographic ghosts, vibrating seats, smoke-spewing cannons and a jaw-dropping finale where an entire stage morphs into a Civil War battlefield. “Brings me to tears each time,” reads a typical review.
Fourteen hours to the northwest, Canada also maintains a shrine to its favourite mid-19th century leader. Bellevue House, the Kingston home of Sir John A. Macdonald for a few months in 1848-1849, does not have any holograms or animatronics, but Parks Canada promises a well-tended garden that is “appropriate to the period.”
Writing to Postmedia in 1996, a Vancouver immigrant complained that Canada’s history is “without a doubt, the most boring history I [have] ever encountered.” Although he did not know it at the time, the thought was uniquely Canadian. Decades before, at a 1923 meeting of the Canadian History Association, a university professor had complained that his students had “a profound distaste for history in general and a special hatred for Canadian history in particular.”
It did not need to be that way. “Canadian history is full of oppression and genocide and forced labour and all the exciting things that other national histories have,” wrote Newfoundland-based songwriter and history enthusiast Mathias Kom in an email to the Post.
Museums are strewn with Haida baskets and carvings, but there is seldom mention of their fierce reputation as coastal raiders. Donning full-body armour, Haida warriors paddled as far south as modern-day Vancouver to pillage, capture slaves, and transport them back to their distant archipelago of mist-shrouded islands.
Louis Riel believed in Métis self-determination, but he also believed he was a divinely ordained religious prophet. Following the Red River Rebellion, he spent time in a Quebec insane asylum and was occasionally seen roaring like a bull or tearing off his clothes in public.
Instead of studying WWI troop movements, high school students could have instead learned how Canadian commanders gave their soldiers stiff rations of rum before sending them – rather tipsily – into machine gun fire. Or that Canadian women attempted to spur recruitment by pinning white “coward” feathers on any man who was not in military uniform.
But Canadians, it turns out, like when their history is told well. Pitched as a 32-hour exploration of Canadian history, Canada: A People’s History, was a recipe for ratings disaster. Nevertheless, by targeting the series at a viewership that “did not have a particular interest in Canadian history,” producers pulled off the impossible coup of getting 1.5 million viewers to sit down each week for a Canadian history lesson.
“The real key is storytelling,” said Elliot Halpern, owner of yap films, a Toronto-based producer of shows for History Television. One of yap’s latest, Explosion 1812, examines a moment in the Battle of York when British defenders blew up their powder magazine, instantly killing 250 American soldiers in what was then the continent’s largest-ever explosion.
“Blowing things up is cool for television … and by finding a new through-line for history, the ratings were terrific,” he said. The once-untouchable subject of Canadian history is catching on across the media spectrum.
In 2003, Toronto cartoonist Chester Brown released a “comic-strip biography” of Louis Riel, and watched it become a bestseller. Canadian webcomic artist Kate Beaton similarly rose to prominence after dabbling in history-themed comics poking fun at Wilfrid Laurier’s baldness or the “jowly, crazy-eyed face” of John Diefenbaker.
After the dissolution of the folk-pop band Moxy Früvous, guitarist Mike Ford took to writing Canadian history songs full-time, running the gauntlet from NAFTA to the 1837 Rebellions (Chorus: “Turn them oot! Turn them oot!”).
During the summer Olympics, Canadian television audiences got their first look at a stirring Government of Canada tribute to the War of 1812. The gritty, minute-long ad depicts redcoats and aboriginals forming battle lines and Laura Second darting through the forest to warn of the impending invasion as a deep-voiced narrator intones “we stood side by side and won the fight for Canada.”
Even schools have picked up the slack. “The quality is definitely improving,” said Joel Ralph, new media manager for Canada’s History. Now, instead of dates and names, modern teachers are much more inclined to sic their students online to dig up the WWII recruitment papers of a relative. “They get the kids to act as historians,” he said.
The oft-cited example is CanadianMysteries.ca, a website developed at the University of Victoria that walks students through gruesome unsolved mysteries such as the mob-murder of an entire Irish family in 1880 or the mysterious drowning death of painter Tom Thomson.
Of course, all this compelling history was bound to attract some angry letters.
Reacting to the 1812 ads, in August Carleton University university professor Andrew Cohen wrote an op-ed dismissing them as “jumped up jingoism.” The War of 1812 should be remembered for the “tolerance” it enshrined between Canada and the United States, he wrote.
As soon as Canada: A People’s History hit the airwaves, historians were complaining that it lacked “context.” In 2011, series researcher Gene Allen expressed surprise that the country’s history classes did not show “at least some enthusiasm” for the project.
The Canadian War Museum – with its bullet-riddled fighting vehicles, gruesome trench weapons and “please touch” AK-47 – has become the gold standard for the modern Canadian museum. Within months of its grand opening, though, WWII veterans – and a Senate committee – quickly took issue with a single placard on the Allied bombing of German cities that maintained the “value and morality [of the bombings] remains bitterly contested.”
And this week, only minutes after Mr. Moore announced the end of Civilization, his Twitter account was barraged with messages accusing him of orchestrating a Tory plot to turn the Gatineau museum into a shrine for dead monarchs and Prime Ministers.
Even Mike Ford gets heckled for his NAFTA song.
A high school teacher who wishes to remain anonymous admits the “boring Canadian history” trope remains strong and textbooks remain “concerned with not causing offence when presenting the — often ugly – truths of history.“
“But do know,” he wrote, “that there is a vast group of professionals who do seek the truth … who do challenge the kids to think critically and do indeed inspire their students to look deeply for the truth in our past.”
But interesting history, it seems, does not come without a fight.
National PostA mother and father in the Bronx are desperately searching for their 13-year-old autistic son who has hasn’t been seen since he left for school Tuesday morning.
For the past two days, Rosura Tabers has been worried sick about her son, Ross Harrison. She said he ran out of the building on West 182nd Street on Tuesday morning after complaining about being bullied.
“That day, he told me he don’t want to go to school because someone was going to hit him on the bus,” she told CBS 2’s John Schriffen.
As the two started to head down from the fifth floor to the school bus, relatives said Harrison ran out the door and kept going. The family said the building’s super saw him take off down the block.
“He’s only 13 and he cannot defend himself,” Tabers said. “That’s what I worry about, that somebody might hurt him.”
His father, also named Ross Harrison, handed out flyers all day and night Thursday hoping that someone has seen his son.
“I’m stressed out because he has autism,” he said. “He can basically communicate and he can say his name, but I don’t know how he has been making it without no food or water.
“I’m scared, I’m scared but I’m keeping hope alive. I would never even wish this on my worst enemy.”
Shaakira McFarlande told Schriffen she saw the missing boy riding the subway, but didn’t realize who he was until watching CBS 2 News at Noon.
“I started screaming ‘that’s the boy who was sitting next to me on the train on Tuesday,'” McFarlande said. “He was on the train pacing back and forth, moving from seat to seat.”
McFarlande said he was on the uptown 2 train in the Bronx around 10:30, just a few hours after Harrison was reported missing.
“He asked the man who was selling books on the train if he could see a book and the man told him no. So he started cursing. Then that’s when he got off at 174th,” McFarlande said.
Because of that possible sighting, the family’s search expanded to the subway, where Thursday night Harrison’s sister and uncle scoured platforms and trains, reported CBS 2’s Sean Hennessey.
“I try not to cry, but it’s hard. You’re thinking if he has an aide, where is he sleeping?” Hilda Harrison said.
The theory the family members are going on is Ross is getting on and off subway stops because “he’s trying to locate his stop,” said Juan Tavares, the boy’s uncle. “He’s trying to go home. He’s trying to go back home.”
Home is where loved ones were keeping vigil and where police were checking in, all hoping to find this moving needle in a huge haystack.
“That’s exactly what it is. You can’t, New York is so big and so vast and the subway systems are so long that you can get lost,” the boy’s father said.
The family is pleading to the public for help.
“Hold him and call the police until we can get there and don’t try to get him because he don’t do nothing to nobody,” Tabers said.
The 13-year-old was wearing a black sweater, black shirt, black pants and brown sneakers when he went missing.
Anyone with information on where he might be should call police or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) or visit www.nypdcrimestoppers.com.
Please share your thoughts below…Tom Waddle and Louis Riddick join Mike & Mike and share their thoughts on the Patriots' chances going into the postseason in light of all the injuries they sustained in the regular season. (2:45)
The wild-card teams in the NFL playoffs are the true wild cards.
The Pittsburgh Steelers have the most dangerous quarterback in Ben Roethlisberger. The Seattle Seahawks have the most dangerous team. The Kansas City Chiefs are the hottest team, with 10 wins in a row. The Green Bay Packers offer the passing of Aaron Rodgers.
Ten playoff wild cards have advanced to the Super Bowl, and six have gone all the way to win the Vince Lombardi Trophy. Since the 32-team realignment in 2002, three wild cards have won Super Bowls, so don't immediately block the paths of this year's entries to the Super Bowl because of three possible road games. The wild cards have chances because this postseason is wide-open for several reasons.
My colleague, Mike Sando, is ranking the playoff teams. I am going to evaluate the paths to the Super Bowl, which may offer some surprises. Quarterback injuries certainly play into the equation, as that creates situations in which inexperience factors in.
So here goes, the best paths to the Super Bowl, from clearest to foggiest:
1. New England Patriots: Even though the Broncos took away home-field advantage from the Patriots on Sunday, the Pats have the best path of any team to go back to the Super Bowl, because they have the best AFC quarterback standing, Tom Brady. Sure, Brady took some hits down the stretch and lost his final two games. It was strange seeing him play in the season finale, because Bill Belichick is usually in position to rest his starters before a bye week. Look at the quarterbacks in the AFC among other top teams: Peyton Manning has a plantar fascia injury and isn't what he has been; and Andy Dalton is hoping to play in the Cincinnati playoff game, but he may be pressing it four weeks after breaking his right thumb. Beyond that, you have Alex Smith or Brian Hoyer under pressure on a big stage if one of them comes to Foxborough in the divisional round. The bye week will give the Patriots a chance to get Julian Edelman and Sebastian Vollmer back for the offense. Even as the second seed, the Pats have a lot going for them.
2. Carolina Panthers: The road to the Super Bowl goes through Charlotte. At the very least, the Panthers have a good chance to be in the championship game, and it would be at home. Their best path is to avoid playing the Seahawks in the divisional round. The Seahawks came into Charlotte three times in Russell Wilson's first three years and won low-scoring games. Even though the Panthers won a high-scoring game against the Seahawks in Seattle this season, the Seahawks fear no team and have the experience and leadership to win on the road. But the bye week will allow Carolina's offense to get healthy. Jonathan Stewart should be back running the football. What might make the Panthers vulnerable to defeat is age and injury in the secondary. Cornerback Charles Tillman reinjured his knee Sunday. Cortland Finnegan came out of retirement to play the slot. Safety Roman Harper is 33. That said, the Panthers were the only team in football to go 8-0 at home, and that means plenty for a team that knows how to win anywhere it plays.
3. Arizona Cardinals: Despite the embarrassing 36-6 loss to Seattle on Sunday, the Cardinals might be the most complete team in the playoffs -- good on offense, defense and special teams. Coach Bruce Arians is using the loss as a teaching tool. "This was a valuable lesson today," Arians said. "You could see it coming all week. Players, coaches reading press clippings." The Cardinals, like most teams, are banged up, but they will be healthier given the week off, allowing players to rest and heal their bodies. Sunday's loss may have let Cam Newton get the MVP vote over Carson Palmer, but Palmer will be extra motivated. He had his best year. This is his best team. He's looking to win his first playoff game, and he needs only two wins to get to the Super Bowl.
4. Seattle Seahawks: With the way Russell Wilson is running the Seahawks' offense, the team is never out of any game. Last week's loss to the St. Louis Rams ended a 62-game streak in which the Seahawks held the lead at some point. Wilson has had only two games in which his team lost by more than seven points, and he has had the lead in each of those games. San Diego and Green Bay got late scores to win by more than seven. The Seahawks looked like a Super Bowl team Sunday, going into Arizona and winning by 30 points, even though they were missing their top two offensive linemen (Russell Okung and J.R. Sweezy), halfback Marshawn Lynch and strong safety Kam Chancellor. Lynch is expected to return Monday. Wilson is on fire and the defense regained its swagger. With this team, it's not as much about who they play, it's that they could be a favorite in every instance.
Peyton Manning helped guide the Broncos to a crucial win against the Chargers, with the No. 1 seed on the line. Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images
5. Denver Broncos: Getting two home games and home-field advantage was huge, because there was no way the Broncos would have made the Super Bowl as a wild card or by going to New England. Still, this won't be easy. Gary Kubiak has to choose between Manning and Brock Osweiler at quarterback. Osweiler faded down the stretch, opening the door for Manning to come off the bench and lead the Broncos to Sunday's thrilling victory over San Diego. What you don't know is whether Manning can hold out on his bad foot for two games. Wade Phillips' defense keeps their hopes alive, but even with Manning, the offense has been average and might be at risk of turnovers if he can't plant his feet.
6. Pittsburgh Steelers: This season reminds me so much of 2005, when the Steelers were the wild card, knocked out Carson Palmer's knee in the first round of the playoffs and went to the Super Bowl, where they beat Seattle. Andy Dalton broke his thumb in the one-sided loss to Pittsburgh four weeks ago. If he plays against the Steelers, will his grip be good enough to get the offense into the range of the 27.8 points a game he averaged as a starter this season? With Roethlisberger in charge of the offense, the Steelers can score on anyone. The offense is good enough to go to Denver or New England and score. The Steelers are the most dangerous team in the AFC, even though they needed help to get into the playoffs.
7. Kansas City Chiefs: Ron Rivera is probably the coach of the year in the NFC. Andy Reid is the coach of the year in the AFC. The Chiefs allowed only 128 points over the final 10 games. Except for his back-to-back interceptions Sunday against Oakland, Alex Smith does a great job of protecting the ball. The path isn't bad to start. They are favored to beat the Houston Texans. After that, it could be tough. Smith would go into the divisional round with a 2-2 playoff record, but it's hard to think he's good enough to win three playoff games -- unless we see some of the best play of his career.
8. Cincinnati Bengals: I feel bad for the Bengals. This is their best overall team in more than two decades. Dalton has been so good this year, he should be in the top five in the MVP vote. I fear they could be one-and-done for the fifth straight year. Fans question Dalton's ability to rise to the occasion, but this time health is the issue. Had Dalton not injured his thumb, the Bengals probably would have finished as the No. 1 seed and be at the top of this list. The roster is excellent, but we just don't know what they'll have at the most important position.
9. Green Bay Packers: This doesn't look like a Super Bowl season for the Packers. In fact, they were so bad offensively down the stretch, they needed a Hail Mary in Detroit just to get into the playoffs. The problem is twofold. First, receivers can't get separation from defenders: Between Week 6 and Week 16, the Packers averaged only 318.8 yards a game offensively, ranking 25th in the league. Through 16 weeks, Rodgers completed only 28 of his passes that went 20 yards in the air; he was at 50 last year. Teams play one safety deep against the slow Packers receivers and go at them with man coverage. The other problem is injuries have really taken a toll on the offensive line. Protection broke down so badly that Rodgers was sacked eight times last week against Arizona. It's hard to believe, but the Packers' path to the Super Bowl is weakened because of the offense.
10. Minnesota Vikings: The easiest thing to figure out this season was that the Vikings were going to be a playoff team. You put Adrian Peterson in the backfield with young quarterback Teddy Bridgewater, who went 6-6 as a starter and scored 22 points a game as a rookie, and they were an easy playoff pick. But his recent play makes you wonder if Bridgewater is truly ready to take this team to the Super Bowl. Going into the Sunday night game against Green Bay, the Vikings have been 2-11 against.500 teams or better. They might be good enough to get one playoff win, but it's a mystery beyond that.
11. Houston Texans: Congratulations on winning the AFC South. The Texans might be able to match the Chiefs for defense. Brian Hoyer might be able to have a good game against Alex Smith, but he's not going to be able to win in Denver or New England. Can the defense play at an incredible level? And can Hoyer go beyond his previous level of play?
12. Washington Redskins: Jay Gruden found a quarterback by picking Kirk Cousins over Robert Griffin III. His hiring of Bill Callahan has been crucial to the rebuilding process of the offensive line. Everything is headed in the right direction, but winning the NFC East isn't going to have anyone thinking Super Bowl just yet. No team faces a tougher path.
Inside the Huddle
Cleveland Browns owner Jimmy Haslam is once again faced with an overhaul, off the field and on the field. AP Photo/Frank Victores
The finish for running backs was even worse than expected. Injuries to Stewart, DeAngelo Williams and LeSean McCoy limited the NFL to only seven 1,000-yard rushers, six fewer than in 2013 and 2014. There were only 93 100-yard games by running backs, six fewer than last year.
The 2015 season will be remembered for its close games. More than 50 percent of the games ended up decided by seven points or fewer. That's the most since 2002.
Chaos is everywhere in Cleveland, and that extends to the field. Center Alex Mack is expected to opt out of his contract to get with a winning team. Left tackle Joe Thomas, the team's best player, said, "If they bring in Mangini Part 2, I don't know if I want to be here. I've lived it."
Don't discount the chances of Chiefs offensive coordinator Doug Pederson as the Philadelphia Eagles' next coach. He has spent more time in Philadelphia than Panthers defensive coordinator Sean McDermott, who is expected to interview with the Eagles this week.
The Bears expect to lose offensive coordinator Adam Gase to Miami, Cleveland or another team.
Don't underestimate the chances of former Bills coach Doug Marrone getting interviews for head-coaching jobs with as many as eight teams looking for coaches.
I do think the Detroit Lions will hire a general manager who would like to keep Jim Caldwell as head coach and Jim Bob Cooter as offensive coordinator. Ownership likes Caldwell. Matthew Stafford likes Cooter.Welcome to the mirrorball, bitch!
The O.C.‘s Mischa Barton is the latest celebrity rumored to be joining Dancing With the Stars‘ Season 22 cast, according to Us Weekly.
The ABC isn’t slated to officially announce its latest contestant roster until Tuesday (during Good Morning America). But names are starting to trickle in about who’ll be attempting to tango their way to the title currently held by Bindi Irwin.
Entertainment Tonight is reporting that Facts of Life alum (and current Real Housewives of Atlanta cast member) Kim Fields is strapping on her cha-cha heels, while E! News says America’s Next Top Model champ Nyle DiMarco will follow in Marlee Matlin’s footsteps as the show’s second deaf cast member.
Fuller House star Jodie Sweetin was the first Season 22 cast member officially unveiled by ABC — she’ll be paired with pro Keo Motsepe — while fan fave Derek Hough will sit out the forthcoming cycle.
Will Barton, Fields or DiMarco convince you to return to DWTS? Sound off below!Hamiltonians can consolidate their sports-fan colourway preferences after the Bulldogs hockey team unveiled their new jerseys on Sunday: black and gold.
"The Hamilton Bulldogs have been part of the fabric of the city for the past 20 years," said Bulldogs owner Michael Andlauer in a press release. "It's only fitting that they adopt the colours synonymous with sports in Hamilton."
Ticats fans already have lots of black and gold in their closets. Now they can wear the same colours to root for the Bulldogs.
It's official. <a href="https://twitter.com/BulldogsOHL">@BulldogsOHL</a> going to black and gold next year. Sweet look <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/blackandgoldunite?src=hash">#blackandgoldunite</a>. <a href="https://t.co/J3lpJI1z67">pic.twitter.com/J3lpJI1z67</a> —@wes_chiasson
A 10-year-old named Christina C. designed the winning jersey in the team's contest.
Hamilton Bulldogs' new logo, in black and gold. (Hamilton Bulldogs) Black and gold "dominated" the field, the team said.
The team has changed a lot this season. The AHL Bulldogs, affiliate of the Montreal Canadiens, moved to St. Johns, Nfld. to start last season. The team's previous colours reflected that Canadiens affiliation.
Now the Bulldogs play in the OHL and were previously known as the Belleville Bulls.
"Following the changes to the organization, the new colours signify a fresh beginning for the team," the team said.A UK company is set to create a 'period policy' to give long-suffering women time off work during their monthly cycle.
The new initiative aims to tap into female staff's 'natural rhythms' in order to create a happier and more productive work environment - and it could be a UK first.
Company director Bex Baxter, who employs 31 staff - seven male - at the social community group Coexist, wants to change the stigma around 'women's issues'.
Female employees at a Bristol company will be entitled to paid leave if their period is causing them pain. Pictured: Company director Bex Baxter (centre) with staff members
Bex, 40, said: 'I have managed many female members of staff over the years and I have seen women at work who are bent over double because of the pain caused by their periods.
'Despite this, they feel they cannot go home because they do not class themselves as unwell.
'And this is unfair. At Coexist we are very understanding. If someone is in pain - no matter what kind - they are encouraged to go home.
'But, for us, we wanted a policy in place which recognises and allows women to take time for their body's natural cycle without putting this under the label of illness.'
Bristol-based Coexist employs mostly women and wants to acknowledge the monthly pain many experience - and hopefully increase workplace productivity.
Bex said: 'There is a misconception that taking time off makes a business unproductive - actually it is about synchronising work with the natural cycles of the body.
Bex, 40, (pictured) wants to take the embarrassment and taboo out of period pains for women in work
Bea and Cecilia at work in the office at Coexist. The social community group, which employs 31 staff - seven male - aims to change the stigma around 'women's issues'
'For women, one of these is their menstrual cycles. Naturally, when women are having their periods they are in a winter state, when they need to regroup, keep warm and nourish their bodies.
'The spring section of the cycle, immediately after a period is a time when women are actually three times as productive as usual.'
Bex says it's a cause close to her heart as she too suffers from bad cramps every month.
She continued: 'My team here have always been very generous - I've been able to take time off when I've needed it, but always put it back in again. But until now there haven't been any formal guidelines.'
The idea has been welcomed enthusiastically by staff of both genders.
Bex added: 'For too long there's been a taboo surrounding periods - I have women staff telling me they |
jury members were liking him before deciding when to make a move on him. If he was rubbing people the wrong way, I’d try to take him to the end.
Probst: He’s not going to be in my alliance. If I was on a tribe with him and I had to align with him, my approach would be, “Brother, just tell me what to do. You’re clearly the wise one. You’ve lived on the streets. I haven’t.” Then I’d follow his lead and hope for a switch or a merge.
Shallow: Yeah, I agree. This guy reminds me of Coach so much. I would appeal to his ego. I’d fan the ego, give him a lot of praise, a lot of compliments. I’d make him feel really comfortable, like he’s running the show. And then, get rid of him whenever you need to.The only people who don’t get Presidents Day off seem to be me and foreign people, so the nerd news is a little light today. So enjoy three pieces of impressive and nerdy art.
?? First up, a bewilderingly awesome Star Trek Vs. Doctor Who mash-up by Rain Beredo. You can see more of his awesome work here. Thanks to Sean S. for the tip. the other two are after the jump…
?? I understand this is a photo, but what a photo. XtremeJenn has really raised the bar for Lara Croft cosplay, and then beaten pretty much every other Lara Croft cosplayer to death with that bar. You can see more of her pics here. (Via Unreality)
?? And this is simply the greatest nerd mash-up idea ever, thanks to Dimitris Samaras. It’s like combining peanut butter and chocolate, except less “combining” and more “fucking.” You can see more of his work here. Thanks to all kajillion of you who sent this in.John O’Donohue (1 January 1956 – 4 January 2008) was an Irish poet, author, priest, and Hegelian philosopher. He was a native Irish speaker, and as an author is best known for popularizing Celtic spirituality.
O’Donohue’s first published work, Anam Cara (1997), which means “soul friend” in Gaelic, was an international bestseller and catapulted him into a more public life as an author and much sought-after speaker and teacher, particularly in the United States. O’Donohue left the priesthood in 2000. O’Donohue also devoted his energies to environmental activism, and is credited with helping spearhead the Burren Action Group, which opposed government development plans and ultimately preserved the area of Mullaghmore and the Burren, a karst landscape in County Clare.
Just two days after his 52nd birthday and two months after the publication of his final complete work, Benedictus: A Book of Blessings, O’Donohue died suddenly in his sleep on January 4, 2008 while on holiday near Avignon, France.
There is a kindness that dwells deep down in things; it presides everywhere, often in the places we least expect. The world can be harsh and negative, but if we remain generous and patient, kindness inevitably reveals itself. Something deep in the human soul seems to depend on the presence of kindness; something instinctive in us expects it, and once we sense it we are able to trust and open ourselves. Here in Conamara, the mountains are terse and dark; left to themselves they would make for a brooding atmosphere. However, everywhere around and in between there are lakes. The surface of these lakes takes on the variations of the surrounding light to create subtle diffusions of color. Thus their presence qualifies the whole landscape with a sense of warmth and imagination. If we did not feel that some ultimate kindness holds sway, we would feel like outsiders confronted on every side by a world toward which we could make no real bridges.
The word kindness has a gentle sound that seems to echo the presence of compassionate goodness. When someone is kind to you, you feel understood and seen. There is no judgment or harsh perception directed toward you. Kindness has gracious eyes; it is not small-minded or competitive; it wants nothing back for itself. Kindness strikes a resonance with the depths of your own heart; it also suggests that your vulnerability, though somehow exposed, is not taken advantage of; rather, it has become an occasion for dignity and empathy. Kindness casts a different light, an evening light that has the depth of color and patience to illuminate what is complex and rich in difference. Despite all the darkness, human hope is based on the instinct that at the deepest level of reality some intimate kindness holds sway. This is the heart of blessing. To believe in blessing is to believe that our being here, our very presence in the world, is itself the first gift, the primal blessing. As Rilke says: ‘Hier zu sein ist so viel’ — to be here is immense.
Nowhere does the silence of the infinite lean so intensely as around the form of a newly born infant. Once we arrive, we enter into the inheritance of everything that has preceded us; we become heirs to the world. To be born is to be chosen. To be created and come to birth is to be blessed. Some primal kindness chose us and brought us through the forest of dreaming until we could emerge into the clearance of individuality, with a path of life opening before us through the world.Alan Koch, most recently the Vancouver Whitecaps FC 2 Head Coach, has joined FC Cincinnati as the club’s director of scouting and analytics. He also will serve as an assistant coach to John Harkes.
“We are pleased to have someone with Alan’s resume joining FC Cincinnati,” Cincinnati President and General Manager Jeff Berding said. “We feel his ability to develop young talent and his experience in the areas of scouting, analytics as well as with an MLS youth academy are key to the long-term advancement of the club. His familiarity with the USL and his background as a head coach in our league brings a level of expertise that will help us in continuing to bring professional soccer at the highest level to Cincinnati.”
Koch spent the past two seasons with WFC2, taking the team from eight wins in 2015 to 12 victories this season with a sixth-place finish in the standings. WFC2 won their first postseason match against Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC, rallying for a 2-1 victory, and then earning a 3-2 win against OKC Energy FC to advance to the Western Conference Final. Koch’s run ended with a loss to the Swope Park Rangers.
“Alan has experience and success as a coach at various levels,” Harkes said. “I am looking forward to having him join FCC this year as we continue to build towards winning the USL Cup.”
“I appreciate the opportunities given to me by Bob Lenarduzzi, Greg Anderson and the ownership group,” said Koch. “I also want to thank Carl Robinson and his staff for their friendship and sharing their experience and knowledge. I will miss Vancouver Whitecaps FC, the fans and the players, and appreciate all of their support. I am excited about this next challenge in Cincinnati. What occurred in the first season with the club and its supporters has been amazing. There is a great base in place to build on as the club moves forward into 2017 and beyond.”
Koch is originally from Durban, South Africa and matriculated from Westville Boys High School. Prior to joining the Whitecaps he coached at Simon Fraser University (SFU) for seven seasons, compiling a record of 126-21-7 and becoming the quickest coach in program history to reach 100 victories. During his tenure at SFU, his teams won four Great Northwest Athletic Conference (GNAC) championships, two Division II regional titles and advanced to the NCAA Division II Final Four twice. He was voted the Conference Coach of the Year six consecutive years and led his team to a NCAA Top 10 ranking every year.The Alternative for Germany party (AfD) might have to cut out the Christmas bonuses this year. Germany's anti-EU, anti-immigration party has lost one of its most important income sources after the government closed the loophole allowing parties to get extra state subsidies for running an unprofitable business on the side.
The AfD has been selling small gold bars and coins (the old deutschmarks, not euros, of course) to exploit a loophole in party funding regulations. Until now, the state gave parties 85 cents ($0.92) for every vote if they got more than 0.5 percent in the last election - but only up to the value of their total income from membership fees, donations and other businesses. The idea of the cap was to stop smaller parties living off tax money - but by boosting its income via its gold trade, the AfD ensured that it was entitled to the extra subsidies even though the profit was marginal.
The scheme was condemned by many when it was first introduced in 2014. "It is a low point for our party culture," constitutional lawyer Jörn Ipsen was quoted in "Der Spiegel" as saying. "The fact that a party is capitalizing on its status is very dubious constitutionally."
Von Storch condemned what she called the "Lex AfD"
The new party funding law - drawn up by the governing coalition of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and the Social Democratic Party (SPD) - altered the regulation so that only profit, rather than turnover, was eligible for the state subsidy, drastically slashing the AfD's income. The amendment was hastily hurried through parliament this week before the Christmas holiday, ensuring that all 2015 income would be affected by the change.
'An attack on our existence'
The party's deputy leader Beatrix von Storch didn't shy away from melodrama in describing the government's hasty initiative. "This is not a law," she told "Die Zeit" newspaper. "This is an attack on our existence."
Von Storch claimed that the alteration meant the AfD would lose 2 million euros ($2.1 million) this year, and immediately issued an emergency call for a 100-euro donation from each of its 20,000 members. "If the party does not get 2 million euros of donations by the end of the year, we'll be bankrupt," said von Storch. "And Germany will be left without an alternative." The AfD was further incensed by the fact that the new amendment also raised the subsidy per vote - from 85 cents to one euro - thus ensuring a boost in income for the established parties.
"It is, of course, a pretty nasty move by the government parties," said Michael Koss of Transparency International's German office. At the same time, he wasn't about to shed many tears for the AfD. "What they were doing was just turnover without profit," he told DW. "They were selling money for the same price as I could sell it for - it'd be generous to call it a business."
The comedy party Die Partei ("The Party"), which gained enough votes in 2014 to get a seat in the European Parliament, satirized the AfD's scheme last month by launching a campaign to sell 100-euro notes for 80 euros each, hoping to make a profit via the state subsidies. It, too, will likely be hurt by the change in regulations, though Die Partei took the hit on the chin: "That fun has probably cost us 25,000 euros," the party posted on its Facebook page. "But it was for a good cause - the bankruptcy of the AfD!"
Transparency and LobbyControl say party donations in Germany need much closer scrutiny
A chance missed
In Germany, political parties are allowed to operate businesses to boost their income - a practice that dates back to the 19th century, when socialist parties were crippled by the Bismarck-era Anti-Socialist Laws. "It is a specifically German thing, at least in this form," said Koss. "The SPD bought newspapers so that they could put their own opinions out."
Since then, the SPD has traditionally invested in a number of publishing houses - though these, Koss argues, are legitimate businesses rather than money-making schemes. The pro-business Free Democratic Party is also involved in printing companies.
For the NGO LobbyControl, the furore over the end of the AfD's gold-selling scheme masked a much more important issue - the continued lack of transparency and regulation on large business donations to political parties. "With the new reform, the grand coalition has missed a chance," LobbyControl spokeswoman Christina Deckwirth said. "Allowing itself more money without addressing the long-standing abuses in party law is an affront. Especially the untransparent party sponsoring urgently needs to be reformed."Mary Podesta, 88, who cooked pasta, pesto and Mediterranean fare for countless Democratic fundraisers over the past 20 years, died of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease March 9 at Sibley Memorial Hospital.
Mrs. Podesta, known as "Mama Podesta" to a who's who of politicians, lobbyists and office holders, furnished and became a staple at Democratic dinners shortly after she moved to Washington in 1987. Her sons, who had been cooking for the fundraisers they staged, decided to improve their fare and asked if she would cook. Her modest but delicious offering was a hit.
"I know a lot of times I'll be at a function someplace and they go, 'Oh, you're the Pesto Queen,' " she told the Associated Press in 2004. "Oh, God. I never looked for that title!"
Mrs. Podesta's home cooking raised millions of dollars for candidates, but she contributed to the Democrats years earlier by raising two prominent sons -- Tony, founder of the lobbying and public relations firm PodestaMattoon, and John, chief of staff for then-President Bill Clinton and now the founder and chief executive of the Center for American Progress.
"She knows more Democratic senators than most lobbyists," said Tony Podesta, the elder son.
Mrs. Podesta's famous pesto, which was exotic to Washington palates 20 years ago, came from her husband's family, which originated in the Liguria region of northwestern Italy.
"Not only was the food wonderful, but just sitting in the kitchen, holding her hand and talking to her, I felt like I was in my mother's and grandmother's kitchen," said Sen. Patrick J. Leahy (D-Vt.). "She knew everything that was going on, and she made it very clear what she liked and didn't like."
Mrs. Podesta typically didn't join the movers and shakers at the dinner table or for pre- or post-dinner schmoozing. Those in the know made their way to her, often before paying respects to the honored guest.
"You almost had to see it," Leahy said. "She would have members of Congress, Cabinet officers, people in high public office and a neighbor just dropping by, and she was holding court. She was the center."
She was "an artist in the kitchen," said New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, for whose campaign fundraisers Mrs. Podesta cooked.
"She was gregarious, she was always smiling, and she had a great bundle of pride in her sons and her country," Richardson said. "Her one requirement: Even the candidate, even the most powerful senator or governor could not enter the kitchen without her permission while the event was taking place. The highlight was always after the event, sitting with her and eating."
Born in Chicago to Greek immigrant parents, Mrs. Podesta graduated from high school there and worked in her father's restaurant, where she met her future husband, who was a customer. After they married, she became a full-time homemaker until her sons were in school and worked occasionally as a poll watcher. She then was a department manager at Bankers Life and Casualty Co. in Chicago for almost 30 years. Her husband, John D. Podesta Sr., died in 1980.
In addition to her sons, both of Washington, survivors include a sister, Evelyn Carres of Winchester, Va.; three grandchildren; and two great-grandchildren.Skrillex keeps putting butts in my Twitter feed. One butt, actually—a woman's, clad in tight, fuchsia bikini bottoms. There's a front view of her, too, complete with an anatomically improbable thigh gap. The curves of her body have been retouched, and her skin is covered with digitally applied tribal tattoos, OWSLA logos, and space aliens. The whole thing is really fucking creepy, frankly; it's like the Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue as reimagined by DIS magazine. Oh, and she's also cut off from the shoulders up, so the upper part of her body is just a skeleton. (Maybe the designer was feeling inspired by Art Department, who also cut off a woman's head in a recent flyer.)
The image in question is part of an advertisement for a new compilation from OWSLA, Skrillex's label, and it's also being used to promote a party that he's throwing in Miami later this month, during Ultra. But thanks—or no thanks—to the way that Twitter displays photos, it's that bikini-clad body that commands your attention as it comes thrusting its way into your feed, ass- or crotch-first, like a health-goth avatar of pure, hot-pink sex, optimized for Retina Display.
Perhaps this is all supposed to be ironic, a way of slyly poking fun at the sun-sex-and-spring-breakers clichés that have long accompanied Winter Music Conference party flyers. But the visual style of the image doesn't feel ironic. There's nothing particularly tongue-in-cheek about its sexualized tropes; it merely replicates them. Consider, too, the way the viewer is treated to both back and front views of the woman's nether regions: it's like she's been put on a spit and left to rotate for our visual pleasure. It's party flyer as horndog Panopticon.
Unfortunately, this kind of voyeuristic, objectifying male gaze is all over dance music, and it seems like it's getting worse. For years, the Ultra label's various compilations have featured a parade of buxom, oiled-up swimsuit models on their covers, but the press release for last year's Ultra Dance 15 spent two full paragraphs discussing its bikini-clad cover girl (Melanie Iglesias, 2010 winner of Maxim's "Hometown Hotties" competition) before even touching upon the songs inside. Not only that, but Ultra also shot "behind the scenes" cheesecake videos to promote recent editions.
If Ultra hadn't, somebody probably would have done it for them. Just search YouTube for "electro house" or "deep house" and you'll be confronted with a veritable deluge of semi-naked women in kittenish poses. For the administrators of YouTube channels, bared (female) skin is all part of the quest to bring in clicks, and thus ad dollars. In just the past three years, Majestic Casual has racked up 2.3 million subscribers, and more than 646 million views, with a business model that involves pairing moody tech-house with sultry, soft-lit photos of young women in various states of undress. Dozens of channels pursue a similar approach, and though their aesthetics vary from "tasteful" Hipstamatic blur to Victoria's Secret tacky, they are united in their objectification of women's bodies. You can't necessarily blame the artists whose songs are featured on those channels; their music is often used without permission, and getting one's music taken down requires a fair amount of effort. Then there are artists like Henry Krinkle, whose own uploads are festooned with all manner of lad-mag-inspired skin shots, from "lesbian" softcore to Lolita-like ingénues. (Then again, what would you expect from a guy who names himself after an alias of Taxi Driver's Travis Bickle, he of the child-prostitute fixation?)
And it's not like "legit" artists and businesses are any better. Calvin Harris' team specializes in titillating, exploitative videos like the one for "Thinking About You". Zhu, who shares management with Krewella but has been promoted as a shadowy, Burial-type figure, broke through with a video that looks like it was art directed by Terry Richardson or American Apparel's Dov Charney, and is chock full of writhing nubiles and winking drug references. Hard festival creator Gary Richards, who records as Destructo, doesn't stop with mere objectification. His 2012 video for the song "Technology" is about a dude who gags, smothers, and returns as "defective" his sex-robot girlfriend when she has the audacity to fall in love with him. In his 2013 video for "Higher", a sex-addicted woman spurned by her boyfriend rips her heart out and dies. (Agata Alexander, who directed both "Technology" and "Higher", disputes that either video is exploitative; read her response here.) His "Party Up" video, in comparison, was relatively tame; it just featured a busload of strippers—the logical extension of one of YG's repeated lyrics in the song: "I keep my bitches on the bus."
(Oh, and while we're speaking of outright misogynists, don't even get me started on Borgore.)
This is not the first time I've written this column. I've drafted variations upon the theme various times over the past few years, but I've never published them. In part, I didn't want to seem like a scold. And in part, calling out EDM bozos for being sexist is shooting fish in a barrel. But seeing that OWSLA flyer bummed me out. Skrillex is supposed to be a chill dude. He's supposed to be on the side of the underdogs. Instead, right around International Women's Day, his label was propagating the myth that the ideal woman in dance music is svelte, faceless, mostly naked, and on display. And that really sucks.
Maybe one reason that women are so woefully underrepresented in electronic music—that is, as DJs, producers, promoters, label heads, sound technicians, mastering engineers, etc.—is that they see shit like that and they feel excluded. Maybe they see shit like that and they feel threatened. Who wouldn't, if she had the (quite reasonable) suspicion that clubs and festivals must be full of horny young men who have been brought up to treat women as sex objects? Or maybe, most reasonably of all, they see enough shit like that and they decide they wouldn't touch dance music with a 10-foot pole, because why bother with a scene that's so pitifully unimaginative and creatively bankrupt?Play 01:03 Play 01:03 'Just happy to be playing again' - Khawaja
Joe Burns and Usman Khawaja got the nod, Cameron Bancroft and Shaun Marsh just missed out, but there was also plenty of discussion about the veteran Michael Klinger in Australia's selection meeting ahead of the first Test against New Zealand. At 35, Klinger seemed unlikely to be seriously considered for the start of a rebuilding process after a number of post-Ashes retirements.
However, his double-century for Western Australia in the first round of Sheffield Shield matches was timely as the younger contenders around the country failed to have an impact in the last innings before the squad was chosen. It was Klinger's 14th century across all formats in the past year, and head coach and selector Darren Lehmann said his name had been part of the discussion.
"We spoke about him quite a lot, to be perfectly honest," Lehmann said on SEN radio in Melbourne on Friday. "He was very, very close. It's a tough one isn't it. His experience is there. He's 35, we've already got Adam Voges who is 36. Do we want to go down that path?
"Age is not too much of an issue, but when we're looking at players over a period of time - he averages 38 in first-class cricket, Khawaja averages 40 for example and he's seven or eight years younger. Sometimes you just have to go with a gut feel. It's a tough call sometimes. But we certainly looked at him."
National selector Rod Marsh was blunt when asked about Klinger, declaring that although he had been discussed, his long-term performance had not been such that he warranted jumping ahead of the younger men.
"Of course we've looked at Michael Klinger," Marsh said. "He's got to keep making runs. "Have you looked at Michael Klinger's batting average in first-class cricket? It's not as good as the other boys. Part of our selection policy is if you've got two blokes that are absolutely equal you go for the younger bloke, and I think that's very fair.
"If one bloke is noticeably better and is more likely to influence the outcome of a game, then you pick the old bloke. But if they're not noticeably better and they're not likely to influence the outcome of a game, then you must always go with your youth. That's our policy, and whether you agree with it or not, it's irrelevant."
Although Klinger's long-term figures might appear slightly underwhelming, he has enjoyed a productive period in his thirties. In the past two years he has averaged 45.95 in first-class cricket, with 11 centuries, but even if Burns and Khawaja fail to grasp their chances against New Zealand it would appear more likely that younger men such as Bancroft would be the next contenders.
Michael Klinger's recent double-century for Western Australia was his 14th century across formats in the past year © Getty Images
Bancroft had been part of the squad named for the abandoned tour of Bangladesh, and would likely have opened with Burns had that trip gone ahead, with David Warner out of action due to a fractured thumb. Burns debuted in Test cricket at No. 6 but now has the opportunity to become Warner's new opening partner, having thrived as an opener for Queensland - he averages 46.58 as a first-class opener for the Bulls.
"I guess my last two years for Queensland has been as an opening batter and I feel really comfortable and confident in that role," Burns said. "I've had some consistent success there, so it is very easy to just slide in and I guess the fact that the first game is at the Gabba, my home ground, makes it a little bit easier as well. So, it is a challenge that I'm really looking forward to; I'm excited about the prospect of opening the batting for Australia"
Burns averages 40.86 at the Gabba, which is also the adopted home ground of the now Queensland captain Khawaja. It has been an especially productive venue for Khawaja, who averages 67.46 from nine first-class matches there, and now has a chance to play his first home Test in nearly four years.
Khawaja's return to the side is all the more impressive given that last December he suffered a serious knee injury that put him out of action until the middle of this year. He said there were times during his lay-off that he wondered if his career might have been over, but now he has the chance to build the solid Test career that he has promised since his debut in 2011.
"It's massive, I'm just happy to be playing cricket again," Khawaja said. "I was thinking about it this morning and at one point I thought - with the knee injury my career might have been over. And then obviously I did a ton of work to get back. I'm just happy to be playing cricket again, it's a lot of fun. So yes it's a big bonus I think."
Brydon Coverdale is an assistant editor at ESPNcricinfo. @brydoncoverdale
© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.Corporations want free money now
If a known developer is using Kickstarter to fund its next game, be careful -- the money might end up getting used to ostensibly give a major publisher a new game for free. Obsidian CEO Feargus Urquhart has revealed that publishers tried to use his company for that very purpose.
"We were actually contacted by some publishers over the last few months that wanted to use us to do a Kickstarter," he revealed on his team's own KS page. "I said to them 'So, you want us to do a Kickstarter for, using our name, we then get the Kickstarter money to make the game, you then publish the game, but we then don't get to keep the brand we make and we only get a portion of the profits.'
"They said, 'Yes'."
It's a shame Obsidian can't name names, though one can easily understand why. In any case, this is really low, even for videogame publishers, and I certainly can't wait until one of them is finally caught trying to ostensibly steal IP for free. The sad thing is... it's just so obvious that it happened. Just once, I'd like to think publishers wouldn't do the shitty thing I fully expect them to do. Just once. Maybe for Christmas.
Can't even say I'm mad at this. It is predictable, pathetic, and just disappointing.
[Via NeoGAF]
You are logged out. Login | Sign upYishan Wong is the new CEO at Reddit, an excellent social media site I have written about previously. In looking at his background I found some interesting articles he wrote on engineering management based on his experience at Facebook engineering.
He starts with “make hiring your number one priority, always.” To me this is a specific knowledge worker issue. Hiring is always important but the importance in knowledge worker settings (especially when there is quite a bit of poaching good people going on) is elevated. The system thinking affects are obvious from his article including: “Succesfully hiring the best people at all levels means that down the road, your internal promotion pipeline is strong.” This is especially important given his emphasis on promotion from within – of course he wasn’t hired from within for the CEO job at Reddit :-).
Of course as a Deming management advocate I appreciate his article stating process should be implemented by those who do the work. I do strongly disagree with his seeming desire for unformed processes. I strongly believe making processes clear and consistent is critical as is an effective culture of continual improvement.
He further writes: “All external management hires must be able to write code and show a high level of technical proficiency, up to and including the head of the technical department. If the company is a technology company, this should also include the CEO.” I disagree with this idea. I do agree it is preferable. My belief is that one reason (there are many others) we have done so poorly at improving management over the years is we treat it as the promotion path for technical experts (programers, accountants, production, sales…). They often end up focused not on the management of the system but mucking around in details others should take care of. I do believe in the value of a long history of dealing with the company. It is very valuable to know how to write excellent code, I just don’t see that as the top requirement.
Related: Learn to Code to Help Your Career – Productivity Improvement for Entrepreneurs (and Everybody Else Really) – Involve IT Staff in Business Process Improvement – The Myth of the Genius Programmer – Management sub-redditPolitical ads have been an especially hot topic this week, with surrogates from both presidential campaigns alternately citing, and arguing with, vaunted fact-checking outfits like the Pulitzer Prize-winning Politifact. Although controversial rulings have eroded the magic of such efforts, it is worth noting that, by Politifact’s numbers, Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney is 58% more likely to lie than President Obama.
According to Politifact’s rating system, Mitt Romney’s statements have been judged Mostly False, False, or Pants on Fire 46% of the time, versus only 29% for President Obama. In the Pants on Fire category alone, Romney is more than four times as likely to suffer trouser immolation than the President. Nearly one in ten statements by Romney earned flaming slacks, versus one out of every fifty for Obama.
Even when Romney does tell the truth, according to Politifact, he’s much more likely to mix in some falsehoods. 48% of his non-false ratings were only “Half True,” compared with 35% for President Obama.
However, as Politifact critics on the left and the right have noted (including me), their rulings are often inconsistent with each other, and even contradictory to their own analyses.
For example, they gave Mitt Romney a Pants On Fire for claims he made about the strength of the US Navy because, even though the figures he quoted were “largely correct,” they didn’t back up his “overall point.”
However, in a nearly identical circumstance in which Romney correctly claimed that President Obama had never visited Israel as President, even though Politifact acknowledged that no Republican president has ever visited Israel in his first term (Ronald Reagan and Bush 41 never went), they rated Romney’s claim “True,” even though his overall point was false.
In a separate rating on the same ad, they rated “Half True” Romney’s claim that President Obama “refuses to recognize Jerusalem as (Israel’s) capital,” even though their own analysis concluded that Obama did make such a recognition as a candidate, and his current position is “not so much a refusal on his part but a continuation of the line taken before him by previous presidents.”
Fact-checkers like Politifact are tremendously valuable for the research that they aggregate and conduct themselves, but inconsistent, contradictory, and capricious rulings badly undercut that value, especially when those are what politicians and media outlets pay the most attention to. Either a more consistent ratings scale is needed, or they ought to scrap them entirely, and let each fact-check stand on its own merits.
Until then, though, these are the numbers we have to work with, so if these presidential campaigns are going to rely on Politifact when it’s convenient, then they ought to live with these results, and media organizations who constantly quote Politifact should report them.
Have a tip we should know? tips@mediaite.combaoli, or stepwell. A view of the temple's, or stepwell.
Gurdwara Chowa Sahib (Urdu: گردوارہ چوآ صاحب; literally: "Gurudwara of the exalted spring") is an abandoned gurudwara located at the northern edge of the Rohtas Fort, near Jhelum, Pakistan. Situated near the fort's Talaqi gate, the gurdwara commemorates the site where Guru Nanak is popularly believed to have created a water-spring during one of his journeys known as udasi.[1][2][3]
History [ edit ]
The first commemorative structure was built by Charat Singh, who installed a sarovar pool, and area for recitation of the Guru Granth Sahib.[1] The current building dates from 1834, and was commissioned by Maharaja Ranjit Singh.[4]
Significance [ edit ]
Sikhs believe that Guru Nanak and Bhai Mardana were traveling in the region during the fourth of Guru Nanak's journeys - known as udasis. The two were traveling during the summer, and had arrived at the site following a 40-day stay at the nearby Tilla Jogian temples. Bhai Mardana expressed his thirst while lamenting that water was scarce in the region during that time of year. Guru Nanak is said to have then struck the earth with his cane and moved a stone,[5] thereby revealing a natural spring.[1]
Sikh lore states that Sher Shah Suri attempted to shift the spring up the hill to use a source of water for the newly constructed Rohtas Fort. The king's engineers attempted the feat three times, failing each time.[1]
Conservation [ edit ]
The gurdwara in 2007, prior to restoration works.
The temple stands at the base of a hill upon which the Rohtas Fort, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is situated. Despite its proximity to the historic site, the temple is stands disused and neglected, with no local Sikh community to fund its upkeep.
See also [ edit ]Palestinians stand in a pool of water next to the entrance of tunnels used for smuggling supplies between Egypt and the Gaza Strip, on Sept. 18, 2015. (AFP/Said Khatib, File)
GAZA CITY (Ma'an) -- Gazan Civil Defense rescue teams on Tuesday morning were battling to save the lives of 14 Palestinians who went missing inside a smuggling tunnel when Egyptian military forces flooded it with seawater.
Muhammad al-Meidana, a Civil Defense official, told Ma'an that rescue teams had been able to save the lives of seven tunnel workers, but that contact was lost with 14 others, who were now missing.
Initial reports that the Civil Defense had established contact with these 14 workers turned out to be false.
Smuggling tunnels that pass beneath the Egyptian border have served as a lifeline to the outside world for Gaza's 1.8 million inhabitants since Israel imposed a crippling siege on the coastal enclave in 2007, which is supported by Egypt.
While the tunnels are used by Hamas as a source of tax revenue and inflow of weapons, they also supply necessary goods for Gazans including food, medicine, as well as infrastructure materials including concrete and fuel.
Egypt has sought to destroy the tunnels as part of an ongoing security campaign in the northern Sinai against anti-regime militants, which Egypt accuses Hamas of supporting, although Hamas strongly denies the accusations.
The smuggling tunnels are notoriously dangerous, and workers are frequently killed working inside them.The professional wrestler known as Kane is making a bid to become mayor of Knox County in Tennessee. PHOTO: MGN
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — The professional wrestler known as Kane is making a bid to become mayor of Knox County in Tennessee.
The towering WWE villain, whose real name is Glenn Jacobs, had previously filed papers to be able to raise money for a bid to succeed term-limited Mayor Tim Burchett. The Knoxville News Sentinel reports Jacobs formally kicked off his campaign Tuesday.
Tea party groups urged Jacobs to challenge U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander in the Republican primary in 2014, but he ended up deciding against a run.
Knox County Commissioner Bob Thomas is also running and Knox County Sheriff Jimmy "J.J." Jones has filed paperwork naming a treasurer for a possible bid.Kadokawa announced on Monday its financial results for the period ending in March 2014. In the results, it revealed that its board of directors decided to acquire 80% of the game maker From Software and make the smaller company a subsidiary. Kadokawa will be buying this stake of From Software from the game maker's previous owner, Trans Comos, and the transfer will conclude on May 21.
The Kadokawa Group plans to have From Software, along with its existing Kadokawa Games, as its core game companies to expand its business.
From Software developed the Armored Core franchise, the |
By providing reliable news on the suffering church, Morning Star News’ mission is to empower those in the free world to help and to encourage persecuted Christians that they are not forgotten or alone. For free subscription or to make tax-deductible donations, contact editor@morningstarnews.org, or send check to Morning Star News, 34281 Doheny Park Rd., # 7022, Capistrano Beach, CA 92624, USA.The plan was simple. Join with Saurabh part way to the lake, and meet Simon, Alex, and Rick there at the Bifue Campground at the far west end of the lake. How to get to the campground, however, was very much undecided. In 2011, we’d successfully cycled around the closed portion of Route 78 on the north side of the lake. It was now 6 years and a particularly devastating typhoon season later, and all reports suggested that large swaths of that closed road are now washed away.
The result was that right up until the turnoff to that closed road, we were going back and forth about whether we should try it out again. If we did manage to get through the closed road, we’d save over 20km of extra cycling around the southern side of the lake to the campground. On the other hand, if we took the closed road on but ended up being turned back, we’d have a lot of back-tracking to do.
For the meantime, we started off from our place feeling relaxed. We had a whole 3 hours to get from our place to where we’d meet up with Saurabh, a mere 20km away. Easy. That was until we very quickly realised that the directions Google Maps had give us had been turned all the way up to ‘gravel-road-adventure’ mode. We found ourselves pushing our bikes up an insanely steep, rough gravel road. This is the route we ended up on: https://ridewithgps.com/routes/23042249
Once somewhat at the ‘top’ of the gravel road, however, the going was relatively easy. Beautiful, quiet forest surrounded us, with just the occasional glimpse of more forested hills north towards Sapporo City. This rather hefty long shortcut meant we were 45 minutes late to our rendezvous spot with Saurabh. He’d arrived almost 1.5 hours earlier, and had been entertaining himself with visions of bear attacks on the roadside (we’d arranged to meet at a forestry road entrance, which happened to have large bear warning signs).
From our rendezvous spot, it was another hour and a bit to the lake. By this time we’d given up on the closed road route. Time was getting on, we weren’t carrying food for lunch, and the promise of a cooked meal at the lakeside restaurant was just too much to ignore. From where Route 453 hits the lake, it is smooth sailing all the way to Bifue Campground, via Lake Shikotsu Village. The views are stellar for much of the way.
And then, of course, is the Bifue Campground itself. Perched on a pristine beach at the western edge of the lake, this campground is one of the best in Hokkaido. It is relatively pricey at 1,000yen per person per night. But for that you get access to showers (100yen for 10 minutes), a small shop selling basic foodstuffs, free rental of portable firepits, and of course amazing swimming and camping.
A few weeks back, I had gushed at how amazing Simon and Alex’s breakfast was on the morning after they camped with us having arrived at the campsite in their car. How nice it is to have a car to carry all the luxuries and make delicious breakfasts, I thought at the time.
This time, they had arrived at the campsite by bike. And this time also, their breakfast was on point.
I mean, tortillas for breakfast?
Because Simon and Alex only had a short downhill ride to their home in Tomakomai, they stayed later at the campsite that morning. Rick, Saurabh, Haidee and I left earlier in order to get the miles in. For Saurabh in particular, it would end up being a full 100km day back to his place in central Sapporo City.
While we had come to Lake Shikotsu via the direct, mountainous route from Sapporo, we opted to return to Sapporo via Chitose City and Kitahiroshima. This has the distinct benefit of being able to use the beautiful Chitose-Shikotsu cycleway as well as the Shiroishi Cycle road.
The Chitose-Shikotsu Cycleway is a 25km separated path that goes from lake Shikotsu to Chitose City. Make sure you drop off at the very nice Birdwatching Cafe on your way into Chitose City.
From Chitose City, you could conceivably cycle direct to Sapporo via the monstrosity that is Route 36 – a 4-lane busy highway/trunk route for cars, trucks, and hoons travelling from southern Hokkaido into Sapporo.
I could think of nothing worse, so we usually zigzag our way from Chitose City across the farming plains to Kita-Hiroshima, and approach Sapporo City from the southeast, via the Shiroishi Cycling Road. It starts here, on the eastern side of Kitahiroshima JR Train Station. From there, it is stress-free cycling into Hokkaido’s largest city.Originally posted on Wednesday, August 29, 2012, at 4:58 PM… Deleted by ZOG-Google. Republished on 17th September 2014 13:04 PM.
Many people are not aware of the fact that African slavery was not “Dutch”, that the Opium Wars were not “English”, that Communism was not “Russian”, and even the Mafia is not “Italian”. All were Jewish. This article will, in part, be about the history of the Sassoon family, a Jewish family whose name was popularized by the heavily advertised Sassoon brand of blue jeans. Like the two Jewish banker brothers with fake names who recently almost singlehandedly destroyed the economy and future of the people of Iceland, which led to the Iceland Revolution, the Sassoons, also a banking family, hailed originally from Iran.
In the case of China, an entire society and system of government were corrupted and destroyed by Jewish outsiders through the promotion of drug use and proxy war using England to enforce it.. This is the sort of nation destroying tactic, the process of corruption from within, that Dr. William Pierce eloquently and accurately expounds upon in his video, “The Jewish Corrupters”, which is so frequently deleted.
The Jewish Corrupters – Dr. William Pierce from Marcus on Vimeo.
Speaking of censorship, this small article about the Opium Wars was originally meant to replace yet another often deleted video, a video on the Opium Wars, that had been removed without a single copy left. Now this video is back, viewable at the very end of this article. It is only approximately 5 minutes long and well worth watching, and as you will see, it merely states historical facts, so certainly there can have been no just reason to have deleted it other than as a cover-up. The article about the video was ripped off as well, but here we have both the video and an updated and an expanded newer version of the article restored again.
Drug use has become something of a rallying point, in activist circles especially, and sometimes even forms a sort of common bond among drug takers. One often sees the uses of historical hemp extolled, and Libertarians rave about the benefits of marijuana, and we are even told that cannabis oil or juice, which is not an intoxicant itself, cures all sorts of health problems, even cancer. I do not know if this is correct or not, perhaps it is, but one thing I have observed is that perpetual use of marijuana in its form as a drug, causes substantial reduction in intellectual capacity and motivation and reasoning difficulties. Studies back up the fact that brain damage occurs from frequent drug use, especially in adolescents.
There are frequent academic suggestions that ancient Pagan soothsayers used various plants or natural gases to enter into meditative states or for shamanistic practices, and they may have done so occasionally, but I highly doubt they became what I would call, the “pot heads” of today, who follow a lifestyle completely predicated on obtaining their next drug fix, at times involving drug selling, theft, and prostitution to do so.
Often these factors of supposed ancient drug use are emphasized or taken out of context and given undue importance because those doing so seek to draw drug users, promote drug use, and to twist history to retroactively legitimize the widespread, and highly damaging, recreational drug use of today.
In our Norse history, the idea that our Gods race mixed, that our priests were homosexual, and that Viking berserkers commonly used hallucinogenic mushrooms is relentlessly pushed by homosexual and Jewish pseudo-academics despite there being only the most tenuous or irrational “evidence” to this effect imaginable. This last mentioned fallacy was first promoted in 1784 by Samuel Ãdman, who suggested that Amanita muscaria mushrooms were used by Vikings to enter into berserker rages before battles. His only evidence for this was drawn upon reports of observations of Siberian shamans using the mushroom to enter trance states. The difficulty is that, far from producing battle lust, apparently Amanita muscaria use induces euphoria similar to the effect caused by opium use.
Having lived in two of the most drug infested places in America, Hawaii and Florida, just a brief look at the people I went to school with was enough to prove the harmful nature of drug use to me beyond the shadow of a doubt, which is why I never used any of these substances. I noticed people on drugs could not hit baseballs ever because they lost coordination, and that girls who took expensive drugs, such as cocaine, often became coke whores. One homosexual high school science teacher actually had a quaalude factory in his lab, and tried to seduce male students with lines like. “Come on Kevin, I’ll help you do your math homework and then we can go out back and smoke some joints as a reward”.
This man could not even speak coherently and I remember him once asking how to spell “the” while he was standing up and talking at the blackboard. Everyone ignored him for the most part because practically all of the students were busy drinking beer, playing poker, and laying out lines of coke on the lab tables and snorting them. None of these students ever got any college degrees as far as I am aware. My feeling is that things are difficult enough for our people without being habitual drug users too.
For Comic Relief, Amusing Video about Spiders on Drugs…
In all the heroin chic hoopla, what is generally not mentioned is that drug abuse has profoundly significant and negative effects upon the lives of the people who take them habitually, and can even harm unborn babies, just as alcohol use can. It is not really the glamorous habit it is presented to be. I remember a beautiful young blonde girl who came to my archaeoastronomy course, but left in the middle of class because she was out of her mind on drugs and having some sort of crawling the walls type episode. She came back a couple months later just before the Midterm exams expecting to finish the course and brandishing a card that approved her medical marijuana use, saying “They don’t give these to just anyone!” I did not want to be forced to give her a bad grade, and after much gentle persuasion, I was able to get her to drop the course, but it would have been far better for her, whatever her problems, if she never used the drugs in the first place.
We currently have a situation in which many people, even very young pre-teens, destroy their own lives through habitual drug use. This is portrayed as being exotic sometimes, but actually it is very sad. The people who engage in these self- destructive behaviors are often trying to escape from something… loneliness, pain, and in the case of Europeans at least, extreme bias against us in the job market, the work place, and everywhere else. We do, after all, live in a sick society and it is hard not to be affected by it, in one way or another.. One thing long- standing drug users always say to me is that if they had it to do over, they would not do it again. I remember one man in Hawaii, who was 45 at the time and had used drugs since the age of 13, saying how the man who had got him hooked on drugs when he was a child had “destroyed him”, and how he “would have been ok” otherwise.
Prescription drugs are the other side of the coin. Anti ADD and anti-depressive drugs are being handed out like candy, even to kids. The fact that such drugs can be harmful in the extreme is often overlooked because a doctor gives them out. This is not the case. In fact, I happened to have once read about Effexor (an anti-depressant), and Ecstasy (an illegal drug) on the same day and discovered that they do much the same thing. In acting upon the serotonin receptors, they improve mood at first, but become less and less effective, meaning that higher doses must be used, until they reach the stage of fraying the serotonin receptors, in essence making a person who may have been merely depressed before into an emotionally unstable vegetable. In addition to this, the toxicity levels of common anti-depressants are so high, they might as well be considered poison. Not only do prescription and non-prescription mind-altering drugs hurt the lives of those who partake of them, they can also do harm to their offspring. For example, both marijuana, and antidepressants are known to damage DNA in eggs and sperm.
If you have used or use these drugs, or have a problem with over consumption of alcohol, or any other addiction or problem, do not lose heart. The human body has a tremendous capacity to recuperate and heal if you give it a chance. Wean yourself off them and try to improve your health, eating, and exercise habits, if possible, spending time outdoors in the sunlight.
Fortunately Odinists usually remember that it is important to face things in so far as we are able to, and deal with problems and find solutions, no matter how bad the situation may be. One might fail, but to not try ensures failure. We do not believe that the meek will inherit the earth…We need to strive to be healthy and vigorous and to escape every single arrow the enemy throws our way.
I have mentioned this topic because there are parallels between what was done to the Chinese in the Opium Wars and their aftermath, and what is being done to us now. You do not need me to tell you about them. I am sure you will see.
The video on the subject of how Jews used drugs to destroy China and used England to fight their wars and how they profited from all of this was removed on copyright grounds, even though those who owned the copyright were not those who complained…a favorite tactic of Israel, which was the complainant against whoever posted the video.. I have given much the same information here in this article in case it is removed again. This is a fascinating subject and one everyone needs to know about, because it is relevant to us all. The source for much of this general information is the Jewish Encyclopedia.
If you do not know much about opium, and I confess I did not, it causes extreme addiction in the person who uses it and causes one to enter into a comatose state for hours on end. Withdrawal symptoms for those who want to escape its influence are also of an extreme nature, including vomiting, other digestive disturbances, terrible pain in the head or limbs, and even death.. To say that it has caused untold agony to millions would be an understatement.
Saleh Sassoon, a Jewish banker, managed to install himself as court treasurer to the governor of Bagdad, Ahmet Pasha. His son, David Sassoon, was born in Iran. In 1829, When Ahmet Pasha was overthrown by a corrupt government, the Sassoons then travelled to Bombay, India, which was on the trade route to the interior of India and the Far East. Sassoon prevailed upon the British government to grant him a monopoly on the manufacture of certain items, such as cotton, silk and opium. The primary base of this operation was in Canton, China. Sassson and his 8 sons, spread the opium trade throughout Asia, employing only other Jews, and even importing whole families of Jews for this purpose, and building synagogues and Jewish schools for them as he went.
It is a little known fact that there is a large Jewish espionage and drug ring in the US as well, and this is not much known because it has been almost entirely covered up by the Jewish- owned media. It may be the subject of another entry here at some point.
The reason for the traditional Jewish concentration on the slave trade, including sex slavery using white women and children in Israel, banking that involves usury against non- Jews, other organized crime, and drug dealing, is partially a pseudo- religious one. From the Jewish perspective, Jews are not supposed to engage in ordinary labour, or any sort of manual labour… that is for gentiles. The same goes for the fighting of wars for Israel. We non- Jews are supposed to be used as cannon fodder for Jewish interests, but Jews aren’t. Here is an interesting short clip which highlights this Semitic notion. As an update, I see that it has been deleted again, so I better replace it. The title is ” Gene Simmons “That is what Gentiles are for”…
The basis of this Jewish religious ideal can be found both in the Talmud and in the Old Testament (see quote below for example). This is, if you will, the game plan, played out over centuries and generations untold, but there is not anything divine or godly about it.
“I shall lead you to the land of your fathers and give you large and beautiful cities that you did not build, and houses full of things that you did not gather, and fallen trees that you did not cut, vineyards and olive groves that you did not plant, and you will eat and be satisfied (Deuteronomy 6:10ff.)
See also, this article, “The Palestinian Olive Trees” where this biblical phrase above, is acted out, quite literally, in present day Israel.
Meanwhile, in China, Sassoon and his tribe managed to sell 18, 956 chests full of this poisonous drug, opium, to the people of Asia between 1930 and 1931 alone.. making the equivalent of many millions of dollars in profit. Although it was not their initiative, part of this money was shared with the British government for having granted the monopoly.
In 1839, after 10 years of his country being laid waste to by the Jews in this fashion, the Manchu Emperor, having become aware of the destruction the deadly drug was causing his people, ordered that the opium trade must be halted and made it illegal. He asked the Commissioner of Canton, Lin Tse –Hsu, to initiate a campaign against it. Lin Tse –Hsu correspondingly seized 2,000 chests of opium and had them thrown into a river.
The Jewish response to this was fairly typical (for them). An outraged Sassoon demanded that the “goyim” he had bought off with bribes in the British government retaliate against China because they had destroyed some of his profits in trying to actually defend themselves and their children from Jewish attack. Thus began the “Opium Wars” which might better be termed, “even more wars for Jews”. The “goyim” slaves of the British Army were used to attack the Chinese, blockade their ports, and destroy their cities, and of course, British soldiers died too, all for the profit of the Sassoons. This should sound very familiar to you.
In the same year, after heavy losses to the Chinese, many of whose military men had already been decimated by the ravages of opium, the Treaty of Nanking was signed. It included degrading provisions that ensured that the Sassoons would be allowed to destroy the entire population of China with opium if they wished, without further interference, and that the Chinese should repay the English for the cost of waging war against them (for the Jews) and also forced them to pay back the Sassoons for the cost of the dumped opium. The cost of the war, 21 million pounds, was a staggering sum at the time.
Having been granted the monopoly rights for opium trade in Chinese ports, the Jews now demanded the same rights in the rest of China, and the Manchu resisted, whereupon the Sassoons orchestrated another Jewish proxy- profit war. The British Army and people were used by them again, until uninterrupted Jewish opium trade throughout China was guaranteed in 1860. Jewish opium dens spread, with no one but Jews employed in them, and the Sassoons soon became the richest Jews on the planet. The destruction of China and deaths of British men, who were only goyim, was just a small detail.
Solomon Sassoon married Alin Rothschild in 1887 thus consolidating Jewish wealth even more. All 14 of David Sassoon’s grandsons were made officers in another Jewish orchestrated war, WWI, and were therefore able to avoid combat while more Europeans died. The corrupt and Jewish infiltrated British government collaborated with this and gave these Jewish mass murderers titles. They then were better able to help instigate WWII.
In the latest horrible parody of the other Jewish orchestrated war efforts, at this time, the United States is fighting a series of wars, again for Jewish interests, in the Middle East, and this is something we must stop doing. We need to care for our own people and protect our own borders, not expand the borders of Israel at the expense, not just of our resources, but of the lives of our military men and women.
We are also being given the societal destruction treatment… the same Jews used in Russia with the false Russian revolution funded by Jewish American banker, Joseph Schiff… the same that was done by them in ancient Rome, in Germany, and so many other places where constructive and creative people had formerly been living their lives in peace and productivity before they were invaded….
This song of corruption is a timeless, unceasing, almost inconceivably hate-filled paean of racial loathing for, and planned destruction of, our folk, our civilizations, and our culture, one that only one side of the engagement generally recognizes. Let us hear the sound of it for what it is and replace it with another saner song of our own, a song for war as well. It is time we gave the Jews the same level of care and attention that they give to us.
Here is “The Jews and the Opium Wars” video. which is available again and well worth a watch…
About the Author: Seana Fenner is the founder of Odinia International, an archaeoastronomer, and the writer and narrator of the Odinist video redes and blóts on the Odinistpodcast Channel. These videos contain original research meant to restore our native European religion, Odinism. Seana Fenner completed her graduate work at Oxford and has done extensive research on the ancient world, both at archaeological sites, and at research libraries and museums. Her main topics of research are Odinism and archaeoastronomy, and she also has degrees in archaeology, history, English literature, and religion. Seana Fenner is especially active in regard to European civil rights issues and freedom of religion and speech. Most recently, she has worked for the NASA Infared Telecope, and as a lecturer, creating and teaching archaeoastronomy courses for the physics department at the University of Hawaii. She also has given history, natural history, and science lectures for the Harvard Museum of Natural History and for private jet tour expeditions. For more about her research, and upcoming book, see her Author’s Guild page here. To submit an article to the Odinist journal Foxfire, or join our Odinist email newsletter, or Odinia International, please contact us at Odinia@outlook.com For more information about Odinism, our main website is Odinia.orgBy Stephen Lendman
Mark Twain once said history doesn’t repeat. It rhymes - more dangerously today than ever.
US-instigated events ominously resemble things preceding both world wars - with super-weapons on hair triggers able to end life on earth, and bipartisan policymakers in Washington perhaps willing to use them recklessly.
Once in motion, things have a momentum of their own, heading toward what may be unstoppable. Washington’s grand strategy calls for replacing all independent governments with Western-controlled ones - mainly Russia and China, the main obstacles to achieving its hegemonic objectives.
Middle East tinderbox conditions rage, Washington determined to achieve regional control, waging one war of aggression after another, endless ones in multiple theaters, challenging Russia recklessly.
Will WW III follow? Will the unthinkable become reality? Will nuclear war erupt for the first time ever? Nukes were used against Japan in August 1945 after Nazi Germany surrendered months earlier and the war in the Pacific was won.
Tokyo’s high command was negotiating surrender when Hiroshima and Nagasaki were gratuitously attacked - so Pentagon commanders could test the destructive power of their new weapons in real time, while showing off for Soviet Russia what Stalin already knew, close to developing his own atomic capability.
Ongoing events should scare everyone. Washington bears full responsibility. Rogue NATO and other partners share it.
Ukraine remains the epicenter of possible European war, Syria its Middle East flashpoint counterpart.
A US/Russian showdown may be building in plain sight. Putin is waging effective war on ISIS and other terrorists in Syria - elements Washington supports, using them to achieve its imperial objectives, a policy heading recklessly toward a frightening showdown.
The possibility of global war with nuclear weapons should focus all world leaders on preventing it at all costs. The threat of ending life on earth should be countered with all-out peace efforts.
Everything comes down to a simple equation. Do we want to live in peace or perish in a mushroom-shaped cloud? There’s no in-between.
The risk of annihilation perhaps was never greater - given Washington’s rage for global dominance and its reckless permanent war agenda. No nation ever threatened humanity’s survival more, none more profoundly pure evil.
Its madness is supported by all duopoly presidential aspirants, some openly advocating use of nuclear weapons, unchallenged by media scoundrels, in lockstep with what demands condemnation.
Truman was the only world leader ever authorizing the use of nuclear weapons in combat. He later sacked Douglas MacArthur for wanting them used during Washington’s aggression on North Korea, along with urging a land war on China.
In 1961, US General Curtis Lemay believed nuclear war with Soviet Russia was inevitable. He wanted thousands of warheads launched preemptively.
He called retaliation against major US cities a small price to pay. At the same time, General Lyman Lemnitzer urged a surprise nuclear attack strategy.
Jack Kennedy stormed out of a National Security Council meeting discussing it. He wanted none of it. “And we call ourselves the human race,” he said.
Eisenhower warned against the military-industrial complex’s “acquisition of unwarranted influence. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist,” he stressed.
Clinton’s Secretary of State Madeleine Albright once asked former Joint Chiefs chairman Colin Powell “(w)hat’s the point of having this superb military you’re always talking about if we (don’t) use it?”
Mass annihilation may follow this type thinking, virulent today in Washington with bipartisan lunatics in charge.
Obama intends accelerating war in Syria and Iraq on the phony pretext of battling ISIS. He’s recklessly challenging Russia’s effective intervention, Putin committed to combatting a scourge too dangerous to tolerate.
A US-instigated belligerent clash of civilizations may follow - Washington the ally of terrorism, using its elements to advance its imperium.
Russia is its sworn enemy, most concerned about defending its homeland, battling ISIS and other terrorists in Syria, perhaps Iraq to follow if Baghdad requests help, wanting its scourge prevented from spreading - an objective all world nations should support, not Washington, its NATO partners, Israel, and other rogue regional allies.
Things are escalating toward US policymakers initiating military confrontation with Russia. The unthinkable possibility of nuclear war may become reality - the vast majority of Americans mindless about the clear and present danger they face.BitPay, the automated payment processing system for Bitcoin which enables online merchants to accept bitcoins, has just announced its support for SegWit2x via the company blog.
The statement indicated that the BitPay platform would remain in sync with the majority chain of Bitcoin. Based on the miner signals for SegWit2x, BitPay is assuming that the block size increase will occur, and must therefore be prepared. Founder Stephen Pair said:
“We need one Blockchain to serve as a backbone. That Blockchain must be secure and its asset must be liquid. The backbone network must also be highly available. This high-availability requirement means that we must remain in sync with the hash-rate majority chain. Block production on a minority fork of Bitcoin would be inconsistent, and it may cease to operate without emergency measures. Such a service interruption is unacceptable for us and for our users.”
The announcement also acknowledged that the Bitcoin Core platform does not accept SegWit2x.
Core vs. miners?
The internal debate between Bitcoin Core and miners has grown to a fever pitch, with wallets like Bitwala now refusing to support the New York Agreement (NYA) for SegWit2x.
However, other wallets like Breadwallet have indicated their intention to follow the majority chain like BitPay.
Should SegWit2x activate and increase block size, per the NYA, the implications for Bitcoin are still to be determined. Whether it ends with a ‘three Bitcoin’ solution or is accepted remains a point of risk and will continue to hamper price increases and stability.WASHINGTON — Brian Schweitzer, the former governor of Montana, announced Saturday that he would not run for the state’s open Senate seat in 2014, a decision that further impedes Democratic efforts to retain their majority in the midterm elections.
The announcement by Mr. Schweitzer, a popular two-term governor, came as a surprise to many Democrats, who viewed him as their best hope to fill the seat being vacated by Senator Max Baucus, the Montana Democrat who earlier this year announced he would not seek re-election.
In an interview with The Associated Press, Mr. Schweitzer, 57, said that while he had considered a race, “people need to know I am not running for the United States Senate.” He said that he did not want to leave Montana for Washington.
In order to retake the Senate, Republicans would need to gain six seats. They welcomed Mr. Schweitzer’s decision.Friday, December 2nd
[MMA]
IMPI World Series: Asia 5
Hong Kong, China
Main Card – Now Sports 5 (CHN) – 5:00am ET / 3:00am PT
Nosherwan Khanzada vs. Yong Jae Lee
Ramona Pascual vs. Sun Yoo Chun
Lucas Calou vs. Sung Hoon Yoo
Anton Larsson vs. Roberto Medalla
Dixin Xiong vs. Ji Won Hong
Arben Escayo vs. Bernard Fung
Tony Chu vs. Ernest Tang
Adrian Fok vs. Bo Fai Ng
Simon Tse vs. Wai Kwan Hui
Milan Ghale vs. Gilman Ahmed
[MMA]
ONE Championship: Age of Domination
Pasay City, Philippines
Main Card – iPPV (ONEPPV.com) / Abema.tv – 7:00am ET / 4:00am PT
Brandon Vera vs. Hideki Sekine
Bibiano Fernandes vs. Reece McLaren
Geje Eustaquio vs. Toni Tauru
Honorio Banario vs. Rajinder Singh Meena
Edward Kelly vs. Sunoto Peringkat
Jenny Huang vs. April Osenio
Danny Kingad vs. Eugene Toquero
Sim Bunsrun vs. Pengshuai Liu
Xie Bin vs. Mario Satya Wirawan
Mohamed Ali vs. Leandro Ataides
Mark Striegl vs. Sotir Kichukov
[MUAY THAI]
Muay Xtreme
Thailand
Main Card – ONE 31 (THAI) – 9:00am ET / 6:00am PT
Porntawa Kelasport vs. Charly Eot
Nuepatapee Petchinda vs. Yassine Moutacim
Wanchalerm Pangkongprab vs. Grigor Stojanov
Rungrawee PK vs. Brian Allevato
Buckjo Petch Portoror vs. Georges Salamon
Dennattapol Kelaport vs. Broet Yoann
[BOXING]
Shafikov vs. Commey
Russia
Main Card – Match TV: Fighter -12:00pm ET / 9:00am PT
Denis Shafikov vs. Richard Commey
Evgeny Pavko vs. Ivans Levickis
Yoann Kongolo vs. Inal Ramonov
Georgiy Popov vs. Alexander Yudin
[MMA]
Brave CF 2: Dynasty
Isa Town, Bahrain
Main Card – TFC.tv (Free Registration Required) – 10:00am ET / 7:00am PT
Gadzhimusa Gadzhiev vs. Carl Booth
Ottman Azaitar vs. Kevin Koldobsky
Hamza AlKooheji vs. Jeremy Pacatiw
Erik Carlsson vs. Jarrah Hussein Al-Silawi
Walel Watson vs. Elias Boudegzdame
Daniel Swain vs. Alex da Silva
Troy Bantiag vs. Gary Mangat
Ben Forsyth vs. Tyree Fortune
Ahmed Faress vs. Christian Quiñonez
Haider Farman vs. Jomar Pa-ac
[KICKBOXING]
WGP #35: Final Tour
Fortaleza, Brazil
Main Card – Combate / Band Sports – 7:00pm ET / 4:00pm PT
Emerson Falcao vs. Oscar Vera
Anderson Buzika vs. Guilherme Sanchos
Marilia Fanta vs. Nin Loch
Bruno Gazani vs. Iamik Furtado
Anderson Dentao vs. Adriano Oliveira
Arlison Tenchiran vs. Williames Chacal
Ricardo Koreano vs. Johnatan Leunch
Neto Furia vs. Vinicius Bereta
Alexandre Jhonson vs. Douglas Nunes
Junior Cocao vs. Uanderson Pitbull
Celso Guimaraes vs. Douglas Menna
Preliminary Card
Rogerio Souza vs. Alan Tartaruga
Rodrigo Soares vs. Pedro Sagat
Carlose Frota vs. Geraldo Oliveira
Frank Thai vs. Samuel Bebezao
Carlos Souza vs. Heliano Viera
Diego Martins vs. Thiago Alves
[MMA]
Titan FC 42: Lima vs. Jackson
Coral Gables, Florida
Main Card – UFC Fight Pass – 7:00pm ET / 4:00pm PT
Dhiego Lima vs. Jason Jackson
Andrew Whitney vs. Farkhad Sharipov
Jack May vs. Volkan Oezdemir
Des Green vs. Martin Brown
Kurt Holobaugh vs. Yosdenis Cedeno
Hayder Hassan vs. Adriano Capitulino
Gesias Cavalcante vs. Robert Turnquest
Abdiel Velazquez vs. Bruno Mesquita
Trisha Cicero vs. Angie Reinhardt
Preston Parsons vs. David Mundell
[MMA]
Valor Fights 39: Wheeler vs Allen
Knoxville, Tennessee
Main Card – iPPV (FloCombat.com) – 7:00pm ET / 4:00pm PT
Sidney Wheeler vs. Brendan Allen
CJ Hamilton vs. Cory Alexander
Jason King vs. Wesley Golden
Arthur Walcott-Ceesay vs. Brandon Webb
Dre Miley vs. Michael Whaley
Cole Ferrell vs. Brandon Grimmett
Leo Woods vs. Preston Schick
Laila Corder vs. Christina Ricker
Emilee Prince vs. Fotini Kandris
Andre Gamble vs. Tevin Brown
Will Waterson vs. John Messer
Michael Thomas vs. John Hall
[MMA]
Bellator 166: Dantas vs. Warren 2
Thackerville, Oklahoma
Main Card – Spike TV – 9:00pm ET / 6:00pm PT
Eduardo Dantas vs. Joe Warren
AJ McKee Jr. vs. Ray Wood
Marcos Galvão vs. L.C. Davis
Chris Honeycutt vs. Ben Reiter
Preliminary Card – Spike.com – 7:00pm ET / 4:00pm PT
Chris Jones vs. Derrick Adkins
Chance Rencountre vs. Levi Queen
Gregory Babene vs. Emiliano Sordi
Kinny Spotwood vs. John King
[MMA]
Legacy FC 63: Harris vs. Cobb
Tulsa, Oklahoma
Main Card – AXS TV – 10:00pm ET / 7:00pm PT
Gerald Harris vs. Aaron Cobb
Trey Houston vs. Levi Queen
Jimmy Flick vs. Levi Mowles
Ryan Hayes vs. Arman Ospanov
TeeJay Britton vs. Paul Smith
Canaan Grigsby vs. Bill Smallwood
Ariel Beck vs. Kathina Catron
Joshua Anderson vs. Sterling Lenz
Cody Nieto vs. Tyler Ray
[BOXING]
LA Fight Club
Los Angeles, CA, USA
Main Card – Estrella – 10:00pm ET / 7:00pm PT
Abraham Lopez vs. Sergio Lopez
Oscar Negrete vs. Raul Hidalgo
[GRAPPLING]
Eddie Bravo Invitational 10: The Bantamweights
Mexico City, Mexico
Main Card – UFC Fight Pass – 10:00pm ET / 7:00pm PT
Geo Martinez
Eddie Cummings
Rafael Freitas
Marcelo Cohen
Bruno Barbosa
Alexis Alduncin
Arturo Cadenas Rocha
Kristian Woodmansee
Eric Medina
Ricky Lule
Suraj Budhram
Baret Yoshida
Ashley Williams
Alessandro Costa
Javier Gomez
Joey Diehl
[BOXING]
Ramirez vs. Bracero |
.
In Omaha, the Heartland Workers’ Center meticulously organized a march of 2,000 people. But, it cautioned, “today’s current debate to reform US immigration policies is heavily inundated with discussions to increase enforcement at the southern border, make E-verify mandatory and provide enough workers for US companies. Yet what is often lost is the human side; there are still more than 11 million human beings who remain in immigration limbo because Congress has refused to update the US immigration system and incorporate their humanity into the actual policy debate.”
Gabriella Cardenas, a center board member, condemned “the humanitarian crisis within immigrant communities resulting from the systematic detention, imprisonment and deportation of our fellow human beings.” And the center’s director, Sergio Sosa, warned that just one march would not change things. “Without any question,” he said, “as a demonstration of his political will, [Obama] should start with an executive order (like that for deferred action for “dreamers”) for a “cease fire” – an immediate halt to the deportations.”
Well-connected Washington organizations backing the comprehensive immigration reform bills, however, not only misread this cresting anger but poured gasoline on the fire by criticizing those calling for a moratorium on deportations. Henry Cisneros, former mayor of San Antonio and Clinton Cabinet member, said the moratorium calls would make it harder to get “comprehensive immigration reform” bills passed “because the waters will be so poisoned politically.”
Cisneros was speaking for the Bipartisan Policy Center’s immigration task force, which includes former President George Bush’s secretary of state, Condoleezza Rice; Haley Barbour, former Mississippi governor and Republican powerhouse; and Ed Rendell, former Democratic governor of Pennsylvania. A task force statement said a moratorium would “undermine trust” that the government was seriously committed to “the implementation of stronger border security measures and workplace screening of undocumented individuals.”
Tucson activists call for a moratorium on deportations. (Photo: David Bacon)The putdown was hardly surprising. In August, after the Senate passed SB 744, the task force hailed the bill and outlined its basic requirements for any reform. They include “a robust worker visa program … essential to the U.S. economy.” Contract workers brought to the United States by employers and who are unemployed longer than 60 days should be deported, it urges. It also calls for heavier border and workplace enforcement, as a question of “national security.”
The fault lines dividing the Democratic and Republican lobbyists in Washington, and grass-roots organizations in immigrant communities, have grown deeper, not just because of the call for stopping deportations. Political heavyweights and local activists are moving in opposite directions. Their visions of the kind of changes needed in immigration law are fundamentally different.
This became obvious October 8, 2013, in Tucson, Arizona, just three days after the national demonstrations. That evening the Tucson police, implementing the hated immigrant and racial profiling law SB 1070, stopped a car in the middle of the Mexican and Chicano barrio at 10th Avenue and 22nd Street. The vehicle, apparently, had a faulty license plate light.
The stop occurred, however, right outside the Southside Workers Center and the Southside Presbyterian Church. Both have accused the police and the Border Patrol of acting like an occupying army in Latino communities – as though normal civil rights no longer exist in immigrant and working-class neighborhoods. Activists began arguing with police over the detention of the car’s riders, knowing that if they were taken into custody they’d be held for deportation, regardless of the reason for the stop.
The police called the Border Patrol, and the people in the car indeed were detained. But the bystanders then surrounded the car to stop the impending deportation. Forty Border Patrol agents and even more police then set at them with pepper spray, rubber bullets and dogs. Eventually the detained riders were taken away. One protester was arrested, and three were held for a while by ICE agents before they eventually were released.
The Coalicion de Derechos Humanos, a long-established immigrant rights organization in Tucson, declared afterward that “years of continued police and ICE collaboration exacerbated by hateful laws such as SB 1070 have turned this region into a battleground, Our community will not be silent.” Earlier the Coalicion, the Southside Workers Center and 13 other Tucson groups had called for defeat of SB 744, arguing that enforcement already had created a “Constitution-free zone” in Arizona, and that the buildup “is directly responsible for the more than 2,500 men, women and children who have died in the Arizona desert [trying to cross the border.]”
But trying to stop the deportation was more than just a momentary and spontaneous tactic. “This is how we’re going to build a movement that can force Congress to consider a progressive reform,” explained Isabel Garcia, Coalicion director.
Direct action against deportations and enforcement is spreading. The National Day Labor Organizing Network organized an October sit-in in Phoenix. “We want the president to suspend deportations whholesale,” said Chris Newman, the network’s legal director.
And October 17, dozens of young immigrants sat down in front of a bus carrying deportees from the San Francisco ICE office. The protest was organized by Asian Students Promoting Immigrant Rights through Education (ASPIRE), the Asian Law Caucus and a network of other local immigrant rights groups.
One ASPIRE student, Dean Santos, told the media that he had been a prisoner in an immigrant detention facility in Arizona. “I’ve been in that bus before,” he said, “and I remember how powerless I felt. Now, I’m coming back with the power of our communities in our effort to stop the separation of families.”
Reylla Denis Ferraz Da Silva, her husband Fabricio, and baby Enzo Gabriel. Reylla was picked up for deportation in San Francisco, and was released as a result of community protest. (Photo: David Bacon)In addition to objecting to increased enforcement, immigrant community activists also have questioned the drive toward contract labor programs, like those strongly supported by the Bipartisan Policy Center, and which are major elements of Congress’ reform bills. Like deportations, this too has become a policy question not just debated in Washington but fought out on the ground. In this case, the fight is taking place in the fields of Sakuma Berry Farms, one of the largest strawberry, blueberry and blackberry growers in Washington state.
In July more than 250 workers went on strike over low pay and bad conditions in the labor camp where they were living. The workers are indigenous immigrants from Oaxaca, speaking pre-conquest languages like Mixteco and Triqui. Some live in the valley where the farm is, north of Seattle, but most come up every year from Madera and Santa Maria in California.
One migrant explained, “I’m 25 years old, but my body feels much older. How will I take care of my children when they are older and my body is broken down? I’ve been coming here to pick berries since I was 14. This company has taken my youth, and it will take my children’s youth.“
Workers organized a union, Familias Unidas por la Justicia. “Every year that we have been coming to Sakuma Farms we have tried to ask for better wages, housing and treatment from the Sakuma family,” they said in a statement explaining the reasons for their strike. “After years of trying to change the conditions, we felt it was necessary to organize.” The company hired security guards to frighten people in the camp then fired Ramon Torres, the elected leader of the union.
The workers discovered, however, that Sakuma had contracted this year for 160 guest workers under the H2A work visa program. They were brought from Mexico by the Washington Farm Labor Association, a big labor contractor. Then Sakuma told strikers he wouldn’t pay them any more than he was paying the H2A workers. Sometimes he even offered them less. The strikers fear that when they return next year, guest workers will have been brought in to do their work.
The indigenous union members say company foremen threaten to send the H2A workers back to Mexico if they can’t meet high production quotas. “They are isolated under guard, and prohibited from talking to our committee and any other workers. And they are afraid,” the union says.
According to a report by Farmworker Justice, a farm labor advocacy group in Washington DC, “Guest worker programs drive down wages and working conditions of U.S. workers and deprive foreign workers of economic bargaining power.“ SB 744 would replace the H2A program with an even larger guest worker program. The maximum number of visas available to growers in the first five years would reach 337,000.
Sakuma Farms strikers at the entrance to the labor camp. (Photo: David Bacon)But here again the administration has been able to act without waiting for Congress. A decade ago there were no H2A workers in Washington state. Last year the US Department of Labor certified applications for 7,086 workers, more than double the 3,194 of the previous year, making the state the third-highest nationally, after North Carolina and Georgia. The nation’s second-largest contractor for those workers was the Washington Farm Labor Association, with 2,293 workers – the contractor used by Sakuma Berry Farms. In 2012, the Department of Labor certified 85,248 H2A visas, and the number is rising.
Bernardo Ramirez, the FIOB coordinator who signed the agreement with UFCW Local 5, traveled from Oaxaca to support the strikers. He said Congress’ plan for guest workers is raising doubts in Mexico as well – the country from which both the strikers and the guest workers are coming. “We don’t think a guest worker program makes life better for people in either Mexico or the U.S. Sakuma wants to bring in these workers because he’s not willing to pay a just wage to the people already here.“
To Rosalinda Guillen, the H2A program undermines wages and conditions. And Congress’ bills would make this worse. Guillen is director of Community2Community, a farm worker advocacy and organizing project in northwest Washington that has been the workers’ key source of support. “They devalue farm work and view workers just as a source of profit, instead of skilled people in a profession that can sustain families, Their whole philosophy is ‘anyone can do it.’ The company sets the price, pays what it wants, and then sends them back to Mexico. Workers have to accept whatever the company gives them.“
Like the deportation protests, support for the strikers is spreading. Stores in Seattle began pulling Sakuma Farms berries off their shelves this fall. Then immigrant rights activists began leafleting customers at stores selling Haagen Dazs ice cream in San Francisco. That brand, owned by the Nestle Foods giant, is a big customer for Sakuma berries. As work winds down for the winter in the Sakuma fields, strikers warn those protests likely will expand to other cities as well.
Beyond the beltway ringing Washington, DC, many grass-roots protests over the impact of current immigration policy are linked to support for a more progressive vision of immigration reform. Groups like the Coalicion de Derechos Humanos and Community2Community advocate a program called the Dignity Campaign. It calls for inclusive legalization, repealing employer sanctions and ending the firings, stopping mass deportations and detentions, demilitarizing the border, and renegotiating trade agreements like NAFTA that increase poverty and forced migration. The American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) has made a similar proposal, called “A New Path.”
“We recognize that Congress isn’t going to pass a pro-immigrant reform like this without a big political movement to force them to,” Guillen said. “But the way we can build that movement is by fighting the enforcement and guest worker programs that are hurting us in our communities. People in Skagit County understand the reality of guest worker programs a lot better now that they’ve seen their effect on people at Sakuma Farms – and are a lot less likely to agree to them as a price for legalization.”
Children of the Sakuma Farms strikers. (Photo: David Bacon)Gabriel Camacho, AFSC staff person in Boston, said that “as long as we employ the failed legislative strategy for ‘comprehensive immigration reform,’ we are bound to repeat the same mistakes.” Instead, he said, “the most affected must lead the struggle, not the Beltway experts and strategists.” And that movement takes place in the communities where people live.
Camacho points to recent efforts in California, which passed a driver’s license bill for undocumented motorists, and the Trust Act, intended to stop police from holding undocumented people for deportation even when they’re not actually charged with a crime. But at the same time, he cautions, “we must fight to defeat mandatory E-Verify, new Bracero [guest worker] programs, border militarization and every other anti-immigrant bill at the state and local level. In the final analysis, the ‘movement’ must be led from outside of Washington, DC.”
Copyright David Bacon. May not be reprinted without permission.When it comes to hotels, India is something of an anomaly. For a start, we have great homegrown hotel brands. In every major Indian city or tourist destination, the top two hotels are run by Indian chains. That, alone is more or less unprecedented anywhere in the world.
And yet, the truth is that much of the expansion in the hotel business in India is now happening in the foreign branded sector. ITC, the Oberoi, Taj and Leela open about three new hotels a year between all of them. The foreign chains, put together, open between 20 to 30 new properties per year.
For most Indians, the sudden influx of foreign brands is confusing. What’s the difference between a Westin and a Sheraton? (If you find out, let me know; they are part of the same company.) How does a Marriott differ from a Hilton? And so on. These are questions we’ve stopped asking about our own chains because they have distinct identities. But the sudden influx of foreign brands puzzles us.
From my perspective, only one foreign chain has created a distinctive identity for itself. When the Hyatt Regency opened in 1982-3 in Delhi, it was – let’s be honest – just another anonymous hotel with small rooms. But starting with the mid-1990s, when it relaunched itself on the basis of F&B (first La Piazza, then Djinns and now China Kitchen), it has begun to be talked about in the same league as the Taj, Maurya or Oberoi.
Smart makeover: After Delhi’s Hyatt Regency relaunched itself on the basis of F&B (first La Piazza, above; then Djinns, below) in the 1990s, it began to be talked about in the same league as the Taj, Maurya or Oberoi.
And now that Hyatt has suddenly become the fastest growing chain in this country, I have found myself staying at Hyatt properties all over India: Bombay, Ludhiana, Amritsar, Madras, Calcutta, Ahmedabad, Gurgaon and more. And though each property is different, certain things seem to stand out: an emphasis on F&B, a sense of architecture and design and – oddly enough, for an American chain – a focus on warmth.
Most people who are interested in hotels know the Hyatt story. Jay Pritzker, a wealthy entrepreneur, saw a hotel he liked near Los Angeles International Airport in 1957 and bought it from its owners, one of whom was called Hyatt von Dehn. Pritzker kept Hyatt’s name and built a chain around it.
He started with airport hotels (then a novel concept) and soon expanded into city hotels, involving his family in the company. The Pritzkers were always interested in architecture, and in 1967, Jay bought a half-finished hotel in Atlanta and turned it into the first large hotel to be built around an atrium, a trend that would be widely copied around the world.
Just like indians: Hyatt founder Jay Pritzker and his son, Tom, the company’s executive chairman, have made sure their India hotels like Delhi’s Hyatt Regency and Mumbai’s Grand Hyatt have a sense of warmth.
In 1969, Hyatt opened its first overseas hotel in Hong Kong. Since then, there has been breakneck expansion around the world, much of it (contrary to current industry practice) financed by the Pritzkers themselves, which means that Hyatt owns many more of its hotels than any of its competitors. (The Four Seasons, for example, does not own a single one of the hotels it operates.)
The willingness to put their own money into the company sounds almost Indian: ITC, the Leela and the Oberoi own most of their luxury properties. The other Indian touch is the family aspect. Hilton is a faceless corporation, passed around from owner to owner, as is InterContinental, and Starwood is always the subject of takeover rumours.
But though the Pritzkers insist that the company is professionally run (the CEO is Mark Hoplamazian), there is still a strong sense of family within Hyatt. For instance, Hyatt prides itself on its ability to enable people to grow within the organisation. Most people at the top of the operations end of the business have spent the majority of their careers with Hyatt. Just as there is an ITC or an Oberoi mindset in Indian hoteliering, there is also a Hyatt DNA.
Because most Indians were used only to Delhi’s Hyatt Regency (it was nearly 20 years before another Hyatt opened in India), we sometimes miss the complex nature of the group’s branding. When Hyatt invited me to Chicago to interview Hoplamazian, I tried to get him to make sense of the branding for me.
Some of it is clear enough. The Regency is your basic five-star, the Grand Hyatts are bigger hotels, often with space for conventions, and the Park Hyatts are top of the line, on par with the Four Seasons or the Ritz-Carlton. Hyatt has rethought the Park concept in recent years, which is why some Parks (Madras, Hyderabad etc) seem right while others (Goa, my example, not his) are much less impressive.
But other than these three basic categories, there’s a lot more. There is Andaz, which much of the trade sees as Hyatt’s answer to W, but which, Hoplamazian says categorically, was never meant to be anything like that. The W brand is a corporate version of the kinds of hotels that Ian Schrager (the former owner of the Studio 54 nightclub) opened (such as New York’s Royalton) which were hip and trendy. (Or as Maryam Banikarim, Hyatt’s global chief marketing officer, puts it, “Schrager’s hotels were intended to have a nightclub sensibility”.)
Casual elegance: Andaz, aimed at “the CEO in jeans”, has found success in locations like New York.
The W chain has so successfully perfected that hip-hotel formula that even Schrager himself (who has now tied up with Marriott) does not seem able to compete with it. But Andaz, says Hoplamazian, is not meant to be hip or trendy. Rather it draws on Hyatt’s traditional design skills to be a luxury hotel for creative people (“The CEO who wears jeans,” says Banikarim). To be fair, the Andaz concept has gone through many revisions since the first one opened in London (I’ve been there; strange place!) and has finally found great success in such new locations as Fifth Avenue in New York.
But the first Andaz in India, which opens next year in Delhi’s Aerocity, will not be a boutique property (it will have 400 rooms), will have only two restaurants and will reinvent the hotel room in design terms. Peter Fulton, an old India hand who now looks after many of Hyatt’s international operations, says they set out to create a hotel that will not overwhelm with glitz and marble (“It may even underwhelm!” he laughs) but grows on you because of its creativity and style.
Hyatt is as excited about its other brands. There’s Hyatt Place, which in industry shorthand, translates as Hyatt’s answer to Courtyard, which may be too simplistic. There are already Hyatt Places operational in India (Hampi, Gurgaon etc) and more will open. The hotels will offer a Hyatt experience in a pared-down form (there’s no room service in the US properties but the Indian hotels will offer limited room service) with less investment in restaurants and public areas. In big cities, the rate should be around `4,000 or less, and eventually, if all goes well, they should be able to eat into the Oyo Rooms market.
There’s also Hyatt House, the long-stay brand that has been a huge success in the US and which will further target the guesthouse segment, offering suites with kitchenettes for those who have to stay in a city for a couple of weeks or more. Again, the key is affordability. Unlike fancy service apartments (such as Bombay’s exclusive Wellington Mews), these will cost only a little more than guesthouses.
I asked Hoplamazian and Banikarim the obvious question. Weren’t they worried about diluting the Hyatt brand? Indian hotel companies, for instance, are fiercely protective of the main brand. ITC only lends its name to luxury hotels. Lesser properties are called WelcomHotels or Sheratons and its mid-market brand is Fortune. Biki Oberoi refuses to allow even deluxe properties (such as the Trident in Bombay’s BKC) to use the Oberoi name. The messy rebranding done by the Taj a few years ago withdrew the Taj brand from many properties.
But Banikarim sees it differently. She says that research has shown that guests look for two things in a brand: reliability and affordability. If a product is called Hyatt, then it has a guarantee of quality. The second part of the brand (whether it is Regency or Place or whatever) tells guests what to expect and how much they’ll have to pay.
It is an interesting answer to an old question. And it takes us back to where we started. Do Indians really understand foreign brands? Does anyone know what Hilton stands for? And even if they do, is it clear what a Hilton Garden Inn is? Do we even care? If brands are so important then why don’t the Ritz-Carlton in Bangalore and the Four Seasons in Bombay (both great brands and wonderful hotels) command the highest rates in their cities?
My guess is that we are on the cusp of a change. There’s no doubt that India has some of the world’s finest luxury hotels and that Indians are (as Mark Hoplamazian says) perfect hoteliers. But the hotel sector is changing in India. With so many new hotels opening and with so many fresh ideas and concepts flowing in, we will have no choice but to take the foreign companies more seriously and the Indian chains will have to up their game.
And judging by what I’ve seen and heard, Hyatt is going to be the chain to beat.
From HT Brunch, November 8
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First Published: Nov 07, 2015 15:53 ISTThe increasingly strained alliance between Turkey and the United States took a sharp downward turn Sunday when both governments abruptly announced they were canceling most visitor visas between the countries, sowing confusion among travelers and exposing a widening rift between the NATO partners.
The crisis began when the U.S. Embassy in Ankara, the Turkish capital, announced it was immediately suspending all nonimmigrant visa services at diplomatic facilities across Turkey. The move appeared to be retaliatory, coming days after the government of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan arrested an employee of the U.S. Consulate in Istanbul.
An embassy statement said it was limiting visitors to U.S. missions while it "reassesses" Turkey's commitment to the security of American personnel — an extraordinary rebuke that underscored a rapidly deteriorating relationship between the longtime allies. Within hours, the Turkish Embassy in Washington released a nearly identical statement announcing its own suspension of nonimmigrant visas for Americans.
The tit-for-tat moves illustrated how the critical alliance between Turkey and the United States, anchored in military, intelligence and commercial ties, has been battered in recent months by a series of deep disagreements over the war in Syria and the fate of Fethullah Gulen, a Turkish cleric who lives in exile in Pennsylvania and is wanted by the Turkish authorities.
The strains have undermined vows by President Trump to repair U.S. ties to Turkey, which became frayed during the administration of President Barack Obama. The escalating tensions also came despite what are said to be warm personal relations between Erdogan and Trump that stretch back several years.
Turkey, which once enthusiastically pursued membership in the European Union, has also become estranged from European countries, particularly Germany.
After the arrest last week of the U.S. consulate employee, Metin Topuz, strains between the two governments burst into the open.
Turkish authorities accused Topuz of espionage and links to Gulen, the exiled cleric. The U.S. Embassy, in a statement, responded by saying that it was "deeply disturbed" by the arrest and that the charges were "without merit."
In a meeting with Turkish journalists, John Bass, the outgoing ambassador to Turkey, said the arrest of Topuz, "does not strike me as pursuing justice. It seems to me more a pursuit of vengeance."
Tensions between the two countries started almost as soon as Trump took office, when his administration, setting aside Turkish objections, elected to partner with a Kurdish-dominated force in the fight against the Islamic State militant group in Syria. The Syrian Kurds are aligned with Turkey's Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, which is considered a terrorist group by both Turkey and the United States.
Turkey has also forcefully demanded the extradition of Gulen, whom it accuses of masterminding a failed attempt to topple the Turkish government in July 2016. And Turkish officials have tried to win the release of Reza Zarrab, a Turkish-Iranian gold trader who is facing charges in the United States of evading sanctions on Iran.
Last month, U.S. federal prosecutors indicted a former Turkish minister of the economy for allegedly conspiring with Zarrab to skirt the sanctions. Erdogan called the case "a step against the Turkish Republic."
And this summer, Erdogan's bodyguards were accused of beating protesters outside the Turkish ambassador's residence in Washington.
At home, Turkey has pursued a broad crackdown on suspects in the failed coup, while also arresting scores of academics, journalists, political opponents and ordinary critics of the government. They have included several U.S. citizens, including Andrew Brunson, a pastor from North Carolina who has been detained since last October.
Erdogan referred to Brunson in a recent speech in which he chided the Trump administration and suggested that the detained American was a bargaining chip in Turkey's dispute with the United States.
"Give us that pastor," Erdogan said, referring to Gulen, "and we will do what we can in the judiciary to give you this one."
The halting of visas between the two countries represented an unusually perilous turn in the relationship, analysts said, while affecting untold numbers of travelers, including tourists, business executives, students and others.
"I think the whole thing could go off its wheels," said Soner Cagaptay, the author of "The New Sultan," a book about Erdogan. "There is a very, very deep trust deficit in bilateral ties, especially as far as Erdogan is concerned."
Cagaptay cited Turkey's recent decision to buy a surface-to-air missile defense system from Russia as evidence of Erdogan's growing suspicion of the United States and of NATO — to the point where Turkey was openly buying weapons to defend itself against the West.
"He does not trust the U.S. at all," Cagaptay said.
Read more
Turkey condemns U.S. over ‘aggressive’ acts against Erdogan’s guards during D.C. visit
White House denies Erdogan claim that Trump apologized after Turkish guards assaulted D.C. protesters
Trump calls Erdogan to congratulate him on contested referendum, Turkey says
Today’s coverage from Post correspondents around the world
Like Washington Post World on Facebook and stay updated on foreign newsThe United States should cut off financial and military aid to Pakistan's government, a U.S. lawmaker said this week, because Pakistan's powerful military establishment and intelligence services have not broken off their links to terrorist groups.
“Fifteen years have passed since September 11, billions of dollars have been spent and far too little change has occurred in Pakistan,” according to Congressman Matt Salmon of the House Foreign Affairs Committee. He was speaking Tuesday at a hearing of the foreign-affairs group's Asia and Pacific subcommittee, which he chairs, titled: “Pakistan: Friend or Foe in the Fight against Terrorism.”
“The United States has spent tens of billions in taxpayers’ dollars in the form of aid to Pakistan since September 11, all in the hope that Pakistan would become a partner in the fight against terrorism,” said Salmon. "Unfortunately, despite the significant investment, Pakistani military and intelligence services are still linked to terrorist groups."
A Pakistan-based analyst, retired brigadier Saeed Nazir, objected to Salmon's remarks and even the title of the hearing, since he contends the United States does not consider Pakistan a real friend.
“On the one hand, Washington keeps favoring Pakistan’s arch-rival India, but on the other, Pakistan’s loyalty is questioned," Nazir told VOA.
"The United States also went ahead with a civil nuclear deal with New Delhi which has been a great source of concern for Pakistan,” Nazir said.
The analyst, who is affiliated with Institute of Policy Studies in Islamabad, said the financial assistance Pakistan receives from the United States to fight terrorists is no substitute for the lives lost and economic damage it has suffered in recent years.
“Pakistan was forced into the war when Bush administration declared, ‘You are either with us or against us,’" Nazir said. "Since then, the country has suffered enormously, by losing thousands of lives and damage to its economy.”
Testifying at the congressional hearing, former U.S. Ambassador to Afghanistan and Iraq Zalmay Khalilzad agreed with Salmon and other critics of Pakistan. He accused Islamabad of giving shelter to militants attempting to destabilize Afghanistan.
“It is also clear that the Pakistani military and intelligence provide sanctuary and support to the Taliban,” Khalilzad said, adding that Taliban extremists have provided sanctuary for members of the al-Qaida network. The veteran U.S. diplomat noted that al-Qaida leader Ayman al-Zawahiri has pledged allegiance to the new Taliban leader in Afghanistan.
Nazir rejects the notion that Pakistan is not a partner in peace. “Pakistan is trying to play a role to facilitate talks between the Afghan government and the Taliban,” he said.
Islamabad denies that it favors any militant or terrorist groups, and says it is making across-the-board efforts against all militants.
U.S. Senator John McCain, a recent visitor to both Pakistan and Afghanistan, told VOA he informed Pakistani leaders that the United States wants to see progress in their fight against terrorist groups.
The Arizona senator said he is deeply concerned about relations between Afghanistan and Pakistan, and that the two countries need to work together.
“The Afghan government, as well as the Pakistani government, as well as the American government should understand the fundamentals of the warfare. And that is when the enemy has a sanctuary, as in the case of some of these organizations in Pakistan, you are not going to win the conflict,” McCain told VOA. “I am encouraging dialogue - discussion, not public condemnation of each other.
"Everybody knows what the situation is. I believe that it is important for Pakistan to show progress. I believe they should be given an opportunity to do so,” McCain added.Updated, 12:50 p.m. | New York City is witnessing an upsurge in the number of cyclists, but many of them do not obey traffic and helmet laws, according to a observational study by students and professors at Hunter College.
Among the more important findings of the study, which was released on Wednesday:
Nearly 57 percent of the cyclists observed failed to stop red lights.
About 13 percent of cyclists (and a quarter of cyclists under the age of 14) were observed riding against traffic.
Almost 13 percent of cyclists (and more than half of cyclists under the age of 14) were observed riding on sidewalks.
Nearly 14 percent of cyclists did not use a designated bike lane when one was available.
Only 36 percent of cyclists wore helmets. About half of female riders wore helmets, compared with just about one-third of the males. Nearly half of the children under the age of 14, and nearly three-quarters of commercial cyclists — like messengers and delivery workers — did not wear a helmet, even though the law requires that both groups use helmets.
The study was conducted by Hunter students in research methodology and urban data analysis courses, and was based on observations of 2,928 cyclists at street intersections, bike lanes and bike paths at 69 locations Oct. 1-29.
Peter Tuckel, a professor of sociology, and William Milczarski, an associate professor of urban affairs and planning, oversaw the study and wrote the report. They said that the behavior of drivers had been studied much more extensively than that of cyclists, and called the findings “troubling” and “disturbing.”
Professor Tuckel said:
Given the findings presented in this study that the overwhelming majority of cyclists in the city are not wearing helmets and the attendant risks of injury or even death, it is important that greater efforts be expended by governmental agencies and other responsible parties including parents, schools, cycling clubs and sport retail outlets to encourage greater helmet use.
Professor Milczarski said that “greater adherence to these traffic laws” would help to reduce reports of “conflicts between cyclists and motorists.”
One methodological drawback: The observations were not a random sampling of all city cyclists. However, Professors Tuckel and Milczarski said the cyclists observed represented a broad cross-section of them.
The students were instructed to choose cyclists they observed within a given location on a random basis without employing subjective criteria, and they were told to remain as inconspicuous as possible. The students observed cyclists at intersections, at traffic lights and on bike lanes, and the observations were made on both weekdays and weekends and at peak and off-peak times.
The students recorded demographic information about the cyclists and also recorded whether the rider wore a helmet, stopped at a red light, went in the same direction as traffic, rode on a sidewalk, used a designated bike path, and talked on a cellphone or ate or drank while riding. (Some good news from the study: Only a very tiny proportion of cyclists used handheld cellphones or ate or drank while riding. The students observed many cyclists listening to iPods and other music devices, although the iPods were not a formal part of the study.)
In 2006, there were 773 bicycle fatalities in the United States (98 of them were children under the age of 14) and an additional 44,000 injuries of cyclists in traffic accidents, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
A study by the Bicyle Helmet Safety Institute found that nearly all cyclists who died in New York City were not wearing a helmet and that only 13 percent of those seriously injured while cycling were wearing a helmet.
“With the ranks of cyclists growing in the city and the amount of street space becoming even more fiercely fought over, it is imperative that all three groups — cyclists, motorists, and pedestrians — abide by the traffic laws and be more respectful of the rights of others who share that space,” Professors Tuckel and Milczarski wrote in their conclusion.
They also emphasized the need for better training of both drivers and cyclists and the incorporation of bike-safety lessons in school curriculums.
Wiley Norvell, a spokesman for Transportation Alternatives, a leading advocacy group for cyclists and pedestrians, said, “It’s our philosophy that good street design gives us better behavior.” Dedicated bike lanes will encourage cyclists to stay off the sidewalks, he said, noting that children under 14 are permitted to ride on the sidewalks.
“Obviously it’s incumbent for cyclists to obey the laws: they have the same rights and responsibilities as pedestrians and motorists,” Mr. Norvell said. “The most important rule is to yield to pedestrians, always, no matter what. It gets under my skin if a bicyclist doesn’t yield to a pedestrian.”
As for running red lights, Mr. Norvell said, “It doesn’t surprise me to see high rates of traffic infractions on streets that do not have provisions for bicyclists.”A BIG-HEARTED businessman has left Melbourne's Lost Dogs Home $3 million - the largest bequest in its 100-year history.
Staff at the animal shelter described the donor, Frank Samways, as a man so empathetic for abandoned pets that he wouldn't enter the animal shelter in Gracie Street, North Melbourne.
Graeme Smith from the Lost Dogs Home cannot say too much in favour of Frank Samways. Credit:Joe Armao
The home's managing director, Graeme Smith, said Mr Samways, ''a charming, charismatic person'', used to attend donor functions in the home's courtyard. ''But [he] never set foot inside the shelter because he thought it would be too disturbing for him. He didn't want to see any dog or cat incarcerated.''
A lifelong owner of Jack Russell terriers, Mr Samways ''had a wonderful love of animals''.Bernie Sanders recognizes Washington is as close to a must-win as it gets after his disappointing loss in Arizona on Tuesday. | AP Bernie goes all out for West Coast must-win To have any hope of catching Hillary Clinton in the delegate race, Sanders needs a strong performance out of Washington state.
SEATTLE — Without a big win in Washington Saturday, there’s no path forward for Bernie Sanders. And that cold political reality has turned this state into an unlikely battleground between the Vermont senator and Hillary Clinton.
Sanders recognizes Washington is as close to a must-win as it gets after his disappointing loss in Arizona on Tuesday. With 101 delegates at stake, only New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and California have more delegates at play after this weekend. If he has any hope of catching Clinton, he’ll have to start here, in a state where progressive-oriented Seattle sets the tone.
Story Continued Below
“If Senator Sanders is ever going to do well, I think it would be in Washington,” explained Gov. Jay Inslee, a Clinton supporter, acknowledging Sanders’ appeal in his state. “That’s no surprise."
Clinton doesn’t have as much urgency to win. She simply needs to keep it close, to deny Sanders the kind of runaway caucus victory that could dent her 300-plus delegate lead and provide him some desperately-needed momentum going into the April 5 primary in Wisconsin, another state that figures to be receptive to his brand of progressive politics. (Alaska and Hawaii, much smaller delegate contests, also hold caucuses on Saturday.)
But it won’t be easy to hold Sanders back. According to one analysis, Seattle ranks No. 1 |
What is the possessions situation in your home? Are you anywhere close to having a place for everything? What is ideal for you?
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Photo from here
Too much on your mind? Camp Calm is returning once again. More than a thousand people have learned to meditate through Camp Calm. Come learn some mindfulness skills, and take a load off your mind. It's easy and straightforward and we do it all with a fun Summer camp theme. I'm pretty proud of it, and I hope you'll consider joining us. [Notify me when registration is about to open] [About Camp Calm]Today in advice we didn't think would ever require repeating: Teachers, it is never a good idea to use dead slaves as units of measurement in your math problems.
On Thursday, NY1 revealed the story of a New York public school that has been doling out some incredibly unorthodox homework. When a fourth-grade teacher asked student teacher Aziza Harding to make copies of the worksheets, Harding was stunned to see that it was a "Slavery Word Problems Homework" assignment. The word problems included the questions, "In a slave ship, there can be 3,799 slaves. One day, the slaves took over the ship. 1,897 are dead. How many slaves are alive?" and, "One slave got whipped five times a day. How many times did he get whipped in a month (31 days)? Another slave got whipped nine times a day. How many times did he get whipped in a month? How many times did the two slaves get whipped together in one month?"
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Harding took it upon herself to copy a different assignment instead, writing the assigning teacher a note saying she wasn't comfortable with the questions. She then spoke with her NYU professor Charlton McIlwain, who brought the story to NY1. "This is really inappropriate... It shouldn't be a homework assignment," says Harding, "and I did not want to make copies of this." Since the story broke, Chairman of the New York City Education Sub-Committee state Sen. Simcha Felder has called the materials "reprehensible and irresponsible" and called for the immediate removal of the teachers. And the city's Department of Education released a statement Thursday saying that "This is obviously unacceptable and we will take appropriate disciplinary action against these teachers. The Chancellor spoke to the principal, and she has already taken steps to ensure this does not happen again." The school's principal, meanwhile, had a terser response. As she told reporters Thursday, "I am appalled by this."
What's even more stunning about the story is that the same set of questions had already gone home to a different fourth-grade class in January, via a teacher identified in the New York Daily News as Jane Youn. It turns out the students themselves had come up with the questions as part of their course work on slavery. Their East Side school, by the way, has a predominantly white student body – only 5 percent of the children are African-American.
The fiasco has echoes of a similar case last year, when an Atlanta-area third-grade class was asked math questions like "If Frederick got two beatings per day, how many beatings did he get in one week?" After the story made national headlines, the assigning teacher resigned.
In both cases, the faulty logic behind the questions was the pursuit of integrated learning. Used wisely and sensitively, it's an otherwise useful teaching tool – taking a history course as the starting point for a math lesson, using a reading assignment to explore science. I have two children in two different progressive New York City public schools, and can safely say that in practice, dancing about architecture is a whole lot more useful than it's been cracked up to be.
But without guidance, children are just going to wind up doing exactly what that horribly misguided group of fourth-graders did: reduce humans to abstractions, and the vivid and painful lessons of history to problems to be mindlessly filled in on a worksheet. "There's no explanation, there's no education, there's no teaching going on," says Charlton McIlwain.
What happened at PS 59 was extreme and idiotic, but it also illuminates what happens when the labor of both teaching and learning is reduced to mere busywork. The only reason it was stopped was because Aziza Harding looked at a paper and read it and understood it and questioned it – concepts that, unfortunately, it seems, eluded both the previous class that had already done the assignment and the teachers who shuffled it off to them. An education that doesn't incorporate nuanced, critical thinking is useless. And that's the deeper shame of the whole debacle: that a group of teachers and students could come up with a list of numbers, but couldn't see something so blatantly wrong, right in front of them.In a week of limited tour golf, only two changes occur in the world’s top 20.
Henrik Stenson hasn’t played in two weeks but is up from ninth to eighth, swapping places with Rickie Fowler.
Race to Dubai champion Tommy Fleetwood made another good showing with a sixth place at the UBS Hong Kong Open and is up one place to 18th, leapfrogging Pat Perez.
There’s not many more changes in the top 30. Kevin Kisner is eventually rewarded for his tied fifth at the RSM Classic, after falling last week, as he moves from 27th to 25th. Meanwhile Matthew Fitzpatrick’s solid but unspectacular tied 19th in Hong Kong sees him rise from 31st to 29th.
The biggest mover inside the top 100 is America’s Seungsu Han (44 places) who is up to 97th after winning the Japan Golf Tour’s Casio World Open, followed by fellow-American Julian Suri (18 places) now 62nd following a tied second at the UBS Hong Kong Open and Cameron Smith (13 places) now 86th with a solo fourth at the Emirates Australian Open.
None of the weekend winners were prominent names and so the rises across the board were significant. Along with Han, Wade Ormsby won the UBS Hong Kong Open and climbs from 319th to 118th, Cameron Davis won the Emirates Australian Open and rockets from 1494th to 229th and Panuwat Muenlek jumps 149 places to 456th with a win at the PGM GlobalOne Championship.
The full, updated, rankings can be found here.
There’s no substantial events again this week, but it does see the return of Tiger Woods at his own Hero World Challenge who will be keen to improve on his lowly 1199th rank.
AdvertisementsA Kashmiri boatman saved three tourists from drowning in the Jhelum in Srinagar but was himself swept away after he was allegedly forced to jump back into the river to retrieve their bag, police said on Saturday.
However, the body of the sixty-year-old boatman, identified as one Ghulam Mohammad Guroo, was untraced till Saturday, a day after a team of Indian Navy divers joined the search operations.
Police quoted eyewitnesses as saying that the boat capsized during a cruise on the river on Wednesday evening. After saving the three tourists, Guroo dived back and even got hold the bag but could not swim back to the bank due to exhaustion.
The unidentified tourists, whom other boatmen claimed to have seen coaxing Guroo to return to the river, allegedly left the spot in a hurry.
Boating on the iconic Dal Lake and the Jhelum on small boats locally known as ‘shikaras’ is a must-do for thousands of tourists who visit the scenic Kashmir valley every year, especially during the summers.
A boat ride on the Jhelum, which meanders through Srinagar, takes visitors past architectural landmarks and both Islamic and Hindu religious sites.
Police, however, said such accidents are rare.
“You have to see his [Guroo’s] age. He was tired after saving the three persons but he attempted again without caring for his own self,” a police officer said.
His grieving family and friends are accusing the three tourists of being “heartless”.
“He saved their lives and he lost his while doing so but they are now nowhere to be found. They just didn’t care to even enquire,” said Abdul Qayoom, a house-boat owner and friend of Guroo. “It was their greed that they asked him to go back into the water to get their bag. Is your bag more valuable or a man’s life?”
Guroo, a bachelor, is survived by his sister Ruqaiya and brother Ramzan.
On Saturday morning, the siblings stood on the banks of Jhelum as police search boats whizzed past. “Oh, brother, please come out of the water,” wept Ruqaiya as she beat her chest.
Javed Ahmad Khan, a police boat driver, said searching for the body was a near-impossible task.
It is feared that the river’s strong current could have swept the body many kilometres downstream from the accident spot.
First Published: Jun 12, 2016 00:14 ISTHouse Speaker Rejects Trump’s Branding Of Comey As ‘Nut Job’
WASHINGTON (AP) – House Speaker Paul Ryan says he disagrees with President Donald Trump’s assessment that former FBI Director James Comey is a “nut job.”
Ryan tells the Axios website, “Yeah, I don’t agree with that. And he’s not.”
The New York Times reported last week that Trump told Russian diplomats that firing “nut job” Comey had relieved “great pressure” on him.
The White House has said Comey’s firing was unrelated to the FBI’s Russia investigation.
Ryan, who’s frequently disagreed with the president, says he works well with Trump and that Trump’s best quality is “his energy and his engagement.
The Wisconsin Republican says when Trump “sees a goal he wants to achieve – health care is a perfect example – he just focuses on it. He has no pretension about him.”Mr. Clinton, he said to knowing laughs, “was far from the perfect candidate.”
With his wide-ranging talk, as a guest of the Economic Club of Chicago, Mr. Christie seemed determined to reassert himself as a Republican standard-bearer, despite the imbroglio over accusations of political intimidation that awaits him back in New Jersey.
After weeks of subdued and somber appearances, at which he spoke of soul-searching and self-flagellation, it was the old Chris Christie who emerged inside a ballroom at Chicago’s Sheraton Hotel and Towers: at once sharp-tongued and philosophical, boastful and self-deprecating, political and personal as he held an audience of about 1,500 in his thrall.
He boasted of his daughter Bridget’s aggression on the basketball court (“it’s almost embarrassing”), and he cracked wise about how little time his son Andrew, a student at Princeton University, spends in class. “The more you pay,” he said, “the less they go.”
But the contradictions and complexities of Mr. Christie were never far from view.
He took pains to explain that it was “irresponsible” for him, a mere governor without access to top-secret briefings, to criticize Mr. Obama’s approach to foreign policy (earning warm applause in the process).
Moments later, he seemed to disregard his own mantra, saying: “I do detect some confusion in the world about who we are and what we stand for. That needs to be clear.”"Bitcoins" either sound like a futuristic, implantable, laser-guided, and rocket-pack equipped form of money, or the latest coin-shaped chocolate snack. In reality, it's probably a bit of both. The bitcoin, a digital currency, started the year worth about $15. Less than four months later, one bitcoin now trades above $70. While this past performance may be enticing and a sign of its legitimacy as a future currency, the bitcoin market is full of risks -- risks that may make bitcoins worth as much as a foil-wrapped piece of sugar.
Bitcoin: a crypto-currency
Bitcoin is based around the idea of a currency created and transacted through cryptography instead of issued and tracked through a central bank. And to add to its mystique, the creator of bitcoin only goes by a pseudonym and has never been positively identified.
Instead of any legal authority, bitcoin transactions are verified through peer-to-peer interactions. If a user sends bitcoins to another user's "wallet" file, that transaction is verified through other users, and is written into the collective transaction log. And given the ease of transactions, any fees for transfers are minimal.
Instead of a mint, bitcoins are created through a process called "mining," where computers attempt to solve for a certain number, and once found, are rewarded with new bitcoins. The rewards decrease with time, however, and there will only ever be about 21 million bitcoins created, three-quarters of which by 2016, and all by 2140.
Even if you don't understand any of the above, the recent jump in valuation probably still has your interest. But there are plenty of reasons to continue to educate yourself before attempting to trade in bitcoins.
Glitches
Not having any legal regulation, bitcoin has attracted plenty of thieves through the websites that create trading markets:
In 2011, the third-largest trading site, Bitomat, lost its wallet file, which held 17,000 bitcoins worth more than $200,000 at the time.
In the same year, the exchange MyBitcoin lost 51% of its users' deposits, amounting to 78,000 bitcoins worth over $1 million at the time.
. In 2012, Bitcoinica was hacked and lost $220,000 worth of customer funds. Two months later, it was hacked again and lost another $90,000. As Bitcoinica attempted to repay claims, the company was hacked a final time for another loss of $320,000.
In the fall of 2012, in what might have been the first Bitcoin Ponzi scheme, the creator of Bitcoin Savings and Trust promised returns to investors. The founder has since disappeared with 500,000 bitcoins.
Price instability
The market forces behind the bitcoin are far from solid and predictable. There is a large demand from speculators while actual use of bitcoins for trading goods and services is small. Just last week, a young Canadian became the first to list his home in exchange for bitcoins, and most other places that accept bitcoins remain small online businesses. And as bitcoin's value continues to swing wildly, it makes it hard for businesses to accept bitcoins with confidence.
eBay's NASDAQ:EBAY) Meanwhile, established companies have taken notice of bitcoin. The popular blogging platform WordPress announced last November that it would accept bitcoins, while deriding'sPayPal platform for blocking access from over 60 countries: "Some are blocked for political reasons, some because of higher fraud rates, and some for financial reasons. Whatever the reason, we don;t think an individual blogger from Haiti, Ethiopia, or Kenya should have diminished access to the blogosphere because of payment issues they can't control." If bitcoin ends up taking the role of PayPal in those blocked countries, future growth for eBay could be limited.
Visa NYSE:V) Google NASDAQ:GOOGL) Other companies have been fighting to become the consumer's digital wallet.launched its V.me platform last November, which allows users to pay online without repeatedly entering in credit card and shipping information.Wallet breaks away from purely digital shopping, and allows users to use their phone, if it has near-field communication technology, to pay for goods in-store. Unfortunately, many phones -- like the iPhone -- have yet to come equipped with NFC, and less than 10% of retailers are estimated to use NFC.
Legality
As bitcoin has gained popularity, the U.S. Treasury's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network recently issued a statement clarifying that even virtual currencies like bitcoin are subject to regulation. As bitcoin can be exchanged between anonymous parties, it could be used for illicit activities with little trace. Bitcoin is already a popular currency on what's called Silk Road, a website accessible only through anonymous Internet connections that acts as a marketplace for many illegal substances.
In addition, bitcoin is the first major digital currency with no backing from a state nor physical presence. Unlike gold, which exists in physical form and has some actual applications, bitcoin is made up of data, and all value is solely what we perceive. If world governments decide to fight the currency, it could severely hurt any value bitcoin holds. If humans begin to change their mind on what these bits of data are worth, then it could also hurt bitcoin's value.Russia’s Defense Ministry has cautioned the US-led coalition of carrying out airstrikes on Syrian army positions, adding in Syria there are numerous S-300 and S-400 air defense systems up and running.
Russia currently has S-400 and S-300 air-defense systems deployed to protect its troops stationed at the Tartus naval supply base and the Khmeimim airbase. The radius of the weapons reach may be “a surprise” to all unidentified flying objects, Russian Defense Ministry spokesperson General Igor Konashenkov said.
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According to the Russian Defense Ministry, any airstrike or missile hitting targets in territory controlled by the Syrian government would put Russian personnel in danger.
The defense official said that members of the Russian Reconciliation Center in Syria are working “on the ground” delivering aid and communicating with a large number of communities in Syria.
“Therefore, any missile or air strikes on the territory controlled by the Syrian government will create a clear threat to Russian servicemen.”
“Russian air defense system crews are unlikely to have time to determine in a ‘straight line’ the exact flight paths of missiles and then who the warheads belong to. And all the illusions of amateurs about the existence of ‘invisible’ jets will face a disappointing reality,” Konashenkov added.
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He also noted that Syria itself has S-200 as well as BUK systems, and their technical capabilities have been updated over the past year.
The Russian Defense Ministry’s statement came in response to what it called “leaks” in the Western media alleging that Washington is considering launching airstrikes against Syrian government forces.
“Of particular concern is information that the initiators of such provocations are representatives of the CIA and the Pentagon, who in September reported to the [US] President on the alleged controllability of ‘opposition’ fighters, but today are lobbying for ‘kinetic’ scenarios in Syria,” he said.
He cautioned Washington to conduct a “thorough calculation of the possible consequences of such plans.”
US-led coalition jets bombed positions of the Syrian government forces on September 17, resulting in the deaths of 83 servicemen. Washington said the airstrike was a mistake, however Damascus claimed the incident was a “blatant aggression.”
The relocation of the S-300 system in order to protect Russian ships and the naval base in Syria was confirmed by Russian defense officials on October 4. Konashenkov assured that the S-300 is a “purely defensive system and poses no threat.” Russia also has S-400 missile defense systems at Khmeimim base that were placed there after Turkey downed a Russian SU-24 jet in November of 2015.The fear of “Nile fever” in China
By John Chan
5 February 2011
The scenes of mass protests of Egyptian workers and youth in Cairo demanding democratic rights and decent living standards have obviously been a chilling reminder to the Chinese regime of the events two decades ago in Tiananmen Square. Fearful that the revolutionary disease might spread from Egypt, Beijing has ordered its Internet police to filter out the word “Egypt” from microblogging sites to prevent active discussion among China’s millions of Internet users.
The Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post declared that the similarity of the current Egyptian unrest and the 1989 events in China was “too obvious to be ignored”. Explaining the sentiment in Chinese ruling circles, political scientist Liu Junning told the newspaper: “It is unbelievable to imagine that autocracies controlled by political strongmen can easily become unstable and be overthrown almost overnight.”
At first sight, China and Egypt appear to be poles apart—geographically, culturally and economically. But as Financial Times columnist Gideon Rachman noted, “there are some elements in the Egyptian uprising that might ring a few bells in Beijing: popular fury at corruption, the destabilising effect of rising food prices, youth unemployment, the ability of the Internet to mobilise popular protest, the gap between a ruling elite and the people they are trying to govern.”
Rachman sought to reassure his readers that “it is highly unlikely that the political contagion that has spread from Tunisia to Egypt will leap across continents to Asia.” But what Rachman identifies is precisely the deep social divide, class antagonisms and popular alienation from the political establishment that is characteristic of the situation in country after country around the world—including in China. The prospect of an Egyptian-style uprising in China, with its highly concentrated working class of 400 million, strikes terror in the hearts not only of the Chinese ruling elites but of the world’s financial aristocracy, which depends so heavily on the Chinese cheap labour.
The Wall Street Journal was well aware that China was not “immune” to the contagion of “Nile fever”. It explained what it meant by citing a recent animation video made in China showing the masses, depicted as rabbits, rising up in anger over corruption and killing Communist Party bureaucrats. If inflation continued to worsen, the mouthpiece of Wall Street wrote, “history suggests China’s stability could prove to be a mirage.”
In many ways, the class tensions in China are just as acute as in Egypt. China boasts the world’s second largest group of billionaires—up by 69 to 189 in 2010—after the US, while its per capita GDP is only two-thirds that of Egypt. The gulf between rich and poor has been exacerbated by sharply rising prices for food and other basic necessities. Young people, including university graduates, are finding it increasingly difficult to obtain a job. Like the Egyptian youth, young Chinese workers form the bulk of the country’s 384 million Internet users, providing them with a global outlook and far greater social aspirations than previous generations.
The working class has always been an international class facing the same forms of class oppression. However, the global integration of the processes of production over the past three decades has drawn together workers around the world to an unprecedented extent. In many cases, Chinese and Egyptian workers are exploited by the same global corporations, as well as the similar oppressive regimes that serve the corporate elite. That is why the revolutionary upheavals in Egypt strike a chord among Chinese workers and youth—and terror into the ruling establishment.
The Wall Street Journal’s reference to “Nile fever” is reminiscent of the panicked fear of “Bolshevik infection” that struck the bourgeoisie around the world following the seizure of power by the Russian working class in October 1917 under the Bolshevik leadership of Lenin and Trotsky. Just as workers now are beginning to draw inspiration from Egypt, the Russian revolution met an enthusiastic response among workers around the world, including in China.
The tragic defeat of the 1925-27 Chinese revolution holds great lessons for workers in Egypt and internationally. The Bolsheviks had led the Russian working class to power on the basis of Trotsky’s Theory of Permanent Revolution, which insists on the political independence of the proletariat from all sections of the perfidious national bourgeoisie. In China, Stalin subordinated the working class to the bourgeois Kuomintang, claiming it was leading the Chinese revolution. The result was the Kuomintang massacre of workers and peasants.
The events in China in June 1989 contain similar lessons. At the height of the upsurge, as workers joined protesting students in Tiananmen Square and other cities, Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping appeared powerless. He feared the army would split, he would be placed under house arrest and the regime would collapse. But the protest movement lacked a revolutionary leadership. Rather than take the political initiative, the leaders of the Beijing Workers Autonomous Federation tailed behind the petty bourgeois “democrats” of the student movement who promoted the fatal illusion that reformers in the Communist Party leadership would make “democratic” concessions. Deng used the breathing space to mobilise troops and tanks from the remote provinces to bloodily crush the protests.
Egyptian youth and workers should draw the necessary conclusions from these terrible defeats of the Chinese working class. The fight for basic democratic rights is intimately bound up with the struggle against capitalism. No faith should be put in the bourgeois opposition parties, such as the Muslim Brotherhood and leaders like Mohamed ElBaradei who, no less than the Mubarak dictatorship, defend the present social order. The working class must rely on its own independent strength and start to build its own organisations, above all a political party that will fight for a workers’ government and socialist policies.
Chinese workers and youth, who took the first steps in the strike wave of last April and May, can draw inspiration from the determination and courage of their counterparts in Egypt. The struggles in China and Egypt for democracy cannot be separated from the fight for international socialism. It is an urgent necessity for workers in Egypt, China and around the world to build sections of International Committee of Fourth International, which alone embodies all the strategic experiences of the working class of the past century. It is the only revolutionary tendency on the planet capable of leading the international working class to take power and establish a social order based on genuine social equality and democracy.An enormous victory was celebrated in Los Angeles in the summer of 1984, and it sure wasn’t at the Olympics.
You see, this whole mess—like many other messes—started back in the mid-80s.
After lending their experienced hands to the production of shows like The Newlywed Game and Give-N-Take, producer Bill Carruthers and his partner Bill Mitchell hit pay dirt with their newest creation, Press Your Luck. A reimagining of Second Chance, their similarly-structured yet unsuccessful late-70s ABC show, Press Your Luck aimed to be the biggest, brightest, most exciting game on television. Three players competed by answering host Peter Tomarken’s trivia questions in exchange for “spins” on the show’s iconic big board.
There, players had the chance to win untold sums of money and fabulous prizes by stopping a randomly flashing light on one of the board’s 18 squares. The presence of the Whammy, a wisecracking red creature with a yellow cape and a cheesy grin, added an element of risk to the proceedings—stop that light on the Whammy, and he’d take everything you’ve earned up to that point, as well as put on a little cartoon show for you. During the taping of the pilot in mid-1983, it became evident that this game was capable of producing excitement the likes of which had never before been seen on television. CBS accepted the Carruthers Company production, and Press Your Luck premiered on Monday, September 19, 1983.
While ecstatic, sweater-clad contestants clobbered their buttons and claimed king’s ransoms of cash, Michael Larson was watching. Larson, an unemployed Ohio native with a long, sordid history of perpetrating get rich quick schemes, was “enjoying” the off season after working in the summer of ’83 as an ice cream truck driver. At that time, staying home to watch TV on a weekday morning meant game shows, and lots of them. In addition to the many games aired by the other two networks, CBS offered The $25,000 Pyramid, Child’s Play, and of course, The Price Is Right. However, Michael was drawn to Press Your Luck.
It would have been hard to blame him—the show’s main set piece, a game board consisting of countless flashing light bulbs and 18 constantly-rotating slide projectors, would have been the death of many a mosquito had it been hanging on a front porch. Combine the blinding fluorescent visuals with the scores of ten-second cartoon exploits of the Whammy (devised by Eek! The Cat creator “Savage” Steve Holland and voiced by Press Your Luck creator Bill Carruthers), and the result was a half-hour of entertainment that enthralled children and stay-at-home parents alike. Ah, but of the thousands of lights on the screen, only one of them caught Michael’s eye. That board—could it really be random? And if it wasn’t random, could Michael figure out what makes it tick?
Each square on the Press Your Luck board was surrounded by randomly chasing lights, and it was these lights that determined what a player landed on. When the board would “spin”, as the host would say, the contestant in charge would hit a button on their podium (typically accompanied by the war cry “STOP!”) to freeze the board in its position. The light would remain illuminated around a square, and whatever was contained within was the fate of the contestant, be it a prize, cash, or a dreaded Whammy.
That word, though. Randomly. Michael didn’t buy it. Armed with a remote-controlled VCR and dozens of taped reruns of the show, Michael analyzed the big board rounds frame by frame. One fateful day, he got it—the lights flashed in predictable patterns around the board. Theoretically, all he had to do was make it on the show, and he could take CBS for all they were worth.
Theory became law in May of 1984 when Michael, armed with a 65-cent shirt from Goodwill and a brain full of patterns, made it from Ohio to Los Angeles and successfully auditioned for Press Your Luck. May 19 is a day that will live in game show infamy, for that is the day when Michael Larson took the stage at CBS Studio 31 to play the game he had practiced at home for so long. This was his chance.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pkM10SxmmwU
Even if armed with all the VCR remotes in the world, Michael Larson could have never predicted the number of spins he’d have in the collective conscience of pop culture. When the unprecedented two-part episode aired in the summer of 1984, fascinated viewers propelled what was already a moderately-popular daytime program to the top of the Nielsen charts.
Once the dust had settled, and Larson emerged from the rubble with $110,237 in cash and prizes, he was the subject of news features across the country. In 1994, the sudden interest in the seamy underbelly of television games (for which the Robert Redford film Quiz Show was certainly a catalyst) once again made Larson, who was interviewed for ABC’s Good Morning America that year, a relatively hot topic. In 2003, GSN told the Larson story—the good, the bad and the Whammy—in a documentary called Big Bucks: The Press Your Luck Scandal. Until the 2012 premiere of The American Bible Challenge, the one-hour special which featured the first ever re-broadcast of the infamous Larson episodes was the highest-rated original offering in the 20-year history of the network.
When the CBS suits learned what had transpired, they, of course, tried desperately to label Larson as a cheater and deprive him of his winnings. As it turned out, however, there was no clause in the contestants’ agreements that said they were’t allowed to be clever and expose the game’s Achilles’ heel. The network relented, and Michael made his money. He didn’t keep the cash for long—after a series of failed ventures and a home invasion in which the robbers stole about $50,000 in dollar bills saved for a radio contest, Larson lost just about all of it.
After years of working odd jobs and trying in vain to get CBS to put him on a proposed Press Your Luck Tournament of Champions, as well as a federal investigation into a massive pyramid scheme in which he was involved, Michael Larson died of throat cancer on February 16, 1999. Years after his death, the Chicago public radio series This American Life told Michael Larson’s story with the help of his brother, James. Ed Long and Janie Litras-Dakan, the two losing contestants on Michael’s big day, were also invited to play against James Larson in a rematch on GSN’s Whammy! The All-New Press Your Luck in 2003.
At their heart, many game shows are inherently a conflict between man and machine. When Michael Larson took to that mechanical neon game show Goliath, his battle not only set records and created television history, but it also served as an example of the pure entertainment that can come from a perfectly-crafted game show.
Well, almost perfect.Rodney Lynn Temperton (9 October 1949 – September/October 2016) was an English songwriter, record producer and musician. He initially made his mark as the keyboardist and main songwriter for the 1970s R&B, funk and disco band Heatwave, whose hit songs included "Boogie Nights" and "Always and Forever".
After being recruited by producer Quincy Jones, he wrote several internationally known songs performed by Michael Jackson, including "Thriller", "Off the Wall" and "Rock with You". He also wrote George Benson's hits "Give Me the Night" and "Love X Love", and Patti Austin and James Ingram's US number one duet "Baby, Come to Me", among many others.
Temperton wrote the soundtrack for the 1986 film Running Scared.
Temperton won a Grammy Award in 1991 for his work on "Birdland", from Quincy Jones's album Back on the Block.[1]
Biography [ edit ]
Early years [ edit ]
Temperton was born in Cleethorpes, Lincolnshire, on 9 October 1949.[2] Interviewed for the BBC Radio 2 documentary "The Invisible Man: the Rod Temperton Story", Temperton said that he was a musician from an early age: "My father wasn't the kind of person who'd read you a story before you went off to sleep – he used to put a transistor radio in the crib, right on the pillow, and I'd go to sleep listening to Radio Luxembourg and I think that had an influence".[3] Temperton attended De Aston Grammar School, Market Rasen[4] and he formed a group for the school's music competitions. He was a drummer at this time. "I'd get in the living room with my snare drum and my cymbal and play along to the BBC test card, which was all kinds of music they'd be playing continuously."[5] On leaving school he started working for Ross Frozen Foods in Grimsby, Lincolnshire.[2]
Heatwave [ edit ]
He soon became a full-time musician as a keyboard player, and played in several dance bands. This took him to Worms in Germany. In 1974 he answered an advert in Melody Maker placed by Johnnie Wilder Jr. and as a result became a member of the funk and disco band Heatwave, which Wilder was putting together at the time. "He was the first British guy that I had ever met personally. He spoke kind of funny but he had a good sense of humour and he was a very friendly guy. After meeting him and then seeing him play I kind of determined he was a good enough player and entertainer and I just knew he would fit in the group", said Wilder.[3] Temperton played Wilder tunes he had been composing: "I was very interested because we were doing a lot of cover tunes – we weren't doing a lot of original material – I was really interested." The songs provided material for 1976's Too Hot to Handle including "Boogie Nights", which broke the band in Britain and the United States, and the ballad "Always and Forever" – both tracks were million-sellers in the US.[6][7]
Despite the slick American sound, Temperton's working surroundings were still far from glamorous. Alan Kirk, a Yorkshire musician with Jimmy James and the Vagabonds who toured with Heatwave in the mid 1970s remembered: "The Always and Forever track was written on a Wurlitzer piano at the side of a pile of pungent washing – sorry to disappoint all the romantics." And producer Barry Blue recalled: "He had a very small flat, so everything had to be done within one room and he had piles of washing, and had the T.V. on top of the organ. It was a nightmare [...] he had trams running outside [...] but he made it, he just absorbed himself in the music and Rod seemed to come up with these amazing songs".[3] In 1977 Heatwave followed up the success of its first album with its second, Central Heating, with Barry Blue again producing and Temperton behind the majority of the songs. It included "The Groove Line", another international hit single. In 1978 Temperton decided to concentrate on writing and left Heatwave, though he continued to write for the band.[8]
Songs written for Michael Jackson [ edit ]
Temperton's work attracted the attention of Quincy Jones, and he asked his engineer Bruce Swedien to check out the Heatwave album. "Holy cow! I simply loved Rod's musical feeling – everything about it – Rod's arrangements, his tunes, his songs – was exceedingly hip," recalled Swedien, also calling Temperton: "the most disciplined pop music composer I've ever met. When he comes to the studio, every musical detail is written down or accounted for in Rod's mind. He never stops until he feels confident that the music we're working on is able to stand on its own".[9] In 1979, Temperton was recruited by Quincy Jones to write for what became Michael Jackson's first solo album in four years, and his first full-fledged solo release for Epic Records, titled Off the Wall. Temperton wrote three songs for the album, including "Rock with You" which became the second US No. 1 single from the album.[2]
In the early 1980s Temperton left Germany and moved to Beverly Hills, California.[10] In 1982, Temperton wrote three songs, including the title track, for Jackson's next LP, Thriller, which became the biggest-selling album of all time. Temperton also wrote the spoken word section of the song for the actor Vincent Price.[11] On coming up with the title Thriller, Temperton once said:
I went back to the hotel, wrote two or three hundred titles and came up with Midnight Man. The next morning I woke up and I just said this word. Something in my head just said, 'This is the title'. You could visualise it at the top of the Billboard charts. You could see the merchandising for this one word, how it jumped off the page as 'Thriller'.[12]
Other songwriting successes [ edit ]
Temperton wrote successfully for other musicians, his hits including "Stomp!" for The Brothers Johnson, George Benson's "Give Me the Night", "Baby, Come to Me" for Patti Austin and James Ingram, "Love Is in Control (Finger on the Trigger)" for Donna Summer, and "Yah Mo B There" for Ingram and Michael McDonald. He also wrote for Herbie Hancock, The Manhattan Transfer, Mica Paris, and many others.[11]
Film work [ edit ]
In 1986 Temperton was nominated for the Best Original Song Oscar for "Miss Celie's Blues (Sister)," which he wrote with Quincy Jones and Lionel Richie for The Color Purple (1985). (Richie won the award for |
difficult to find precedent for a deception like this in past administrations. Certainly there have been disputed lies like the Gulf of Tonkin incident during the Vietnam conflict, or the attack on the USS Maine that precipitated the Spanish-American War. But it’s almost impossible to find instances of an entire White House fabricating the whereabouts of a carrier group.
The second option is somewhat more harrowing, given that we’re talking about a serious miscommunication. It’s possible the president and the secretary of defense had no idea where the Carl Vinson was or where it was going, mistakenly believing it was 3,500 miles north of its actual location. CNN’s Jim Acosta reported via Twitter that, indeed, the whole thing might have been a colossal blunder.
Yeah, so it was just like a “Three’s Company” episode but one that incorporated into the plot an aircraft carrier and the threat of a North Korean nuclear attack against South Korea, Japan or possibly the U.S. mainland. Whoops!
But I’m not ruling out the lie, either. None of us should. During Trump’s interview last week with Fox Business Network's Maria Bartiromo when he talked about the “armada” as well as the most beautiful chocolate cake we’ve ever seen, Trump also said, “We’re not going into Syria.” Later in the interview, he repeated the claim.
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That would be welcome news for sure, but unfortunately we’re already in Syria: We already have “boots on the ground” there. In fact, there’s a plan in the works to send an additional 1,000 troops into Syria on top of the hundreds of military personnel already there. In other words, we’re back to the same conundrum: Is Trump lying about Syria? Or does he simply not know that American troops have already gone in?
I understand Trump's half-baked, remedial strategy of keeping everyone in suspense about what he plans to do next, and that would certainly be easier to digest if it was clear that he knew what the hell he was doing in the first place — that he was informed and possessed a level of expertise about military policy. It would also be easier to stomach if he wasn’t such a serial liar about things far more serious than the quality of the chocolate cake at Mar-a-Lago (a venue that's been cited 13 times for health code violations). It’s like his lie about a “secret plan to defeat ISIS,” which, it turned out, didn’t exist other than as a plan to ask the generals to concoct a secret plan.
We have a right to know, to a reasonable extent, what the commander in chief is doing with the military in our names. I don’t expect Trump or Mattis or McMaster to spill the beans about every detail, but it’d be nice to know whether our Navy is engaged in a game of nuclear chicken or whether we’ve officially launched a new war against a sovereign state. And if the president and his highest officials are caught lying about what the U.S. is doing or which new wars it might be instigating, Americans of both parties ought to demand accountability.Seldom does an NFL career end in the fairytale fashion that many players or fans would like to see. For most fans of the Buffalo Bills, seeing running back Fred Jackson play in the jersey of another team was, at one point, an unthinkable scenario.
When Jackson was released prior to the 2015 regular season, that scenario came to fruition. After eight seasons in Western New York, Jackson was deemed surplus to requirements. Jackson spent the 2015 season with the Seattle Seahawks, playing in his first postseason game of his career as a result.
While speaking at the season opener for his former team, the Sioux City Bandits, Jackson discussed his desire to return to Buffalo, even just for one more day.
“It’s automatic. It has to be as a Buffalo Bill. You know, I owe those guys everything. The fan base has by far stuck behind me the most. And still talk to me now. That’s not to take anything from anybody. But the Bills Mafia is who has made me who I am today. I love playing for those guys. As long as I can go sign that one day contract and retire as a Buffalo Bill. If they’re going to have me, I’d definitely love to do that.”
While Jackson may be thinking about how he wants to formally retire, he has no intention of it being any time soon. Despite just turning 36-years-old, Jackson is still looking for work in the NFL, if they’ll have him.
“Playing-wise, I would love to play again,” he said. “You know, I’m going to try and see if I could get on a roster again. I’m going to try and see if I can get on a roster this year, training camps and things like that. If I can get into one I’m going to try to spend the next two, three months trying to get on a roster. And you know, if it doesn’t happen I’m going to hang my hat on the ten years that I did play. I was in contact with a few teams last year about coming in, and things just never worked out. We’ll see. We’ll shake those branches and see if something happens. If it doesn’t, like I said, I had ten years that I played and I enjoyed every minute of it.”
Jackson has also kept an eye on his first NFL team despite the somewhat acrimonious circumstances of his release, showing an appreciation for quarterback Tyrod Taylor and the hiring of new coach Sean McDermott.
“I think they’ve got a great coach,” said Jackson. “You know, one who knows what they want to do. I’m sure they are all putting in a plan of what it is they want to get accomplished right now. The next two months is going to determine what he wants to do. I know they’ve got the whole Tyrod thing going on. I like Tyrod. I like what he brings to the table. But again that’s not my decision to make. I hope the best for all those guys. I think they all did some great things last year. There was just a couple games they came up short in. You know that’s the nature of the business. When you fall short you don’t get to where you want to be in the end. But I think they have the pieces there. If those guys stay healthy I think they’ll be able to contend and get to the playoffs next year.”Wild dog waits on the platform
The clever canines board the Tube each morning. After a hard day scavenging and begging on the streets, they hop back on the train and return to the suburbs where they spend the night. (Pics)
Experts studying the dogs say they even work together to make sure they get off at the right stop – after learning to judge the length of time they need to spend on the train.
The mutts choose the quietest carriages at the front and back of the train.
They have also developed tactics to hustle humans into giving them more food on the streets of Moscow.
Scientists believe the phenomenon began after the Soviet Union collapsed in the 1990s, and Russia’s new capitalists moved industrial complexes from the city centre to the suburbs.
Dr Andrei Poiarkov, of the Moscow Ecology and Evolution Institute, said: “These complexes were used by homeless dogs as shelters, so the dogs had to move together with their houses. Because the best scavenging for food is in the city centre, the dogs had to learn how to travel on the subway – to get to the centre in the morning, then back home in the evening, just like people.”
Dr Poiarkov told how the dogs like to play during their daily commute. He said: “They jump on the train seconds before the doors shut, risking their tails getting jammed. They do it for fun. And sometimes they fall asleep and get off at the wrong stop.”
The dogs have learned to use traffic lights to cross the road safely, said Dr Poiarkov. And they use cunning tactics to obtain tasty morsels of shawarma, a kebab-like snack popular in Moscow.
They sneak up behind people eating shawarmas – then bark loudly to shock them into dropping their food.
With children the dogs “play cute” by putting their heads on youngsters’ knees and staring pleadingly into their eyes to win sympathy – and scraps.
Dr Poiarkov added: “Dogs are surprisingly good psychologists.”
The Moscow mutts are not the first animals to use public transport. In 2006 a Jack Russell in Dunnington, North Yorks, began taking the bus to his local pub in search of sausages.
And two years ago passengers in Wolverhampton were stunned when a cat called Macavity started catching the 331 bus to a fish and chip shop.
Via The SunMedia playback is not supported on this device Rio 2016 Olympics: Usain Bolt wins third 100m gold
Jamaica's Usain Bolt became the first athlete to win three Olympic 100m titles by beating American Justin Gatlin to gold at Rio 2016.
Bolt, 29, ran 9.81 seconds in his final Olympics to replicate his success at Beijing 2008 and London 2012.
Twice banned for doping offences, Gatlin was 0.08 seconds behind Bolt, with Canada's Andre de Grasse in third.
"Somebody said I can become immortal," said Bolt. "Two more medals to go and I can sign off. Immortal."
De Grasse took bronze in a personal best of 9.91, ahead of Bolt's Jamaican team-mate Yohan Blake.
There was no British interest in Sunday's showpiece as CJ Ujah and James Dasaolu were eliminated in the semi-finals.
Bolt remains on target to leave Rio with a third successive Olympic treble, having won the 100m, 200m and 4x100m relay titles in 2008 and 2012.
"It wasn't perfect today, but I got it done and I'm pretty proud of what I've achieved," he said. "Nobody else has done it or even attempted it.
"I expected to go faster, but I'm happy that I won. I did what I had to."
Bolt was slower out of the blocks than 34-year-old Gatlin, who was aiming to regain the title he won at Athens 2004.
But the Jamaican surged through from 60 metres to pass Gatlin and comfortably win his seventh Olympic gold.
Bolt received a hero's reception as he walked out into Rio's Olympic Stadium before the race - and the crowd chanted his name after his victory, too.
"It wasn't about the time, it was just about winning the gold and going out on top," said Michael Johnson, four-time Olympic champion.
Bolt, who said in February he would retire from athletics after the 2017 World Championships, competes in qualifying for the men's 200 on Tuesday, with the 4x100m relay beginning on Friday.
Media playback is not supported on this device Bolt's a unique individual - Michael Johnson
The world record holder at 100m and 200m showed an expectant Rio crowd he was in great shape by clocking a season's best 9.86 in his semi-final.
The sport's greatest showman then produced an even better run when it really mattered to send the Olympic Stadium into raptures.
"After the semi-final, I felt extremely good," Bolt added.
"I wanted to run faster but with the turnaround time - we normally have two hours but we had one hour 20 minutes - it was challenging. This is what we train for. I told you guys I was going to do it. Stay tuned. Two more to go."
Britain's heptathlon silver medallist Jessica Ennis, and fellow medallists Nafissatou Thiam and Brianne Theisen-Eaton, grabbed Bolt for a trackside selfie after his win
Analysis
Michael Johnson, four-time Olympic gold medallist:
"I didn't expect the race to unfold the way it did. Gatlin got a great start but it was always within Bolt's reach. Gatlin knew that this was not going to happen, that he was never going to be able to beat a healthy Usain Bolt."
Steve Cram, BBC athletics commentator:
"He still looks like he really enjoys this. He gathers titles like daisies in a field. Our sport has a lot of critics and it's going through dark times, but we should not forget that this is what can be done. He is almost God-like."
Media playback is not supported on this device Rio Olympics 2016: Watch Usain Bolt react to 100m win
Social media reaction
Basketball star LeBron James:"Nothing u can do vs that cheetah! #Bolt"
Former world heavyweight boxing champion Lennox Lewis: "Big up to @usainbolt on making history and Andre Degrasse on grabbing bronze! #TeamJamaica #TeamCanada #Brijamada #Rio2016"
Former champion jockey AP McCoy:"Unbelievable from @usainbolt bet he wishes he was a racehorse, he'd have some craic at stud!!"
Booed Gatlin comes up short again
In stark contrast to Bolt's reception, Gatlin walked out to the start line to a chorus of boos, but he was unmoved.
He insisted his rivals respected him and urged the critics to get to know him, telling BBC Radio 5 live: "I have worked hard to get on the podium. I'm honoured to be here for my country."
Gatlin's first drugs ban in 2001 was reduced from two years to one after he proved the amphetamines he was taking were for an attention deficit disorder.
He then tested positive for testosterone in 2006, a year after winning the 100m and 200m double at the World Championships.
The American served a four-year ban that was twice reduced, first from a lifetime then to eight years.
Gatlin returned to the track in 2010, claiming Olympic bronze at London 2012 and losing to Bolt in the 2015 World Championships.
Many thought Gatlin could beat Bolt in Rio.
The Jamaican injured a hamstring at the end of June, while Gatlin had recorded the fastest time of the year in July, clocking, 9.80.
Bolt's major 100m wins 2008 Olympic Games, Beijing 9.69 - world record 2009 World Championships, Berlin 9.58 - world record 2012 Olympic Games, London 9.63 - Olympic record 2013 World Championships, Moscow 9.77 2015 World Championships, Beijing 9.79 2016 Olympic Games, Rio 9.81
Subscribe to the BBC Sport newsletter to get our pick of news, features and video sent to your inbox.Real estate mogul Donald Trump is fed up with planes flying over his ritzy Mar-a-lago club in Palm Beach, Florida. SOUNDBITE: DONALD TRUMP, REAL ESTATE DEVELOPER, SAYING: "It's a magnificent property and the airplanes are hurting it very badly with the vibrations, with the noise, the soot." He's filed a $100 million lawsuit claiming county officials are purposely redirecting air traffic over his property to make him mad. SOUNDBITE: DONALD TRUMP, REAL ESTATE DEVELOPER, SAYING: "We have so much documentation and there's so much damage so I think we'll be able to prove that very easily." The real estate tycoon says it wasn't an easy decision to file this latest lawsuit. He says he mulled over it for three years. SOUNDBITE: DONALD TRUMP, REAL ESTATE DEVELOPER, SAYING: "We really have to do it now. We have to protect Mar-a-lago for the state of Florida and for the country." Trump claims bad blood he has with the county has led officials to act maliciously. In the past, Trump has filed several lawsuits complaining about airport noise.WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Support for the war in Afghanistan is at an all-time low, according to a new national poll.
U.S. troops participate in a ceremony commemorating the eighth anniversary of 9/11 in Bagram, Afghanistan.
A CNN/Opinion Research Corp. survey released Tuesday morning indicates that 39 percent of Americans favor the war in Afghanistan, with 58 percent opposed to the mission.
Support is down from 53 percent in April, marking the lowest level since the start of the U.S. military mission in Afghanistan soon after the September 11, 2001, attacks.
The poll suggests that 23 percent of Democrats support the war. That number rises to 39 percent for independents and 62 percent for Republicans.
"Most of the recent erosion in support has come from within the GOP," said Keating Holland, CNN's polling director. "Unlike Democrats and independents, Republicans still favor the war, but their support has slipped eight points in just two weeks."
How does Afghanistan compares with Iraq?
"The Afghan war is almost as unpopular as the Iraq war has been for the past four years," Holland said, noting that support for the war in Iraq first dropped to 39 percent in June 2005 and has generally remained in the low to mid-30s since.
The poll's release comes after the two deadliest months for the U.S. military in Afghanistan. In August, 48 U.S. troops were killed in the fighting, surpassing the previous high of 45 the month before.
President Obama has called Afghanistan a "war of necessity" and has placed great emphasis on defeating the Taliban and al Qaeda militants operating there and in Pakistan.
U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates is expected to approve sending thousands of additional troops to Afghanistan to deal with the growing threat from roadside bombs, Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morrell said last week.
Gates has concluded there is not enough manpower or equipment in Afghanistan to protect U.S. troops from such bombs, Morrell said. Watch U.S. senators on the next U.S. moves in Afghanistan »
The CNN/Opinion Research poll was conducted Friday through Sunday, with 1,012 adult Americans questioned by telephone. The survey's overall sampling error is plus or minus 3 percentage points.
All About Afghanistan War • The Taliban • Robert GatesLate last year, scientists with the OPERA collaboration in Gran Sasso, Italy reported an incredible finding: neutrinos that appeared to be moving faster than the speed of light. The news spread at a barely slower pace, fascinating the public. One thing everyone knows is that a very famous physicist named Albert Einstein once said that nothing should travel faster than light speed. In February, the OPERA researchers found a couple small problems with their experimental set-up, calling into question the original faster-than-light neutrino result. The event highlighted the difficulty of science at the edge of the unknown -- and neutrinos are especially tricky. More often than not, neutrino experiments throughout history have turned up perplexing results. While most of these experiments didn’t get the high-profile attention that disputing Einstein provides, they've challenged scientists and helped them learn ever more about the natural world. In this gallery, we take a look at some of the strangest historical neutrino results and the findings that still have scientists scratching their heads. Above: What Is a Neutrino? Neutrinos are tiny, elusive and very common. For every proton or electron in the universe there are at least a billion neutrinos. Researchers need to know how neutrinos work because they're relevant to many areas of physics. These ubiquitous specks came into existence milliseconds after the Big Bang, and new neutrinos are created during the radioactive decay of elements, nuclear reactions within stars and the explosive collapse of supernovas. “They’re one of the dominant particles in the universe but we still know very little about them,” said physicist Bill Louis of Los Alamos National Lab, co-spokesperson for the MiniBooNE neutrino experiment. Neutrinos are so hard to study because they barely interact with other matter. Unlike the more familiar electron, they have no electromagnetic charge. They pass as easily through lead walls as through mist, and are so light that scientists long thought they had no mass at all. Detecting them requires closely watching a large tank of material, such a water, on the off chance that a neutrino will hit another particle and produce an observable change. Image: Researchers sit in a boat inside the Super-Kamiokande neutrino experiment in Japan. The detector is made from a tank filled with 50,000 tons of water and lined with more than 11,000 photomultiplier tubes. (Kamioka Observatory, ICRR (Institute for Cosmic Ray Research), The University of Tokyo)
Beta Decay Puzzle “Neutrinos have always had a curious history,” said theoretical physicist Andre de Gouvêa of Northwestern University in Illinois. The tiny particles first came to scientists’ attention in beta decay, a radioactive process discovered at the end of the 19th century in which an atom's nucleus emits an electron and transforms itself into a different atom. In the 1910s, researchers noticed something strange about beta decay. If the only particle emitted was an electron, then the process seemed to violate two physical laws: conservation of energy and conservation of momentum. No one at the time understood how this could happen, but evidence for the violations grew stronger and stronger with each new experiment. In 1930, physicist Wolfgang Pauli wondered if the nuclear process was more complex than previously thought. If an atom also emitted something else during beta decay, the apparent contradictions to physical law could be solved. That something else turned out to be the neutrino. But in order for neutrinos to exist, they would have to be very light and not very interactive. No one had ever seen particles that could fit this description, and no one could think of a way to find them. For a long time, scientists thought neutrinos would prove impossible to detect. Images: 1) Wolfgang Pauli in 1955. (W Dieckvoss/CERN) 2) The opening page of a letter outlining Pauli’s idea of the neutrino, addressed via Lise Meitner to the ‘Dear Radioactive Ladies and Gentlemen’ attending a conference in Tubingen, Germany in 1930. (CERN)
Neutrinos Discovered In 1956, physicists studying neutrinos had some fancy new tools at their disposal. In the 25 years since the particles were first postulated, the U.S. had built several nuclear reactors for its atomic weapons program. Many researchers realized that these reactors, which emitted 300 trillion neutrinos per square inch every second, could be harnessed to detect neutrinos. Though they hardly ever interact with matter, there's a tiny probability that, given enough material, a neutrino will collide with something. In a process that's basically the reverse of beta decay, this direct hit will generate gamma radiation. That year, physicists Clyde Cowan and Frederick Reines built a detector and placed it near the Savannah River Plant in South Carolina. With the reactor on, their experiment unambiguously detected neutrinos for the first time. Though Cowan died in 1974, Reines would go on to win the 1995 Nobel Prize in Physics for the discovery. Image: Telegram from Clyde Cowan and Frederick Reines to Wolfgang Pauli, announcing the discovery of the neutrino. (CERN)
The Solar Puzzle Look at the nail on your pinky finger: Every second, about 65 billion neutrinos pass through it. Almost all were produced inside the giant nuclear reactor in our sun's belly. Astronomers want to detect those neutrinos because they contain important information about processes going on in the sun’s center. In 1964, physicist Ray Davis and astronomer John Bacall built an experiment in the Homestake mine in South Dakota to find these neutrinos. The detector needed to be placed deep underground because cosmic rays hitting the Earth’s atmosphere would interfere with the results. After the Homestake experiment was calibrated and run, the researchers noticed an anomaly. According to their calculations, the sun should have been producing three times as many neutrinos as they actually detected. So they went back to the drawing board, looking for mistakes and making more refined estimates. But they still couldn’t figure out where they went wrong. The Homestake experiment ran for more than 30 years, always showing the same result: three times fewer neutrinos than expected. Astronomers feared that their models of the sun might be totally incorrect. The problem persisted into the mid-'90s. By this point, researchers had discovered that neutrinos come in three different types. The neutrino produced during beta decay or in the sun's center is an electron neutrino, but other processes will create particles known as muon or tau neutrinos. You might guess why the three-type finding was important to a puzzle in which researchers found one-third the number of neutrinos they expected. Researchers realized that during their flight between the sun and Earth, electron neutrinos -- the type detected at Homestake -- were transforming into the other types. As a result, the experiment missed two-thirds of the neutrinos. When new detectors were built that could catch all three types of neutrinos, the discrepancy vanished. The finding had profound implications. While some scientists had previously considered the neutrino to be massless, oscillating between different types required the particles to have mass. Image: In 2001, the Sudbury Neutrino Observatory in Canada detected all three types of neutrinos coming from the sun, helping solve the solar neutrino problem. (Roy Kaltschmidt/Lawrence Berkeley National Lab)
The Atmospheric Puzzle In the 1980s, scientists were occupied with a problem not related to neutrinos in any way. Some theoreticians suggested that the proton – a stable particle by all accounts – might decay into other, lighter subatomic particles. If this occurred, it would be part of physicists’ long-sought dream: a grand unified theory that merged the electromagnetic, weak and strong forces. But if protons regularly decayed, it would be a problem to life on Earth. The atoms in our bodies could start chaotically changing into other elements. No one wants carbon in their DNA spontaneously turning into boron. So theorists said that protons might decay, but over timescales 20 orders of magnitude longer than the age of the universe. To test this, scientists watched huge numbers of protons – all those contained in, for example, a giant tank of water. Watching for the decay of one proton out of 1032, or 100 nonillion protons, is the ultimate needle-in-a-haystack challenge. These experiments had to be placed deep underground to prevent cosmic rays from entering and fooling scientists into thinking a proton had decayed. But cosmic rays hitting the atmosphere also create neutrinos, and even moving deep underground doesn’t shield you from them. Since a neutrino passing through the detector would look like a decaying proton, researchers needed to know how many neutrinos they might expect to see. When they measured the number, scientists found something very weird. Neutrinos coming from above the experiment outnumbered those arriving from below by two to one. After about 10 years of puzzlement, scientists finally figured it out: During flight, neutrinos traveling from below (through the 8000-mile-wide Earth) had time to transform into a different neutrino type. The experiments were only sensitive to one type of neutrino, so they missed the half that changed. The finding confirmed that neutrinos changed as a function of the distance they traveled. “When people figured this out, they got very excited, ” said theoretical physicist Andre de Gouvêa. “It showed us that neutrinos had properties that we didn’t know existed at all.” To this day, no one has seen proton decay. Image: A scuba diver swims through the Irvine-Michigan-Brookhaven detector in Ohio. This experiment was built in the early 1980s to see if protons decay but instead helped figure out that atmospheric neutrinos oscillate. (Department of Energy)
A New Neutrino? In 1993, scientists constructed the Liquid Scintillator Neutrino Detector (LSND) experiment at Los Alamos National Lab. Their aim was to figure out if neutrinos can oscillate from one type to another. (Results from the Homestake and proton decay experiments weren't yet conclusive.) LSND remains famous among scientists because it saw a small excess of electron antineutrinos appear seemingly from nowhere. The best explanation for this odd anomaly required completely new physics. All known subatomic particles come in groups of three. The electron, for instance, is associated with particles called the muon and the tau, which act much like electrons but are heavier. But what the LSND experiment saw could best be explained if, instead of three neutrino types, there were four or more. “The implications of this are potentially huge,” said physicist Bill Louis. The existence of a fourth neutrino would throw serious doubt on the current models of particle physics. But it might also help explain certain unresolved problems, such as the details of supernova explosions. In order to have remained hidden for this long, a fourth neutrino would have very special properties. There are four fundamental forces: the strong, electromagnetic, weak, and gravitational forces. A proton interacts with all of them, an electron with all but the strong, and neutrinos only interact with the weak and gravity. But this new fourth neutrino would only interact with gravity. Because this type of neutrino is so unexpected, many researchers remain skeptical of the LSND findings. As well, several other experiments that could have observed the LSND phenomenon didn’t see it. “That doesn’t prove it wrong, but it does restrict the parameters,” said theoretical physicist Andre de Gouvêa. The LSND findings remain one of the great unsolved mysteries in neutrino physics. Image: A physicist sits inside the LSND detector. (Los Alamos National Laboratory)
More Strangeness In the modern day, many strange experimental results regarding neutrinos persist. Beginning in 2002, scientists began running a new experiment named MiniBooNE at Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory in Illinois. MiniBooNE’s aim was to confirm or deny the controversial LSND results. Their initial results seemed to disprove the LSND anomaly, but further data changed that picture. “Now it looks like MiniBooNE is consistent with LSND,” said physicist Bill Louis, co-spokesperson for the experiment. If this is true, theorists may need to come up with new physical models for how neutrinos behave. These results could potentially impact many fields outside of the neutrino physics community, including cosmology and astrophysics. “On top of everything, MiniBooNE might have run into another anomaly,” said theoretical physicist Andre de Gouvêa. During its preliminary run, MiniBooNE spotted a strange excess of low-energy neutrinos. While many scientists thought these results could be simply be background noise, later data confirmed the surplus. As of today, physicists trying to explain the odd finding remain stumped. Working in a completely different vein, researchers ran into one more abnormal result in Jan. 2011. New, more careful calculations on the number of neutrinos expected to come out of nuclear reactors showed that estimates from the last 20 years might be wrong. “Combined with the LSND and MiniBooNE results, this reactor anomaly seems to indicate something weird is going on,” said de Gouvêa. To address this problem, researchers will need to build new detectors and rerun experiments that until now seemed to be closed cases. Taken together, LSND, MiniBooNE, and the reactor anomalies suggest that neutrino scientists still have many puzzles left to figure out. Image: The walls of the MiniBooNE detector. (Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory)Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that if the world helps him with technology, he will be the first person to “switch over to clean energy completely”.
The Prime Minister discussed India’s position and vision to help fight climate change with American TV talk show host David Letterman in a documentary series ‘Years of Living Dangerously’.
The show will go on air on National Geographic channel on Saturday, and Letterman’s episode will be with Modi.
“If the world helps me with technology, helps me with resources, I will be the very first person to switch over to clean energy completely,” Modi said in a special behind-the-scenes video for the show.
The series investigates both the global and individual devastation wrought by the world’s most catastrophic issue of climate change. It also features popular celebrity hosts such as Harrison Ford and Matt Damon.
In the first episode, Letterman will also meet other key government officials, besides travelling to villages where 300 million people live without power, to understand if India will continue to use fossils fuels like coal to supply energy, or will it be able to lead the way with renewable energy.
After conducting the interview, Letterman said, “I don’t know what that was, but thank you. It’s one of those things that I would like to do again. I was hoping he would ask me to sleep over. I have nothing but questions for this man.”
First Published: Oct 07, 2016 18:47 ISTThe night before the end of Google's Pwnium contest at the CanSecWest security conference this year in Vancouver, a tall teen dressed in khaki shorts, tube socks and sneakers was hunkered down on a hallway bench at the Sheraton hotel hacking away at his laptop.
With a $60,000 cash prize on the line, the teen, who goes by the hacker handle “Pinkie Pie,” was working hard to get his exploit for the Chrome browser stabilized before the close of the competition.
The only other contestant, a Russian university student named Sergey Glazunov, had already made off with one $60,000 prize for a zero-day exploit that attacked 10 different bugs.
Finally, with just hours to go before the end of the three-day competition, Pinkie Pie achieved his goal and dropped his exploit, a beauty of a hack that ripped through six zero-day vulnerabilities in Chrome and slipped out of the browser’s security sandbox.
Google called both hacks “works of art,” and within 24 hours of receiving each submission, had patched all of the bugs that they exploited. Within days, the company had also added new defensive measures to Chrome to ward off future similar attacks.
Portrait of a Full-Time Bug Hunter: Abdul-Aziz Hariri It might seem to some that $500 or even $3,000 is a paltry sum to earn for spending days looking for a security hole in software. Even $20,000 for a bug is chump change if you have a genius zero-day on your hands that could sell on the exploit black market for four times that amount. But, as security researcher Charlie Miller points out, it all depends on where you’re standing. A $1,000 bounty for a researcher in New York won’t go as far as the same amount paid to a researcher in India or even in Indiana. But for some, bug hunting can actually bring in a good wage.
Abdul-Aziz Hariri earned more than enough to live on doing freelance bug hunting, during a period when he couldn't find a job.
Read more
Google’s Pwnium contest is a new addition to its year-round bug bounty programs, launched in 2010, that are aimed at encouraging independent security researchers to find and report security vulnerabilities in Google’s Chrome browser and web properties, and to get paid for doing so.
Vendor bounty programs like Google’s have been around since 2004, when the Mozilla Foundation launched the first modern pay-for-bugs plan for its Firefox browser. (Netscape tried a bounty program in 1995, but the idea didn't spread at that time.) In addition to Google and Mozilla, Facebook and PayPal have also launched bug bounty programs, and even the crafts site Etsy got into the game recently with a program that pays not only for new bugs, but also retroactively for previously reported bugs, to thank researchers who contributed to the site’s security before the bounty program began.
The Mozilla Foundation has paid out more than $750,000 since launching its bounty program; Google has paid out more than $1.2 million.
But some of the biggest vendors, who might be expected to have bounty programs, don't. Microsoft, Adobe and Apple are just three software makers who have been criticized for not paying independent researchers for bugs they have found, even though the companies benefit greatly from the free work done by those who uncover and disclose security vulnerabilities.
Microsoft says its new BlueHat security program, which pays $50,000 and $250,000 to security pros who can devise defensive measures for specific kinds of attacks, is better than paying for bugs.
“I don’t think that filing and rewarding point issues is a long-term strategy to protect customers," Microsoft security chief Mike Reavey said recently.
All of which begs the question: Eight years down the line, have bug bounty programs made browsers and web services more secure? And is there any way to really test that proposition?
Security Science —————-
There's no scientific method for determining if software is more secure than it used to be. And there’s no way to know how much a bounty program has improved the security of a particular software program, as opposed to other measures undertaken by software makers. Security isn’t just about patching bugs; it’s also about adding defensive measures – such as browser sandboxes – to mitigate entire classes of bugs. The combination of these two make software more secure.
But everyone interviewed for this story says the anecdotal evidence strongly supports the conclusion that bounty programs have indeed improved the security of software. And more than this, the programs have yielded other security benefits that go far beyond the individual bugs they've helped fix.
In the most obvious sense, bounty programs make software more secure simply by the fact that they reduce the number of security holes hackers can attack.
"There's a finite number of bugs in these products, so every time you can knock out a bunch of them, you're in a better place," says top security researcher Charlie Miller, who's responsible for finding a number of high-profile vulnerabilities in Apple's iPhone and other products.
But one of the biggest indications that bounty programs have improved security is the decreasing number of bug reports that come in, according to Google.
“It’s a hard measurement to take, but we’re seeing a fairly sustained drop-off in the number of incoming reports we’re receiving for the Chromium program,” says Chris Evans, information security engineer at Google who leads the company’s Chromium vulnerability rewards program as well as its new Pwnium contest, launched this year.
Google has its own internal fuzzing program to uncover security vulnerabilities, and the rate at which that team is finding bugs has dropped, too, Evans says. Google recently asked some of its best outside bug hunters why bug reports had declined and was told it was just “harder to find” vulnerabilities these days. Harder-to-find bugs for researchers also means harder-to-find bugs for hackers.
Bounty programs also improve security by encouraging researchers to disclose bugs responsibly – that is, passing the information to vendors first, so that they can release a patch to customers before the information is publicly disclosed. And they help mend the fractious relationship that has long existed between researchers and vendors.
In 2009, Miller and fellow security researchers Alex Sotirov and Dino Dai Zovi launched a "No |
groups had a global theater of operations; they were exiles of circumstance from many worlds, yet there was a fantastic poetry to them."
Chapter Five
Berlin
"The bedroom door opened and closed silently as if by the passing of a monastic nun detaching herself from meditation and prayer. An electrifying haute couture model emerged, somewhat disheveled. She was bare but for scraps of diaphanous attire stretched across her narrow hips. With close-cropped pale blond hair as if from eternal days at the Arctic Circle, she had blue, intelligent eyes that seemed to reflect unspeakable tragedies and glories, and insensate lust.
Transported, I thought of Schiller: 'Her movements are so mysterious and her figure so elegant; who can she be?'"
"All the lamps had been draped in red silk, their harshness dimmed; the suite appeared as some baronial rouge bordello, or a sanctum for the Epicurean erotic mysteries. Three sticks of sandalwood incense burned, curling into drifting vapors, while the "Song to the Moon," an aria from Dvorak's Rusalka, played with poignant air. Within this occult scene, there was a sense of some primordial teaching being handed down. A shower was running, and other sounds were muffled. I could not determine if mingled with the water were tears of joy, or sorrow."
"Before me, the women's beauteous minds and bodies seemed the apex of evolution, their DNA entwined through stone age fires and billions of childbirths, until I felt at last the yearning of all lost loves, and saw its manifestation as pure young girl in a long dress with broad hat and ribbons, wandering far from her thatched-roof cottage, fair and sorrowful, remembering her missing lover with all her secret heart."
Chapter Six
Harvard Yard
"In some passing fancy, we decided on a very late moonlit walk in the Yard. The women began a slow, proud pavan, their entwined hands held high under the light of the dying moon, their frail sopranos lifting in a broken Puccini duet. An achingly beautiful moment, I see it still.
We joined them at last, and we all danced on the steps of Widener, then danced through the Yard with our dazed endearments, irresponsible as flowers.
The pulse of the world followed us that night, we the moon-keepers; the stars were a glowing branch across the sky. We sang in the scented pools of air in these precious moments, for soon we would disperse throughout the nations, one day to be elders recalling the magic of the time when we, from our lonely childhoods, finally found each other."
Chapter Seven
Bodhinath, Kathmandu Valley, Nepal
"Everything stopped. It passed as though it never were, leaving us utterly transformed and completely untouched. Reacquiring my body, there remained only a cooling perspiration and an indefinable thirst. Breathless at the psychic devastations and rebirths, I rested against a low exterior wall and broke contact with Magenta who, without looking back but raising a hand, passed into the broad curvature of Bodhinath. The incandescent haze of Kathmandu below rippled to the vast range of Himalayan crests, their pellucid glacial cirques brilliant and sunlit. I was alone at last.
In the wake of the cognitive phenomena, I rushed to pray for the children of the world, for the sick, for the grace of normal consciousness. At this simple gesture of devotion, a troop of thirty very young Tibetan monks, all about eight years old, and every one lean and barefoot with a shaved head, passed happily before me, chanting in sing-song Tibetan the pilgrims' prayer on the way to Mount Kailash.
'Ka zher, lam kher' (Whatever arises, bring it to the path.)
Twirling the prayer wheels, each bowed to me, smiling brightly, then vanished into the curvature. At this portentous vision I could only follow in grateful reverence, my fingertips lightly grazing the cool enameled carving of each slowly creaking wheel."
Chapter Nine
North Harvard Yard, bordered by Widener Library, Memorial Church, Massachusetts Hall and University Hall
"These were mind-warping years: the vaulting ambitions of Harvard's scholars, the Faustian bargain of the six chemists with their unearthly science and experimentation, the poetic quantum of both groups. The sunlight began weakening into blue shadows; everywhere was like a world dream, the children of the earth, imploring."
"On one occasion I was maundering about Mass Ave as if in monastic rooms, having some internal dream colloquy, when I halted in holy wonder at the unfamiliar sunlight. It was then that one student - with her teasing, foxy, classicist's voice and a shattering irreverence - awakened me. Caught wandering into the Yard, I was reciting some exorcism fragment from the Dark Ages.
'These are not the moors of Wuthering Heights, Heathcliffe,' she said."
"But how six subjects worked their magic, and their potions, became some terrible preoccupation. I had to wait for more contact, if it ever came at all, for nothing was promised. Only shadowy postulates were left of them, mere floating visions, but since Berlin the sounds around me, the murmur of voices, even the wind off the Charles, were carved into nocturnes."
Chapter Ten
Moscow
"Thereafter, at the pace of lovers, we walked from the Bolshoi as our breathes froze - sparkling, silent, falling - the 'whisper of stars' to Russians. It was as though old and glorious civilizations comprehended a kiss. Beneath the Kremlin's spires the Red Star of past glories bathed her pale white skin, as we entered the long and forbidding night of the profound Russian winter."
"Yet it was only a few hours before I was due at the special entrance to the U.S. Embassy, prior to meeting - at some indeterminate location through locked doors and assorted examples of weaponry - a crafty Russian officer who coordinated 5000 armed secret agents across 11 time zones from St. Petersburg to Vladivostok. He was a Major General, the head of the MVD Drug Department of all Russia."
Chapter Twelve
Christ Church College, Oxford
"'So you worry about drugs that become ritualized and legitimized by governments? That everyone uses without cease?'
'There may be a world,' he said, 'in which the few awakened - those bravely disavowing drug use - secretly seek a normal mind for a night or so, then tell the others of what they have seen.'
'And how how are we to be protected from these strange futures, when even the normal mind is forgotten? Whom shall we trust, then?'
'I recall Lawrence's story. Near death from thirst, he was wandering across the dry, shimmering desert furnace near Rhum, where he found on a rocky peak an ancient water hole. The remote spring was only centimeters wide, with sparse green grasses, and a mere trickle of the holy substance. The stones beside it bore Nabaethean inscriptions from migrations a thousand years earlier. In attendance was a blind beggar, crazed from the sun and dying, crouched in a corner. He kept repeating only one thing to Lawrence, in an Arabic dialect.'
'What was that?'
'He said, 'The love is from God, and of God, and to God.''"
"The evening lingered. We shared reflective moments in the quadrangle of Christ Church, until only the waning shouts of Commemoration Day celebrants were heard. He then took both my hands in his, and looked upon me with sadness.
'I must go, friend,' he said with reluctance. 'May your work inspire many.'
I quickly asked, 'Is there something you wish for others to remember?'
'Remember the price that was paid.'"
Chapter Thirteen
Moscow
"Across Dzerzhinsky Square from the Lubyanka, crowds packed Detsky Mir (Children's World), a former state-sponsored emporium filled with stuffed hippopotami and dolls. A puppet theater from one of the 200 permanent Russian children's circuses performed in the street, provoking delighted shrieks from a cluster of otherwise wistful eight-year-old girls. Each had an identical blue ribbon in her hair.
They were the daughters of dead addicts and alcoholics, from an orphanage in the First of May District on the outskirts of Moscow. Pinned to their dresses were plastic cards with no names, reading only 'Children's Home No. 23.'"
"Their wan faces had forlorn glances at real families so close they could almost touch them, To these little ones, with a long prayer for their great happiness, I folded my hands and bowed."
Chapter Fourteen
Amsterdam
"One could have spent hours before finding an elderly person who recalled the jagged Nazi Siegrunes during the Einstazgruppen mass murders of the Shoah, the Holocaust."
"From some silent, remote retreat he was now forced into an espionage game, a planet of secret meetings that branded one like an iron. A hidden curate in a vast, mystic church, he was an ever-growing question mark."
"I wondered what saved the six chemists from becoming madmen or ecstatics, for the psychological pressures were constant."
"The white women after each client were flushed with deep pink blotches, the insatiable constantly thrown at them. They looked at us openly, and frankly. Among such infinite desire, one felt a profound intoxication of the senses."
"We ended our tour at Delft, a few miles from the coast. We stood beneath the spire of the Nieuwe Kerk, with its wet grey grass and lichens on the church's stone walls. A phosphorescent penumbra from a clear sky moon began spreading all about us. I thought how sweet the graveyard, with its scattering of bluebells."
Chapter Sixteen
One of Harvard Yard's Twenty-two Gates
"It was a new mind - not from some unwitting drug exposure - but from the presence of an advanced culture, as if one were a young girl taught by Amazons as her gifts kindled in youth. Normal consciousness seemed but a horrible dispersion of chaotic thoughts and feelings. At a glance now, colors were priceless. To my delight, in lectures the skirmishes of words seemed great battles. At this diminution of archaic thought forces, worldly formulae began to ennoble the walls."
"I remembered from Berlin her tsunami of pleasure, the night wild with joy. Those unaware of such unassailable religious practices might think them the vilest debauchery, as if their stellar triad procured slave girls - Zeitfrauen - as temporary concubines."
"In the pallid candlelight, I could see the enthralling shimmer of her blond hair, her ravishing figure in a tight black tulip, her endless legs down to a set of red stilettos. But it was only golden Hagendas, oddly prying into research at the Large Hadron Collider under Geneva, and fishing for contacts with a researcher from CERN."
"He nodded somberly, but with a detectable air of guardedness, for this CIA Operations officer had forgotten more secrets that most remember. He concluded that his new visitor, presumed as first to be an innocent Harvard matriculant, had perhaps a roguish background that, as in Heisenberg's uncertainty principle, might shift perspective the closer it was observed.
Having seen every species of fauna, he projected a sophisticated, almost indiscernible wariness tempered with the polish cultivated by the clandestine services. We kept it simple. I presented the issue of Afghanistan, and the offer of Stinger missiles. He preferred known waters.
'I'll check with Langley,' he said."
Chapter Seventeen
Uzbekistan and Afghanistan
"The Afghan/Tajik border region was infested with smuggler's havens and pure cheap heroin, and attended by village girls and crones addicted into destitution or worse. Like a vision from a Persian mystic, a long camel train passed. saddled with dusty women swaying in flowing black robes. Only their obsidian eyes peered out, fixed resolutely on the next paradise."
"A confounding array of tribesmen crowded the streets, from Mongol Hazaras to blue-eyed Nuristanis and Turkic Uzbeks. Scattered about on tattered rugs, they drank green tea and ate sugar-dusted almonds as small boys in white whisked away the flies. Toothless old men pounded hubcaps into spoons. Skinned lambs hung motionless from nails, while the azan - the call to prayer - summoned the faithful and rose upon the evening air."
"Under the shade of a straggling date palm, beneath a yellow-eyed nanny goat, a little brown girl sat naked as the desert wind. She tugged at the goat's teats, delivering a stream of milk into her mouth."
"Projects were getting out of control. I was due at a meeting on chemical weapons in England, for the Iraqis had just dispersed a cloud of psychoactive gas over Kurd families. A drug policy conference in Mexico was imminent. The General was due soon in D.C. - CIA wouldn't play but State might. Taliban were encamped about Mazar for the final assault. The six chemists were intercepting me for their interviews. Harvard's demands were increasing like an exponential curve into stratospheres of thought. Caught inescapably among these kaleidoscoping involvements, I seemed blocked at every turn. At moments, I almost panicked."
Chapter Twenty
Washington, D.C.
"Short, portly and lethal, the General appeared in his limousine at the State Department port cochere at the appointed hour, together with his eclectic entourage of God-intoxicated mullahs and Uzbek and Hazara commanders, all accompanied by one boyish mass-murderer of note."
"He faced a stony constellation of Beltway Afghan players - all old hands in the Great Game - from clusters of CIA, State and DOD officials to astute, seasoned and incredulous regional diplomats and embassy officials."
"As he finished a frenzy of incisive questions began, Four CIA employees in the back row abruptly stood, rumpled and in shirtsleeves. One opened with a pointed question.
'What is the source of your funds?'
No longer facing wizened, turbaned tribal elders predisposed to allegiance to this illiterate strongman, but confronting the cream of D.C. analysts with decades of electronic dossiers at their fingertips, he faltered.
'Emeralds,' he announced, 'a hoard of emeralds. And currencies seized during the fighting in Kabul.'
An almost subliminal sigh passed collectively among the listeners."
Chapter Twenty-Two
Laos and Thailand
"The men are in tribal dress, with lined faces and long narrow mustaches under a melee of colored head clothes. The strained animals, strapped with layers of ropes over heavy gunny sacks, are slipping and snorting - wild-eyed - on the muddy track. In the blurring heat haze, locusts are swirling in the unreality of their advance. I whisper anxiously to my companion.
'What are they carrying?'
'Heroin. And yaa-baa, methamphetamine.'"
"Without their sarongs, the women are by the pool each night, their skin a shocking bone-white in the moonlight. As they purify in these last days of peace, they silently do ablutions over each other, becoming tumescent from the cool water. They prepare votives on small palm leaves, and set them adrift. There is a white chrysanthemum, swirling."
"They write in elegant hands, notes on medieval rites, and drink fresh juices from a silver flask, or feed each other grapes picked thoughtfully from freckled, warm clusters on a rattan mat. They compose letters with affectionate superscriptions to Thai priests. Soon strewn about the pool are diverse volumes on Lao history, Burmese heroin traffic, Gibbon's more prurient essays on the rape of Rome, and the corpus of exorcisms in the Dialogue of Miracles."
"It is the Floating World of an international conspiracy, unbreachable by those who dare not dream of it. The women's sensual love has the solemnity informed by thought. It is broken only by their laughter, like wild things. They sing in the morning garden, or while cleansing in the dawn seas, and often lie brow to brow, their eyes wide open. The moral atmosphere in which we are immersed sometimes makes it too hot to breathe."
"They sit together for hours, completely naked, slowly swinging back and forth in a lazy splendor, gazing at us. Their magnificent sibyls' eyes radiate a candid and advanced intelligence. Above them palm fronds dance restlessly, nibbled by the sea wind in the cloudless sky."
Chapter Twenty-Three
Harvard Yard, Commencement
"It was a gathering of wizards, with blue sky to crown it. Our futures were woven around these memories: the valedictory images of Harvard's standards in silk hanging from all the oaks and elms, every tree festooned with great medieval gonfalons and banners bearing the heraldic devices of the various Houses and professional schools. They passed softly overhead, like the gentle hands of Providence above those so blessed.
For over three hundred years the first to appear were the Sheriffs of Middlesex and Suffolk counties, in flowing purple and red robes, carrying long wooden staves. The lead Sheriff bore a great silver miter, swaying ponderously like a saint at the Dead Sea. This bright and elevated spectacle - under my new eyes - was underlain with the tragic world at large: the twisted warrens of baked mud huts and earthen floors, flies and beggars and lepers, benighted little brothels, the unheeded shrieks in brutish, filthy rooms.
Presently the Harvard faculties came, with robes of many colors and the silken borders of their alma matres. Little girls with blue ribbons were frolicking by the procession, with garlands of roses in their hair, waiving to them. As the faculty noticed and waved back, their humanity truly shone."
"Both women were holding hands - tightly, like lovers - something I had never seen in them before. Their expressions were identical, as if they were the Hetaerae, high courtesans of ancient Greece, about to entertain a deux."
"There were no farewells from the two women, no smiles. The cab pulled away as I looked back at them. They stood with a flawless, trained posture, hands together in prayer, as if their nakedness for endless mornings had been covered only by humble robes. Their images grew smaller. Even now, I see their eyes."
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Paris, Basel, Mazar-i-Sharif, Bangkok, and - finally - Wamego, Kansas
"It is the ocean of you I remember most, when we joined our breath in the universal pattern, and I first saw your rapturous face and heard your wanton cries of delight. Now that you know the truth of me, and I of you, how can we ever be with another?"
"The edge of this page, and the end of this letter, is like a heartless amnesia that can never be filled. I must stop for now. I know, I know."
"In Kansas this day, where the wind has turned a point or two northward. Rain and cloud swirl like smoke over the missile silo. The research subject's lack of veracity troubles me. His girl is forlorn, with a mask of false laughter, and deserted by good sense. The clouds are changing too rapidly, like a secret storm.
Do you know of the Angel of Mons? In the Great War, after weeks of shelling and countless deaths in the trenches of Mons, Belgium, the British were in retreat, the sky shot through with blood and light. Many witnesses saw an angel in the sky, guiding the boys home. These clouds are like that - the Angel of Mons.
Know that all women were only shadows of you. Know that I go wrinkled before you, to prepare heaven. Know that you were always my sweet moon craft, the gift of the Risen Lord.
It is too late to discipline the heart. In loving triumph, I send you the secret formula for - the chemistry of tears."
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Webmaster: Caryn GravesWASHINGTON (Reuters) - White House Chief of Staff Denis McDonough on Sunday said the Republican-led Congress should not sidestep the president’s request to formally authorize military action against Islamic State forces, saying lawmakers must not “take a pass”.
White House Chief of Staff Denis McDonough speaks with Bob Schieffer on CBS News "Face the Nation" in Washington in this January 25, 2015 picture provided by CBS News. REUTERS/CBS News/Chris Usher/Handout via Reuters
Under President Barack Obama’s orders, the U.S. military has carried out air strikes against Islamic State forces in Iraq and Syria since last summer but has done so without explicit authorization from Congress.
Obama sent a formal request to Congress on Wednesday but ran into immediate resistance both from Republicans who want stronger measures and from many of his fellow Democrats wary of another war in the Middle East.
Despite differences that could make passage of a resolution difficult, McDonough said: “What they shouldn’t do this time is what they did in 2013, when they took a pass on this issue.” Congress can change the language in the proposed resolution, he said, but not avoid action altogether.
“They need to take a position, to say what they are for and what they are against on this,” McDonough said on CBS’s “Face the Nation”. “It’s very important in questions of war and peace for Congress to be heard.”
Obama has defended his authority to lead an international coalition against Islamic State since Aug. 8 when U.S. warplanes began attacks in Iraq. The formal request he sent last week, which would cover the next three years, eased criticism of Obama’s failure to seek the backing of Congress, where some accused him of exceeding his constitutional authority.
In 2013, Obama sent draft legislation to Congress for authorization to use military force in response to the use of chemical weapons in Syria’s civil war. Ten days later he asked Congress to postpone the vote while he pursued a Russian proposal for international monitors to take over and destroy Syria’s arsenal of chemical weapons. The vote in Congress was never held.
House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner, speaking on the “Fox News Sunday” program, said “it’s too early to predict” whether Congress will pass authorization legislation for the fight against Islamic State.
Boehner said House Republicans plan “exhaustive hearings” on the matter. “The president is asking for less authority than he has today under previous authorizations. I don’t think that’s smart,” Boehner said.
Republican Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Corker, also speaking on CBS, said “robust” hearings were planned in the Senate.
Obama’s plan does not authorize “long-term, large-scale ground combat operations” such as those in Iraq and Afghanistan. The draft allows for certain ground combat operations including hostage rescues and the use of special forces.Conservative protesters believe the film undermines Islamic values People in the Saudi capital Riyadh are being allowed to go to the movies for the first time in 30 years. The film is a Saudi-made offering called Menahi, a comedy about a naive Bedouin who moves to the big city. A few religious hardliners have tried to turn movie-goers away, or to disrupt the performances. No women were allowed into the performance, which followed similar initiatives in other Saudi cities with more liberal Islamic traditions. The country has begun to open up to the arts since King Abdullah came to the throne in 2005. But it still took the film's producers five months to gain government permission for showings in Riyadh, at a government-run cultural centre, and there was little advance publicity. Public cinemas were shut down in Saudi Arabia in the 1970s, as the country's deeply conservative leaders feared they would lead to the mixing of the sexes, and undermine Islamic values. Since then, there's been little public entertainment, except for horse and camel racing, and festivals celebrating traditional Saudi culture. Saudi Arabia is also the base of the Arabic entertainment company Rotana, owned by the billionaire Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal. The Rotana network has produced Menahi, and it has already been showing it in several other Saudi cities, including Jeddah and Taif. Woman were allowed into screenings outside Riyadh, although they sat on the upper floor while the ground floor was reserved for men. But Islamic practice is even stricter in Riyadh. Popcorn The film has been showing in Riyadh since Friday, at the King Fahd Cultural Centre, with two performances a day attracting near capacity audiences of about 300. On Saturday, a group of conservative men gathered outside the centre, trying to persuade people from going in. Most cinema-goers politely ignored them, as they queued up for soft drinks and popcorn, and for a chance to pose with the film's stars. Prince Alwaleed, a nephew of King Abdullah, has said he believes that cinemas will eventually open in Saudi Arabia. And last year the kingdom held its first Saudi film festival. The audience for Menahi has been enthusiastic, with one movie-goer, quoted by AFP news agency, calling it "the first step in a peaceful revolution". In 2005, the Saudi authorities allowed a hotel in Riyadh to screen foreign cartoons dubbed into Arabic to audiences - but only to women and children.
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StumbleUpon What are these? E-mail this to a friend Printable versionA middle school student in Japan's rural Mie Prefecture noticed it was easy to find and collect insects at local convenience stores. He then decided to launch a school research project to determine just which convenience store attracts the most insects.
And, in insect-loving Japan, his research project has become a hit on social media.
Here's one of the photos I took. It's pretty clear here which convenience store is best for collecting insects: Circle K has a display case all of its own.
According to Fundo, a website that reports on social media in Japan, the student was interested in how lighting and illuminated signage at various convenience stores attracted insects.
He found that bluish fluorescent lights attracted insects; convenience stores where outside signage illuminated less light on the blue end of the spectrum attracted fewer insects than convenience stores that did.
The student determined that Circle K's signage typically emitted more blue light, thereby attracting more insects.
Although it might be expected that convenience stores would be simply a hot spot for undesirable insects such as cockroaches, the junior high school student from Mie Prefecture observed that a wide variety insects, from beetles to moths, could be observed and collected.
‘Circle K's bugs are EPIC’
Collecting insects — especially different species of stag beetles — to keep as pets is a popular pastime with children in Japan.
And insects are a fact of life for much of the year in Japan. The country's climate is hot and humid from late spring to early fall. The result is a teeming insect population.
In fact, many businesses, including convenience stores, use an ultraviolet electric zapper to deal with the hordes of insects attracted by their illuminated signage at night.
The student displayed the results of his research at a museum in Mie Prefecture. Up-and-coming Japanese musician Mizuka, who lives in nearby Aichi Prefecture, first noticed the research project, and shared a few snapshots with her followers on Twitter.
Mizuka's tweets quickly went viral.
A junior high school student has conducted some interesting research. Why is one convenience store a good place to collect insects while another is not? The student discovered the most insects at Circle K, by an overwhelming amount. The student said that since Circle K locations are due to be handed over to the Family Mart brand, “Now is the time to go to Circle K to collect bugs!”
After she noticed her her post about the junior high school science project went viral, Mizuka explained a bit more about the research techniques.
There has been quite a great response so I thought I would follow up. The student conducted his research using a simple spectrometer and an ultraviolet filter. Interesting. If you're interested in learning more the whole project is on display at the Mie Museum (MieMu). Go take a look!
Spotlight, a website covering social media on Japan, found that Circle K's popularity with insects has long been recognized.
Way back in 2014, a Twitter user observed:
Circle K's bugs are EPIC
Not only insects are attracted by Circle K's signage. Another Twitter user in 2014 noticed frogs had taken a liking to it:
I thought to myself, “Wow, the Circle K is sure attracting a lot of bugs, but when I took a closer look…. AIEEEEEEEE!!
Intrepid bug hunters will have to hurry if they want to go collecting at Circle K; the convenience store will merge with Family Mart at the end of March 2016, and its bug-friendly branding will vanish forever.Amazon Prime members in the UK and US can now listen to the likes of Katy Perry, The Weeknd, Taylor Swift, Sam Smith, Eminem and more on Prime Music, thanks to Universal Music Group making its artists available on the streaming service.
There has also been new “expertly-programmed” playlists added to showcase the Universal artists.
Prime Music has a relatively small catalogue of tracks in comparison to Spotify and Apple Music, but by adding some of the most popular artists in the world, it’s definitely ramping up the effort to be seen as a legitimate competitor.
Before you get too excited though, Swift’s 1989 album still isn’t available to stream, despite the Universal partnership. So, while this is a step in the right direction, it’s still only a baby step.
➤ Amazon Prime Music
Read next: Urban Airship Connect may bring timely notifications without annoying youDetroit Tigers manager Brad Ausmus isn't happy with the inconsistency shown by Matthew Boyd and the rest of the team's pitching staff, and he made that known Tuesday night.
Boyd allowed seven runs and seven hits in 2⅓ innings of a 13-4 loss to the New York Yankees on Tuesday night.
"The truth is with Matt Boyd at this point, he's going to have to learn how to pitch or there's going to be a move made with him," Ausmus said. "I think it's best that he pitches against major league hitters, sees if he can figure out how to get them out consistently.
"He shows flashes of having that ability but at some point, he's going to have to do it on a consistent basis. Simple as that. It's a performance-based game. If you don't perform, the game is going to catch up to you."
Ausmus was particularly irritated by Boyd's three walks as the pitcher gave up three runs in the first -- two on a two-run home run by Gary Sanchez -- and then allowed four runs in the third.
"At some point, there's an expiration date on how much rope you're given," Ausmus said. "I don't want to act like I'm putting pressure on people but hey, this is the big leagues. If you want to pitch in the big leagues, you've got to throw strikes and you've got to get outs and you gotta do it somewhat consistently. I think you give young guys some room to grow and learn, but it can't last forever."
Said Boyd, who has allowed at least four runs in each of his past three starts: "You've got to focus on the task at hand and today, I just wasn't good.
"In terms of a leash of what other people decide about me, that's out of my control. I need to be better, I know I need to be better and that's what I'm going to work on when I step outside of the door tomorrow."
The Tigers' pitching staff ranks 29th in the majors with a 5.11 ERA as the team sits 16 games below.500 at 54-70.
"These guys are getting the opportunity to pitch at the major league level because of the situation that we're in because of a standings perspective," Ausmus said. "You're going to have to throw strikes. You're going to have to get big league hitters out. It's not rocket science."It's election day! (Photo: AP File Photo)
As a long-time Republican, I’m disappointed that my party has not always been out on the front lines regarding campaign finance reform. Our campaign finance system is full of corruption and needs a complete overhaul. Politicians receive massive, undisclosed contributions from PACs. Voters rarely know who is behind the money until the election is over and then it is too late.
Recently, I joined the steering committee for Iowa Pays the Price, a non-partisan nonprofit dedicated to reducing the power and influence of money in politics. They’ve asked all candidates, both Republican and Democrats, for their campaign finance reform plans. I believe this is truly a non-partisan issue, and I encourage fellow Republicans, especially those running for office, to address this issue.
A reasonable solution to this issue, proposed by Chris Christie, is requiring online disclosure of any donation to a campaign of more than $5,000 within 24 hours. Elite PAC donors could then give direct-to-candidate instead of through third-party groups. Voters will then be able to use information from the disclosed contributions to correct the political market and purge government of purchased- and paid-for politicians.
I am proud to be a part of an organization like Iowa Pays the Price that is holding all candidates accountable. Democrats and Republicans must work together for common sense solutions to fight special interests. Together we can make this nation’s election system work for the people and by the people of this great nation.
— Marlon Mormann, Des Moines
Read or Share this story: http://dmreg.co/1LNva6GThe long-run effects of the Scramble for Africa
Stelios Michalopoulos, Elias Papaioannou
The 'Scramble for Africa' – the artificial drawing of African political boundaries among European powers in the end of the 19th century – led to the partitioning of several ethnicities across newly created African states. This columns shows that partitioned ethnic groups have suffered significantly longer and more devastating civil wars. It also uncovers substantial spillovers as ethnic conflict spreads from the historical homeland of groups partitioned to nearby areas where non-split ethnicities reside.
The predominant explanations for the deep roots of contemporary African (under)development centre on the influence of Europeans during the colonial period (Acemoglu et al 2005), and on the slave trade in the centuries before colonisation when close to 20 million slaves were exported from Africa (Nunn 2008).1 Yet another milestone took place amidst these two major events. In new research (Michalopoulos and Papaioannou 2011) we study the consequences of the "Scramble for Africa", which started with the Berlin Conference of 1884–85 and was completed by the turn of the 20th century. In this brief period, the prospective colonisers partitioned Africa into spheres of influence, protectorates, colonies, and free-trade areas. The borders were designed in European capitals at a time when Europeans had barely settled in Africa with little knowledge of the geography and ethnic composition of the areas whose borders were designing. Despite their arbitrariness these boundaries endured after African independence. As a result, in most African countries a significant fraction (around 40-45%) of the population belongs to groups that have been partitioned by a national border. Yet while case studies suggest that the main impact of Europeans’ influence in Africa was not colonisation per se, but the improper border design, there is little – if any – work that formally examines the impact of ethnic partitioning. Our work is a first step to fill this gap.
Identifying partitioned ethnicities
Quantifying the effects of the Scramble for Africa requires identifying the partitioned groups. To do so we use anthropological data from the pioneering work of George Peter Murdock (1959), who has mapped the spatial distribution of 834 ethnicities at the time of colonisation in the mid/late 19th century. In Figure 1 we project on top of Murdock’s map the current boundaries of African countries and classify as partitioned groups those ethnicities with at least 10% of their total surface area belonging to more than one country. There are 231 ethnic groups with at least 10% of their historical homeland falling into more than one country. When we use a more restrictive threshold of 20% there are 164 ethnicities partitioned across the national border.
Our procedure identifies most major partitioned ethnic groups. For example, the Maasai have been split between Kenya (62%) and Tanzania (38%), the Anyi between Ghana (58%) and the Ivory Coast (42%), and the Chewa between Mozambique (50%), Malawi (34%), and Zimbabwe (16%). We also calculate the probability that a randomly chosen pixel of the homeland of an ethnic group falls into different countries. The ethnic groups with the highest score in this index are the Malinke, which are split into six different countries; the Ndembu, which are split between Angola, Zaire, and Zambia; and the Nukwe, which are split between Angola, Namibia, Zambia, and Botswana.
Figure 1. Ethnic homelands and national borders in Africa
Were borders arbitrarily drawn?
In spite of the conspiracy theories, “the study of European archives supports the accidental rather than a conspiratorial theory of the marking of African boundaries” (Asiwaju 1985). Not only did Europeans have limited knowledge of local geographic conditions, since, with the exception of some coastal areas, the continent was largely unexplored, but at the time Europeans were not drawing borders of prospective states or – in many cases – even colonies. As the British Prime Minister at the time Lord Salisbury summarised: "we have been engaged in drawing lines upon maps where no white man's feet have ever trod; we have been giving away mountains and rivers and lakes to each other, only hindered by the small impediment that we never knew exactly where the mountains and rivers and lakes were."
In the first part of our empirical analysis we formally establish border artificiality. With the sole exceptions of the size of the historical homeland and area under water, we are unable to detect any other significant differences between partitioned and non-partitioned ethnicities with respect to a variety of geographical and ecological characteristics as well as regarding early development and early contact with Europeans. We further show that there are no systematic differences between split and non-partitioned ethnic groups, across several pre-colonial ethnic-specific institutional, cultural, and economic features.
The violent repercussions of the random border design
We then employ the Scramble for |
which also runs the ON.com photo-based social network, promised to re-stock this year. Interested (and independently wealthy) customers can pre-order the device for $79.99, according to Business Insider.
"We've noticed a huge spike in users taking butt selfies in recent months," ON.com CTO Kevin Deegan told Business Insider. "So the natural next step was for us to develop a device to assist our users in taking one."
Selfies gained in popularity in 2013, when the buzzword was officially inducted into the Oxford Dictionaries Online. Defined as "a photograph that one has taken of oneself, typically with a smartphone or webcam and uploaded to a social media website," the term also earned the designation of Oxford's International Word of the Year 2013.
In August, the Official Scrabble Players Dictionary from Merriam-Webster added tech-savvy words like "texter," "vlog," "hashtag," and, of course, "selfie."
Time magazine even named the selfie stick one of the 25 best inventions of 2014. Sadly, this "selfie hat" didn't make that list.Pope Francis urged European leaders "to pass on the material and cultural tools that young people need to face the future" (AFP Photo/HO)
Vatican City (AFP) - Pope Francis on Saturday decried low birth rates in Europe and urged more help for young people preparing their future path in society.
"A Europe that rediscovers itself as a community will surely be a source of development for herself and for the whole world," the pope told (Re)Thinking Europe – a project sponsored by the European bishops' conference (COMECE).
Europe is suffering, the pontiff said, from "a period of dramatic sterility. Not only because Europe has fewer children, and all too many were denied the right to be born, but also because there has been a failure to pass on the material and cultural tools that young people need to face the future."
The Argentinian pontiff described the European Union as a tired "grandmother, no longer fertile and vibrant," in a 2014 address to the European Parliament.
On Saturday, he said he found Europe to be "increasingly distinguished by a plurality of cultures and religions" but warned of the dangers of erecting "walls of indifference and fear" when it came to assimilating migrants who "are more a resource than a burden."
For Francis, "leaders together share responsibility for promoting a Europe that is an inclusive community," as it looks to meet challenges including the "imbalances caused by a soulless globalisation."
Among the pope's audience were European Commission vice-president Frans Timmermans and EU parliament chief Antonio Tajani.
They heard Pope Francis insist that Europe "is not a mass of statistics or institutions, but is made up of people " who should not be "reduced to an abstract."MIAMI BEACH, Fla. - Cellphone video captured a brawl over the weekend on South Beach.
The video was obtained by Sherbrooke Hotel owner Mitch Novick, who posted it on his Facebook page, the South Beach Sludge Report.
According to an incident report obtained by Local 10 News, the victim, David Hutchetson, 19, of New York, was walking about 8:45 p.m. Saturday along Ocean Drive and Ninth Street when he was attacked by a group of men.
Police said Hutchetson told them that he remembers being approached by several men and getting hit, but doesn't remember anything else.
Police said Hutchetson was intoxicated and uncooperative and didn't provide many details.
They said witnesses reported seeing a fight, but they were unable to get a good visual of anything.
Hutchetson was taken to Mount Sinai Medical Center to be treated for a small cut to his right arm.
According to the South Beach Sludge Report Facebook page, this is the second recent attack on Ocean Drive.
Novick said another fight was reported the night of May 6 in front of Wet Willie's.
"Ocean Drive has become a carnival-like, crime-ridden circus of noise and purveyors of alcohol," Novick told Local 10 News reporter Terrell Forney. "These businesses, they seek customers to get them drunk, and what we're witnessing is the problems that rise from those issues."
Anyone with information about the latest fight is asked to call Miami-Dade Crime Stoppers at 305-471-TIPS.
Copyright 2017 by WPLG Local10.com - All rights reserved.Her Madgesty’s reign over concertgoers could go a long way toward landing her next big recording deal.
The curtain goes up on Madonna’s “Rebel Heart” tour on Wednesday, and those who have seen rehearsals at the Nassau Coliseum call it brilliant. That should come as no surprise considering what the Material Girl has riding on the 64-show global arena trek.
Her 10-year partnership with concert-promoter Live Nation expires in 2017, just nine months after she wraps up her third and final tour under the deal. And no one expects the soup-to-nuts 360 deal that guaranteed Madonna an unprecedented $120 million in 2007 to be renewed in its current incarnation.
“[The 360 contract] is a relic,” Albert Fried analyst Rich Tullo said of the deal pioneered by Live Nation that, in exchange for providing marketing, promotion and touring support, gave the promoter income streams from merchandising, performing and recording.
But consuming patterns have changed drastically in the past decade. Music lovers often stream or pirate their favorite tunes as US album sales have cratered to 257 million units last year from 501 million units in 2007.
“Only a half-dozen artists make more than $10 million from any one album anymore — not nearly enough to justify the upfront expenses of a 360 deal,” Tullo said.
That places unprecedented emphasis on an artist’s concerts, at which Madonna has historically excelled. Her “Sticky & Sweet” tour in 2008 raked in $408 million, the biggest box office ever for a solo artist, while her “MDNA” tour in 2012 netted $305 million.
Arthur Fogel, Live Nation’s chairman of global music and president of worldwide touring, believes the “Rebel Heart” tour will reinforce Madonna’s place in the performing-artist pantheon.
“We have a great and successful touring partnership with one of the greatest artists in music history and have no doubt it will continue,” he told The Post.
Richard Conlon, the founder of music consultancy Rights Management Holdings, said the tour has taken on added significance — and is “emblematic of the new music business” — after she treated her 13th studio album as a concert tie-in, giving a free 25-song digital version of “Rebel Heart” to online ticket buyers.
“It’s now about selling a show for $500 a seat, obviously, and no longer about selling an album for $20,” Conlon said.
Only a fool would bet against Madonna who could re-invent the music business just as she has re-invented herself. But early signs aren’t that encouraging. The March album release of “Rebel Heart” marked her slowest sales start in two decades.
As of Friday, tickets were still available for all 21 US dates of the “Rebel Heart” tour. And even though her official site claimed the tour’s Wednesday opener in Montreal was sold out, tickets could still be obtained from authorized sellers on Friday.
That overhang is already wreaking havoc on scalpers, who’ve historically considered Madonna a sure thing. Even the concerts at Madison Square Garden, which hosts her Madgesty on Sept. 16 and 17, aren’t screaming success. Mark’s Tickets is showing 10 percent price declines in tickets up for resale on the first night.
“If a show is not sold out on Ticketmaster, it’s difficult to sell on the secondary market,” a music insider said. “And Madonna’s just not delivering on this tour.”As a conservative fed up with how so-called “mainstream” reporters and national security experts have been in the tank for President Obama’s disastrous foreign policy but relentlessly attacked President George W. Bush’s, I’ve been experiencing a bit of schadenfreude as I watched some of these journalists and experts squirm after David Samuels’ New York Times profile of Deputy National Security Advisor Ben Rhodes.
I also was very pleased that Samuels exposed the extreme partisanship of a liberal journalist who falsely accused me in 2005 of being the source in the Valerie Plame scandal.
Rhodes confirmed to Samuels what most Americans already believed: that the Obama administration misled them to sell the nuclear agreement with Iran. Rhodes also bragged to Samuels about how he manipulated the news media into publishing stories supporting the White House on its nuclear diplomacy with Iran by relying on “legions of arms control experts [who] began popping up at think tanks and on social media” and became “sources for hundreds of clue-less reporters.”
According to Rhodes, this crop of newly-minted experts cheer-led for the nuclear deal and “were saying things that validated what we had given them to say.”
Arms control expert Joe Cirincione, whose Ploughshares Fund was cited by Rhodes as one of these arms control groups, rushed out a Politico article on Monday in which he insisted he had not been misled by Rhodes about the Iran deal and defended the agreement by citing letters signed by Americans who support it.
Probably reflecting new talking points from Rhodes, Cirincione failed to mention that 840 U.S. rabbis, over 200 U.S. generals and admirals, and 56 leading US nuclear weapons, arms control and intelligence experts signed other letters opposing the Iran nuclear agreement. Cirincione also omitted that a majority of Congress voted against the Iran deal and that when Congress voted on it last September, the American people opposed the agreement by a 2-1 margin and 64% believed President Obama and Secretary Kerry had misled the public about the deal.
I agree with Cirincione’s claim that he wasn’t deceived by the Iran deal – given his background, I am confident Cirincione fully understood how weak this agreement would be but supported it anyway because he shares President Obama’s radical views on conceding a nuclear weapons capability to Iran as part of a strategy to improve Iranian behavior and U.S.-Iran relations.
Based on Iran’s ballistic missile tests, continued sponsorship of terrorism, intervention in Syria and Yemen, and its recent threat to close the Strait of Hormuz to U.S. shipping, it is obvious this strategy has been a dismal failure.
Jeffrey Goldberg, a writer for The Atlantic, also was named by Rhodes as one of the journalists he used to “retail the administration’s narrative” for a nuclear agreement with Iran. In a May 9 Atlantic rebuttal to the Samuels story, Goldberg disputed this and claimed he was “not been an overly enthusiastic advocate of the Iran deal.”
However, because of two massive articles Goldberg wrote based on lengthy interviews he did with President Obama in 2016 and Secretary Clinton in 2014, I find it hard to take his complaints about the Samuels piece seriously. This administration has a track record of rarely doing interviews with objective journalists. It is therefore no accident Goldberg snagged major interviews with both Obama and Clinton.
For me, Samuels’ biggest bombshell was when he singled out arms control expert and Al-Monitor journalist Laura Rozen as being such a reliable shill for the administration’s line on the Iran talks that an NSC official told him: “Laura Rozen was my RSS feed. She would just find everything and retweet it.”
In a May 10 Weekly Standard article on the Rhodes profile, Hudson Institute Senior Fellow Lee Smith noted that Rozen’s employer, Al-Monitor, “is a news organization owned by a Syrian-American businessman who supports Bashar al-Assad” and “is the only U.S.-based media organization that has a pro-Hezbollah correspondent reporting from the Hezbollah front lines in Syria.”
In response to the Rhodes profile, the Institute for Science and International Security, a Washington, DC arms control think tank that was very critical of the Bush administration’s Iran policy, posted a tweet on May 7 saying that it tried to warn Rozen, ACA (the Arms Control Association), and the Ploughshares Fund that Obama administration officials were overselling the nuclear deal to them and they should be more critical.
However, like Cirincione, I believe Rozen deliberately published White House talking points on the Iran deal that she knew were false. For example, in July 2015, Rozen repeated the administration’s line putting much of the blame for Iran’s nuclear program on the Bush administration when she wrote:
Iran’s nuclear program had grown from fewer than 200 centrifuges in 2003 to thousands of centrifuges during the decade in which the international community demanded it entirely halt domestic uranium enrichment.
As someone who had been writing on nuclear issues for at least ten years, Rozen knew this was extremely misleading because most of the increases in Iran’s nuclear program took place after Barack Obama became president. Although Iran barely had enough enriched uranium to make even one nuclear weapon in January 2009, it had enough, according to President Obama, to make up to 10 weapons by July 2015. The number of Iran’s uranium centrifuges used to enrich uranium also soared from about 5,000 in January 2009 to 19,000 in November 2013.
I took special pleasure seeing Rozen singled out in Samuels’ article not just because I believe she knowingly promoted the Obama administration’s false case for the Iran deal but because of false and defamatory stories she wrote about Ambassador John Bolton and myself during the Bush administration.
Rozen wrote a series of stories smearing John Bolton when he was nominated to be U.S. ambassador to the United Nations in 2005. I was Bolton’s chief of staff when he held his previous job as Under Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security and was also attacked in Rozen’s pieces on the Bolton nomination.
It was clear at the time these false stories originated from Senate Foreign Relations Committee Democratic members and staff and, just like Ben Rhodes would do in the Obama administration, these stories were fed to sycophantic journalists like Rozen who eagerly published them verbatim.
After Bolton was given a recess appointment as UN ambassador, Rozen in the fall of 2005 was one of several liberal journalists and bloggers who tried to drag me into the Valerie Plame scandal by falsely accusing me of being the source for Robert Novak’s July 14, 2003 Washington Post column which leaked Plame’s covert CIA employment. Several reputable journalists, including NBC’s Andrea Mitchell, were aware of this allegation but refused to put it on the air because they thought it was completely groundless. (I remain grateful to Mitchell for her professionalism in this matter.) We now know Novak’s source was former Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage.
In the aftermath of the Samuels profile of Rhodes, Laura Rozen had her media friends post tweets praising Rozen for her reliability and honesty as a journalist. Aaron David Miller, Vice President of the Woodrow Wilson Center who served as a Middle East negotiator in Democratic and Republican administrations, said in a May 7 tweet: “Laura and I don’t agree on Iran deal. But she’s an incredibly hard working reporter. WH not Laura was arrogant/dishonest.”
Given her record of partisan journalism, shilling for Democrats and smearing conservatives, I take a different view. Maybe Mr. Miller will too after he reads this article.
Fred Fleitz is senior vice president for policy and programs with the Center for Security Policy. He followed the Iranian nuclear issue for the CIA, the State Department, and the House Intelligence Committee during his 25-year government career. Follow him on Twitter @fredfleitz.Wulai is an extremely popular tourist destination in Xindian to the south of Taipei City, famed for the beautiful mountain scenery, rivers, rock pools, waterfalls, great hiking and perhaps most famously of all, hot springs.
In fact most of the hotels in Wulai and the surrounding area are hot spring based, but one notable exception is Yun Hsien Resort. There are no hot springs at Yun Hsien, so what, you may ask, does the resort aim to promote. Having stayed, I am still not sure.
The only way to get there is by cable car, which is modern, smooth, and even for those worried about heights, a breeze (it will be shut should conditions become too dangerous). The trip only takes a couple of minutes, and you can get some great photos if the weather is clear. If you are staying at Yun Hsien the cable car tickets are included, if not it costs NT$220 for adults and NT$150 for children.
If you are staying, after you arrive at the station, you can check your baggage in, and a baggage cable car takes it straight to the hotel. It is a good 20 minutes uphill with steps, so it is probably a good option.
The walk to the hotel is moderately strenuous for the non-hiker, and all along wide paved paths. It is worth taking your time and looking back over the mountains.
The accommodation is actually split into two areas; the main hotel and the villas, which are another 5 to 10 minutes up the mountain. The villas are quite cosy, with modern televisions with digital cable, air-conditioning and the showers have hot water.
If you are staying (around NT$4000 per room per night including pick up from the Wulai bus stop, cable car ticket and breakfast), you will have to eat in the main hotel complex at either the main restaurant which serves regular Chinese/Taiwanese fare or the coffee shop which serves regular microwaved coffee shop fare. The main restaurant was fine for lunch and dinner, but be prepared for a traditional breakfast of rice porridge, pork fibre, vegetables and tea eggs. There is toast and strawberry jam, and the coffee was fine (i.e. not instant or the dreaded all in one sweet mix).
This really defines the resort; it is a throwback to 20 or more years ago (it was actually built in the 1960s). This also immediately hits you as you explore the area. The tired looking aboriginal statues, the store modelled as one from 30 years ago, the “cute” zoo with rather haggard ostriches, worn boats for the kids to paddle, and perhaps most bizarrely of all, a ghost train.
Perhaps in the past this was something new, a fun park in the jungle, but it seems to be missing a real opportunity. Why have ostriches when the local wildlife is so abundant, why have statues of the indigenous peoples and no other explanation of the history, and why on earth have a ghost train? Taiwan and Taipei in particular has moved on and there are now plenty of alternatives that are very well done.
Having said that, there is one thing that stands out and makes a trip here well worthwhile; the environment. The rivers, waterfalls, breathtaking views, and just incredible wildlife and fauna are really special, and all of this in easy reach from Taipei City. It is easy to forget just how wild the areas around the cities are, but a visit here will surely leave you in no doubt.
Instead of focussing on the man made stuff, stop and look at the surroundings; they’re alive, quite literally. We walked past this tree a few times, but then we stopped and looked…
Hand-sized butterflies in a dazzling array of colours, lizards, beetles, caterpillars, birds and snakes, the amount and diversity of life is breathtaking.
As well as being eye-opening for the adults, the kids really enjoyed the experience, even though they would run a mile from any creepy crawly back in the city. Despite the amount of wildlife outside, nothing made its way into the rooms (at least that we could tell), and no one got stung or bitten.
So is it worth a visit? I think so. I would love to see the place refocus more on its natural environment, take a more tactful approach to the aboriginal culture, and add educational activities/displays such as being aware of pollution and the damage it can do. This was a focus of the very modern National Museum of Marine Science and Technology.
However, the location and natural wonders were a joy, there is lots of natural space for the children to enjoy, the swimming pool would be nice (only open from July to September) and if you don’t mind braving said wildlife, it is a reminder of just how close the jungle is.
See more photos in our gallery.
Website: http://www.yun-hsien.com.tw/When it came down to the issues during this amazing presidential election, technology-related policy got even less attention from the candidates than it typically does.
But that doesn’t mean that tech wasn’t central to this election. It absolutely was, even if it wasn’t in ways that shine the kindest light on Silicon Valley. Here are five big ones that really mattered.
Twitter: From the start, Trump owned Twitter. Not only was his following massive, but he ignited a wave of ultra-conservative followers who hounded Hillary Clinton on Twitter constantly. And for Trump, lacking a classic campaign infrastructure, Twitter became a giant megaphone. His tweets, mundane and outrageous, were dutifully reported by the mainstream media and became stories in and of themselves. In short, Twitter helped him scale his message in a way he probably could not have done in another age. Twitter had trouble finding a buyer recently, and its user growth may not be fantastic. But culturally speaking, Trump demonstrated its value like no one else.
Cybersecurity: Whoever was behind the hacking of Clinton’s campaign manager email, the leaks of those emails showed just how vulnerable we all are. It’s hard to say this single event cost Clinton the election. But a lot of people who supported Trump have been obsessively reading the 25-plus days of publications of the emails by WikiLeaks. And while many of the emails were open to interpretation, many were not and revealed an ugly side of internal campaign politics. In any case, hacking certainly had an influence.
Big data, big schmata: Following Obama’s two wins, his campaign’s massive investment in gathering data on voters to turn them out was widely praised, and many have tried to copy it. Supposedly, Clinton set up a similar operation that had her campaign pretty confident heading into the final vote tonight. And supposedly, Trump had almost none. Turns out, big data failed Clinton, likely making her over-confident and influencing her campaign’s failure to focus on key states that she ended up losing.
Polls, schmolls. Trump’s success is stunning in large part because almost every major poll was wrong. And so were aggregate and analysis sites like Real Clear Politics and FiveThirtyEight. There will be a lot of analysis about what these polls missed and why. But their reliability has been declining for years, particularly as voters move from landlines to mobile phones with unlisted numbers that make some segments harder to reach. Polling institutions have turned to a mix of online polling methods, which were roundly dismissed during this election when they overwhelmingly favored Trump after the debates. But whatever the truth, it’s fair to say that while we have more ways of communicating, we are less able to confidently forecast what’s going on in the world.
Fake news: If you haven’t read this BuzzFeed story about fake news mills in Macedonia, you really should. It says everything about news in the age of the internet. While traditional outlets like the New York Times and Washington Post were pumping out large volumes of investigative journalism in recent months, teenagers in Macedonia were churning out pro-Trump, anti-Clinton fake news stories that were widely read and shared. Thanks to tech and the internet, truth took a big punch in the mouth this year.Donald Trump and Mitch McConnell
The Congressional Budget Office has released their nonpartisan analysis of the Republican plan to repeal Obamacare without passing a replacement bill.
Within a decade, 32 million Americans would lose health insurance coverage while premiums would double for individual polices.
The legislative analysis was compiled by the CBO and staff from the Joint Committee on Taxation (JCT).
“In CBO and JCT’s estimation, under this legislation, about half of the nation’s population would live in areas having no insurer participating in the nongroup market in 2020 because of downward pressure on enrollment and upward pressure on premiums,” the CBO score warned. “That share would continue to increase, extending to about three-quarters of the population by 2026.”
The GOP plan to repeal the Affordable Care Act absent a replacement has received increasing attention since Trumpcare died in the US Senate on Monday.
“The latest CBO score of the Senate Republican ‘repeal and run’ bill confirms: it was a horrible idea in January and it’s a horrible idea now,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) said in a statement. “President Trump and Republicans have repeatedly promised to lower premiums and increase coverage, yet each proposal they offer would do the opposite.”Hollywood Food Stylists Know: You Can't Film Styrofoam Cake And Eat It, Too
Enlarge this image toggle caption Cindy Carpien/NPR Cindy Carpien/NPR
In the parking lot of a small Los Angeles studio, food stylist Melissa McSorley is re-creating the dish that saved the day for the hero of a recent film. "The Cubano sandwich... was the heart and soul of the movie Chef," she says.
In the film, actor Jon Favreau cooks his way through fancy Delmonico steaks and caviar to find his Zen making Cubanos on a beat-up food truck. He follows a recipe from Roy Choi, the chef whose Korean taco truck helped launch the street food movement in LA. As food stylist, McSorley's job was to get Choi's recipe on screen, assembling pork, ham, Swiss cheese, mustard and very crunchy dill pickles on a crisp baguette.
Enlarge this image toggle caption Cindy Carpien/NPR Cindy Carpien/NPR
Over the course of filming Chef, McSorley estimates that she and her team made about 800 Cubanos. Why so many? Favreau, who also directed the film, says, "The trick with food on a set — you have to eat and then you have to eat again, and then you have to eat again for every angle and every take."
On the set of his forthcoming film The Jungle Book, Favreau explains that he wanted the food on Chef to taste good all day long so actors looked as excited about their Cubanos on take 12 as they did on take one.
"A lot of veteran actors find excuses not to eat in scenes," he says. "And you always know the new actor, because they're hungry and they're like, 'Oh my God, that looks so good!' and they tear into the birthday cake. And the seasoned, old, salty pro picks at it with their fork, but if you watch closely, they never actually put it in their mouth."
Enlarge this image toggle caption Merrick Morton/Courtesy of Open Road Films Merrick Morton/Courtesy of Open Road Films
That's because the veterans know they'll be munching that cake for six, maybe eight hours. And even the most delicious stuff can get old after that long.
The Cubano Melissa McSorley made in that parking lot was fabulous, but good-tasting food isn't always her goal. If certain ingredients have to last a long time on camera, food stylists have to get creative by making, say, fake ice cream with a knob of butter coated in sugar. According to McSorley, one of the most common faked movie foods is pretty exotic.
"Oysters are always scripted into scenes because they're very sensual, but many actors don't want to slurp those down on camera," she says. "So I tend to make a lot of fake oysters, which I make out of flan — a custard — which I then color and air brush, and I shape it. It perfectly slides out of the oyster shell."
Then there's caviar. The upcoming film Danny Collins, starring Al Pacino, has a party scene that called for a huge serving of the tiny, shiny fish eggs. "They wanted a mound of caviar a foot tall and it needed to last all day," McSorley says. "And they did a close up on it and it looked absolutely real." What were they made of? "That's my secret. I'm not telling that one."
Danny Collins' birthday party scene gave McSorley another challenge: A cake was created in Pacino's likeness. According to the script, it wasn't supposed to be sliced, but just before one of the last takes the director changed his mind.
"The cake wasn't real," McSorley says. "So we had to cut the cake that was made out of Styrofoam, and I had to use a saw in order to do it because none of my knives could get through it. And then we had to layer in cake so it did look like it was real and then we had to send people scurrying to many markets to find white layer cake so it looked like people in the background could be actually be eating the cake."
As a food stylist, McSorley will stand over a hot stove or a hot glue gun for hours — anything to make the food look luscious and real.Even well-to-do millennials are getting handouts from mom and dad.
A recent survey of 1,000 millennials ages 18-34 by Bank of America and USA TODAY found that “it’s not just the young, out-of-work millennials who are getting help from their parents or family members.” And “many respondents making more than $75,000 per year indicated they have received financial assistance as well” — and it’s not just to help them buy larger purchases like a home.
Millennials making $75,000 a year are taking money from their parents to pay for basics: One in four has had their parents pay for their groceries, and more than one in five has received money for clothing.
Even when they’ve got two-income potential in their household, they still may be opening their wallet for a handout: More than one in 10 married millennials still have a parent who helps them out with their cell phone bill.
So what’s going on here? While some will, no doubt, say it’s because the millennial generation is entitled, there may be a few other (dare we say, better) explanations. While Andrew Plepler, a global corporate social responsibility executive at Bank of America, notes that there isn’t sufficient information to say conclusively why many seemingly affluent millennials are still getting money from their parents, he does have some theories — one being that student loans play a role.
The survey results show that more than one in three millennials had student loan debt and while only about 40% of those received financial assistance from their families on these, it’s possible that some got help paying for other items because of the stress student loans put on their monthly cash flow.
Furthermore, seven in 10 college graduates now leave school with debt —an average of nearly $30,000 —a rate that increased rapidly in the past decade, according to the Project on Student Debt. In fact, a survey released last month by Citizens Financial Group showed that nearly half of college grads now say they would have considered not going to college had they known the impact student loans would have on their lives.
Another explanation might have to do with millennials spending. “No matter how much millennials are making, many are choosing to spend on near-term experiences instead of saving for longer term goals,” says Plepler. “These decisions may result in situations where they are asking family for help.” The survey showed that 57% of all millennials surveyed say it is “really difficult” for people their age to live within their means and not overspend. “That, along with the fact that 33% have student loans to pay off, point to dynamics where even those who went to school and have good-paying jobs are still struggling and may look to mom and dad for extra help,” he says.
These financial handouts could also be due to the close relationships that millennials have formed with their parents. According to a White House report released last month “millennials have close relationships with their parents” with roughly half saying that it is important to them to live close to their friends and family, compared to 29% of baby boomers and 40% of Generation Xers. These close relationships may further foster the giving of money even to well-to-do millennials, particularly for those who live close to their families.
Parents under pressure
While the money handouts are all well and good for millennials, they likely aren’t helping the parents who are giving them. The National Institute on Retirement Security reveals that households with teens, college-aged kids and older children have not saved nearly enough for retirement. Households where the head of household is 45 to 54 that have saved anything for retirement have balances of just $60,000, and those with heads of household that are 55 to 64 that have retirement savings have balances of just $100,000 — far less than what financial advisers recommend. Some advisers would like Americans to save 11 or more times their final working salary (so someone with a $50,000 salary would want at least $550,000 upon retirement).
So what’s an under-saved parent to do? If your child is making a good income, it may help if you sit down with them a make a budget so they don’t ask for or need to take money from you, experts say. If that’s still not enough to help, consider financial assistance to the kids that doesn’t cost you as much. Monterey, Calif.-based financial planner Catherine Hawley says that parents may want to consider letting kids live with them — with strings attached; these might include a written outline of the child’s financial and other obligations like chores for the household and the repercussions for not meeting them.Fannie Mae yesterday shuffled its senior executive ranks and revamped its compensation practices as its government-appointed chief executive, Herbert Allison, began to put his imprint on the company.
The District-based company said Chief Business Officer Peter Niculescu, General Counsel Beth Wilkinson, Chief Information Officer Rahul Merchant and the chief lobbyist, Duane Duncan, resigned.
"Fannie Mae is building out a new management structure and team as we take the company in a new direction to serve a dramatically changing market," Allison said in a statement.
Fannie Mae also said it was ending performance-based cash bonuses, which had rewarded employees when the company met certain financial targets. The company said it would introduce new cash rewards designed to retain employees as it tries to recover.
In total, 75 percent of what was available for bonuses will be available for the new retention rewards, the company said. Salaries and benefits remain unchanged. Fannie Mae did not provide information on how much it planned to spend on bonuses.
Niculescu was appointed to his job just weeks ago as part of a management shake-up before the government's decision to seize control of Fannie Mae and its rival Freddie Mac. Wilkinson, a prominent former federal prosecutor, was hired by Fannie Mae as the company recovered from an accounting scandal and clashes with regulators. The government has said Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will stop all lobbying.
The moves come as the government plans to rely on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to play even bigger roles in the mortgage market. The new retention awards are important because the companies' regulator, the Federal Housing Finance Agency, has said it does not want an exodus of employees familiar with the intricacies of the mortgage market.
Freddie Mac has yet to elaborate on any changes to its compensation plan.
Fannie Mae said the plan's goal was to provide "meaningful financial incentives to remain at the company while recognizing that other companies in the mortgage business that survive this housing crisis are likely to be paying far less this year in non-salary compensation than in prior years."
In a regulatory filing, Fannie Mae said executive officers this year would not be paid bonuses or long-term incentive awards. But the executive officers are eligible for cash retention payments to be paid out in installments through early 2010. Rank-and-file employees are also eligible for the cash retention payments.
The company said employees' retention awards could range from nothing to 50 percent more than the bonuses they ordinarily would have received. The company said compensation decisions would take into account several factors: individual and corporate performance and the importance of the employee's position.
Last weekend, the Federal Housing Finance Agency killed severance payments for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac's departing chief executives. Fannie Mae said it was still working out a compensation plan for Allison, its new chief executive.
The company announced that three members of its board had departed: Leslie Rahl, founder of a New York financial advisory firm; Greg C. Smith, a principal with a Colorado consulting firm; and John Wulff, the head of the board of a Vermont manufacturing concern.When you were going for your Matric exams, you must’ve heard your parents say “Why don’t you do as good as that kid” or “If you top the board exam i’ll buy you that”.
But the story of Faisal Malik, a disabled kid from Abbotabad, shows that despite all the handicaps in life, one person’s dedication and motivation can make all the difference.
Faisal has recently topped the Board exams in Abbotabad.
The Story of Faisal Malik
Faisal Malik from Abottabad achieved the first position in Abbotabad Matric Board, despite having physical disabilities. Against all odds he made his parents proud and proved that if you put in the effort to achieve your goal, you can achieve anything.
Situation for the Disabled in Pakistan
Currently there are no facilities and services available for disabled persons in education, healthcare and other services in Pakistan. Brilliance and talent thus goes un-recognized among the disabled people.
The government’s budget allocation for education sector itself is one of the lowest, which decreased from last year’s Rs. 109.3 billion to Rs. 108.9 billion for the fiscal year 2016-2017.
There has been no official census since the 1998 census which did not correctly categorize people with disabilities.
According to a survey conducted by Helping Hand for Relief and Development in 2012, 2.65% of the population have some sort of disability. Going by this statistic, the number of disabled persons in Pakistan is currently more than 5 million individuals.
Moving forward
The government should assist Faisal with his higher studies. Its obvious that an achiever like him should be extended all the necessary help and support, financial or otherwise, to achieve his goals in life. In addition to that they should help his family to treat his disability.
Taking Faisal’s case as an example, the government needs to roll out more initiatives for the disabled.A transgender male who was denied a haircut at a barber shop in Long Beach is suing the business, with representation by high-profile attorney Gloria Allred, along with Byron Lau. Allred is a civil rights attorney known for taking on cases involving women’s rights, including representing Bill Cosby’s accusers and voicing her support for SB 813, the Justice for Victims Act.
Rose Trevis claims that employees of Hawleywood’s Barber Shop voiced they did not cut women’s hair and that females are not allowed in the shop. The Los Angeles Superior |
in south Texas – it's all over the state,” said Forest Service spokeswoman April Saginor, in a CNN Radio broadcast. “We've got one in the Dallas area that's four fires that have actually merged together.”
Potential agricultural failure from fires including loss of crops and livestock was among the concerns raised by Perry, who has served as state governor for 11 years. Agriculture remains a top industry in the state, and is a livelihood for thousands of families.
Thousands of firefighters from counties throughout the state are fighting the blazes. Tragically, two local volunteer firefighters have already given their lives in the line of duty.
Firefighter Greg Simmons, 51, died on Friday while fighting the East Sidwynicks fire in Eastland County. He was reportedly struck by a vehicle while abandoning a fire truck that had been trapped in a fire-consumed pasture.
Elias Jaquez, 49, succumbed to third-degree burns on Wednesday after sustaining fire-related injuries 11 days ago, Cactus City Manager Steve Schmidt-Witcher announced on Thursday. Jaquez is survived by his wife and four daughters.
In addition to directing instate firefighters, the Texas Forest Services has accepted the assistance of more than 1,800 firefighters from 36 other states.
The Texas National Guard has provided four helicopters that carry “Bambi baskets,” a device designed for dropping large amounts of water over the fire. Crewmen have dropped more than 730,000 gallons of water this season.
Churches have already responded to hydration needs of emergency personnel working in the disaster zone, providing bottles of much-needed water.
Local churches pledged to give more than 38,000 bottles of water, according to officials with the Northwest Texas Conference of the United Methodist Church. They announced plans to ship 22 pallets of water to at least four fire work staging areas.
Other churches and The Salvation Army are also distributing free meals.
Although cooler fire-friendly conditions returned to various parts of the state on Thursday, meteorologists are still concerned that the ground is too dry and may simply absorb the moisture.
“Even if we get two inches of rain, the ground's going to eat it up,” said Weather Service meteorologist David Hennig, according to CNN. “We need a pattern shift.”
While firefighters have been able to contain some fires due to cooler temperatures, the conditions are not expected to last.
Perry mentioned that Texas in its 175-year history has been “strengthened, assured and lifted up through prayer.”
“It seems right and fitting that the people of Texas should join together in prayer to humbly seek an end to this devastating drought and these dangerous wildfires,” he said.Renault can catch up to Mercedes with their engine development by 2018, according to managing director Cyril Abiteboul.
The French giants, who supply power units to Red Bull, Toro Rosso and their own manufacturer team in Formula 1, enjoyed incredible success during the sport's V8 era but have been left behind by Mercedes since 2014.
Renault made progress last season, however, and Abiteboul's latest message will give more hope to Red Bull, who sealed four consecutive titles from 2010, that they can keep challenging the Silver Arrows in the future.
"Now we really have the appetite to demonstrate our capacity, true to what we have been doing in history," Abiteboul said at the Autosport International Show.
"Before being capable of innovating I think it's important that we completely catch up to Mercedes, which we hope to be able to achieve at the start of 2018."
Red Bull's two victories in 2016 were proof that a strong chassis can bring results and Abiteboul accepted that Renault's goal wasn't to match Mercedes' power this season, when aerodynamics will be more important than ever thanks to a technical regulation overhaul.
The Formula 1 Gossip Column
Speaking in more detail about Renault's failure to compete over the last three years, in which Red Bull threatened to find a new engine partner, he also claims the team became "complacent" thanks to their success at the start of the decade.
"Clearly we have disappointed with the new generation of engine with the new power unit," Abiteboul explained. "It's not in the Renault DNA to disappoint either the fan or the customer team. Obviously Red Bull were very vocal about it.
"In 2015 it was about resetting, restarting from a clean sheet of paper. We changed a lot of the management structure and the processes in the French engine workshop.
"I think we were a bit complacent in what we were doing, based on the success we had with Red Bull with the V8, not looking at the big new regulation change and power unit."
Most important to the manufacturer is ensuring their own Renault works team become successful again, with the Enstone-based outfit struggling to ninth place in the Constructors' Championship on their return to the sport in 2016.
"We have put together a clear, long-term road map of the innovation we want to bring to F1 and more specifically the power unit," Abiteboul stressed. "They will support us in this quest for a championship by 2020."
Renault's management structure, meanwhile, has changed ahead of the new campaign with Frederic Vasseur leaving his role as team boss by mutual consent.
French publication L'Equipe claimed Vasseur's departure was a 'huge blow' to Renault but Abiteboul insisted: "It's a steady ship."Visitors
Welcome to Our Journey to Balance - a motivational blog offering life affirming content to balance our body, mind and spirit.____________________Our Journey to Balance's Mission is to inspire conscious transformation by changing the negative and unproductive patterns to which we have grown accustomed. Readers are presented with practical solutions to our crazy, overly-busy, stressed lives.Our Journey to Balance aims to debunk the myth of what it means to live a 'balanced life' by suggesting that we flow with life, living in tune with the natural rhythms of nature. The point is not to balance all of our responsibilities at one time, but to focus our attention on what matters most at different times or seasons in our lives. This new understanding will help readers let go of misplaced priorities and relieve their overbooked lifestyle.Our Journey to Balance hopes to encourage those walking their personal path to balance - those seeking to improve all aspects of their lives - those who believe there is something more to daily living than what they are currently doing - those who want to embrace a new paradigm in order to accomplish more of what matters most in life.____________________Readers can expect personal essays, adages, aphorisms, original poetry as well as tips and research backed articles from a variety of sources gathered elsewhere on the web.___________________Highlighted posts feature topics including but not limited to: Healthy Living & Nutrition, Home & Family, Common Sense Spirituality & Collective Consciousness, Happiness, Success, and Inspired Self Development.___________________About the Writer...My name is Maritza Alvarez. I am an empowered woman, wife and mother. I am also a research journalist, human rights activist, political scientist and writer.I was raised Havana, Cuba. I am far from that life now, but growing up in that culture, with those beliefs and distinct ideology did provide a unique perspective.The regimented life, a stifled voice and political struggle, have given me an expansive and grounded view of the human condition, our propensity for human frailty as well as our resilience in the face of adversity.The ocean, inflexible and at times impertinent, has kept me grounded while developing an appreciation for the ability to see for miles, soaked in a grand vision that promises to deliver our potential.The choices I've made along the way, have caused my life to unfold in both expected and unexpected ways. As a matter of courtesy, I offer you here, a glimpse of my educational and professional journey, since my days as a “pionera.”______________________• Graduated with a BA in Political Science & International Affairs from Rutgers College at Rutgers University in New Brunswick, NJ.• Joined The University at Haifa, Israel where I immersed myself in Theology and Public Policy.• Participated in The University of Salamanca, in Spain, where I focused on International Affairs, Sociology and Translation.• Served in several grassroots efforts, such as The United Nation’s Fund for Peace, Global Alliance for Women’s Health, and The Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation.• Partnered with local communities around the world and addressed needs in areas such as conflict resolution, economic development, education, security and human rights.• In the private sector, I have worked in the Publishing Industry and acquired experience having to do with sales, marketing, promotion and fundraising.• Through accumulated experience and hard work, I have navigated the inter-connectedness of the public, private and NGO sector._________________Personally speaking, I have always been curious and passionate about transformation, life long learning and personal development. Above all, I treasure the art of communication and believe in it's power to raise our collective consciousness for the betterment of human evolution.Hobbies I find relaxing are gardening, hiking, reading, antique collecting and photography.I wish you Peace & Limitless Blessings, and hope you join the conversation.African Bitcoin startup BitPesa launched its remittance service in Tanzania today. The service previously was available only in Kenya, where the company is headquartered. It hopes to undercut the fees charged by incumbents’ remittance services.
BitPesa launched its international money transfer in Kenya last year with the goal of expanding the service to the rest of Africa, something the company has slowly been working toward. Besides its remittance product, the company operates an exchange in Kenya and Ghana but Tanzania is the first country the startup has expanded its international money transfer service into.
Like Kenya, Tanzania is a mobile money hotspot and an ideal country for BitPesa. The nation has a population of more than 43 million people, and, according to a2014 study by industry group Groupe Speciale Mobile Association (GSMA), has 31.8 million registered mobile money accounts. Tanzania received $317 million in remittances, $15 million of which came from Kenya, in 2012, according to a World Bank study.
BitPesa’s service allows anyone to send money to any Tanzanian phone number and charges a flat 3 percent on all its transfers. The service also promises the money will arrive instantly.
A Competitive Market
BitPesa will be joining a number of other companies that offer domestic (from city to rural) and international remittances in the country. Tanzania already has more than six mobile money operators who offer money transfer services to anyone in the country, and operators such as M-Pesa, who have partnered with Western Union, offer international mobile remittances.
Due to a lack of studies and research about remittance fees in Tanzania, it is unclear whether BitPesa will have a cost advantage, but it is certainly likely, especially for inter-Africa remittances. A 2013 World Bank press release said that Tanzania, alongside South Africa and Ghana, were the most expensive African countries to remit money to. Fees reportedly could get as high as 20 percent.
BitPesa’s low flat rate might turn out be an attractive option for Tanzanians in Kenya remitting money back home, which is a smaller corridor and usually has higher fees. The same might hold true for Tanzanians living in Uganda when the Bitcoin startup expands there later this year. The service will of course allow people from anywhere in the world (excluding the United States) to remit money to the small African country as well.
A more likely candidate for the service however, are businesses operating in Kenya, Tanzania and countries such as the United Kingdom, who have to send money to and from the African nation. BitPesa has already pivoted their service to better accommodate businesses’ needs after finding a large interest in the service from the group late last year.
Image via BitPesa.co.Good news today via Xbox Wire
Fans of Season Passes now have another reason to look forward to Xbox One with the Season Pass Guarantee program. With Season Pass Guarantee, you can purchase a Season Pass for a participating Xbox 360 title and automatically receive access to download the equivalent Xbox One Season Pass.* It’s simple.
Some of the biggest publishers, including Activision, Electronic Arts and Ubisoft, are lined up for the Season Pass Guarantee program, offering season pass content you can’t find anywhere else for blockbuster titles in 2013 and 2014. You’ll be able access exclusive season pass content on anticipated titles like “Call of Duty: Ghosts” and “Battlefield 4” on both Xbox 360 and Xbox One.
Season Pass Guarantee makes transitioning from Xbox 360 to Xbox One an easier and smoother process, so you don’t have to worry about which console you’re playing games on or repurchasing your existing add-ons on Xbox One.
Stay tuned as publishers and titles participating in the Season Pass program are announced in the coming months.
*Xbox Live members must own the same game on both Xbox 360 and Xbox One in order to receive Season Pass Guarantee benefits.'Warcraft' and 'Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2' both enjoyed four days of previews.
Despite landing in third place, Me Before You, the first film adaption of one of British author Jojo Moyes' novels, was the real winner over an unusually sunny U.K. weekend.
Warner Bros.' Emilia Clarke-starring drama overcame middling reviews and criticism from campaigners who described it as "disability snuff" to take a debut bow of $2.6 million, making it the No. 1 title Friday-Sunday.
However, it was Warcraft: The Beginning that claimed the top spot for the whole week, thanks to a seven-day opening that saw Duncan Jones' computer game adaptation plunder $5.3 million for Universal. The CGI actioner did just enough to see off another newcomer, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows, whose $5.1 million debut was also boosted with some assistance from four days of previews. Paramount's amphibian sequel fell short of its predecessor's 2014 bow of $6.9 million.
Further down, Alice Through the Looking Glass added $2 million in its second week to bring its total to $10.1 million, while X-Men: Apocalypse fell just over 50 percent in its third week with $1.8 million. Fox's superhero installment now sits at $22.9 million.By Kacey Birchmier
After struggling to successfully establish waterways that could withstand Iowa rains, Brad Plunkett of central Iowa turned to a new idea. In 2011, he began installing erosion-control blankets for waterways. Shortly after that, he became an evangelist for the practice and began selling them to other landowners.
The blankets – thin straw mats with layers of biodegradable netting on both sides – are designed to withstand a flash flood event resulting from a 2-inch downpour. They’re made by an Ohio-based company called Nancy’s Blankets and come in rolls 16 feet wide and 560 feet long.
What it costs
At estimated costs of $150 per hour for grading and $75 per acre for seed, it doesn’t take long for the expense of installing a waterway to add up. The cost of materials and installation for the erosion control blankets is 7¢ to 8¢ per square foot.
“It only takes one early rain, and you have an eroded gully in which you can never get a grass cover established. The blankets are an insurance policy. With the costs of groundwork and seed, you don’t want a washed-out waterway that you have to redo two years down the road,” says Plunkett.
He uses an ATV to unroll the material over the newly graded and seeded waterway. After the blanket is unrolled, it is staked into place. The blanket serves both as erosion control and as a mulch to help protect the new seeding until it has a chance to become firmly established.
“Any rainwater flows over the top of the blanket, so it can’t carry away soil,” Plunkett explains. “The blanket also holds in moisture during dry periods, but the grass can grow right through it.”
Now in his fourth year with the business, he’s found that the erosion-control blankets are the most efficient way for him to establish a waterway – the first time.
“Installing a waterway is a good conservation practice to stop erosion. We can’t afford to have our soil wash down the river,” says Plunkett.
Success – at last
Before he learned about erosion-control blankets, Plunkett says he had no success establishing waterways. He tried other methods, such as using cover crops to protect the new seeding, but nothing worked. Unable to get a strong stand of grass to develop in time for heavy rain, he knew he needed to be proactive. Otherwise, it was a total loss.
“It never failed. Heavy rains came before the seeding was well established, and I’d have an eroded gully going down the center of the waterway,” Plunkett says.
The math added up when he realized the expense of reseeding and regrading the waterway was more than the cost of installing the blankets.
Plunkett and his crew have successfully installed the erosion-control blankets on more than 50 farms per year across Iowa.
“I’m four years in, and my waterways are still in perfect shape,” says Plunkett. He no longer worries about Mother Nature eroding his waterways.This is the 1957 nfl championship game synced with NBC's original radio broadcast. It's by no means perfect but you get a pretty good feel for the game.
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comment Reviews
Reviewer: DannyMcColgan - favorite favorite favorite favorite favorite - November 22, 2013
Subject: What a Classic! Great footage of a classic football game. As I was listening early on the broadcast I hear the announcer named Bill McColgan who has the same last name as me! The other announcer Ray Scott a legend. I have football cards of a lot of these players..Yale Larry,Terry Barr,Jim Brown,Joe Schmidt,Tobin Rote Wow household names back then. Pretty cool video and love the Lion mascot at the halftime show. Awesome watch this to see what the NFL looked like in the 50's! - November 22, 2013What a Classic!
Reviewer: rpforrest - favorite favorite favorite favorite favorite - November 11, 2011
Subject: Great game It was fun to watch this, what a powerhouse the Detroit Lions were in those days! I remember my Dad talking about Lions QB Tobin Rote, a few years after this game he came to Toronto and was QB for the CFL's Toronto Argonauts. - November 11, 2011Great game
Reviewer: online movie rental - favorite favorite favorite favorite favorite - November 10, 2011
Subject: NFL WAY TO GO Love this archives NFL stuff,really getting into it and im rapidly becoming a convert from rugby union. - November 10, 2011NFL WAY TO GO
Reviewer: bcourson - favorite favorite favorite favorite favorite - October 23, 2011
Subject: Browns fan Oh great, now instead of just getting to see the Browns get beat year in an year out I can re-live their loses of the past. Why not just post video of the drive or the fumble, or the ice bowl! - October 23, 2011Browns fan
Reviewer: NJCiraulo - favorite favorite favorite favorite favorite - October 21, 2011
Subject: Only 2 yrs old when this took place What a game! What a team! Now 54 years later I look forward to the Lions winning the Super Bowl. - October 21, 2011Only 2 yrs old when this took place
Reviewer: Digital Axis - favorite favorite favorite favorite favorite - September 15, 2011
Subject: Fun Game to Watch Absolutely wonderful game to watch. Hopefully, there'll be more of these old time sports videos to watch in the future! Many thanks for this great upload! - September 15, 2011Fun Game to WatchNASA employees take pumpkin-carving to an extraterrestrial level.
Staff at the space agency’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, busted out their best jack o’lanterns for its annual Halloween competition. And the entries ― in which entrants used a myriad of mechanical devices to transform gourds into space telescopes, helicopters and more ― were positively spooktacular.
Of course, no pumpkin competition would be complete without the obligatory display of a flaming meteor threatening to strike down GOP and Democratic presidential candidates Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton.
And the “Donald and Hillary Asteroid” even ended taking joint first place, alongside “Ninja Starshade” ― which featured a buzzsaw slicing into a pumpkin “head”. NASA mechanical engineer Aaron Yazzie posted photographs and videos of the best entries on Twitter. Check them out below:
A "Happy 80th Birthday @NASAJPL " #NASAPumpkin with a birthday card to sign. (JPL was founded on Halloween 1936) pic.twitter.com/FrivYuGQR9 — Aaron Yazzie (@YazzieSays) October 27, 2016
BBQ #NASAPumpkin on a hand made mini Flotron! pic.twitter.com/sR6hRebe8V — Aaron Yazzie (@YazzieSays) October 27, 2016In June, after more than five years as president, President Obama finally proposed a climate action plan for America. True to form, the president gave an eloquent speech, with strong words for those still in denial about the severity of the crisis we face: “We don’t have time for a meeting of the Flat Earth Society.”
Unfortunately for all of us, the blueprint he presented is more PR than plan, and has zero chance of stabilizing the climate. To the contrary, it promises even more climate chaos by promoting fracking, mountaintop removal coal mining, offshore and Arctic oil drilling and tar sands exploitation. It also threatens future generations with the specter of more radioactive nuclear power.
The president opened his speech with a poetic tribute to the Apollo program, a generational mission championed by President John F. Kennedy more than half a century ago. But no comparison can be made between Kennedy’s bold vision and Obama’s timid plan. At the moment in history when the moral urgency of the global climate crisis demands a U.S.-led green energy “moon shot,” President Obama offers us a cloud shot. Are we really supposed to take seriously the anemic goal of cutting carbon emissions 17 percent by 2020 when experts like Earth Policy Institute’s Lester Brown have shown that nothing short of 80 percent carbon cuts by 2020 may be enough to save civilization?
Instead of calling out Obama on his hollow words, big national environmental groups—many with deep ties to the Democratic Party establishment and the Obama White House—fell over themselves congratulating the president on his speech. This, despite the fact that neither of America’s two corporate political parties has any intention of giving up their oil-soaked campaign contributions to take on the fossil fuel lobby.
Jon Queally, writing for Common Dreams, posed the right question: “With a showering of praise from ‘big green’ groups like Natural Resources Defense Council, Sierra Club and Environment America—the last of which decided to launch an expensive ‘thank you’ TV ad for the president—is it possible that the environmental movement is easing off the pressure at exactly the moment they should be holding Obama’s feet more firmly to the fire?” This is exactly what many of these same groups did when the president postponed until after the election a decision on Keystone XL’s northern leg permit, only to see him turn around and fast-track the pipeline’s southern leg. Instead of learning from history, they repeat it.
With the aforementioned as context, let’s look at some of what the President actually said in his speech and how his words fail to translate into the action needed to help stabilize the climate in the short time humanity has left to act.
President Obama: “We should strengthen our position as the top natural gas producer because, in the medium term at least, it not only can provide safe, cheap power, but it can also help reduce our carbon emissions. We’re going to partner with our private sector to apply private sector technological know-how in countries that transition to natural gas.”
Real World Translation: The President calls natural gas “clean,” despite knowing it’s a major greenhouse gas emitter. He calls natural gas “safe,” when the known dangers of fracking are causing communities across America to rise up against the poisoning of their local water supplies. The President’s plan would not only ramp up this dangerous technology domestically, but also export it overseas.
President Obama: “So the plan I’m announcing today will help us double again our energy from wind and sun.”
Real World Translation: This sounds impressive until you realize the percentage of America’s electricity currently generated by wind and solar power is in the single digits. The president’s plan ensures that the vast majority of our energy will continue to be generated from burning dirty fossil fuels.
President Obama: “So today, I’m setting a new goal: Your federal government will consume 20 percent of its electricity from renewable sources within the next seven years.”
Real World Translation: This is an example of the president’s “cloud shot” mentality. It would be like Kennedy announcing a goal of flying one-fifth of the way to the moon. Two Swiss explorers just flew day and night across America in a 100 percent solar powered airplane. If they can accomplish that in the air, America can do it on the ground. [cont’d.]American Fascist Writer Westbrook Pegler
Clayton Cubitt blogs:
“Republican vice-presidential nominee Sarah Palin quoted an unidentified “writer” who extolled the virtues of small-town America: “We grow good people in our small towns, with honesty and sincerity and dignity.” (9/3/08) The unidentified writer was Westbrook Pegler (1894-1969), the ultraconservative newspaper columnist whose widely syndicated columns (at its peak, 200 newspapers and 12 million readers) targeted the New Deal establishment, labor leaders, intellectuals, homosexuals, Jews, and poets.” I disagree with him fully. Except for the poets. Fucking poets.
More on Pegler at TNR, here's Wikipedia. Here are a few other quotes Palin didn't use:
Jews, he said, could not be the victims of persecution because persecution “connotes injustice…They are, instead, enduring retaliation, or punishment.” (D. Levitas, The Terrorist Next Door: The Militia Movement and the Radical Right, Macmillan, 2002, p. 71.) He advanced the theory that American Jews of Eastern European descent were “instinctively sympathetic to Communism, however outwardly respectable they appeared.” (The New York Times, Obituary: “Free-Swinging Critic,” June 25, 1969, p. 43). He had a habit of calling Jews “geese” because they, in his words, hiss when they talk, gulp down everything before them, and foul everything in their wake. (Diane McWhorter, “Revisiting the controversial career of Westbrook Pegler,” Slate, March 4 2004). (...)In 1963, less than 3 months after Martin Luther King Jr., delivered his famous “I Have a Dream Speech,” he wrote in a column, “[It is] clearly the bounden duty of all intelligent Americans to proclaim and practice bigotry.” (D. Levitas, The Terrorist Next Door: The Militia Movement and the Radical Right, Macmillan, 2002, p. 71)
Update: Blogger and Boing Boing reader Karen says, "Robert Kennedy Jr. was rightfully outraged about this too. I blogged about it here."Rosemary Horgan, president of the District Court, has revealed how another judge initially ordered the detention for 14 days GARETH CHANEY COLLINS
New details have emerged about the case of a teenage girl who was detained under the Mental Health Act because she wanted an abortion after learning she was in an advanced stage of pregnancy.
In a written judgment, Rosemary Horgan, president of the District Court, has revealed how another judge initially ordered that the girl be detained for 14 days following an HSE application.
A locum consultant psychologist had said the girl was “undergoing immense stress due to ongoing issues” after discovering she was pregnant three days previously. The psychologist, known as Dr T, said this discovery caused “multiple concerns regarding her mental health and strong suicidal tendencies, with recent attempts to follow through with suicidal plans”.
Dr T’s report stated: “In my opinion, the…JEFFERSON CITY � U.S. Sen. Roy Blunt on Tuesday asked members of the Missouri House to take their jobs seriously at a difficult time in the state�s history and tackle the deeper issues raised by events in Ferguson as part of their duty to the future.
In a brief address to the House, Blunt, R-Mo., told members he was born in a doctor�s office and brought home in a pickup truck to a house that had no running water. The opportunities he has had, he told the House, must be available to all.
�What we saw at Ferguson is we still have things going on in our society that we have to do to correct,� Blunt said.
Unrest shook north St. Louis County after the Aug. 9 shooting of unarmed black teenager Michael Brown by white Ferguson police Officer Darren Wilson. Police confronted demonstrators nightly with tear gas and heavy weaponry, with viewers worldwide watching live on television. Protests calmed after the first week but grew violent again after the announcement that Wilson would not be charged.
The protests grew out of frustration over the underlying problems residents face, Blunt said, including a lack of role models, inadequate education and lack of good jobs.
�We have to look at society and make sure we don�t make the police the scapegoats for the problems we haven�t solved yet,� Blunt said.
Blunt was in Jefferson City as part of a statewide tour while the U.S. Senate is in recess for a week for the Presidents Day holiday. He appeared earlier in the day with state Rep. Paul Curtman at a news conference to endorse a proposal to require all government mass communications to state whether they were delivered at public expense.
Curtman, R-Union, has proposed a bill requiring television, radio or printed material prepared by the executive branch of state government to carry the message that it was prepared or broadcast at taxpayer expense. Blunt said he has been attempting to do so at the federal level for several years.
�I don�t think anybody disagrees that the government needs to communicate with the people, but when the government does communicate with the people, we have to make sure we are applying certain checks and balances and that we are offering that transparency,� Curtman said.
People probably realize that lottery ads are paid for by the lottery with public funds or that military recruiting ads are aired with public funds, Curtman said, but citizens should know whether the message is provided at no charge as a public service or whether it is paid. He cited ads for the Affordable Care Act as an example of an area where it should be clear if it is a public or a private advertisement.
During his address to the House, Blunt mentioned federal issues, including the Keystone XL pipeline, and urged lawmakers to think about the state�s place as a transit point for commerce on railroads, rivers and highways as they work to develop the economy.
Blunt turned to the issues surrounding Ferguson in the final part of his talk and reminded the House that the 50th anniversary of the march from Selma, Ala., to Montgomery, Ala., is approaching in March. The march to Montgomery began in Selma because Dallas County, Ala., had more blacks in jail than on voter rolls, Blunt said.
On March 7, 1965, as protesters crossed the Alabama River on the Edmund Pettus Bridge, they were attacked and driven back by police. The bridge has a high peak, so marchers approaching it could not see what awaited them until they reached its crest, Blunt said.
�We are still walking across that bridge,� Blunt said. �We are more than what we have been, we are less than we can be. The privilege that you and I have to work to solve these problems is a privilege that is priceless.�After a long year of investigation into the tragic death of Eric Harris drew to its logical end, the justice was eventually served! A volunteer reserve sheriff deputy Robert Bates, involved into that fatal shooting of Harris, now is going to face 4 years in prison after a jury found him guilty.
Police tried to cover up the killer cop’s ass by turning his incompetence into a mere accident. If that officer was that old not being able to see the difference between a taser and a gun, what the hell was he doing in law enforcement?
On the day of shooting Bates was providing backup for the Tulsa Police Department officers when got out of his vehicle and fired shots into Harris’ back. Remember that the shooting occurred while the suspect was being held on the ground by the other officers. He didn’t own a gun what made him automatically harmless to police. Bates claimed that he mistook his revolver with his Taser stun gun. As it was reported, the incident with Harris became another one in a series of use-of-force encounters involved Bates.
Perhaps, if Robert Bates had completed all of the required training, he would never have made that disastrous mistake and Eric Harris would be alive now.THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — The chief prosecutor for the International Criminal Court says she wants an investigation of possible war crimes allegedly committed in the war in Afghanistan, an unprecedented probe that could target United States troops.
Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda said in a statement Friday that she will request an investigation because her preliminary examination found "a reasonable basis to believe that war crimes and crimes against humanity" were committed in the war.
Bensouda said in a report issued last year that U.S. forces in Afghanistan may have committed the war crime of torture while interrogating detainees between 2003 and 2014. That opens the possibility that Americans could be among those prosecuted, even though the U.S. is not among the court's more than 120 members.
The report also highlighted alleged abuses by Afghan soldiers and the Taliban.An NYPD officer stands accused of stealing more than $1,000 in cash from a Brooklyn man during a police stop.
In a video obtained by the New York Times, an unnamed officer forces 35-year-old Lamard Joye against a fence surrounding a Coney Island basketball court and removes what appears to be a handful of cash from Joye's pocket at the six-second mark.
"You see this? You see this?" Joye says, before demanding his money back. The officer replies, "You're gonna mouth off?" and begins to discharge pepper spray into Joye's face.
Joye's sister also gets pepper sprayed after asking the officer to state his name.
The Post has an embeddable version of the video.
The incident occurred last month as Joye was celebrating his 35th birthday. He was not arrested during the altercation and has not received his money back. Brooklyn DA Ken Thompson told the paper that he is “aware of the alleged incident and it is being actively and thoroughly investigated.”
Joye's lawyer, Robert Marinelli, said that Joye has given the Brooklyn DA his pay stubs and bank records showing that he earned several thousand dollars working construction in September, and had withdrawn some of that money to celebrate with his wife.
“I believe that this officer made an assumption that any money Mr. Joye possessed was obtained illegally and therefore he would not report the theft,” Marinelli said. “This assumption was wrong. Mr. Joye is a hardworking taxpayer. An incident like this would never occur in a more affluent section of the city.”
The NYPD released this statement on the incident:
“The incident was precipitated by a call of a man with a gun. When officers arrived at the scene, they encountered numerous people at the location. As a result of the allegations, the matter is under investigation by the Internal Affairs Bureau and CCRB."
A spokesperson for the CCRB tells us that it appears that the organization has not received the case.
The NYPD's patrol guide stipulates that "pepper spray shall not be used in situations that do not require the use of physical force."
Thee Rant, a message board frequented by active duty and retired police officers, has an interesting comment from user FiftyOneFive Oh on the incident:
I know this cop and he is a solid guy with (if not) 20 years, very close to it. It is possible that he has even more than 20 years. I cannot fathom why he is still running around on Patrol. Truly unf u c k i n g believable. From an OBJECTIVE point of view and NOT KNOWING WHY the cops were called to this scene, I do not know WHY he would remove a wad of money from someone's pocket. MONEY is not contraband and UNLESS you are collaring someone for robbery, GL or narcotics sales and are going to voucher the money as proceeds of a crime, you have no business WHATSOEVER removing money from a mope's pocket. I repeat, you have no business taking money out of some mope's pocket because he is a loud mouth involved in a large dispute, which is what this situation appears to be. That said, I would bet my house that this officer returned the money or vouchered it - he did NOT steal this money. Spritzing the crowd with mace a la DI Bologna is the cherry on top of the Sundae. In the current climate, that is going to be a problem. I must say, the daily videos and the daily wholesale suspensions and modifications of MOS have left me exasperated. It is as if the cops are completely OBLIVIOUS. Do they read newspapers, do they ever watch TV, do they speak to other cops, do they ever see the Finest spitting out these 'change of duty' statuses? It would appear that they do not. It would appear that they are blissfully ignorant of what is going on in the world around them. It appears that the PBA says and does nothing to raise their awareness that there is an anti-cop feeding frenzy in progress. I am bewildered as to how this all continues.....
[UPDATE // 11:51 a.m.] A spokesperson for the CCRB says the NYPD's Internal Affairs Bureau has recently forwarded the incident to the agency for review.A vulnerability in Skype allows anyone to hijack its users' accounts just by knowing or guessing a punter's registered email address.
The embarrassing security hole, which is trivial to abuse, was first discussed on a Russian underground forum three months ago. Last night a Russian blog publicised the bug, and details of the flaw circulated the internet. The hijack is triggered by signing up for a new Skype account using the email address of another registered user. No access to the victim's inbox is required; one just simply needs to know the address.
Creating an account this way generates a warning that the email address is already associated with another user, but crucially the voice-chat website does not prevent the opening of the new account |
on the field?
I think it's just a lifestyle thing. If I'm going to eat this way, I'm doing it for a reason. I don't want to be on certain medications, I want to get my nutrition and everything my body needs from food. That's kind of how I approach things. I want to live a long and prosperous life. I'm not going to live to see 120, but I want my body to feel good. It's going to prolong my career. I think it helps me just by doing it year after year. And I stay on the field. I've never been on the DL.
A big highlight for you this season was that catch you made on April 27 against the Royals. What's your thought process behind playing the field?
I'm trying to help my team and my pitcher any way I possibly can. If I let that ball drop and the other team ends up scoring, that's on the pitcher, and it's an earned run. I'm trying to help our team stay in ballgames, win ballgames. I don't take it lightly.
Did your crash landing hurt?
Yeah, making plays like that always hurts like hell the next day, but I play through it. That's the kind of teammate I am, and that's what they expect of me. I've made tons of diving catches in the outfield, and it hasn't affected me one bit.
Talk about your low body fat. How does it improve your game?
Some people say your body has to have this much fat, you have to do this, but I haven't gone on the DL yet with a low level of body fat. People have their theories. I have my own theory, and I think it's worked for me, so I stick with it.
How do you push through while you're training?
It's all about mindset; I really do think it is. That's why trainers are there to push you. When I work out in the offseason, I want someone to be there pushing me or working out with me. I had someone who would work out with me, but he was also my trainer. We would maximize what we could do in and out. We knew when I needed rest and when I needed to push it back. One week you go up in weight, the next week you're plateauing.
Do you have a must-do exercise?
I love a hang clean. It's a full-body exercise. You have the weight on the side, pull it up, then bring it down a little bit. When you start getting into heavier weight, you're using your back, but your entire body needs to stabilize that weight.“Hipsters,” a friend complained to me recently, are too “decadent.” My friend is a highly intelligent young man, and makes many valuable points. But he was, on this occasion, completely wrong. Hipsters aren’t decadent enough. As a society we are becoming ever less decadent, because we are becoming more self-obsessed.
Decadence isn’t silly self-indulgence. It isn’t low risk. It’s revelry, total rebellion, a dark act of worship. It is glorying in surviving struggle or conflict. As such, decadence secretly acknowledges and yet openly defies death and decay. It puts men among the gods. Historically, it is tied to war, fighting, power, masculinity, and comradeship.
Decadence comes before battle in the form of oratory that inspires the troops. And, after, in the form of celebration and intoxication — which, let’s be honest, has, historically, often involved looting and pillaging (and, no, I’m not endorsing that).
It is in the psyche of the warrior, in different ways. The Norse warriors believed that they would go to a heaven (Valhalla) where they would spend all day fighting and all night feasting, waited on by beautiful maidens. The Samurai applied cosmetics to their faces before committing ritual suicide, to look beautiful after death, and because death could itself be beautiful. More recently, during World War II, British troops were entertained, in between battles, by highly campy “concert parties.”
To put it another way, the life and writing of Yukio Mishima was decadent — and, because of that, also spiritual and ascetic. Fifty Shades of Grey is an advert for “sex toys.”
Political Consumerism
A few weeks ago, Facebook updated its gender options for profiles. Instead of “male” or female” users can now enter in their gender, and, start typing, and you’ll find several out of more than 50 appear — Bigender, Two Spirit, Transgender Male, Transgender Female, Transgender Person, etc., etc.
You may view Facebook’s many new genders as a political victory, a hard-won civil right. (Sexual and other minorities have been, and sometimes still are, treated appallingly by society, and in no way do I want to minimize that.) But what struck me is the close identification, today, of “radical politics” and consumerism.
Increasingly, it seems to me, modern politics urges us to fight for the right for new market segments. If you’re not sure what market segmentation is, BusinessDictionary dot com defines it as “The process of defining and subdividing a large homogenous market into clearly identifiable segments having similar needs, wants, or demand characteristics” — characteristics that are, incidentally, often based around gender, ethnicity, religion, income (class), and so on. Sound familiar?
Both through politics and consumerism, we are being offered a life free of angst, and a lifestyle accepted by the mainstream, catered for by various large companies with an assortment of products, from cosmetic surgery, through health insurance, to an array of different types of sugary, “ethical” coffees. Everything is a “brand.”
While its natural to want to be embraced by the mainstream — and while I certainly don’t want to see people discriminated against, or considered to be somehow less than other people, just because they are different — the problem is that great insights into how to live, great art, great achievements, etc., come from being consciously outside of it, by doing and being something different. We don’t need more insiders. We need more outsiders.
Let me just say this: I’m one hundred percent happy for Caitlyn Jenner to be “the new normal,” but the new normal is the new boring. Simply, one can’t be normal and edgy, normal and shocking, normal and different, or normal and interesting. That’s just a fact.
The close relationship — sometimes viewed as positive and sometimes as negative — between especially progressivism and consumerism has been observed by the heavy hitters of the Left. The late Christopher Hitchens liked to describe himself as “a socialist living in a time when capitalism is more revolutionary.” And cultural citic and self-described “communist” Slavoj Zizek has pointed out how capitalism can consume anti-capitalism, producing, for example, “Cherry Guevara” ice cream.
In reality, capitalism and anti-capitalism — at least of the sort we see in the mainstream — absorb, and need, each other. Capitalism needs the branding of anti-capitalism to show that it is human, modern, cool, and concerned with the right social issues. And anti-capitalism needs the advertising, product placement, and middle class lifestyles that comes with capitalism. Hence, in regard to both, we find, for example, the Levi’s jeans ad that used the imagery of anti-capitalist demonstrators and rioters.
Politics, the Primordial, and Spirituality
The need for acceptance — by the mainstream, by Levi’s, by “the market,” by Christians, by everyone — creeps into spirituality, of course. Take the ultimate outsiders: Satanists. They, apparently, no longer want to become supermen for whom the rules are things to be crushed. They simply want equality because they suffer crippling social stigma, and are “afraid”. If the Christians have done it, the Satanists want to follow their lead.
Likewise, neo-pagans, instead of throwing themselves to wild, astral abandonment or forging themselves into crazed, Berserker-like warriors, are demanding reparations from the Church. (To reiterate the point I made at the beginning, decadence is being drained from Western culture.)
Even if we don’t recognize it, our fight for political and consumer segmentation is a fight against our deep, primordial, inner being that often conflicts with our “socially-constructed” identities.
We might want to appear more spiritual, more beautiful, cooler, edgier, etc. But it is essential for us to live life in such a way that we can go beyond ourselves, not so that we can become more of what we would like to be, but to abandon ourselves and become one with that spirit that seems to be behind natural law, behind the violence and beauty of nature, of life and death, etc.
Trevor Leggett recalls the story of a Zen Buddhist and archery teacher in his Zen and The Ways. One of his students was a Cabinet Minister, and another was the wife of a lowly greengrocer. A Journalist came to interview the teacher, and suggested he move out of the countryside, to the city, so that he could find more prestigious students like the Minister. The teacher castigated him, saying, “it’s not a question of being the greengrocer’s wife, or being a Cabinet Minister, but of not being the greengrocer’s wife, or not being a Cabinet Minister.” Only then could the students enter the “Buddha-nature” that they really are.
The question that he higher man or woman has to ask is not what market segments or socio-political categories do I fit into? Or what products, retail outlets, or political party makes me feel good? But who am I when I’m alone? Who am I in the face of danger? Who am I in the face of death? Who and what will matter to me in the moment of death, and how can I focus more on those in life?
Only people who can ask and answer those questions — and, as such, who determine to build their lives in the face of their intuitions, standing outside of and resisting the allure of the temporary — can be truly decadent.The official website for the stage play inspired by Sunrise's Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion television anime series posted photographs of all the cast members in costume on Thursday. Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion: Sōran Eve (Riot's Eve) will include five original characters as members of the "Britannian Army Special Dispatch Commando Unit."
The revealed roles are:
C.C. (Haruka Ando)
Ashford Academy
Black Knights
Britannian Army Special Dispatch Commando Unit
Nunnally Lamperouge (Yuki Minami)Kallen Stadtfeld (Eri Nanami)Nina Einstein (Chiaki Omigawa)Shirley Fenette (Wakana Hagiwara)Milly Ashford (Yurika Kurosawa)Rivalz Cardemonde (Rio Takahashi)Kaname Ougi (Takeshi Hayashino)Shinichiro Tamaki (Sou Matsushima)Yoshitaka Minami (Masakazu Takahashi)Toru Yoshida (Kazuki Watanabe)Kento Sugiyama (Goto Hideki)Naomi Inoue (Misaka Maruyama)Chabrol (Yasuhiko Imai)Bresson (Hikaru Takahashi)Enrico (Musashi Egawa)Leconte (Hikaru Kamiya)Beineix (Suguru Onaga)
The website already posted photographs of Enichi Tanno as Lelouch Lamperouge and Hidemasa Shiozawa as Suzaku Kururugi. The story's timeframe is set in the anime's episode 9 or later. The play's producers announced last month that the production will recreate Knightmare Frame mecha onstage.
The play will run for 13 performances at the Mozart Hall at Tokyo's Katsushika Symphony Hills from April 7 to April 16.
Source: Anime!Anime!Video (01:37) : Starting Friday night, westbound I-394 will be shut down for two weeks. Traffic reporter Tim Harlow shares possible alternate routes.
Consider yourself warned: The Minnesota Department of Transportation will close the westbound lanes of Interstate 394 on Friday night, just about the time a Twins game ends and the Basilica Block Party wraps up in downtown Minneapolis.
Starting at 10 p.m. and lasting for the next two weeks, all outbound traffic will be shifted onto the reversible High Occupancy Toll (HOT) lanes as crews repair concrete in the general traffic lanes between I-94 and Hwy. 100.
When work on the westbound lanes is finished, the eastbound lanes will close for two weeks — meaning for the next month motorists will suffer what might be the biggest headache of an already bad construction season that has put a stranglehold on west-metro traffic.
Friday night’s possible gridlock could be a harbinger of things to come Monday morning. With the HOT lanes being used for westbound traffic, motorists heading into downtown during the morning rush will likely feel the squeeze as an extra 2,000 cars and buses that normally use the carpool lane will join them in the general traffic lanes.
Estimates from MnDOT suggest that 7,000 vehicles will pack the general traffic lanes between Golden Valley and downtown Minneapolis at the 8 a.m. peak of the Monday morning rush, compared with 5,100 normally. For evening commuters heading west at the 6 p.m. peak, estimates based on current hourly traffic volume suggest that 7,000 motorists will be using the reversible HOT lane, which has only two lanes compared with three in the general lanes.
“It’s going to be bad on Monday and Tuesday and Wednesday and Thursday. Eastbound drivers won’t be able to use the HOT lanes. You’ll have all that traffic and buses in the general-purpose lanes,” said MnDOT spokeswoman Bobbie Dahlke. “The alternate route is Hwy. 55, but beware of that.” Starting Monday, Plymouth Metrolink is shifting all of its express bus routes off I-394 onto Hwy. 55.
I-394
No good alternatives
Metro Transit will keep all 20 of its express routes on I-394, but is warning riders that without a HOT lane, buses could get stuck in traffic.
“We can’t do a lot in terms of detours and the only alternative for those seeking refuge is Hwy. 55, and there will be congestion there,” said agency spokesman Drew Kerr. “The impact will be on all users who use the corridor.”
MnDOT is encouraging commuters to work at home or go to work earlier or later to help reduce congestion during peak periods.
Why not wait?
With two major events downtown Friday night, motorist Tom Sachi wondered on Twitter why MnDOT would not wait until the crowd dispersed to begin work on the $11 million resurfacing project.
“We need every possible minute to get the project done,” MnDOT’s Dahlke said. “They will be working long days and overnights to accelerate things.”
Come Monday, eastbound I-394 drivers may have it the worst as bottlenecks could develop as far out as I-494. Solo drivers looking for escape routes may pay a hefty price to drive in the HOT lane between I-494 and Hwy. 100, but with little return, Dahlke said. All traffic will have to merge into the general lanes at Louisiana Avenue, which promises to be a big pinch point.
Asked if it would help to open the HOT lane west of Hwy. 100 to all drivers, Dahlke said “we need to keep a congestion-free option.”
She said MnDOT will be monitoring conditions and could restrict the HOT lane to carpools and buses only if conditions warrant.
The rehab project on I-394 comes as MnDOT already has major road work swallowing up lanes on I-494 in Plymouth and Maple Grove and on Hwy. 100 through St. Louis Park.
In downtown Minneapolis, the ramp from westbound I-94 to westbound I-394 will be reduced from two lanes to one. On Monday, the Lyndale Avenue bridge over Hennepin Avenue will close until September.
Other construction projects in the metro this weekend include I-35E between downtown St. Paul and Little Canada Road, Hwy. 5 over the Mississippi River near Fort Snelling and Hwy. 13 through Mendota and Lilydale.Eden Hazard and Gareth Bale could be swapping clubs in a sensation transfer switch this summer, according to the Sun.
The Spanish giants have already sounded out Chelsea about a possible swap, says the report, with Real desperate to make the PFA Player Of The Year their newest Galactico.
Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho would be unwilling to sell Hazard and said recently that the Belgian international would cost "100m per leg" or "100m and one of Real's best three players".
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Did you know Telegraph Sport has a Chelsea Facebook page?
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The Sun, meanwhile, also report that Chelsea are readying a summer bid for their long-term transfer target Giannelli Imbula.
Chelsea have been keeping tabs on the France Under-21 international for the last two years.
It is reported that Chelsea scouts watched the Marseille midfielder last Friday evening for their Ligue 1 defeat to Lorient.
It is understood that Mourinho is keen to team Imbula up with Nemanja Matic in central midfield.
Around £20m would be required to secure the player with Real Madrid also paying close attention to the midfielder.One senior foreign correspondent for television, when told of the 4 percent coverage figure, said he was impressed — given the relatively small contingent of foreign journalists in Afghanistan.
“There are like seven of us there,” remarked the correspondent, who spoke only on the condition of anonymity because he did not want to call into question his network’s commitment to the war. Those who are there have done courageous work, exposing corruption and documenting military progress in rooting out insurgents.
The low levels of coverage reflect the limitations on news-gathering budgets and, some say, low levels of interest in the war among the public. About a quarter of Americans follow news about Afghanistan closely, according to recent surveys by the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press.
“Inside the United States, you’ve got audiences that are beginning to suffer from war fatigue,” said Tony Maddox, who oversees international coverage for CNN.
Mr. Maddox said CNN had “worked very hard” to make the war resonate with viewers, sometimes through human interest stories. “It’s always the eternal challenge in terms of international coverage: making the important interesting,” he said.
As President Obama signaled last year that he would wind down the war in Iraq and refocus attention on Afghanistan, television networks largely withdrew from Baghdad, and moved staff to the Afghan capital, Kabul, though not on an equivalent basis. Newspapers and wire services also bulked up in Kabul.
American networks each generally have one correspondent in Kabul at all times, sometimes working on a freelance basis. The office space in Kabul is a home base for occasional visits by anchors, like Lester Holt of NBC, who spent Thanksgiving there, and George Stephanopoulos of ABC, who interviewed Gen. David H. Petraeus there two weeks ago.
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Of the cable news networks, Greta Van Susteren of Fox News and Rachel Maddow of MSNBC also spent time in the country this year.
But there is no doubt that cutbacks by media companies have affected the way that the war is transmitted to American living rooms. ABC News cut roughly 25 percent of its work force last spring, and last summer, CBS News laid off most of its camera crews based in London, the jumping-off point for international coverage.
“There’s a general drive to do everything with less,” said another television correspondent, who spoke only on the condition of anonymity because he did not have permission to comment publicly.
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At the same time, there are pockets of noteworthy coverage, including by national newspapers, the CBS newsmagazine “60 Minutes” and the AfPak Channel, a Web site from Foreign Policy magazine and the New America Foundation. In July, The New York Times and several other news organizations published portions of the military and intelligence reports about the war made public by WikiLeaks, garnering widespread attention.
On the ground, the war remains a dangerous assignment for journalists. In January, Rupert Hamer of the British newspaper The Sunday Mirror was killed while traveling with the military near Nawa. In June, James P. Hunter, a staff sergeant and a writer, was killed in Kandahar. The Committee to Protect Journalists said he was the first Army journalist killed in action in Afghanistan since the war started nine years ago. And Joao Silva, a photographer for The Times, sustained critical injuries in a late October bomb blast in southern Afghanistan.
This year, American economic concerns, the midterm elections and the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico each earned more than twice as much news media attention as the war, according to the Pew assessment, which comes from a weekly study of the nation’s major newspapers, radio and television newscasts, and major news Web sites.
The study started in 2007. In that year, Afghanistan — which was a relatively low-grade conflict at the time, with many fewer allied causalities — accounted for only 1 percent of the nation’s news coverage. The same held true in 2008. The coverage picked up markedly at the end of 2009, when Mr. Obama conducted a lengthy review of Afghanistan strategy, but still added up to only 5 percent for the year.
Four or 5 percent “may be the baseline, at least for now, no matter what the strategic stakes are, or even as U.S. involvement ratchets up,” Mr. Jurkowitz said.
This year, Mr. Jurkowitz estimated, roughly half of the coverage of Afghanistan actually emanated from the war zone. That suggests that “without a major Washington policy debate or strategy review ongoing, that Afghanistan remains a story that gets modest coverage,” he said.
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Modest, with question marks. When the CNN host Eliot Spitzer asked on Thursday night, “Why are we even there,” his guests had few answers.
The skepticism was noticeable this month when ABC conducted another of its checkups on the war. The Emmy-winning series was titled “Where Things Stand” when it was started in 2004 for Iraq, but this month, for Afghanistan, it was renamed “Can We Win?”
Tom Nagorski, the foreign managing editor for ABC News, said it was not a political statement or change in tone; rather, it reflected the fact that Mr. Obama’s strategic review was under way. “It’s a chance to bring some great, old-fashioned, terrific reporting to bear,” he said.
Privately, some television executives say the Afghanistan coverage is an outgrowth of the self-evaluations made by news organizations in the wake of the Iraq war, when many were faulted for not broadcasting sufficient skepticism.
At the same time, there are antiwar voices who say the news media has been “compliant” with regard to Afghanistan — the word that Joe Scarborough used on Friday on his MSNBC program, “Morning Joe.”
He asked Richard N. Haass, the president of the Council on Foreign Relations, “For years, we have had journalists wringing their hands and editorialists lashing out at the profession for not asking the tough questions leading up to Iraq. Ten years from now, won’t we be saying the same thing about Afghanistan?”
Mr. Haass said he feared that Mr. Scarborough was right. “I think history’s going to be brutal on the questions that haven’t been asked.” Or, alternatively, the answers that haven’t been heard.Your resume is extremely important in finding a job and is the biggest factor in whether you get the interview or not. Living in one state (or country) and applying for jobs out of state makes it even more vital.
And one of the biggest hurdles is how to list your location on your resume when applying for jobs in a different state.
A question on this topic was emailed to me by a reader last week:
Hi Biron. I’m living in San Francisco and trying to move to Denver. The problem I’m running into is that I’m not receiving any interviews and I’m guessing it’s because there are local applicants that are equally qualified. I believe I can interview better than them and prove myself but I need to get into the interviews. My address and phone number on my resume are a dead giveaway that I’m living in the Bay Area. Do you recommend that I lie on my resume to get a job interview?
How To List Your Address When Applying For Jobs Out Of State:
At first glance there are 2 options: Tell the truth or lie about your address
Let’s look at the pros and cons of both options so you know what you’re up against. Then keep reading because there’s a third option that works pretty well too and you won’t want to miss it.
Option #1: Lie On Your Resume
When applying for jobs out of state, one strategy is to use a friend or family member’s address in that city, or just list the city without a street address on your resume. Or make up an address. Lying on your resume will probably get you the initial phone interview, but there are a few problems with all of these tactics.
4 Potential Problems…
You probably don’t have a local phone number to put on the top of your resume. You can’t hide everything.
You’re beginning the interview process with a huge lie. Even if it doesn’t get uncovered, you’ll be more nervous during the process and it won’t feel as comfortable.
If everything goes well on a phone interview, they’ll invite you on a face to face interview and you’ll have to cover all of the travel expenses since the company thinks you’re living locally. Some companies do multiple rounds of face to face interviews!
And finally, when you’re offered a job, they’re probably going to mail the offer letter to the address you provided. Also if a company offers relocation assistance, you might lose out on that because they think you’re a local candidate.
Option #2: Tell The Truth And Put Your Out-Of-State Address
This option is simple, and chances are you’ve already tried it. Accept that some employers won’t want to interview you, but continue to list your full out-of-state address on your resume.
There’s one big drawback, which you probably already know…
Some companies only consider local candidates. This will limit the number of opportunities you’re able to interview for. Not every company will be open to interviewing you, even on the phone.
Still, I would try this option for a couple of weeks to start my job search. It’s a good place to start because it’s the safest, assuming you can get some companies willing to talk to you. The only risk is spending time applying for jobs and finding out you’re not getting enough responses or interviews.
If that happens, you’ll need to consider other options. That’s where option #3 comes in…
Option #3: Tell A White Lie (I Recommend This)
This option is great if you don’t want to tell a flat out lie, but you’re not getting enough interviews telling the truth on your resume.
Here’s what to do… Put your name and phone number on your resume, but don’t list an address. Where you’d normally put an address, instead say something like “Relocating to Denver in March 2017”. (replace ‘Denver’ with whichever city the job is in).
Using this approach to apply for jobs in a different city or state should get you a higher number of interviews without having to lie about where you currently live.
This is still a bit of a lie, since you’re probably not going to relocate without a job offer, but it’s also quite true- your goal is to find a job in the new city, and your plan is to relocate to that city if you can find a suitable position.
This will get you the greatest number of phone interviews and will keep your resume out of the garbage pile.
If you do ask you an interview question about this in the first conversation (they probably will), you can tell them you plan on relocating either way but you are trying to secure a job beforehand. That will put their mind at ease and quickly convince them you’re serious about finding a job in their city.
There’s one potential drawback with this option…
Just like Option #1, there’s a chance that you could lose out on relocation assistance if you say you’re moving to their city no matter what.
It’s not very likely but it’s possible.
With most companies, they’ll still offer to help if it’s a part of their benefits package though. Very few companies will try to weasel out of paying relocation assistance. The ones that do, you probably don’t want to work for.
So this method has a lot of potential and very little risk. I recommend giving it a try.
More Tips When Applying for Out of State Jobs:
If you read this article and didn’t just skip to the bottom, you know the most important thing I recommend on your resume to get more interviews when relocating.
But what about the rest of your resume? Here are a couple more tips I recommend:
“Tailor” your resume bullet points to match the job description. If the first responsibility they list is project management, try to make your first bullet in your Work History section be about project management. Do this for the top 2-3 bullets in each job in your Work History section. Even if you’re looking for a job after college and have no work experience, you can mention a project you managed in school. Write great cover letters that are tailored to the company and show them why you want to work in their specific job, and why their city or state interests you as a place you want to live long-term. Try to use your network to get introduced to companies whenever possible. This is often the fastest way to find a job because companies immediately trust you more when you come recommended. The importance of this becomes even greater in an out-of-state job search where companies really need a reason to consider you over local candidates.
Now that you know what to do, you’re ready to start applying for jobs in a different city, state or even country. Use the tips above to get more interviews, and if you have a question on anything we covered, leave a comment below!
UPDATE:
If you’re job searching in a new city, I think you’d love the step-by-step interview guide I just created. Each interview counts for a lot when you’re relocating; I’ve done it first-hand and know it’s harder than the typical job search. But it’s still doable! If you want to go into your next interview feeling 100% confident and well-prepared, you’re the type of person I had in mind when I created this guide. You can read about it here.
Like this post? Pin it to save for next time you need it!Sign up to volunteer for Donald Trump’s campaign, and you might be giving up more than you bargained for.
Earlier this week, reporters began poring over the 2,271-word nondisclosure agreement that Trump’s campaign requires its volunteers sign. The forms are extraordinarily broad, virtually prohibiting any volunteers from criticizing Trump or his family for the rest of their lifetimes, according to Rachel Sklar, a lawyer who has also written for and appeared on CNN.
On Twitter, Sklar noted that the forms also bar volunteers from criticizing Trump’s brands, disclosing anything personal about Trump (including his taxes), or from even employing people who work for Hillary Clinton’s campaign. (That last one’s illegal, Sklar says.)
(1) I took a look at the legal form agreement mandatory for Trump online volunteers. Many flaws! https://t.co/t7RmSNl93I — Rachel Sklar (@rachelsklar) September 2, 2016
(4) Also it's called a "Non Disclosure Agreement" and the URL is "https://t.co/euIWccSkNF" but it includes WAY more pic.twitter.com/WGhEDblwJs — Rachel Sklar (@rachelsklar) September 2, 2016
(5) It's written to protect all of Trump's family and enterprises and anything created to benefit same. Broad AF! pic.twitter.com/sq4Wt5pKXx — Rachel Sklar (@rachelsklar) September 2, 2016
(6) It assumes any breach of this overbroad AF agreement causes "irreparable harm" - fully indemnified, of course. pic.twitter.com/IXC3W3ZJAr — Rachel Sklar (@rachelsklar) September 2, 2016
(7) Even by the grossly permissive standards of Citizens United, coercing your employees is completely illegal. pic.twitter.com/rV69hba0re — Rachel Sklar (@rachelsklar) September 2, 2016
(8) No, you can't prevent your employees from volunteering for Hillary. Coercive and illegal! pic.twitter.com/ZoIXjm6pBA — Rachel Sklar (@rachelsklar) September 2, 2016
(9) This one's charming: the terms of this agreement were totally negotiable! pic.twitter.com/Lt5VfiFzyl — Rachel Sklar (@rachelsklar) September 2, 2016
(11) Trump is fine with his volunteers disparaging Mike Pence btw. He's not a "Trump Person." pic.twitter.com/MmuFBtNUvH — Rachel Sklar (@rachelsklar) September 2, 2016
(13) Never say anything bad about a "Trump Person" forever and ever! pic.twitter.com/0b8KUQeRfU — Rachel Sklar (@rachelsklar) September 2, 2016
Whopper of a (19), spotted by @publicola05: "information...that Mr. Trump insists remains private" (incl. "taxes"). pic.twitter.com/7kWSLXRXIz — Rachel Sklar (@rachelsklar) September 2, 2016
In case you were wondering if this was standard campaign practice, the answer seems to be no. (The restrictions on Trump volunteers was reported first by The Daily Dot in March, though the new agreement now also applies to online volunteers.)
Writing for Cincinnati.com, reporter Jeremy Fugleberg notes:
But requiring an online volunteer to sign such a document is a requirement unique to the Trump campaign. The campaign website for his rival, Democrat Hillary Clinton, requires no agreement for online volunteers to sign up and make phone calls. "It’s not a typical procedure," said Matt Moore, chairman of the GOP in South Carolina, where campaigns had volunteers making similar calls from their homes ahead of the primary in February. Moore also oversees phone bank operations as the state seeks to elect its candidates in legislative races.
Correction: Rachel Sklar is not an official CNN contributor.
Donald Trump hates lies, but can't tell the truth2011-02-26 update:
MIUI team has just officially released version 1.1.14 dedicate for Desire HD, no more porting from other platform needed. And it supports English, though the screenshot is in Chinese.some screenshots attached.You can find the partial English UI setting instructions here But after setting the locale, most of the UI is remaining in Chinese. Need a developer to change the language file to English. The download link for ROM package is listed above.How to flash--------------------------------------------1. Make sure your HBoot is already S-OFF.2. Have clockwork recovery installed.3. Copy the zip file to SD card and flash.Please do a data wipe and cache wipe before flash the zip file. The whole process takes about 5 minutes and after the first Hboot screen, it loads to MIUI themed splash screen quickly.Looking for news you can trust?
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Does yesterday’s vote for a clean debt ceiling increase mean that the Republican Party is finally coming to its senses? Ed Kilgore doubts it:
You will forgive me for an enduring skepticism on this latest “proof” that “the fever” (as the president calls radical conservatism) has broken, the Tea Party has been domesticated, the grownups are back in control, and the storms that convulsed our political system in 2009 have finally passed away. We’ve been hearing these assurances metronomically from the moment “the fever” first appeared. ….[But] it is not all that clear just yet that the GOP back-benchers racing to get out of Washington before a winter storm are satisfied with how the deal went down. Their level of equanimity will not improve after puzzled conservative constituents grill them on this “surrender,” and after they are congratulated by everyone else on the political spectrum for their abandonment of “conservative principles.” In other words, it’s once again premature to read into this development a sea-change in contemporary conservatism or the GOP. Best I can tell from reading conservative media the last few weeks, the reluctance of GOPers to engineer another high-level fiscal confrontation owed less to the public repudiation of last autumn’s apocalypse than to the belief that Republicans are on the brink of a historic midterm victory accompanied by a decisive negative referendum on Obamacare. If that’s “pragmatism,” it’s of a very narrow sort.
Yes indeedy. For all practical purposes, the tea party is moribund as an independent force, but only because it’s been fully incorporated into the Republican Party itself. Sure, there are still groups out there with “tea party” in their name, but the funding and energy are mostly coming from the Koch brothers, the Club for Growth, ATR, and other right-wing pressure groups that have been around forever.
The difference between previous fluorescences of the nutball right and this one is simple: previous ones either died out in failure or else succeeded only in moving the GOP to the right a bit. The tea party fluorescence has finally captured the party for good. But this doesn’t mean that every single political confrontation is going to turn into a scorched-earth campaign. Even fanatics can tell when a particular tactic has stopped working, and even fanatics like to win elections. But that doesn’t mean they’ve lost their influence. They’ve learned a bit, and perhaps decided to become a bit more sophisticated about their opposition tactics, but they still control the Republican Party. Make no mistake about that.Believe it or not, the tech-savvy former J&K CM Omar Abdullah has actually downgraded his net connection |
303-838-4243. M-303-885-1415
Fairplay – Prater’s Market (719) 836-1618 – Fairly easy hitch past Jefferson. Market reported having canisters in stock.
Fairplay – High Alpine Sports – (719) 836-0201
Breckenridge – Mt Outfitters – 970-453-2201
Twin Lakes – General Store – 719-486-2196 Limited quantity reported; may want to call ahead
Leadville – Leadville Outdoors (719) 486-7392
Buena Vista – Trailhead Sports – 719-395-8002
Princeton Hot Springs – PHS Store – (719) 395-2447- Store reported to have some canisters in stock.
Salida – Salida Mt Sports – 719-539-4400
Creede – San Juan Sports – 719-658-2482
Lake City – Sportsman Outdoor and Fly Shop – 970-944-2526 High Country Market 970 944-0161
Silverton – Outdoor World – 970-387-5628
Gunnison – A few different choices
Durango – Many choices as well (if not as many as Denver..go figure! ;D)
Note: There may be more stores than listed. Feedback always welcome. I’d be lying if I said I visited or know about every outdoor store in the state. 😉 Also, the small town’s stores can change or run out of inventory esp as more people hike The Colorado Trail and the CDT. Always good to call ahead.
White gas and Heet/denatured alcohol are found fairly easily in most re-supply areas. Heet is usually found in gas stations, hardware stores, auto supply stores, grocery stores and convenience stores in the automotive section mixed in with oil, transmission fluid, etc.
BURN BANS
With more wildfires and drier conditions in the American West, open flame bans are becoming more common. What this often means is that in addition to campfires, stoves without an on/off valve are often banned. That means alcohol stoves and Esbit stoves. You can go stoveless, use a canister stove, or go with a white gas stove. Some years, even white gas stoves are banned.
Resupply
Resupply is similar to the PCT: Not overly hard but fewer choices and longer hitches than the AT. Because of the relatively short length of the CT, mail drops are a viable option for many thru-hikers esp those on a fast pace with limited time. Below is a list of some popular re-supply areas with approximate mileage to each from a Denver start. Also have a brief description of each town for supply purposes. This is not a complete description by any means but does give a brief overview of some the more popular options.
Maildrops vs resupply in towns
Places that have adequate supplies in stock for CT travelers are not in short supply. Oatmeal, Ramen, bars, cheese, etc. are all staples in good supply for people on the CT. Buying as you go works for most people on their CT journey.
When to use a maildrop (package of supplies mailed to yourself)?
Maildrops are simply mailing a pre-made food parcel to a post office, hostel or other areas in town on the trail. The advantage of this method is that the supplies are waiting in a package for you.
A hiker will pick up their package, dump the food in their pack, and go. The disadvantage of this method is that you are dependent on Post Office hours (if not sending to a hostel or business), have to pay for shipping and need a person on the home front to send out packages for you. Unless you have special dietary needs or on a time crunch, there is no real reason to use maildrops on a regular basis.
As mentioned, many towns on the CT have good sized grocery stores and other resupply areas.
If you use a maildrop, be sure to mail out as the example below shows:
Jane Hiker
c/o General Delivery
Some Town, CO 55555
Please hold for CT hiker, ETA 7/23/18
The post office will generally hold your package for up to two weeks. Be sure to have an ID ready when you pick up your package. If possible, you may want to mail a package directly to a hostel or business rather than the post office. The hours will be longer and more flexible.
A mail drop works best if:
Have dietary needs (vegan, GF, etc.) not easily addressed via a typical town resupply.
Prefer to pick up meals you made yourself be it for nutritional or personal taste
On a time crunch and grabbing a package does save time vs. shopping in town.
Note you can mix and match, too. Send a maildrop to place where the selection is limited; buy where there are full service options.
**** Due to the increasing popularity of The Colorado Trail, it is suggested that a business is contacted first before a mail drop is sent. ****
And speaking of towns and interaction with hikers…
Remember, hiking The Colorado Trail is a privilege and not a right. Always say “Please” and “Thank you”, don’t act like you are entitled to anything because you are a long distance hiker, and respect not only your fellow hikers but also the people in the towns you are entering. Remember, your actions can impact the hikers coming after you.
The Appalachian Long Distance Hikers Assoc. has an excellent set of guidelines at the “Endangered Services Campaign” site. Written quite a few years ago for the Appalachian Trail, the guidelines work equally well for the growing amount of hikers on The Colorado Trail.
On to the resupply info…
Marginal resupply – Soda, chips, snacks. Maybe some Ramen or canned goods if you are lucky.. Hard resupply basically.
Soda, chips, snacks. Maybe some Ramen or canned goods if you are lucky.. Hard resupply basically. Moderate resupply – All the basics, if not many choices. Your typical small town grocery store.You’ll be able to get everything you need for a few days of the trail.
All the basics, if not many choices. Your typical small town grocery store.You’ll be able to get everything you need for a few days of the trail. Full Service – Has a supermarket, lodging, restaurants, often an outfitter of some sort. Anything you need will probably be in this town.
Please Note: As with all mountain areas, the places below can be busy on weekends and holidays on or before Labor Day Weekend. Don’t be surprised if the accommodations are full for a busy summer weekend!
Air BnB and VRBO are increasingly popular options for lodging in some of the more popular tourist towns the CT goes through as an FYI
Also, new commercial enterprises are mailing out food, gear, and other sundries to hikers. Quite a few may be found via a Google search such as, but not limited to, Trail Supply Co, Outdoor Herbivore, Zero Day Resupply, and Sonora Pass Resupply. They regularly post on forums and Facebook advertising their services. Some hikers are using Amazon Pantry Service or the Walmart equivalent, too.
Also, this information can change…even during a season. If there is incorrect/additional info, please send feedback. Thank you!
CACHING: Every-so-often, I get an inquiry asking about caching supplies along the trail. As the hitches are easy with ample resupply, it is not an option that makes much sense logistically (have to drive A LOT to drop caches and A LOT to pick up caches). But it is an option that could work for some people esp in long stretches (e.g. at Spring Creek Pass) or if you absolutely do not want to hitch. James and Rebecca hiked the CT in 2009 using bear canisters cached along the trail. As they stated “If you take this method, please note that it is not okay to leave a bunch of flimsy Rubbermade bins in the forest. Bears will find your food and eat it. All.”. Here’s their link if you are curious about how and where they cached supplies: http://www.the2016plan.com/coloradotrail/planning.html
Also, I saw a presentation at Neptune Mountaineering where the two hikers cleverly used metal ammo boxes from the surplus store such as found on eBay. These sturdy, metal boxes are often used in National Park Service backcountry campsites to critter proof food. At ~$15-20 ea, considerably less expensive than bear canisters, too.
ALTERNATE ROUTES AND 14ers
One of the big attractions of The Colorado Trail is the alternate routes that can be done. Some people choose to walk the CDT for a bit, others choose to follow some harder but more scenic routes, still others take alternates that encompass doing 14ers then dropping back to the CT. Look at your maps and see what looks good to you! I took two alternate routes that added a fair amount of elevation gain and about ten miles to my overall route. Below are some alternate route ideas. There are others as well. Be sure to consult your guidebooks and/or maps to get back to the CT! NO REALLY, BE SURE TO TAKE MAPS IF YOU DO ALTERNATE ROUTES! Lost Creek Wilderness High Route: Interested in exploring some high country soon into your trip? Take the Lost Creek High Route! This is a mainly off-trail route that takes in the highest peak in the Kenosha Range (Peak 12429′; unofficially called Peak X) in the Lost Creek Wilderness and is a high route parallel to The Colorado Trail below. To access this route (Durango-bound), take the Brookside-McCurdy Trail north off the CT. At a saddle between two peaks, head off trail and west towards Kenosha Pass along the ridge. You are now on the backbone of the Kenosha Mountains. The off-trail hiking is easy to navigate but challenging in terms of elevation gain and loss. Follow this route to the Ben Tyler trail junction (unofficially called “Platosha Pass” ) and then head south to rejoin The Colorado Trail. If you want to continue the high country route (and add a fair amount of mileage) continue into the Platte River Mountain range and follow the range to North Twin Cone Peak, follow the long and meandering dirt road down to Kenosha Pass and rejoin The Colorado Trail. The views from North Twin Cone are quite exquisite, but the road walk can be tiring after a long day. You will need Trails Illustrated Map #105. Please note that while this route is easy to follow with basic map reading skills, it is not marked. Water is also scarce along the ridge itself. Consider it a scenic alternative for more experienced hikers.
Hope Pass: The old Colorado Trail route (and current CDT / Collegiate West route) is harder but much more scenic than official CT on the Collegiate East. At 12540’ the views are breathtaking. Hope Pass is also the literal high point of the Leadville 100 ultramarathon that takes place in mid-August. After coming down Hope Pass, you can go east on 390 viathe short Sheep Gulch spur trail off the CT and eventually connect back up to the Collegiate East CT on a dirt road (Note, I am not saying this road is the CT!..you just connect to it again via the dirt road. 🙂 ) Or you can do the alternate below… (Use Trails Illustrated Map #127 or the NatGeo TI Colorado Trail Maps )
Missouri Gulch: Not too long after Hope Pass, you can get to the historic town of Vicksburg that is accessed by the short Sheep Gulch spur trail off the CT. This town is actually a historic site that has been re-built. Shortly after this town, you will come to a trailhead for Missouri Gulch. This alternate is far prettier than the official CT East in the sage IMO. Much harder, though. This alternate has you surrounded by
three 14ers (Missouri, Belford, Oxford) and is an incredible view. If you are into peak bagging, this route is esp. good as the 14ers are easily accessible. The views from up to and at Elk Head Pass are stunning. You follow the trail and connect back to the CT in a valley. (Use Trails Illustrated Maps #127 and #129 or the NatGeo TI Colorado Trail Maps)
Collegiate West / CDT Alternate: After Hope Pass, rather than turn towards Missouri Gulch, follow the designated Continental Divide Trail route from Hope Pass to where it meets up with The Colorado Trail again at the Fooses Creek trail near Monarch Pass. This route is higher than the Colorado Trail (and sometimes more exposed) and can provide another high country alternate for those who wish to take it. The Latitude 40 series and the Guthhook app /Bear Creek Survey Maps also have this route, including the 2014 re-routes, in detail. The Trails Illustrated NatGeo Maps have this route, too.
Collegiate Loop
Speaking of the Collegiate West loop, this newer alt route combined with the traditional CT will make a wonderful ~165 mile CT/CDT loop with beautiful scenery and easy logistics. A map book of this loop is also available. A good overview with planning info from David Collins of Clever Hiker is available, too. NatGeo Trails Illustrated has a map set avail as of Summer 2017. In the Fall of 2017, I hiked the Collegiate Loop. I put together a Colorado Trail Collegiate Loop guide based on that trip that is adjunct to information found on this page.
Beer Thirty Hike: Not an alternate per se, but an easy way to do a 14 mile/3500′ gain slack pack between Breck and Copper using the Summit County Bus transit system. Info here. Reverse the route if Durango bound. If you are not a purist, you can even veer off the CT and hike directly into Frisco via the Peaks Trail right to the Frisco Backcountry Brewery! 😉
Note that the Mountain Maps-Sawatch Range will also work for the alt. routes between Hope Pass and Monarch Pass. It does NOT have the 2014 Collegiate West re-route however.
Colorado 14ers: The 14ers are the high peaks in Colorado. There are fifty-eight of these 14000+ foot mountains in Colorado, many of these along the CT itself. Many CTers can’t resist climbing these immense peaks. Three of the more popular ones (due to accessibility and able to make a loop with the peak and CT) are:
Mt Elbert – Highest peak in Colorado. Near Leadville and Twin Lakes. Many choose to go off the CT, summit and come down another trail. Mt Massive – Second highest peak, just down the trail from Elbert. San Luis Peak – You climb to San Luis Pass at 12500 on the CT. Just a little over 1500 (and 1.5 miles) is the top of San Luis Peak. One of the least climbed 14ers. Very accessible from the CT, can make a loop as well
Please Note: There are other 14ers near the CT as well. The above are just three of the most popular. Jamie Compos has a nice list of 14ers near The Colorado Trail and corresponding Trails Illustrated maps to hike them. Scroll down the page until you see the appropriate section. Consult your guidebook and maps if you want to know more about the 14ers that can be done from the CT. Climbing the 14ers is a very popular activity in Colorado. Especially on weekends, you will see many people on a summit. Climbing 14ers means you are above tree line more. You will be more exposed and at higher altitude. Be careful! As the saying goes “There are old mountaineers and there are bold mountaineers. There are very few old and bold mountaineers.” If in doubt about the weather head down and don’t climb up to the summit.
Justin Simoni also has very detailed information on accessing the 14ers from The Colorado Trail. Complete with CalTopo maps, alt routes, and where dropping your pack for a side trip may be advisable.
Getting to and from Denver
Here’s how to get to the trailhead via public transport: –
Another possible option?
Jerry Harp on Facebook reports that “FWIW: The Holiday Inn Express and Suites in Littleton will allow you to leave your vehicle for the duration of your hike for the price of a one night stay. There is a shuttle that will take you to the trailhead. 720-981-1000.”
(see SECTION HIKING TRANSPORTATION for more info on RTD)
The CTF also has a volunteer shuttle driver list. Contract ctf@ColoradoTrail.org. The CTF has confirmed they do keep a shuttle list. Primarily people who wish to help but do not want their information posted publically online.
Leaving A Car at Waterton Canyon
I’ve been asked about leaving a car at Waterton Canyon. Waterton Canyon is a very busy trailhead with a lot of parking space. The trailhead is also on a busy road. It should be safe. But nothing is 100%!
Thanks to Justin “Chewy” Edge for forwarding this info from The Colorado Trail Foundation originally. The updated page is here.
Yes, it’s fine to leave your car in the parking lot….
Michelle at Waterton Canyon would like people to call 303-979-4129 and give them the make of the car, license plate, etc. so that they know the car has not been abandoned. They can leave cars there while thru-hiking the CT. Common sense would advise against leaving any valuables in your car for an extended period of time. The Waterboard is not responsible for your vehicle.
Other Denver area parking options
Another option is the Sedalia RV storage listed earlier: Sedalia RV Storage (303) 688-3842. $38/mo as of 2015. Jerry Harp on Facebook reports that “FWIW: The Holiday Inn Express and Suites in Littleton will allow you to leave your vehicle for the duration of your hike for the price of a one night stay. There is a shuttle that will take you to the trailhead. 720-981-1000.”
Another option is to fly into Albuquerque and get to and from Durango via other means. Greyhound reported having started service from ABQ to Durango again as well.
Once into Durango, it is a ~4-mile walk from the downtown area to the Durango terminus of The Colorado Trail (Kennebec Trailhead) at Junction Creek Road. An easy walk or hitch (or at least partial hitch) to the trail head. If you start The Colorado Trail later in the day, there is also a campground about two miles from the the Durango Terminus of The Colorado Trail.
Naturally, this is a good place to crash if you end The Colorado Trail later in the day and don’t wish to push on into Durango that night.
Directions to the Junction Creek Trailhead from Durango.com:
From Durango, head north on Main Avenue, and turn left onto 25th Street, Junction Creek Road. Travel on Junction Creek Road for about 3 miles to where it enters the San Juan National Forest. A parking area is located on the left, near the trailhead.
Section Hiking and shuttle transportation info for The Colorado Trail
A quick word about hiking The Colorado Trail in segments: Not everyone can spend 4-6 weeks hiking The Colorado Trail in one long hike. Section (segment) hiking is a great way to see the trail and being able to do the trail a weekend, week or more at a time. Whether thru-hiking the trail or section hiking the trail, hiking The Colorado Trail is a great accomplishment. If you hiked the trail in segments, be sure to let The Colorado Trail foundation know you complete The Colorado Trail!
The following are ways you can section hike The Colorado Trail:
Finally, if you are section hiking, The Colorado Trail Guidebook is very useful for trailhead info and directions.
Hiking The Colorado Trail with a Dog
Though written for the Pacific Crest Trail, this document from the PCTA is very useful and should be read for the general information. Dogs are allowed on the majority on The Colorado Trail. Be sure to follow leash laws and be respectful of your fellow hikers and wildlife. For The Colorado Trail specifically, the only place where dogs are not allowed is the stretch of trail in Waterton Canyon.
For the dog owner, there is an alt route that is described in an edition of The Colorado Trail Guidebook:
Take the Indian Creek Equestrian Trail located on Hwy 67 approx 10 miles from the small town of Sedalia. Follow this trail approx 6 miles to connect to The Colorado Trail at mile mark 8.8 at Bear Creek.
Directions to this alt route are as follows from
To reach this area, take U.S. Highway 85 south to Sedalia then take Highway 67 to the junction with Rampart Range Road. To access all the following sites turn left on to Rampart Range Road, this is a dirt road that is heavily traveled; please abide by posted speed limits.
Map provided of this area by The Colorado Trail Foundation:
Naturally, getting to and from this area will require more than the standard logistics. You may have to find a willing friend in the area or contact a shuttle service. Still, for a person hoping to hike with a dog on the CT, it provides a good option.
Finally, a very strong suggestion is to spend a three-day weekend hiking ~15 MPD. If your dog (and YOU!) still enjoy backpacking after a typical pace on The Colorado Trail, good chance your dog will enjoy backpacking. Hiking five miles to a camp and then relaxing all weekend is a much different pace than a long hike on The Colorado Trail.
Other Resources for The Colorado Trail
Here are some other resources about The Colorado Trail:
Once you have completed The Colorado Trail, be sure to fill out The Colorado Trail Completers form. The CTF will mail you a rather nice looking certificate to add to your mementos from your CT hike.
If you have additional questions or about this document or The Colorado Trail in general, then please feel free to e-mail me. New info and feedback are always welcome too! Please try to have a subject line with COLORADO TRAIL somewhere in the text. Makes it easier to filter my mail. Thanks!
Best of luck on your Colorado Trail journey!
—Paul “Mags” Magnanti
Many thanks to Almanac, Bearpaw, Patrick “Gumby” Basso, Jamie Compos, Matt Cecere, Rick “Rickles McPickles” Armstrong, Randy Brown, Book Burner, Chewy, Cookerhiker, Dirty Bird, dirtmonger, Dogwood, Frank Dumville, Mike Felix, Karl Gottshalk, Ed Hyatt, Jest Bill, Les Glassner, Keith “Wolf” Kimball, Peter Lane, Little Bear, Lucky Man, Mr. Clippy, Paccer, Profile, Matt Roane, Henry Shires, Shutterbug, Skeemer,,Skittles, Bill Webster and Yogi who all added some input to this doc.
Special thanks to Rain Maker; whose original doc provided part of the inspiration for mine! You can all thank my friend Keith McGuinnes who did The Colorado Trail in 2005. He picked my brain for an hour or so at a coffee shop in Boulder just before he did the CT. Out of that conversation, this doc was written.
Finally, a very big thanks to the many volunteers at The Colorado Trail Foundation who make this fine trail possible!
Colorado Trail “End to End” Guide – first version June 2005
Revised:
December 2005, May 2006, February 2007, July 2007, August 2007,
November 2007, July 2007, August 2007, November 2007, April 2008,
July 2008, August 2008, October 2008, January 2009, July 2009, August 2009
September 2009, Feb 2010, Sept 2010, April 2011, May 2011, July 2011, August 2011, October 2011, January 2012, March 2012, October 2012, March 2013, July 2013, Sept 2013, April 2014, July 2014, Nov 2014, Feb 2015, May 2015, July 2015, November 2015, January 2016, May 2016, June 2016, August 2016, Feb 2017, April 2017, June 2017, Sept 2017, March 2018, April 2018, May 2018, July 2018The TV reporter who conducted Thursday's bizarre interview with Ed Miliband, in which the Labour leader responded to every question with the same statement about his position on public sector strikes, has said he felt ashamed at the "professional discourtesy" in being used as a "recording device for a scripted soundbite".
Damon Green, the ITV News correspondent who was interviewing Miliband for a pooled story that also went to the BBC and Sky News, has vented his anger at the Labour leader and his entourage in a 1,300 word piece posted on Twitter.
Green said that the resulting interview was "so absurd" that it is only "perfectly proper" that the full un-edited version of it "has found its way onto YouTube … to be laughed at along with all the clips of cats falling off sofas".
In the two-minute 30-second version of the interview seen by the Guardian, Green tries six times to get Miliband to expand on his position about why he believes the strike action is wrong.
In each case he receives the same reply, that the strikes are wrong when negotiations are underway, the government has acted in a "reckless and provocative manner" and both sides need to "set aside the rhetoric" and "get around the negotiating table to stop this happening again".
Green vented his anger at the Labour leader and his "handlers", putting on a "convincing charade" of pretending to care about his line of questioning when they had a pre-planned PR line that they refused to go beyond.
"If news reporters and cameras are only there to be used by politicians as recording devices for their scripted soundbites, at best that is a professional discourtesy," he said. "At worst, if we are not allowed to explore and examine a politician's views, then politicians cease to be accountable in the most obvious way."
He also criticised the approach of the three PR "handlers" Miliband sent in first who he claimed attempted to control the entire interview, down to trying to tell the cameraman about "framing and depth of field" and demanding that the Labour leader be put in front of a bookcase "with his family photos over his left shoulder".
Despite knowing Miliband had been pre-briefed to give just one response, Green said his PRs also tried to control the line of questioning, a tactic he referred to as a "convincing charade".
"His PR must have known that was what he was going to do," he said. "And yet he still went through a convincing charade of pressing me on my line of interrogation, urging me to keep my questions brief and even – this was a macabre touch – placing a voice recorder on the table beside me as a kind of warning not to try and misquote his boss."
Green said that as he came to the last question of what was clearly a disastrous interview, he felt an "urge" to ask a flippant question just to get a rise out of Miliband, like "What is the world's fastest fish?", "Can your dog do tricks?" or "Which is your favourite dinosaur?". But he did not.
Instead at the end Green said he felt so ashamed that he could not look Miliband in the eye.Had Osama Bin Laden lived to see the present state of the Middle East he would have been rather pleased. The realisation of his ultimate ambition is gripping the Levant with the announcement of a caliphate straddling parts of Syria and Iraq. Controlling a piece of land roughly the size of Jordan and bigger than either Israel or Lebanon, Islamic State’s leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi is demanding international attention unlike any of his predecessors.
Islamic State is perhaps the most aggressive invading force in the Levant since the Mongols. Moreover, it is being given a free hand to recast the contours of power in what remains one of the world’s most sensitive (and volatile) geostrategic locations. This is no accident. The implosion of both Syria and Iraq, coupled with western reluctance to intervene in what is seen as yet another Arabian calamity, has fuelled the sudden rise of Baghdadi’s millenarian militia.
This is precisely what Bin Laden always envisioned. His main thesis on the failure of the Islamist project was that western interference in the Middle East prevented the rise of Islamic governments. Weaken the west’s sphere of influence, he argued, and a caliphate would emerge.
Events helped crystallise this view. Shortly after the Afghan mujahedin’s unlikely victory over the Soviet Union in the late 1980s, Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait and King Fahd turned to the United States to defend Saudi Arabia against his Ba’athist neighbour. Bin Laden was left embittered by the experience after the House of Saud scuppered his hopes of using the mujahedin to repel Saddam from Kuwait.
The humiliation for returning jihadists did not end there. Many from North Africa and the Gulf found themselves imprisoned and persecuted on their return. It was soon clear that going home was not an option and many of the Afghan alumni subsequently began to congregate in Sudan under the patronage of the chairman of the ruling party, Hassan al-Turabi, who had formed a Sunni Islamist movement at the time.
For the Arab fighters it was a comedown from their intoxicating victories in the mountains of the Hindu Kush against one of the great superpowers.
In Sudan, these fighters largely continued pursuing Islamo-nationalist aims. The Egyptians focused on Egypt, the Algerians on Algeria, and the Libyans on Libya. However, Saudi Arabia captured everyone’s attention. The arrival of US troops in the Arabian Peninsula – home to Islam’s most holy sites and regarded as sacred soil by Islamists – assaulted the imagination. This is when the gear shift occurred, redirecting the focus of jihadist anger from the metropolis to the periphery.
In an interview with the London-based Arabic-language newspaper al-Quds al-Arabi in 1996, Bin Laden explained: “... we believe that the US government committed the biggest mistake when it entered a peninsula which no non-Muslim nation has ever entered for 14 centuries... [America’s] entry was arbitrary and a reckless action. They have entered into a confrontation with a nation whose population is one billion Muslims.”
Having settled in Sudan, Bin Laden campaigned for Islamic revival in Saudi Arabia by establishing the Committee for Advice and Reform. This organisation had registered offices in Holborn, London, and was led by another veteran of the Afghan campaign, Khaled al-Fawwaz, who acted as Bin Laden’s representative in London.
Between 1994 and 1995 Bin Laden used his London address to send a total of 14 letters to the Saudi government. All of these urged the Saudi state to end co-operation with the United States. What he wanted instead was a more isolationist and self-assured form of Islam – a purer interpretation of sharia law, an end to western economic influence and a more Muslim-centred foreign policy.
Another letter by Bin Laden to King Fahd explained: “It is not reasonable to keep silent about the transformation of our nation into an American protectorate which is defiled by the soldiers of the Cross with their impure feet in order to protect your crumbling throne and preserve oilfields in the kingdom.” He continued:
Is it not right for the [Islamic] nation to wonder about who is behind instability and turbulence in the country? Is it the system that delivered the country into a state of chronic military debilitation in order to justify bringing the Jewish and Christian forces to defile the holy lands? Or is it the people who call for the preparation of the nation, arming it to be strong enough to take matters into its hands, protecting its honour and religion, defending its holy sites, its land and dignity?
Fawwaz sent all of these letters on Bin Laden’s behalf until he was indicted by the US for his alleged involvement in the 1998 bombings of the US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania. Bin Laden himself was implicated in the attacks.
Although a rationale of revenge was the primary argument Bin Laden put forward to justify the 11 September 2001 attacks, he also argued that confronting the US directly would undermine and weaken Arab regimes back home. Indeed, this is how al-Qaeda has sought to credit itself with the Arab-world uprisings of 2011, otherwise referred to as the “Arab spring”.
“The abandonment of America’s allies one by one is the fallout of its diminishing pride and arrogance after receiving the blows in New York, Washington and Pennsylvania,” argued Ayman al-Zawahiri, Bin Laden’s second-in-command, shortly after the fall of Hosni Mubarak in Egypt in February 2011. The 9/11 attacks had “directly caused America to lose influence over the [Arab] people because its grasp over the [Arab] regimes was weakened”.
Fantastical though such a view may be, it explains al-Qaeda’s grand strategy for effecting change.
****
Nowhere was the policy of direct confrontation with the US more apparent than in Iraq. Led by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, al-Qaeda in Iraq launched a deliberately brutalising campaign aimed at shocking the west. From Iraq, Zarqawi sought to traumatise western societies into ever more reticence about intervention. His campaign struck directly at those who had supported “Operation Iraqi Freedom”, claiming 4,486 American lives in the process and a further 318 from allied forces. The civilian death toll was immeasurably higher.
Traumatising as these casualties were, it is the broader cultural ramifications of the conflict that have left an indelible scar on both our society and politicians. Large sections of the Arab world – not just those already consumed with a deep suspicion of the west – erupted in a fit of anti-Americanism after the Iraq war. Every death of a western solider was cheered, every suicide bombing applauded; a Nelsonian eye was turned to the excesses of al-Qaeda in Iraq.
This perversion enveloped the entire region, from the trendy guests at Lebanese beach parties to the chattering classes of Dubai’s bevelled hotel lobbies. It is this cultural disengagement by ordinary Arabs, otherwise wholly unaligned to jihadist groups, that has proved so shocking.
While the west recorded uneven results in Iraq, the campaign was broadly a success for the global jihad movement. Zarqawi not only achieved a small foothold for his fighters in Iraq but also successfully redefined the balance of power within al-Qaeda. By 2005, his brutal campaign across Iraq had begun to alienate much of the regional support al-Qaeda previously enjoyed. This worried the central leadership. Ayman al-Zawahiri wrote to Zarqawi, chastising him for two things in particular: executing hostages and pursuing a bloody, sectarian conflict with the Shias. “Many of your Muslim admirers among the common folk are wondering about your attacks,” he wrote. “Don’t lose sight of the target.”
The overtures had no impact. Zarqawi rebuked Zawahiri by insisting that he was on the ground and therefore best placed to decide what strategy the group should pursue. This prompted a lasting shift in the internal dynamics of the jihad movement – proximity now confers legitimacy. Those on the periphery could never be better placed than Zarqawi to dictate the prevailing strategy.
That precedent directly fuelled the rise of Islamic State today. Since Zarqawi’s death in 2006, al-Qaeda in Iraq has drifted into greater autonomy, renaming itself as the Islamic State of Iraq (ISI) that year. Although still nominally tied to al-Qaeda, the ISI was a largely independent group.
Relations finally unravelled with the onset of the Syrian civil war. Syrian fighters from ISI led by Abu Muhammad al-Jawlani moved back into the country and established Jabhat al-Nusrah. They were supposed to serve as al-Qaeda’s official representatives on the ground, though ISI could not resist direct involvement. Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi eventually ordered his own men into Syria, rebranding his group the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (Isis) and ordering Jabhat al-Nusrah to disband.
Zawahiri was furious. He insisted that Baghdadi limit his ambitions to Iraq and leave the Syrian campaign to Jawlani. It was not only the Qaeda leader who suggested this. Notable jihadist ideologues from around the world echoed these sentiments, including Abu Qatada, the radical Muslim preacher who was deported from London back to Jordan last year.
The disagreement opened up a chasm in the global jihad movement. Both al-Qaeda and theoreticians associated with the group had urged Baghdadi to fall into line, only to be rebuffed. Invoking the primacy of proximity, as Zarqawi had done, spokesmen for Isis strongly rejected suggestions that the group was acting ultra vires. “The wars in Syria and Iraq are the same,” explained Abu Muhammed al-Adnani, a leading spokesman for Isis. In both cases, the group insists, it is protecting Sunni Islam against Shia forces.
What is significant is how Isis has sought to justify itself to the broader community of jihadi supporters. It is al-Qaeda and its ideologues – not Isis – that has betrayed the true spirit of what Osama Bin Laden always envisioned. And Isis is the rightful heir to his legacy, exploiting the power vacuum in the Levant to create an Islamic state.
The Isis leaders’ frustration is understandable. They regard the current US inaction in the region as stemming directly from the Americans’ confrontation with them during the Iraq war from 2003. The spectre of that engagement continues to cast a long and enveloping shadow over western societies. It is precisely what Bin Laden had predicted would happen, which makes Zawahiri’s reluctance to capitalise on it all the more inexplicable.
Withdrawing to Iraq would signal an acknowledgement of the boundaries set in the 1916 Sykes-Picot Agreement, a false aberration imposed on Muslims by “crusaders”. Moreover, Adnani accuses Zawahiri of prioritising politics over jihad. Only this could explain why al-Qaeda did not exploit the uprisings in Tunisia, Egypt and Libya. The corollary is clear: al-Qaeda has lost its way under Zawahiri.
In many senses, Islamic State has now surpassed al-Qaeda altogether. Whereas al-Qaeda is a terrorist organisation committed to confronting the west violently, Islamic State has grander ambitions. Once a terrorist group, it morphed into a sophisticated insurgency, and now operates its own state |
more authority, they’re cutting those budgets by over 30 percent,” Becker said. “That’s terribly disingenuous, and I haven’t talked to a state that hasn’t been terribly upset by this.”
The nonpartisan Environmental Council of States, which represents state and territorial environmental agency leaders, said the proposed EPA cuts for program grants implemented by the states would have “profound impacts” on their ability to operate core environmental programs.
Council President John Linc Stine said states on average provide more than half – in many cases, three-quarters – of the money used to run environmental programs delegated to the states by the EPA under the Clean Water, Safe Drinking Water, Clean Air and Resource Conservation and Recovery acts.
“States continue to fill the gap created by declining federal funds through increased fees on the regulated community and from other funding sources,” Stine, also commissioner of the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, wrote to newly confirmed EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt.
The department is analyzing the proposed draft cuts to determine what those could mean for Michigan, DEQ spokeswoman Melody Kindraka said Friday.
A spokeswoman for the Environmental Protection Agency said the agency would not comment at this point in the process.
Pruitt on Thursday told a gathering of mayors in Washington that the budget conversation with Congress is “just starting.”
“There are some concerns about some of these grant programs that EPA has been a part of historically,” Pruitt said.
“I want you to know that with the White House and also with Congress, I am communicating a message that the Brownfields program, the Superfund program, water infrastructure (WIFIA) grants, state revolving funds, are essential to protect. It’s very important that we do that.”
joosting@detroitnews.com
Read or Share this story: http://detne.ws/2lnGctXFSU Football
Garnet and Gold
Osceola and Renegade
Seminoles - A Heroic Symbol (Not a mascot)
The War Chant
FSU Fight Song
You've got to fight fight fight for FSU,
You've got to scalp 'em Seminoles.
You've got to win win win win the game,
and roll on down and make those goals.
For FSU is on the warpath now,
and at the battles end she's great.
For it's fight fight fight for victory,
the Seminoles of Florida State.
F-L-O-R-I-D-A-S-T-A-T-E
Florida State! Florida State! Florida State!
WHOOOOOOO!
http://www.tallahasseeseminoleclub.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/FSUFightSong.mp3
The 1950 Homecoming half-time show included a dedication ceremony naming the stadium in honor of university President Doak Campbell. There was also a special performance by the band, christening it the Marching Chiefs and premiering the "FSU Fight Song."
Student Doug Alley wrote the lyrics to the fight song and Thomas Wright, Professor of Music, composed the score. Mr. Wright owns the rights to the song and allows FSU to use the Fight Song every year in exchange for 2 season tickets.
FSU Alma Mater "High Over Towering Pines"
High over towering pines our voices swell,
Praising those Gothic spires,
we love so well.
Here sons and daughters stand,
faithful and true,
Hailing our alma mater,
F.S.U.
FSU football dates back to the early 1900's. Most people think that FSU football started in 1947 when the University went back to being co-ed. Purists, like myself, NOLE the REAL truth! FSU (aka. Seminary West Of the Suwannee) first fielded a football team in 1900. By 1904, FSU had won our first State Title. All that was prior to the racist Buchman Act passing in 1905 which made FSU an all white female school, UF an all white male school, and FAMU an all black school for the next 40 years. Prior to that,. History lesson completed.Florida State's school colors of garnet and gold are a merging of the University's past. In 1904 and 1905 the Florida State College won football championships wearing purple and gold uniforms. When FSC became Florida State College for Women in 1905, the football team was forced to attend an all-male school in Gainesville. the following year, the FSCW student body selected crimson as the official school color. the administration in 1905 took crimson and combined it with the recognizable purple of the championship football teams to achieve the color garnet. the now-famous garnet and gold colors were first used on an FSU uniform in a 14-6 loss to Stetson on October 18, 1947.Perhaps the most spectacular tradition in all of college football occurs in Doak Campbell Stadium when a student portraying the famous Seminole Indian leader, Osceola, charges down the field riding an Appaloosa horse named Renegade and plants a flaming spear at midfield to begin every home game. Bill Durham, a 1965 graduate of FSU, envisioned the idea of Osceola and Renegade when he was a sophomore on the Homecoming Committee in 1962. He didn't get any support for the idea until Bobby Bowden came to FSU as head coach. In the fall of 1977, Durham's idea began to materialize. Durham sought and obtained the approval of the Seminole Tribe of Florida for the portrayal of Osceola and during the opening game of 1978 against Oklahoma State, the legend of Osceola and Renegade began. Since that time Osceola, in authentic regalia designed by the ladies of the Seminole Tribe of Florida, and Renegade have opened every home game with the traditional planting of the spear, appeared in many major bowl games, and performed on national television on numerous occasions. Bill Durham and his family supply the beautiful Appaloosa horses and, with the help of the Renegade Team volunteers, continue to bring this spectacular tradition to those who love Florida State University.Florida State would play two football games in 1947 before students demanded the school acquire a symbol. While details conflict, most believe the account of a student body poll is accurate. the Florida Flambeau reported that "Seminoles" had won by 110 votes over "Statesmen." the rest of the top contenders in order were "Rebels," "Tarpons," "Fighting Warriors" and "Crackers." In the 1950's, a pair of students dressed in "Indian" costume and joined the cheerleaders on the field which eventually evolved into the majestic symbol of Osceola and Renegade that FSU enjoys today. the history of the Seminole Indians in Florida is the story of a noble, brave, courageous, strong and determined people who, against great odds, struggled successfully to preserve their heritage and live their lives according to their traditions and preferences. From its earliest days as a university, Florida State has proudly identified its athletic teams with these heroic people because they represent the traits we want our athletes to have. Over the years, we have worked closely with the Seminole Tribe of Florida to ensure the dignity and propriety of the various Seminole symbols we use. Osceola, astride his appaloosa when he plants a flaming spear on the 50-yard line, ignites a furious enthusiasm and loyalty in thousands of football fans, but also salutes a people who have proven that perseverance with integrity prevails. In the early 1980s, when our band, the Marching Chiefs, began the now-famous arm motion while singing the "war chant," who knew that a few years later the gesture would be picked up by other team's fans and named the "tomahawk chop?" It's a term we did not choose and officially do not use. Our university's goal is to be a model community that treats all cultures with dignity while celebrating diversity. I have appointed a task force to review our use of Seminole Indian symbols and traditions. This study group will identify what might be offensive and determine what needs to be done. Our good relationship with the Seminole Tribe of Florida is one we have cultivated carefully and one we hope to maintain, to the benefit of both the Seminoles of our state and university. Seminole Tribe of Florida Chairman James E. Billie expressed this point in these words: "We are proud to be Seminoles, and we are proud of the Florida State University Seminoles. We are all winners."Florida State's "war chant" might have begun with a random occurrence that took place during a 1984 contest with the Auburn Tigers, but most Seminole historians might remember it to be a tradition that holds over thirty years in it's evolution. with the popular Seminole cheer of the 1960's, "massacre," led by members of the Marching Chiefs chanting its melody, so was the first stage of the current popular Seminole cry. In a sense, "massacre," was the long version of FSU's current "war chant". During a very exciting game with Auburn in 1984, the Marching Chiefs began to perform the cheer. Some students behind the band joined in and continued the "war chant" portion after the band had ceased. the result, which was not very melodic at the time, sounded more like chants by American Indians in Western movies. Most say it came from the fraternity section, but many spirited Seminole fans added the "chopping" motion, a repetitious bend at the elbow, to symbolize a tomahawk swinging down. the chant continued largely among the student body during the 1985 season, and by the 1986 season was a stadiumwide activity. Of course, the Marching Chiefs refined the chant, plus put its own special brand of accompaniment to the "war chant", and the result exists today. By the time the Atlanta Braves started with it, the chant and the arm motion generally were associated with Florida State's rising football program. the Kansas City Chiefs first heard it when the Northwest Missouri State band, directed by 1969 FSU graduate Al Sergel, performed the chant while the players were warming up for a game against San Diego. Such a powerful cheer, FSU's "war chant" can be linked to Atlanta's and Kansas City's resurgence in their own respective leagues.Louisville surgeons last week separated 7-week-old conjoined twins at Kosair Children’s Hospital.The baby girls have been in the hospital’s Critical Care Center since the operation and are still on ventilators, but are getting stronger, the hospital said in a release.The twins were defined as thoraco-omphalopagus. Their bodies were joined at the chest and abdominal cavity. Their livers were joined, and they shared some of the same heart structures.More than 45 people were involved in planning and performing the surgery, which went smoothly and took about eight hours. To prepare, surgeons practiced using dolls.“In any situation where you have so complex a surgery, there is always a long road to recovery,” said Dr. Erle H. Austin III, chief of cardiovascular surgery at Kosair Children’s Hospital and a surgeon with University of Louisville Physicians. “We are cautiously optimistic, as one or both may require additional surgeries in the future.”The babies were born at Norton Hospital and had been in the Kosair Children’s Hospital Level IV neonatal intensive care unit since birth.“God was definitely watching over the girls and the medical team on the day of the surgery,” the babies’ mother said.According to the release, the surgical team waited as long as possible to perform the separation, but the babies began to need increased breathing support and were not growing as they should. Separation was a risky procedure for both, but one of the girls was more fragile than the other and survival was in question.Their long-term prognosis isn’t yet known.
Louisville surgeons last week separated 7-week-old conjoined twins at Kosair Children’s Hospital.
The baby girls have been in the hospital’s Critical Care Center since the operation and are still on ventilators, but are getting stronger, the hospital said in a release.
Advertisement Related Content Images: Conjoined twins separated at Kosair Children's Hospital
The twins were defined as thoraco-omphalopagus. Their bodies were joined at the chest and abdominal cavity. Their livers were joined, and they shared some of the same heart structures.
More than 45 people were involved in planning and performing the surgery, which went smoothly and took about eight hours. To prepare, surgeons practiced using dolls.
Kosair Children's Hospital
“In any situation where you have so complex a surgery, there is always a long road to recovery,” said Dr. Erle H. Austin III, chief of cardiovascular surgery at Kosair Children’s Hospital and a surgeon with University of Louisville Physicians. “We are cautiously optimistic, as one or both may require additional surgeries in the future.”
The babies were born at Norton Hospital and had been in the Kosair Children’s Hospital Level IV neonatal intensive care unit since birth.
Kosair Children's Hospital
“God was definitely watching over the girls and the medical team on the day of the surgery,” the babies’ mother said.
According to the release, the surgical team waited as long as possible to perform the separation, but the babies began to need increased breathing support and were not growing as they should. Separation was a risky procedure for both, but one of the girls was more fragile than the other and survival was in question.
Their long-term prognosis isn’t yet known.
Kosair Children's Hospital
AlertMeThe new head of the National Security Agency said Tuesday that the agency's newly revealed facial recognition program is legal.
“We do not do this in some unilateral basis against US citizens,” Admiral Michael S. Rogers said at the Bloomberg Government cybersecurity conference in Washington, DC. “We have very specific restrictions when it comes to US persons.”
Rogers reportedly did not cite what those restrictions are. He also noted that the NSA doesn’t access motor vehicle or passport databases to check against images of US citizens.
“In broad terms, we have to stop what we’re doing if we come to the realization that somebody we’re monitoring or tracking has a US connection that we were unaware of,” Rogers said. “We have to assess the situation, and if we think there is a legal basis for this, and we have to get the legal authority or justification.”
Rogers also said that he does not believe that former NSA contractor and whistleblower Edward Snowden acted alone, but he believes that Snowden was not being manipulated by Russia or another foreign power. "Could he have [been]? Possibly. Do I believe that that's the case? Probably not," he said.
Outgoing congressman Rep. Mike Rogers (R-MI) has said that he believes Snowden had help from Russian authorities before ending up with temporary asylum in Russia.Review: 'Nymphomaniac' Is Lars von Trier's Epic Attempt at a Sex-With-Brains Magnum Opus
Lars von Trier’s latest film, “Nymphomaniac,” which unfolds in two-parts across four hours in its current edit, is nothing less than the director’s bid to make his magnum opus.
While 90 minutes shorter than the version von Trier himself has made (rather than the “abridged and censored” version that hits Danish theaters Christmas Day ahead of its 2014 U.S. release), as it stands, “Nymphomaniac” is indeed a major work that tries and, to a large extent, succeeds to organically synthesize the world, ideas and filmmaking savvy of von Trier in one sprawling and ambitious cinematic fable. Somewhat shockingly given the subject matter, the most stimulating material in “Nymphomaniac” isn’t the explicit sex but how sexuality is discussed and understood.
This being a von Trier film, there’s a good deal of humor, too. The director’s script includes plenty of inventive sexual inquiry, including a monologue that compares the hunt for sex to fly-fishing and a lengthy discussion of how sexual pain compares to the divide between the Western and the Eastern Church.
The nymphomaniac of the title is Joe (Charlotte Gainsbourg), whose life is chronicled for about four decades or so and who narrates her life story to Seligman (Stellan Skarsgard), an asexual intellectual who’s all mind where Joe, the nymphomaniac, is all body. Seligman, a secular Jew, has literally picked her off the pavement, where he found her bloodied and almost unconscious. He’s worried about her and wants to call an ambulance, though she insists that’s not necessary and that she’s a “bad human being” and it’s all her fault. Seligman finds this hard to believe. The story of how she got there encompasses almost her entire life, seen in long flashbacks.
The film is divided into eight chapters. Except for the framing device, Joe’s life is mostly told chronologically, from the first time she can remember experiencing erotic pleasure at age seven (with Joe played by Maja Arsovic) on the bathroom floor with her best friend, B (Sofie Kasten), to the tingling sensation she received from a rope between her legs during a primary school gym class. The latter incident is illustrated with a simple yet very effective shot of a the end of a thick rope slightly moving above the floor, suggesting Joe’s somewhere off-screen — further up.
It’s that kind of effective restraint that eases the viewer into Joe’s increasingly more adult world. By the age of 15 (played by impressive newcomer Stacy Martin), she’s a vampish Lolita in a cardigan, plaid skirt and ruby slippers who orders a biker kid with strong hands named Jerôme (Shia LaBeouf) to take her virginity — which he does, in a couple of pointedly calculated thrusts (eight, to be exact, mirroring the number of chapters that make up the movie’s story).
Flashbacks to her life with her nagging mother (Connie Nielsen) and more sensitive father (Christian Slater), who’s got a thing for trees (hello Freud!), establish that Joe’s more tuned into her senses than most people. In short, she’s the perfect foil for Seligman, who’s all knowledge and no experience — and thus represents the polar opposite of Joe, who’s got no clue about books and famous writers (except in one egregious scene) but excels as an expert at men, copulation and more generally living through her body.
READ MORE: Selling Lars Von Trier’s ‘Nymphomaniac’
The latter ability is mainly thanks to the teenage B (Sophie Kennedy Clark), who leads a club of young girls who make a deal to have sex with each man only once, as a form of rebellion against love. “Love is the secret ingredient of sex,” suggests one of the girls who dares to rebel against the rebels. For Joe, however, “Love is sex with jealousy added,” a philosophy that’ll make a nymphomaniac of her as she doesn’t want to hang on to any man, ever.
Interestingly, at least in this version, most of the sex is relatively tame, with barely any penetration on screen. Even so, “Nymphomaniac” certainly contains more penises, in various states of arousal, than any recent narrative film outside of pornography (actual sex scenes were performed by porn doubles whose heads were then seamlessly replaced in post-production by the heads of the actors).
Of course, the love/sex dichotomy is fertile territory for any film. Soon enough, Jerôme is back in the picture and Joe must to deal with the possibility that she might want to be with him again. It’s almost shocking to discover Jerôme might be the love of Joe’s life — especially because this means sitting through a lot more of LaBeouf’s toe-curling acting, which is so noticeably different from the generally laid-back Euro arthouse vibe of most of the ensemble that it stands out like a sore thumb. Jerôme’s described as the “image of careless elegance,” but instead of careless yet elegant the performance feels awkward and stunted underneath a veneer of Hollywood-style grandstanding. (The film’s entire fourth chapter, dedicated to the hospitalization of Joe’s father, played by Slater, suffers from similar problems.)
What resonates most about “Nymphomaniac” are the (thankfully numerous) scenes between Joe and Seligman. Without their back-and-forth discussions about Joe’s life, the film might indeed amount to little else than a long list of sexual exploits. Instead, they place Joe’s behavior in larger socio-political, historical and emotional contexts, with Seligman drawing on a life of reading and encyclopedic knowledge that no doubt stems from von Trier’s own wide-ranging interests, even though a battery of researchers are listed in the credits.
The film’s most delirious example of how the body and the intellect work together, and how this can be translated into film language, lies in the fifth chapter, titled “The Little Organ School.” Immediately after the death of her father, Joe is surprised to find herself wet between the legs, though Seligman explains that it is “common to react sexually to crisis.”
Their conversation then turns to her experiences with seven or eight lovers per night in the wake of her father’s death and how three of those lovers — F (Nicolas Bro), G (Christian Gade Bjerrum) and J(erôme) — stood out, each for a different reason. Yet together these trysts create a polyphony, as seen in the divine music Bach and Palestrina, combining into a harmonious sound.
Joe and Seligman’s discussions about these experiences extend beyond what she got out of her relationships and instead focus on how they correspond to certain ideas in not only classical music but also mathematical concepts such as the Fibonacci sequence. These conversations form a delightful intellectual spiel that’s quite a wonder to behold, suggesting there may be some kind of higher logic and reason at work behind what outsiders might simply describe as slutty behavior.
By using music and split-screen in this sequence, as well as archival footage of animals and material specifically shot for the film, one senses both the childlike glee of von Trier as a filmmaker in full command of all the possibilities that his film has to offer and his interest in thinking things through. At its best, the film doesn’t strain for meaning but instead treats all of its intellectualizing as a lark that can be taken seriously but doesn’t need to be.
However, perhaps it’s best to bear in mind this line of dialog, also from chapter five and uttered by Joe: “How do you think you’ll get the most out of the story — by believing or not believing in it?”
“The Little Organ School” and chapter six, “The Easter and the Western Church (The Silent Duck),” which opens the second part of what’s really one long film, best represent von Trier’s unbridled pleasure at mixing things of the body and things of the mind. This is especially the case after the introduction of K (Jamie Bell), a young but demanding master with a small battery of women (mostly homemakers, it seems), who come to be his slave for a couple of hours per week. They can sign up but they don’t know what they’re signing up for; that’s up to him, and there’s no way the women can make him stop doing what he’s decided to do.
Of course, von Trier uses the sequence to address S&M in general but on a more metaphorical level, he’s talking about being open to the unknown and its more advanced sister, perfect abandon, concepts that help people achieve great heights in both sex and in life — though not without some risk.
Joe ends up at K’s because she needs to learn to let herself go again. After having settled down with Jerome and having a baby with him called Marcel — no-doubt after Marcel Proust, whose “In Search of Lost Time” is one of the obvious literary influences aside from name-checked works such as “The Decameron” and “1001 Nights” — Joe loses the capacity to orgasm.
An interlude with two African brothers, whom she summons to have sex with her but who don’t speak English and get into a fight buck naked, as well as a restaurant scene that features von Trier regular Udo Kier as a waiter, form the comic highlights of the story. Both arrive during the sixth chapter, which is as narratively nimble as chapter five and as brimming with ideas. Together, the two chapters represent the core of the film. Everything leading up to that point is an elaborate and spunky set-up (chapters one through three) or filler (chapter four, which juxtaposes sex and death in a not very original way in clichéd black and white imagery). But chapters five and six make up for all the weaknesses or arty longueurs preceding them.
“Organ” and “Church,” so to say, are the highlights or sustained climax of the film — with chapters seven and eight, in which Joe goes to a sex-addict group and becomes a debt collector for a very shady character (Willem Dafoe), respectively, feeling like concessions to the film’s linear and symmetrical narrative structure. They reflect a pressure to wrap things up while throwing in a couple more sexual oddities — notably a passive pedophile (Jean-Marc Barr), which gives von Trier the possibility to insert this no-doubt controversial line of dialog: “Pedophiles who don’t act on their desire deserve a bloody medal.”
In some passages, it’s almost as though von Trier is directly addressing his critics: A few exchanges about Seligman’s Jewishness as well as one involving the need for politically correct terms so words such as “niggers” can be avoided never quite find an organic way into the text; instead, they call to mind his infamous “Nazi” comments at a Cannes press conference. Rather than letting his characters speak, it’s clear that von Trier is simply trying to stir the pot, something that a film containing so much interesting material doesn’t really need.
The ending also suffers from pressure to go out with too much of a bang — though thankfully, it’s not how things conclude but the rapport between Joe and Seligman that lingers as a staging of the eternal battle between mind and body.
After two earlier films with von Trier, “Antichrist” and “Melancholia,” this third collaboration represents Charlotte Gainsbourg’s most fearless and also finest hour as she carries the film with ease. To say her character isn’t easy to love would be an understatement, but Gainsbourg manages to turn Joe into more than just a mouthpiece of von Trier’s ideas. She’s a living, breathing human being who perhaps lacks the intellectual understanding to analyze what she’s doing or why she’s doing it — but whose will to live makes her forge ahead no matter what.
Criticwire Grade: B+
HOW WILL IT PLAY? Opening Christmas Day in Denmark, the film should find a welcome audience in its home country. Magnolia will release “Nymphomaniac” on VOD and theaters in March and April. Undoubtedly set to perform well in its immediate release, the film’s long-term prospects will rely on whether early word-of-mouth is strong or if audiences will feel let down in their hopes for a more graphic experience.
Sign Up: Stay on top of the latest breaking film and TV news! Sign up for our Email Newsletters here.ERNÆRINGSFYSIOLOG: Iren Vagstad Ellingsen. Foto: FOTO: Bjørn Inge Karlsen, HM Foto
Testeren: Iren Vagstad Ellingsen Iren Vagstad Ellingsen har bachelor i ernæring fra Atlantis Medisinske Høgskole 2010, og jobber som ernæringsveileder ved Heiaklinikken i Lier. Foruten ernæringstester for Klikk.no, driver hun individuell veiledning og jobber med for kost- og livsstilsendring bl.a. for for skoler, barnehager og kantinebedrifter.
Makrell i tomat er en naturlig og god kilde til det gunstige omega-3-fettet samt vitamin D. Vi har funnet den aller sunneste for deg.
Overraskende mange varianter av makrell i tomat finnes i butikken, og det er ikke ett fett hva du velger!
Best i test
To produkter får terningkast seks i denne testen, basert på næringsinnhold:
Stabbur-Makrell Filet i tomatsaus
Matmesteren Makrell i tomat
Omega-3 og vitamin D
Fordelingen av makrellfilet og tomatpuré varierer. Jo mer makrellfilet i blandingen, desto mer av det gode en- og flerumettede fettet, deriblant omega-3. Mer protein blir det også.
Vi ser at emballasjen betyr noe her. De som får terningkast seks er store bokser med 170 gram hvorav 70 prosent makrellfilet, mens makrell i tomat på tube og porsjonspakninger ligger ned mot 50 prosent makrellfilet, selv for samme merkevare. «Grovhakket», «Hakket» og «finhakket» betyr gjerne mindre prosentandel makrell, og desto mer saus.
Mange av oss trenger å spise mer omega-3 som blant annet virker betennelsesdempende, mens mye omega-6 fra blant annet kjøtt, kan ha motsatt effekt.
Fet fisk som makrell, er blant de beste kildene til vitamin D som trengs spesielt i vinterhalvåret.
Store variasjoner
Når andelen fisk reduseres ned mot halvparten av innholdet, øker ikke bare mengden tomat, men gjerne også sukker og bruk av tilsetningsstoffer.
Karbohydratene kommer fra det naturlige sukkerinnholdet i tomatene og fra tilsatt sukker som tilsettes for å balansere syren i tomatene for smakens skyld. Så lite tilsatt sukker som mulig er ønskelig.
Tomater er forresten rike på antioksidanten lykopen. Dette er et fettoppløselig karotenoid som tas bedre opp i kroppen sammen med fett. Det passer jo bra siden du her får tomater i kombinasjon med det sunne fiskefettet.
Innholdet varierer og det er store prisforskjeller. Selv om de fleste porsjonspakningene ikke har kommet best ut her, hverken i innhold eller pris, har de sine fordeler: Enkelt, greit og praktisk i for eksempel matboksen.
Du betaler en del for emballasjen, men også for å få ferdighakket og blandet makrellfilet og tomatpuré. Hva med å blande selv når du legger på brødskiva?
Det kan også bli det billigste.
Slik er testen utført
Makrell i tomat er rangert ut fra de oppgitte verdiene i nærings- og innholdsdeklarasjonen. Det er gitt flest poeng for mest protein, minst karbohydrater, høyest andel fisk, mest omega-3 og minst salt. Produktene er kjøpt i ulike matvarebutikker i juni 2014. Det er kun næringsinnholdet som er grunnlag for testen, så du må selv vurdere hva du foretrekker smaksmessig.
Les også:
Testvinneren har 93 prosent kjøtt
Den beste av disse pølsene er faktisk sunnOakland residents now have an interactive way to see whether certain apartment buildings are potentially “soft-story structures,” meaning those at greater risk of collapsing during an earthquake.
Say you live in the Lake Merritt area, where many of these potential soft-story buildings are located. If you search your address on the Oakland Soft Story Map, you can see whether your landlord has completed an evaluation, if a secondary evaluation is required, or if your building is exempt. If your address is not on the map, your landlord was not notified to complete an evaluation.
Dave Guarino, a 2013 Code for America fellowship alumnus who lives in Oakland’s East Lake neighborhood, launched the website last month through Open Oakland, an all-volunteer “civic innovation nonprofit” that combines “hackers” with city employees to create helpful websites and apps.
A soft-story structure, according to the City of Oakland Building Services Division, is a building that was built prior to 1991, has not been retrofitted, has more than five units, has two or more stories and has a parking structure on the ground level.
It is difficult to determine whether a building is a soft-story structure without a thorough evaluation by a structural engineer, which is why the word “potential” is often used when speaking about soft-story structures.
Guarino said his research of soft-story structures was inspired after he suspected his building, which he has lived in for a year and a half, is one of these structures. He came across a map and report produced by the Association of Bay Area Governments (ABAG), which used data gathered by the City of Oakland during its Soft-Story Seismic Screening program conducted from 2009 to 2011. The program notified property owners of these potentially unstable buildings and required them to complete a screening of the ground level. But the ABAG map was only a PDF, making it impossible to determine the exact address of a certain dot.
Guarino studied the map, he recalled, looking for his own address. “Oh, hey, I want to know if I’m one of those dots,” he said.
And, in fact, he was. But he did not feel compelled to move out. “If I were to move out now,” he said, “I would probably be living 20 blocks south of Lake Merritt.” Instead he looked into earthquake insurance and creating an earthquake safety kit.
Guarino began working on the Oakland Soft Story Map in February, after he received the complete set of data from ABAG as an Excel document. After the predawn Napa earthquake on August 24, Guarino’s colleague, Michal Migurski, asked Guarino about his earthquake safety project—and together they “sprinted” one weekend to finish it, Guarino said.
To transform the spreadsheet data to an interactive map was not difficult, Guarino said. The information he received from ABAG was tied to a parcel number, which can look like “22-309-13,” for example. This refers to a certain plot of land, which has an exact address. Guarino then “geocoded” the addresses, which converts them to latitude and longitude coordinates, and plotted them on the map.
He wanted to use his coding skills to give Oakland residents, who like him might want a way to know if their apartment building is a potential soft-story structure, an easy way to find out. But he doesn’t want his project to scare people. Rather, he hopes it will prompt them to consider other precautionary measures, such as insurance purchases.
Guarino said that even though the first floor of a soft-story structure is more likely to collapse during a major earthquake, the top floors are likely to remain relatively safe.
“What’s more significant is that soft-story buildings represent a huge portion of the affordable housing,” Guarino said. This is a part of the housing market, he said, that if demolished would be rebuilt at market rate, displacing many Oakland residents, especially those who are low-income.
Rick Phillips, a licensed contractor and architect who sits on the board of directors for the East Bay Rental Housing Association, agrees that the bigger post-earthquake issue, apart from human injury and death, is that of buildings becoming uninhabitable. Phillips, who lives in Oakland and manages four properties in the city, said the city’s screening program was a “good start,” but not sufficient, given that it could easily miss seismically unsound buildings.
For example, Phillips manages a 47-unit, three-story apartment building. It does not meet the city’s definition of a soft-story building, he said, and he was not notified that he must complete a screening. But his property really is a soft-story building, Phillips said, and he chose on his own to retrofit it before the screening program began in 2009.
“I couldn’t live with myself if I had the opportunity to do some seismic retrofit to protect the structure and the residents and didn’t do it and somebody were hurt, or, God forbid, killed,” Phillips said.
Though the deadline for notified property owners to complete a ground-level evaluation was July 29, 2011, there are still incomplete evaluations as of early 2013, according to Guarino’s map. Deborah Sandercock, Building Official for the City of Oakland, said the city will be re-notifying unresponsive property owners.
Sandercock, who became the Building Official and Deputy Director for the Department of Planning and Building after the screening program was conducted, said the city and ABAG have been meeting on a regular basis to restart the screening process after it stalled due to staff cuts.
“The goal now is to move to doing full structural evaluations,” said Danielle Hutchings Mieler, ABAG’s earthquake and hazards program coordinator.
A licensed engineer or architect, building inspector, home inspector or contractor must conduct a Level 1 screening, as the ground-floor evaluations are called. The screener must draw a to-scale floor print of the ground floor. They must also provide information about building materials used on walls, floors and ceilings, information about wall length and width and information about windows and doors within walls. Photos are required.
Phillips said there are many more buildings in Oakland that are not seismically safe. But soft-story buildings are the ones that are “glaringly deficient and frighteningly dangerous” to the point that politicians have taken notice, he said. Sandercock said Mayor Jean Quan wants to pass a mandatory retrofit ordinance by the end of the year.
But knowing the potential danger of these buildings does not seem to drive many Oakland residents from their homes. Guarino’s desire to hold on to his apartment and its location appears to be shared by others living in Oakland’s competitive rental market.
Christina Flores, who lives in a potential soft-story building on Lakeshore Avenue, said she searched for three months to find her apartment, “constantly refreshing Craigslist.”
“Whatever I got, I got,” Flores said. “Ideally, I wouldn’t live here.”
But she enjoys the location and price, she said. Howard Tran feels the same about his rent deal. Tran lives in a top-floor apartment of a multi-story building on Boden Way in the Lake |
journalists.
Coombs underscored Manning’s emotional instability, saying he mainly “struggled in isolation” but showed warning signs that should have prompted the unit’s leaders to take action.
He went over excerpts of Manning’s email to his sergeant discussing his gender identity issues.
Bradley Manning is escorted from the courthouse at Fort Meade, Maryland after closing arguments in his Article 32 hearing December 22, 2011. REUTERS/Yuri Gripas
“This is my problem. I’ve had signs of it for a long time. I thought a career in the military would get rid of it... It is not going away... and now the consequences of it are dire,” the email said. “At this point it feels like I’m not really a person... sorry.”
Coombs also cited memos between Manning’s supervisors discussing his increasing instability and the need for therapy. But in the end there was no effective action.
“It was the military’s lack of response to that which also smacks in the face of justice,” Coombs said.What if Cascadia was its own country with its own political system? What would our political spectrum look like?
Actually, let me back up: I believe the Cascadian bioregion has helped produce a distinguishable ethos that communities within the region exemplify (if you’re lost with this concept of environment shaping identity, catch up on one of my previous blog posts regarding the phenomenon of bioregionalism). One thing which has derived from this ethos is a system of civic and political values which is both coherent and wide-ranging.
In other words, Cascadia already has its own political spectrum. But, because Cascadia is not (yet) a country of its own, it’s hard to clearly identify what our system of political values is and how it’s differentiated from the rest of the United States and Canada.
I’m going to attempt to identify and categorize the main groups of political/civic values which a majority of people in the Cascadian region represent. Think of them as hypothetical political parties within Cascadia. As you read this blog post, try to disassociate these groups from the existing federal political parties in the United States and Canada as they won’t fit nice and tidy with what we know today.
Why am I doing this? Because I think it’s a neat thought experiment. Also because I’m a bit of nerd and this is my idea of fun. Don’t judge.
Visualizing a Single Spectrum
There are two models most often used when visually demonstrating a political spectrum: a linear model where groups neighbor each other left-to-right on a single axis and a donut model where groups neighbor each other in a 360 degree pattern according to two perpendicular axes. Both can be useful, but neither is perfect.
The problem is that any group can shift their position on any visual model depending on what criteria is being used to define its placement. For example, one group may be left-of-center on a spectrum according to one set of criteria (i.e. economy) but right-of-center according to another (i.e. international relations).
In this blog post, I’ve settled on a linear average in which I evaluate each group according to five sets of criteria and average out their position on a single axis. This axis is an amalgamation of what is generally considered politically left-to-right.
The five sets of criteria I used to identify and evaluate the major groupings in Cascadia are as follows:
Economic policy, left wing being entirely socialist and right wing being entirely capitalist.
Domestic/Social policy, left wing being entirely liberal and right wing being entirely conservative.
Environmental policy, left wing being entirely protectionist and right wing being entirely consumptive.
International policy, left wing being entirely globalist and right wing being entirely isolationist.
State policy, left wing being entirely anti-statist and right wing being entirely nationalist.
Cascadia’s Political Groupings
After identifying the common spaces on the spectrum according to each of those five criteria, I came up with seven distinct political groupings which I believe would be distinct and visible in their own right if Cascadia was politically independent. A brief overview of each is as follows:
Social Anarchists (left wing) – Social Anarchists in Cascadia are anti-nationalist, anti-capitalist supporters of non-hierarchical local governance. They believe in organizing the entire bioregion using local cooperative power structures, free from the corruption present in any national body of governance. They believe in creating a system where people are freely allowed to move about and find which community works best for them. In doing so, they encourage communal values of empathy and tolerance to thrive so that all peoples can co-exist peacefully.
Social Anarchists in Cascadia are both isolationist in that they believe participating in the existing global nation-state paradigm is futile and globalist in that they wish to set an example for the world at-large to follow. They are also committed to absolute sustainability, understanding the protection of their environment as essential and a moral duty, so that local cooperatives can be both self-reliant and interdependent.
Greens (left) – Greens are half of, what I would call, the mainstream left within Cascadia. They are committed to environmental protection and sustainability as their top priorities. However, unlike the federal Green parties in the United States and Canada today, Cascadian Greens more prominently champion a wider range of issues usually prioritized by a social democratic group. Think of it as if Elizabeth May and Bernie Sanders came together to form a single political party.
Economically, Cascadian Greens range from being anti-capitalist to democratic capitalists and eco-capitalists; they want a responsible economy which always puts the rights of people and nature first. They’re socially liberal and aim to foster a region where all people are accepting of one another regardless of their innate differences, consistently pushing the boundaries of what’s “socially acceptable” according to traditional and prohibitive means of understanding the world.
Cascadian Greens believe in having a robust global community which works together to protect the planet’s resources. They’re pacifist to the greatest extent possible and always prefer the diplomatic option when resolving international conflict, even if it’s deemed weak or unpopular by a majority of others. They believe in the legitimacy of state power, especially when it comes to protecting the environment and the rights of minorities, but are generally wary or skeptical of national government. Cascadian Greens prefer devolution of political and economic powers to the most local levels possible.
Liberal Democrats (center-left) – Do not confuse this name with the Liberal Party in Canada or the Democratic Party in the US. I named this group as such because it has roots in classical and contemporary liberal philosophy, as well as a commitment to democratic principles.
Liberal Democrats are the other half of the mainstream left in Cascadia. Like Cascadian Greens, they are committed to environmental protection and sustainability. They are also socially liberal and believe that any individual should have the right to express themselves in any way so long as it does not cause direct harm unto another person(s). Unlike the Greens, however, they are generally more favorable of capitalism in some capacity and support initiatives like globalization and free trade.
Cascadian Liberal Democrats tend to be staunch federalists; they believe in power-sharing between national and local forms of government. They believe in the idea of a national state which exists to foster cooperation between local governments, protect the rights of minorities, and responsibly regulate economic markets. Internationally, they support a global community where countries work together to solve their issues, preferring to err on the side of diplomacy and other non-violent means to resolve disputes.
Libertarians (center-right) – Libertarians in Cascadia tend to derive their philosophy from tenets of classical liberalism. Socially, they believe a government of any kind should stay out of regulating the private lives of individuals, even if they themselves are personally reserved and find the expressions of another individual displeasing. They’re also staunchly capitalist and believe a government of any kind has little responsibility to manage or regulate commerce.
When it comes to the environment, Cascadian Libertarians believe in conservation and individual self-reliance. They believe in utilizing resources sparingly and wisely, although they tend to view environmental protection laws as unnecessary unless they derive from local government.
Cascadian Libertarians are generally anti-statist and believe the powers of any government should be extremely limited as to not infringe upon individual autonomy and the principle of voluntary association. They are also international isolationists, favoring a system where countries generally leave each other alone. They support military action for the purpose of self-defense only, preferring to not intervene when an international conflict arises elsewhere.
Conservatives (right) – Cascadian Conservatives can best be described as those who resist radical change and prefer a stable status quo. Socially, they tend to tolerate uncustomary expressions of individuality and diversity, but are willing to support laws to prohibit actions which they deem damaging to the greater public. Economically, they favor free market capitalism over government mandates or regulation in most cases.
Much like Cascadian Libertarians, Cascadian Conservatives believe in conservation and wisely utilizing the natural resources. Unlike the existing conservative parties in Canada and the US, they are more likely to support government action to protect the environment when the free market goes too far and gets reckless. This is seen as an act of protecting one’s home, preventing the local environment from radically changing.
Cascadian Conservatives favor federalism, allowing for many economic and political powers to be exercised by local governments while a national state addresses nationwide and international concerns. They favor non-intervention when it comes to participating in a global community, but are more willing than most other groups to use a military option to respond to international conflicts which affect the region.
Nationalists (right wing) – Unlike most other nationalist parties in the world which define their national identity by some auxiliary human characteristic (i.e. race, ethnicity, religion, language), Cascadian Nationalists tend to (but not always) be less racist and overtly skeptical of anyone who looks different than they do. However, they share many other commonalities with national political parties elsewhere.
Socially, Cascadian Nationalists favor tradition and are willing to use the power of government to prohibit individual actions they deem alien or undesirable. Economically, they are populists who support capitalism to an extent and are willing to use the force of government to limit the effects of globalization and immigration. Internationally, they prefer to be left alone, but have little reservation with intervening militarily in international conflicts which impact national interests.
Cascadian Nationalists support a strong national government over federalism or devolution; they often view federal or local solutions as inadequate and limiting, preferring to find national solutions which allow the country to thrive as one nation united in action. They favor some forms of environmental protection in terms of national duty, but are also most willing to consume whatever resources are necessary so the nation can thrive economically.
Survivalists (the void) – Cascadian Survivalists believe the existing civic and political power structures throughout the world are inevitably doomed and need to be resisted at all costs. They don’t want to change the status quo; they want to survive its collapse. If the Cascadian political spectrum were viewed as a donut, Survivalists would be between Nationalists and Social Anarchists in the void between the two. They don’t fit nicely on a linear model, but can be understood as far right wing for our purposes.
Cascadian Survivalists are your isolationist utopia seekers. They view the world in terms of absolutes and wish to create an isolated society within Cascadia to achieve their vision of civic perfection. They’re neither capitalist nor anti-capitalist. They’re neither conservative nor liberal. They’re neither environmentally protectionist nor consumptive. They believe in the legitimacy of their own community only and reject the authority of any other body politic which would otherwise incorporate them. As such, they are very hostile toward outsides and people who believe differently than they do.
Cascadia’s Political Groupings
After taking all of these groups and each set of criteria into account, I developed the following linear model for Cascadia:
It’s not perfect; I’m sure some of you have altering groups, definitions, and/or criteria. But, I believe this is a fair representation of the different political groupings which currently exist in Cascadia, even if they aren’t obvious or currently recognized as such.
Interested in learning more about Cascadia? You can buy your copy of Towards Cascadia today:Joint (Arab) List MK Hanin Zoabi said there is no reason for Jews to be on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, telling an Israeli newspaper in an interview published Friday that there is no proof of a Jewish connection to the site.
“The name is al-Aqsa, not the Temple Mount, and there is nothing there for Jews,” Zoabi told the Hebrew-language Makor Rishon. “It’s a place for Muslims only, according to all the agreements signed after the occupation of Jerusalem, and the agreements between Jordan and Israel. The Israelis understood that they occupied Jerusalem but are not allowed to occupy al-Aqsa; now they are trying to occupy al-Aqsa too.”
Asked if she accepts that the biblical temples once stood on the Temple Mount, Zoabi said that “the temple is not part of the political reality in which we live. This is what was in the past. In the past they also used to call the entire homeland Palestine. Today there is occupation and there is al-Aqsa, and it’s a place of prayer for Muslims only. Additionally, the existence of the temple is not verified scientifically.”
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Zoabi said the police limitations on men under a certain age entering the mosque, a measure taken in recent weeks to prevent rioters from using Friday prayers as a pretext for violence, were “a political colonialist war” waged by the State of Israel.
“As far as we are concerned it’s a declaration of war,” she said. Police measures, she maintained, were “an attempt to change the historical definition of al-Aqsa, despite the fact that al-Aqsa was not occupied until now and was made exempt from the 1967 occupation.”
The MK said that Jews have “no freedom of worship” on the Temple Mount “just as Muslims have no freedom of worship in synagogues.” Asked where in Jerusalem she believes Jews should be allowed to pray, Zoabi said: “I don’t know, I am not an historian, but in any case there is no place for Jews at al-Aqsa.”
Some Jews, the interviewer said, have dreamed for 2,000 years of a return to the Temple Mount.
“They can keep on dreaming,” Zoabi said. “They should not act against the Palestinians, they should let Muslims pray in their holy sites and not act as racists and invaders,” she said.
The police earlier this week accused Zoabi of inflaming tensions on the Temple Mount with misleading comments about access to the al-Aqsa Mosque.
Zoabi, police said, had falsely claimed that the al-Aqsa Mosque would be shut to Muslims and called it “a declaration of war.”
On Wednesday, fellow Joint List MK Jamal Zahalka was summoned for questioning by police after he was filmed haranguing Jewish visitors to the Temple Mount a day earlier.The Bengals found themselves moving backwards in 2014, and Andy Dalton may be a limiting factor in their success.
2013 was the best season in recent memory for the Bengals, finishing 11-5 and in fist place in the AFC North.
Despite this success, there were some big changes in Cincinnati, as they entered the 2014 season with new coordinators on both sides of the ball. Hue Jackson was promoted to offensive coordinator after Jay Gruden left to coach the Redskins, and Paul Guenther was promoted to defensive coordinator after Mike Zimmer left for Minnesota.
Though they didn't make any major free agent signings, the Bengals looked to continue to build through the draft, notably adding cornerback Darqueze Dennard in the first round and running back Jeremy Hill in the second.
With these changes the Bengals managed to keep their record almost the same in 2014, finishing 10-5-1 (second in the division) and making it into the playoffs as one of the three AFC North representatives.
Let's take a look at what worked and what didn't for the Bengals in 2014.
The Good
The area in which the Bengals made the biggest strides in 2014 was, by far, their rushing offense. They finished 2013 with -0.02 Adjusted Rushing Net Expected Points (NEP) per play, meaning that every run play, on average, cost them 0.02 points from the drive's expected point outcome. This placed them 22nd in the league and had fans clamoring for Gio Bernard to see more touches.
In 2014, their rushing offense was on the opposite side of the spectrum, putting up an adjusted Rush NEP of 0.03, finishing seventh in the league. This was not, however, on the back of Bernard, as many expected. Bernard had a fairly pedestrian season, finishing 35th among backs with 50 or more carries with a Rushing NEP per carry of -0.04. The star in the Cincinnati backfield in 2014 was Jeremy Hill.
Hill was one of the most efficient backs in the league, finishing fourth among all running backs with a Rushing NEP of 20.63, and ninth on a per-carry basis with 0.09.
The Bengals offense benefited greatly from having a solid line up front. Not only did they pave the way for a top-10 rushing attack, but also they were excellent in pass protection. As a unit they gave up only 23 sacks, the third fewest in the league, which included some impressive individual performances.
Though Kevin Zeitler managed to play only 12 games this season, he was excellent when he was on the field, giving up only one sack and two quarterback hits. The Bengals' best lineman, and arguably the best in the league, was Andrew Whitworth. Whitworth gave up no sacks on the season while playing 1,057 snaps. He was the only tackle to play more than 400 snaps on the season and not give up a sack.
On the other side of the ball, Cincinnati once against boasted one of the best pass defenses in the league, finishing tied for fourth with an Adjusted Defensive Passing NEP per play of 0.00. The Bengals had four players, Dre Kirkpatrick, Reggie Nelson, George Iloka, and Adam Jones with three or more interceptions, and the Bengals finished tied for eighth as a team with 17.
Our numbers had the Bengals defense tied for 10th overall in the league in 2014, and that was carried almost exclusively by their ability to defend the pass.
The Bad
At this point, you know what you're going to get with Andy Dalton. He's a mediocre quarterback who's good enough to lead a team without dooming them to failure. Brandon Gdula wrote earlier this offseason about whether or not Andy Dalton is the answer for the Bengals, and I mirror his sentiments. Dalton may not be terrible, but what he offers the franchise just may not be enough.
His efficiency in 2014 was below average, with a Passing NEP of 24.54, and a Passing NEP per drop back of 0.05. Those ranked 19th and 20th in the league, respectively. If Dalton can post another season that compares to his 2013 numbers (when his Passing NEP of 54.69 ranked 13th in the league), it might be worth holding out hope for him as the future of the franchise, but that doesn't look like the most likely outcome, and Dalton will continue to be a limiting factor in the Bengals' offensive success.
On the opposite end of the spectrum from their stout pass defense was the Bengals' ability to stop the run (or lack thereof). Cincinnati finished among the worst in the league, 26th, with an Adjusted Defensive Rushing NEP per play of 0.04. This was a huge step backwards from 2013 when they finished in the top half of the league, 13th, at -0.03.
That step backwards is part of a worrying overall trend that stands out for Cincinnati this year -- they got worse in almost all facets of the game. The run game improved greatly, but passing offense and both the pass and run defense fell in the rankings from 2013 to 2014, as well as their overall offensive ranking (15th in 2013 to 17th in 2014) and overall defensive ranking (2nd to tied for 10th).
What's Next?
With the AFC North always a strong division and with the Ravens and Steelers making strides forwards (both teams improved their offensive NEP rankings, while Baltimore also improved their defensive ranking in 2014), Cincinnati needs to fix the direction they're moving in quickly if they want to continue to see themselves in the postseason.
There is room for optimism though. Receiver Marvin Jones and tight end Tyler Eifert missed the 2014 season with injuries, and A.J. Green missed three games and played hurt for much of the season.
If the Bengals run defense can look more like its 2013 iteration than it did last year and Andy Dalton can do the same, then the Bengals may find themselves positioned for a playoff run. But if the team keeps moving in the direction it is, 2015 could be a long season for Bengals fans.Senator Ted Cruz of Texas
The senator steals a march on potential 2016 rivals.
The early dynamics of the 2016 Republican presidential-primary contest were jolted on the morning of Friday, July 19, in a ballroom on the third floor of the Marriott hotel in downtown Des Moines. It was there, in front of coffee-sipping pastors, that Senator Ted Cruz of Texas wowed the kingmakers of the Iowa caucuses for the first time. Without notes and ignoring the podium, he roamed the carpeted dais for nearly an hour, quoting Scripture and musing about the Democrats and their occasional affinity for Satan. The reception was rapturous. Many ministers eagerly asked Cruz’s advisers where they could sign up for a campaign that doesn’t exist, while others encircled Cruz and laid their hands on him to pray.
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Veteran operative Chuck Laudner, who guided former Pennsylvania senator Rick Santorum’s victorious Iowa campaign last year, was in the room and remembers the scene vividly — and he knew immediately that all the post-2012 conventional wisdom about the 2016 field was, with one speech, obsolete. To him and others who make their living as consultants within the Republican universe, the visceral response by Iowa preachers confirmed Cruz’s ascent as a new, potentially disruptive force in the GOP’s presidential-primary calculus. Instead of the looming battle for tea-party support in Iowa and South Carolina featuring a group of middleweight contenders — vanilla governors, House members, and little-known senators — it appeared that a Cruz phenomenon could overwhelm them all.
#ad#“There’s no question he’s setting the pace right now,” Laudner says. “He’s the hard act to follow. He’s speaking the language that the base uses when they’re chatting with each other at events or huddling at high-school football games. He channels the anger and frustration that conservatives have not only with President Obama, but also with the Republican establishment. His ability to seize that undercurrent and connect with those voters has elevated him. Now, in Iowa, he hasn’t crowded out Santorum or Rand Paul, who have their own bases of support, but he has muted the discussion, for example, about Scott Walker and Paul Ryan.”
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If Cruz continues his frenetic rise through the conservative ranks, he may be the biggest threat yet to the presidential hopes of Santorum, Governor Rick Perry of Texas, Senator Marco Rubio of Florida, Kentucky’s Paul, and Wisconsin’s Walker and Ryan — all of whom at one time or another have been conservative stars and been seen as having a path, however narrow, to the nomination from the party’s right. “He’s already gaining support among the people who supported Santorum, who like Rand Paul, and who supported Mike Huckabee five years ago,” says Bob Vander Plaats, an influential Iowa evangelical leader who hosted Cruz at a recent weekend summit in Ames, Iowa. “It’s startling, but it’s happening.”
The secret ingredient to the senator’s success, so far, has been the organic appearance of his growing popularity. Rather than going on a hiring spree of Beltway heavies and signaling his expected intentions, he appears to have kept the inner circle from his 2012 Senate campaign mostly intact. Advisers Jason Johnson, John Drogin, Jordan Berry, and Chip Roy are the nucleus, and they’re not looking to hire any major political hands, at least for the moment. People familiar with the operation say Team Cruz is running the senator’s shop as if he is preparing to lead a grassroots movement; they’re not playing by same playbook as the others.
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“It’s the same model they used for Cruz in Texas,” says a Republican insider who is close to Cruz’s aides. “They make it seem like a ragtag, outsider thing, when it’s really a tightly run ship. But they’re smart with how they handle the unpaid volunteers; they’re sharp at keeping people involved and feeling like they’re part of something.” At the Vander Plaats gathering, Cruz hinted at his low-key but humming machine when he told attendees to text the word “growth” to his political-action committee, which will then hold on to those numbers for a future project — whatever that may be.
#page#
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Paul, who is one of Cruz’s top Senate allies, dismisses talk of a Cruz-Paul rivalry, and has assured me that they’re friends. But sources in Paul’s camp see the rise of Cruz in much the same way as Laudner does: It’s something all conservative presidential candidates have to consider as they look at their game plans. Paul’s people are confident that Paul’s national network, fundraising base, and name identification outpace those of Cruz, but they know he is going to be a fierce competitor for the same bloc, should both decide to run. They also believe that Paul’s base may be similar to Cruz’s, but it doesn’t exactly overlap, since Paul has a record and roots with libertarian Republicans, which Cruz lacks.
“These days, there are are two silos of the Republican party: the regular Republicans, if you will, and the movement-conservative coalition that’s united by anti-establishment rhetoric and populism,” explains Mike Murphy, a Republican strategist who has worked for former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney and Senator John McCain of Arizona. “If Cruz runs, he is going to be the strongest candidate in that movement-conservative silo. He’s charismatic and highly intelligent and says what the base wants to hear. He could maybe even win the nomination, and on the way, he’d be a huge obstacle to Santorum, Huckabee, and Paul. But he’d be a disaster in a general election — a Republican George McGovern.”
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#ad#And in a primary fight, Cruz’s initial glow from his first trips to Iowa could fade quickly. “It’s kind of comical to read everything about Cruz right now, since we’re years away and it’s way too early to know whether Cruz has staying power and doesn’t wilt under the bright lights,” says Hogan Gidley, a former Santorum adviser. “He may be a flavor of the week. There’s a big difference between making moves in 2013 and being able to go the distance like Santorum did, with grit, deep into the process.”
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Beyond the right of the GOP, there’s less fear of Cruz. Sources close to former Florida governor Jeb Bush, New Jersey governor Chris Christie, and Rubio tell me that they’re still expecting the Cruz buzz to fizzle as new issues pop onto the Republican radar in the coming year. “I haven’t figured Cruz out yet,” says former New Jersey governor Tom Kean Sr., a Christie confidant. “I think the party is going to be looking for some unity and national appeal in the next presidential election, and if they want someone who can be as abrasive as Cruz, Christie would easily compete with him on the question of who can throw a good punch. If the party wants to win, it’s going to go with someone who can unite us and not divide the party into narrow groups.”
New York congressman Peter King, who’s contemplating his own run for the White House, agrees. “Cruz is like Paul, coming out of the isolationist wing, and I don’t think he’s going to get that far with that message,” he says. “If I run, I’d be pretty vocal about telling him that I wouldn’t have joined Paul for that drone filibuster, or talked about shutting the government down to make a point on Obamacare. Eventually, he’s going to have to answer to things that are out of his comfort zone. Even among his own wing of the party, he may have problems with the likability factor, since Paul has a more friendly, approachable political style.”
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Meanwhile, whatever the speculation in Washington and elsewhere, Laudner reminds me that Cruz is out there, in Des Moines and Ames, shaking hands, building relationships, and getting ready. “He’s caught us by surprise this summer, and it seems like he’s just beginning. Some Republicans may not like this development, but we’re all paying attention.”
— Robert Costa is National Review’s Washington editor.BY MELISSA RUGGIERI and SHANE HARRISON
A piece of Atlanta music history has gone silent.
Alex Cooley, whose national legacy began with the Atlanta International Pop Festival in 1969 and continues in the shows at Eddie’s Attic, died in Florida Tuesday. He was 75 years old.
Cooley was born and raised in town, graduated from Grady High School, and got into music production in his 20s.
The Atlanta International Pop Festival, which Cooley helped produce, brought ’60s icons Janis Joplin, Led Zeppelin, the Staple Singers and others to the Atlanta Motor Speedway in Hampton in July 1969. Cooley also presented the Grateful Dead at a free concert in Piedmont Park at about the same time.
“We did it for the love of the music, we honestly did,” Cooley told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution in 1997 of the pop festival. “We made $6,000, and, believe it or not, we felt kind of guilty about making money on it.”
Cooley was one of a long list of promoters on the first festival, but by the time the second Atlanta International Pop Festival arrived in 1970, Cooley was the primary organizer. The second fest took place in Byron, with the Allman Brothers, one of many Southern rock bands whom Cooley befriended, leading the bill.
“You couldn’t talk about any of the Southern rockers without Alex’s name being mentioned,” said Kaedy Kiely, morning show host of classic rock station The River, who knew Cooley for 30 years. “There wasn’t a more sincerely nice, giving, loving person than Alex. He transcended the business.”
The second Atlanta International Pop Festival lineup included Jimi Hendrix, who played to the largest American audience of his career — estimated by some at more than 300,000 — a little more than two months before his death on Sept. 18, 1970.
“When (Alex) started, acts weren’t playing in the South - they thought of us as a bunch of redneck racists,” said Peter Conlon Tuesday afternoon as he emotionally recalled his longtime business relationship and friendship with Cooley. “He convinced these agents to bring artists like Janis (Joplin) and (Jimi) Hendrix to a major pop festival in south Georgia with a black headliner…I think you’d get the Nobel Prize for that.”
In the mid-1970s, Cooley established the Electric Ballroom, which hosted Fleetwood Mac, Rush, Kiss, Bruce Springsteen and many more. Later, he was the primary talent booker at the Great Southeast Music Hall. In 1978, he brought the Sex Pistols to that venue. It was an ill-fated tour that drew protests, gawkers and press from around the world.
But Cooley was probably best known for his years as a partner with Conlon in Concert/Southern Promotions. Conlon estimates the pair promoted 300-400 concerts per year during their partnership, which began in 1981.
“We didn’t even have a contract for years until the lawyers told us we had to. We were working on handshakes,” Conlon said. “We used to laugh and say our relationship was more of a marriage than a business partnership.”
Alex Cooley holds the poster for the first Music Midtown festival.
In addition to bringing some of the biggest names to town and running venues such as the Roxy and the Cotton Club, the pair produced Music Midtown, which debuted in 1994.
“Alex came up with the idea of Music Midtown. He wanted to do a festival before festivals were festivals – there was no Bonnaroo then. It was very small that first year – K.C. and the Sunshine Band was a headliner – but by the second year we had 60,000 people,” Conlon said.
Two years ago, Cooley joined Conlon at Piedmont Park during Music Midtown. The pair rode around the premises in a golf cart all day – “like we used to always do,” Conlon said.
They had sold their joint company in 1997, years after being established as the largest concert promoters in the southeast.
Concert/Southern was eventually gobbled up by larger corporate entities, landing at Clear Channel Communications, which spun off its events promotion arm as Live Nation. Conlon is now president of Live Nation Atlanta.
Cooley was inducted into the Georgia Music Hall of Fame in 1987.
“Alex loves concerts,” Conlon said. “He would spend more time worrying about the fan experience than the artist. He was so focused on the fan experience, like all of the great promoters, like Bill Graham.”
Alex Cooley, Andrew Hingley and Dave Mattingly at Eddie's Attic in 2013. Photo: PHIL SKINNER / PSKINNER@AJC.COM
In recent years, Cooley had been a partner at Eddie’s Attic, which he purchased with co-owner Dave Mattingly in 2011. Long one of the country’s premier acoustic venues, the club has diversified its bookings, though singer-songwriters are still a big part of the mix.
“I’ve learned an incredible lesson late in life,” Cooley told the AJC in a 2013 interview. “This talent that is out there … I didn’t know it was out there. It’s a whole new world (to me). I used to think that I developed talent with the Electric Ballroom and the Roxy, but those were still in the vein of what I was already working on — the artists might have already had a couple of hits. This is totally different.”
Cooley’s influence on the Atlanta music scene continues with his tutelage of Andrew Hingley, the talent buyer for Eddie’s Attic who has helped expand the venue’s reach and also, with Cooley’s guidance, established Atlanta’s Parklife music festival.
“He put a stamp on my life that will last forever,” Hingley said.
Follow the AJC Music Scene on Facebook and Twitter.
Sign a guestbook in Cooley's memory here.Insurance lawyer criticises government insurer over Troy Buswell crash
Updated
A prominent insurance lawyer has accused the State Government's insurance arm of trying to intimidate and manipulate a woman whose car was hit by former treasurer Troy Buswell's ministerial vehicle.
Mr Buswell left a trail of damage when he smashed into four parked cars while driving home from a wedding in February.
The woman whose car was hit told Seven Network she was offered $3,000 by the Government's insurer RiskCover, but only if she did not speak to any media outlets and gave up all claims against the former treasurer.
Principal solicitor at the Insurance Law Service Kat Lane says the woman needs a lawyer.
"This is a situation where she should be having legal advice, and they're using the fact that she hasn't got a lawyer to intimidate her basically into signing confidentiality agreements," she told ABC Radio 720.
RiskCover says it does not discuss details of claims without permission but insurers often include provisions of confidentiality and legal action in settlement offers.
Ms Lane said confidentiality clauses were only usually used when both parties sought confidentiality.
"The interesting bit here is this is an uninsured motorist person whose car has been hit, and they're unrepresented by a lawyer," she said.
"Let's just stress that the vast majority of insurance disputes are settled on a non-confidential basis, this is very rare.
"They've taken a situation where she's unrepresented, has no legal advice and put terms to her... you're just sitting there with a pile of money and have no choice but to accept it.
"I would advise her not to sign that agreement. She can go to court and get this money without signing the agreement."
Opposition treasurer Ben Wyatt yesterday also accused the Government of using the confidentiality clause to cover up the way it handled the incident.
"By demanding from the victim a confidentiality clause, by demanding from the victim indemnity for Mr Buswell we see RiskCover acting as Mr Buswell's lawyer," he said.
"Acting not in the interest of the state, but merely in the interest of Troy Buswell's ongoing embarrassment over this issue."
Confidentiality claims 'not uncommon'
RiskCover chief executive Rod Whithear said it was not uncommon for confidentiality clauses to be included in contracts, but could not say if terms specifically prohibiting contact with the media were usually included.
He also revealed he spoke directly to the head of the Department of Premier and Cabinet, Peter Conran, about the insurer's handling of any claims flowing from the incident.
But he said it was not uncommon for Mr Conran to be involved in "sensitive claims".
"I recall a discussion with Peter Conran early on, who encouraged us to be diligent and thorough in our assessment of any claims as a result of this, we didn't need that advice, we would be diligent and thorough anyway," he said.
He said RiskCover were seeking more information from Mr Buswell after receiving a claim form signed by him in the end of May or early June.
The $15,000 repair bill to Mr Buswell's ministerial car was picked up by RiskCover, despite documents obtained by the under Opposition by Freedom of Information laws showing Mr Buswell initially did not sign an insurance claim form.
Mr Buswell resigned from Cabinet following revelations about the crashes.
A court fined him $3,000 and banned him from driving for 12 months after he pleaded guilty to 11 traffic charges.
He spoke publicly about his battle with mental illness on his return to Parliament.
Topics: road, government-and-politics, subiaco-6008, perth-6000
First postedIn order to show their undying love for one another, the CIA vested a prestigious award to its long-time financier Saudi Arabia, for all its contributions to the War of Terror in the Middle East, and inside America itself.
In one of the articles posted on this website, UK supposedly financed the WTC 9/11 false flag operation via multiple Saudi Arabian bank accounts.
Saudi Arabia |
://www.sosyes.com/)HTC, the world's fifth biggest phone maker, has suffered a 79% crash in quarterly profits as the popularity and marketing muscle of Apple and Samsung continue to squeeze out smaller rivals.
Third quarter net income plummeted to 4.9bn New Taiwan dollars (£104m) in the three months to the end of September, from NT$20bn in the same period last year, according to unaudited results published on Monday night. Revenues were down 48% to NT$70.2bn, well below analyst expectations of NT$75bn.
Only a year ago the Taiwanese company was enjoying a record quarter with revenues of NT$136bn, thanks to bestselling handsets including the HTC Desire and Sensation.
HTC will only comment when its audited results are published, but an email sent by the chief executive, Peter Chou, to employees in August urged staff to "kill bureaucracy". He complained: "We have people in meetings and talking all the time but without decision, strategic direction and sense of urgency."
Sales of HTC's flagship One series, which debuted in February, are trailing off as Apple and Samsung spend four to six times more on marketing to ensure the iPhone 5 and the Galaxy SIII dominate the market, while strongly subsidising their older models, according to the analyst Pierre Ferragu at the broker Sanford C Bernstein.
"HTC is entering a vicious circle of market share loss and gross margin erosion that reflects continued loss of traction with consumers," said Ferragu in a note. "We see a market where Apple and Samsung fight hard in terms of commercial and marketing execution to defend their respective positions, with both providing aggressive launch support for their flagship phones and strong distribution support for older models. These distribution dynamics leave almost no room for HTC to remain visible in the market."
HTC's share of the global smartphone market by shipments fell to 5.8% in the second quarter from 10.7% a year earlier, according to Bloomberg. The company released its first Windows Phone 8 models in September, its most high-profile pre-Christmas launch, but Microsoft's operating system has yet to establish itself as a serious third player after Google's Android and Apple's iOS.
HTC's revenues, profits and handset shipments peaked in the third quarter of 2011 and began falling in the fourth quarter of 2011, when Apple and Samsung increased their efforts to control the US market.
"Samsung is the reason HTC is struggling," said Francisco Jeronimo at the research firm IDC. "HTC devices are good, the brand is strong and they keep on innovating, but Samsung invests significantly more at the point of sale compared with HTC."
HTC has seen falling average selling prices for its phones as it has tried to break into the fast-growing Chinese market. Approximately 30% of shipments go to China but price pressures mean they account for only 20% of revenues.
Carolina Milanesi, a smartphones analyst at Gartner, another research company, said HTC needed to concentrate on sales to big "enterprise" businesses where "bring your own device" (BYOD) policies were in place: "It seems to me that on the Android side, they tried to go for the low end to get [market] share, but that did not work much, and now they want to go back to their core. In Android I think they should become an enabler of BYOD – so focus on making Android a better platform to bring into the enterprise." Samsung has tried to do that but so far "not made much inroad", she suggested. "I believe that HTC would have a better chance at that, as this is where they started," Milanesi said. "They knew how to do it." HTC started out as a contract manufacturer making white-label smartphones running Microsoft's Windows Mobile software, and then created its own brand.
Milanesi suggested that now its Windows Phone models would not be its salvation: "The Microsoft [Windows Phone] phones are good, but they risk being swallowed in the Microsoft PR machine. HTC needs to push the envelope on innovation. It seems to me that on that side they have not had an industry first for a while. They used to lead with connectivity and integration, but have not done so in a while. They need to be more vocal about their brand, and consistent in their message – so they talk more about the company and the differentiation on their devices, building a story on who they are as a company."Italian police arrested four suspected hackers Friday, accusing them of having taken control of the Italian branch of the Anonymous network.
The alleged hackers, aged between 20 and 34, were placed under house arrest near the northern cities of Bologna, Turin and Venice, and in the southern town of Lecce.
Six more people were placed formally under investigation and a total of 10 premises were raided at the conclusion of a two-year police investigation code-named “Tango Down.”
Investigators said the group, which had created a dominant cell within Anonymous Italy, was responsible for cyberattacks on commercial and government websites, including sites belonging to the Vatican, the Italian prime minister’s office, the defense ministry, the police, Bank of Italy and the national railway company Trenitalia.
“They were like a cancerous cell within the Anonymous organization,” said Ivano Gabrielli, a deputy police chief at the National Center for Computer Crime and the Protection of Critical Infrastructure (CNAIPIC), who helped coordinate the investigation. “They had taken over the brand and were using it for their own personal benefit,” Gabrielli said in a telephone interview. “It was a vanguard cell that was carving out a position of power at the head of Anonymous Italy. That’s somewhat anomalous in a supposedly anarchic structure.”
Some members of the group who are IT professionals offered their services to commercial companies to repair the damage caused by their own attacks, Gabrielli said.
The group had clashed with other members of Anonymous over ideological questions and had sought to consolidate its dominant position by denouncing some of its rivals to the police, he said. “They were responsible for reporting about 30 people to the authorities.”
Members of the group allegedly divided responsibility for different activities between them, some selecting targets, others carrying out the cyberattacks and yet others claiming responsibility for them.
The police investigation involved analyzing the technical characteristics of the attacks and the documents claiming responsibility for them, monitoring discussions on social media, the interception of electronic messages and phone calls, and infiltration of the group by undercover officers, Gabrielli said.
The suspects are accused of using the Internet for a criminal conspiracy, the first time such a charge has been employed in Italy, and face up to eight years imprisonment if convicted.
“The investigation was coordinated by the Rome prosecutor’s office and any trial will probably be celebrated in the capital,” Gabrielli said.
Gabrielli’s organization was embarrassed two years ago when a subgroup of Anonymous claimed to have stolen 8GB of secret documents from the CNAIPIC computer.
Most of the documents actually came from elsewhere, Gabrielli said.
Investigators said the four arrested suspects were IT professionals leading a double life. They worked as hackers mainly at night and even their families were unaware of their criminal activity, the online edition of La Stampa newspaper reported.Lack of interest is the most obvious and least discussed cause of poor academic performance. After meeting with more than 8,000 university students one-on-one at every year level and in every conceivable academic program, I would say that a lack of interest accounts for almost all academic struggles and failures. Now I’m not talking about a lack of interest in a course, program, or even degree. Students regularly make changes to their academic career to either investigate an interest or to better reflect a known interest in a particular subject. What I’m talking about is a lack of interest in studying at university.
If you think that would be uncommon, I challenge you to read the abundance of literature that points to academic disengagement. Universities across the country are establishing new research centres for student engagement, expanding student support services, hiring high-priced consultants to fix retention problems, and paying top dollar to support staff to work with students who continually struggle. Because it is impossible for the system to increase your interest, they are left with trying to fix everything else.
Universities are moving at lightening speed on this issue for two simple reasons: the first is that they are being held to a greater account today by taxpayers for the percentage of students they successfully graduate. The other reason is that the problem of academic disengagement, failing students, and ultimately drop-out rates has grown exponentially.
If you lack the kind of interest I’m referring to, my advice has always been to immediately withdraw from university studies before you invest more money, potentially sink into more debt, and further damage your academic record.
Instead, consider community college. It takes a lot less time to complete than a full fledged degree. It's cheaper. And finally, it equips you with job ready skills for the marketplace.
Have similar questions about academic success? Contact us today.Sutu
Sure, you could get a wicked trompe l'oeil tattoo... but if you want to be truly avant garde, augmented reality is the way to go.
Last year, Australian comic creator Sutu Kickstarted and released an experiment in combining comics with digital media. The comic, called "Modern Polaxis," was the tale of a paranoid time traveller. It was printed like a traditional comic, but it had another level of detail. Through the free iOS app, readers could find secret messages and animations hidden in the pages.
This was achieved through the Boomcore AR technology, created by Sutu in collaboration with interactive designer Lukasz Karluk. This technology combines image recognition, keyed to particular pages and panels in the printed comic book, along with real-time animation mapping. It makes for a fascinating comic-reading experience.
And, apparently, a pretty slick tattoo.
Sutu recently got an image from the comic tattooed on his arm -- and, as he posted on Instagram, was surprised to find that the transferral from the page to human skin did not affect how it works in the app. You can check it out in action in the embedded Instagram below.
BRB, getting "Modern Polaxis" tattoos.
I can't believe this worked! #ARtattoo A video posted by Sutu (@sutueatsflies) on Apr 25, 2015 at 11:39pm PDTSANTA CLARA, CA—Following persistent safety concerns regarding the playing surface throughout the regular season, the NFL made firm assurances Friday to both the Denver Broncos and Carolina Panthers that the bottomless pit in the middle of the field at Levi’s Stadium will be fully repaired before Super Bowl 50. “The Super Bowl is the biggest sporting event in the world, and we are working closely with Levi’s Stadium to ensure that the turf’s bottomless pit will not be an issue come game time,” NFL field director Ed Mangan said of the 14-foot-diameter hole situated near the 40-yard line, adding that the risk of a player accidentally slipping and being lost forever in an infinite black void is “something the league takes very seriously.” “We certainly want to avoid another incident like the one earlier this season when [St. Louis Rams safety] T.J. McDonald fell into the abyss and his screams just grew fainter and fainter without anyone ever hearing him hit the ground. The league will do everything in its power to minimize the potential of something like that happening on Sunday.” At press time, the NFL had declared that the field is “ready for the Super Bowl” after Levi’s Stadium grounds crews had covered the pit with a large wooden board.
AdvertisementDo women really make 77 cents to every man's dollar?
The situation isn't quite so grim for young female college graduates. Women ages 22 to 27 who have a bachelor's degree get paid almost as much as their young male peers. Sometimes, they even get paid more.
Among recent college graduates from 2009 to 2013, women earn roughly 97 cents for every dollar young men earn for doing the same job and having similar qualifications, according to new research from economists at the New York Federal Reserve.
But there's a lot of variation.
Men still earn way more than women in some fields -- a whooping 21% more in agriculture, for example. But young females who majored in social services, treatment therapy and industrial engineering actually beat men by 10% or more.
Related: There's still a pay disparity between men and women. But millennials are closing the gap
"According to our estimates, newly minted female college graduates earn as much as, or more than, men in 29 of the 73 majors," economists Jaison Abel and Richard Deitz found.
Women who major in these fields are paid particularly well (more than men) after graduation: engineering, treatment therapy, art history, construction services, or business analytics.
On the other hand, young men who major in these fields still get a lot higher pay: agriculture, animal and plant sciences, general social sciences, or early childhood education.
The Federal Reserve of New York research is more evidence that young women are closing the pay gap, but it remains to be seen if pay will stay about equal throughout their lifetimes.
Problems in mid-career: By ages 35 to 45, the pay gap currently widens. Even in fields where young women are doing well like engineering, females in the "mid-career" phase aren't. Men are getting paid substantially more across the board.
"For this mid-career group, we find that men earn about 15% more than women, much larger than the 3% figure we found for recent college graduates," the researchers wrote.
Many point to women having children and leaving the work force or, at least, scaling back for awhile. That can hamper their job prospects and cause them to fall further behind. When they reenter the job market, they have less experience than similarly aged males.
No wonder women are almost twice as likely to retire into poverty.
But there are concerns that the pay gap may reflect deeper issues than women making choices about balancing family and work. Silicon Valley has become the hotbed of sex discrimination lawsuits. Facebook (FB) and Twitter (TWTR), both of whom have predominantly male workforces, were sued by their female employees for gender bias and harassment earlier this year.If the Food and Drug Administration gets its way, your trip to the grocery store could get a tad pricier.
Supermarket owners argue a pending federal food-labeling rule that stems from the new health care law would overburden thousands of grocers and convenience store owners -- to the tune of $1 billion in the first year alone.
Store owner Tom Heinen said the industry's profit margins already are razor thin. "When you incur a significant cost, there is no way that that doesn't get passed on to the customer in some form," he said.
The rule stems from an ObamaCare mandate that restaurants provide nutrition information on menus. Most in the restaurant industry were supportive of the idea, but when the FDA decided to extend the provision to also affect thousands of supermarkets and convenience stores, the backlash was swift.
The proposed regulation would require store owners to label prepared, unpackaged foods found in salad bars and food bars, soups and bakery items. Erik Lieberman, regulatory counsel at the Food Marketing Institute, said testing foods for nutritional data will require either expensive software or even more costly off-site laboratory assessments.
Lieberman said failure to get it right comes with stiff penalties: "If you get it wrong, it's a federal crime, and you could face jail time and thousands of dollars worth of fines."
The FDA says much of ObamaCare is aimed at helping Americans live healthier lives, and these proposed labeling requirements would help them do just that. In the text of the proposed regulation, the FDA states: "[The information] should help consumers limit excess calorie intake and understand how the foods that they purchase at these establishments fit within their daily caloric and other nutritional needs."
An Executive Order issued by President Obama in 2011 says agencies are supposed to calculate a cost-benefit analysis for each new regulation and attempt to use the least burdensome regulatory methods possible. Critics of the FDA's food labeling proposal say the agency didn't comply.
"They are required to do it, and they didn't," Lieberman said. "They simply said, 'We can't quantify a benefit from this rule,' and that's because they really can't."
The FDA said Wednesday it has received hundreds of public comments on the proposal and will take them into consideration when finalizing the regulation. It is likely to be released later this spring, and the agency says it will "include a final economic analysis."House Speaker John Boehner John Andrew BoehnerEx-GOP lawmaker joins marijuana trade group Crowley, Shuster moving to K Street On unilateral executive action, Mitch McConnell was right — in 2014 MORE (R-Ohio) said Wednesday that he wants to strike a deal on the nation’s debt limit over the next month.
Boehner John Andrew BoehnerEx-GOP lawmaker joins marijuana trade group Crowley, Shuster moving to K Street On unilateral executive action, Mitch McConnell was right — in 2014 MORE’s comments could change the timetable for a bipartisan agreement, which many lawmakers and Wall Street analysts had previously assumed would not be ironed out until right before the August congressional recess.
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His statements could also be an attempt to shield the GOP from blame if the stock market plunges next month in the absence of a deal.
In a press briefing with reporters, Boehner said that waiting until later in the summer could negatively affect financial markets. He claimed an agreement “needs to be done over the next month.”
He added that he told President Obama just that at a White House meeting earlier on Wednesday. Boehner said the the president told House Republicans Wednesday that he wants a deal as soon as possible. For the past several months, administration officials -- including Obama -- have been urging Congress to move swiftly.
The Ohio Republican said there is no need to wait for “a magical date,” asserting he is “ready to get on with it.”
Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner has set an Aug. 2 deadline to raise the nation’s debt ceiling, after which Geithner says the government will default.
Geithner and Obama have warned against an eleventh-hour deal, Boehner noted, and he said he concurs.
“There’s no reason to bump up against [Aug. 2],” he said, predicting a deal would be reached if “we’re serious about no brinksmanship and no rattling investors … I’m ready to get it done this month.”
The remarks suggest that the debt-ceiling talks could be much different from the government-shutdown showdown in April. Those negotiations went to the brink before an agreement was finalized 90 minutes before the government was scheduled to shutter.
Still, Boehner claims that some of the fears circulating in Washington and beyond about the debt-limit talks are unfounded: “Nobody out there believes the United States will default on its debt.”
Boehner reiterated on a couple occasions that any deal must have major spending reductions and not raise taxes. He hinted that a balanced-budget amendment could be in the mix, as well as “budget reforms,” declining to go into specifics.
The Ohio Republican is worried about the economy, saying “it was improving,” but that high gas prices, high food prices and recent economic figures have given him pause.
“I am concerned,” he said.
“We’re not going to solve America’s problems by cutting spending alone. You have to have real economic growth,” Boehner said, citing uncertainty about tax rates and government regulations.
During the roundtable discussion with the media in his Speaker’s office, Boehner cracked a few jokes, but also chose his words carefully and answered some questions after long pauses.
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Despite the GOP’s loss in a special election last week that focused on Medicare, Boehner expressed optimism that the popular entitlement program will be addressed in the debt-ceiling debate.
He said Medicare has been discussed in the bipartisan discussions led by Vice President Biden.
Pressed on why Democrats won in New York’s 26th district, Boehner said GOP candidate Jane Corwin let herself be defined by the Democrats, a third-party candidate siphoned votes from Corwin and her campaign handled the Medicare attacks from the other side of the aisle “poorly.”
Boehner emphasized, however, that Medicare was not the defining issue of the special-election race.
He acknowledged that House Republicans must improve their communications on the Medicare plan that was included in their House-passed budget.
“We have to engage. We have to be on offense,” Boehner said.
He also said GOP “members need to engage in this” and “explain [the Medicare plan].”
Obama has made some pretty “outrageous claims” on the Republican plan, Boehner said, lamenting the “demagoguery” in Washington. He disputed assertions that Republicans engaged in similar tactics during the last Congress when they criticized Obama’s healthcare reform bill.
“It’s got to start from the top … there’s a way of disagreeing without being disagreeable,” Boehner said.
But, in the end, Boehner conceded, “All’s fair in politics.”
—This article was updated at 10:11 p.m.Veteran rugby writer and broadcaster Phil Gifford moved to Christchurch in 1992 as an avowed Auckland rugby fan. But he quickly adopted Canterbury and the Crusaders and forged friendships with key players. In this exclusive extract from his new memoir, Phil Gifford: Loose Amongst the Legends, he talks of his affection for ex-All Blacks and Canterbury star Andrew Mehrtens.
A head pops out from behind a curtain in the room at St George's Hospital in Christchurch. It's November 1995, and the day before I've had my arthritic right hip replaced. ''Just thought I'd see how you were, mate,'' says Andrew Mehrtens.
Andrew Mehrtens, or Mehrts to every man, woman, child, dog and nana in Canterbury, was a prime example of the good bugger attitude that permeated the Canterbury team culture.
Not many 21-year-old footy players would bother to visit a broken-down media man in hospital, but while he may be unhappy if I slightly dent his persona as rugby's clown prince, the fact is you'd struggle to find a kinder, more decent man in the game.
Mind you, that's not to say there isn't a huge mischievous streak in him.
It was Mehrts who stunned journalists in 2001 when he made what seemed the amazingly arrogant claim he could ''never be dropped from this All Black team''.
Nothing to do with his playing form, he quickly explained. ''I'm the head of the laundry committee and the only one who understands how the system works. If they drop me nobody will ever see their Y-fronts again.''
It was Mehrts, who, his first Canterbury coach, Vance Stewart, discovered, while analysing a game video, had joined the crowd in a Mexican wave during a stoppage in play.
It was Mehrts who dared to call giant All Blacks prop Kees Meeuws, 'Sunday Meeuws', 'Did You Hear the Meeuws' and 'One Network Meeuws'. He survived that without any physical damage.
It was Mehrts who reckoned prop Carl Hoeft, who has an impressive set of gleaming white teeth, hated going to South Africa in case elephant poachers got him. He survived that too.
It was Mehrts, who, during the All Blacks test with Italy in 2000 in Genoa, challenged giant Italian lock Luca Mastrodomenico to a fist fight.
Early in the test with Italy, Filo Tiatia scored a try for the All Blacks and, against all reason, a huge fight broke out. Mehrts, on the reserve bench, had spent some of the previous day catching up with old friends from the time; eight years before, he had played for the Calvisano club. They introduced him to the 2m 115kg lock Luca Mastrodomenico, who now played for Calvisano.
Like Mehrtens, Mastrodomenico was on the bench the following afternoon. ''When the fight broke out in the game, everyone stood up to have a look. For a laugh I ran down to the Italian bench. I stood in front of their bench, pointing at this massive lock, telling him I wanted a piece of him, and that he was lucky I hadn't got there earlier. The Italian officials were stunned at a skinny little Kiwi wanting to fight a man mountain. Luckily, Luca got the joke straight away.''
Filled with goodwill and diesel, it was Mehrts who once thought it'd be funny to tip a glass of beer over the head of a Canterbury teammate, All Blacks prop Richard Loe. He almost didn't survive that.
Canterbury had just lost that afternoon to King Country. It was the wrong time to tip beer on Loe.
Mehrts' halfback mate Justin Marshall says: ''Loey jumped up, roaring and grabbed Mehrts by the throat with one hand. All of a sudden Mehrts just slumped, out to it. It was so funny to watch. Mehrts had thought it was so hysterically funny to tip the beer. Seconds later he was asleep. From the moment he woke up he never tipped one drop of beer near Loey again.''
When he did overstep a behaviour boundary Mehrts didn't have to be held up by the throat to apologise. In the last minutes of a crucial Super Rugby game with the Bulls in Pretoria in 1999 he dropped a winning goal. He'd copped stick from the crowd all afternoon and, so as he ran back, he flipped one-fingered salutes with both hands to the local fans.
Coach Wayne Smith remembers how straight after the game Mehrts grabbed him and said, 'Can I come to the press conference?' Smith had seen the goal, but not the gestures. He didn't have time to find out what was behind the request.
At the conference Mehrtens made a sincere apology, so much so that the Bulls' captain Ruben Kruger, was moved to say that in the same circumstances he might have done the same thing.
It was easy, with the quips and the fun, to make the mistake of thinking Andrew didn't take winning and competing seriously, when, in fact, he was as intensely competitive as the most red-faced, snorting, angry prop.
Playing by the rules and knowing exactly what they were, was something he took on the paddock with him too. Todd Blackadder reckons Mehrts was often the Crusaders' secret weapon, in his ability to play mind games with officials.
''He never says anything derogatory; he's just talking about the laws of the game on which he is quite astute. Most players don't know the rules that well, so the ref can easily say, 'You're penalised because of whatever'. But Mehrts says, 'No ref, under such and such a section that shouldn't be the case' and he rattles them.''
One of the most heartfelt statements I've heard made by Mehrts was about referees.
''I know I shouldn't have a go at them. But the trouble is I know the rules so much better than they do.''
We looked at each other and started laughing at about the same time.
Talking of heartfelt, the passion Mehrts has for rugby, and Canterbury rugby in particular, was bred in him. His grandfather, George Mehrtens, was an All Black fullback in 1928, and his father Terry was a Junior All Black in 1965. Terry played for Natal against the All Blacks in 1970 while he and his wife Sandra were on a working holiday in South Africa. So when Andrew was born in Durban in 1973, there wasn't much chance rugby wouldn't be in the blood.
At his best at the top level he was almost two players rolled into one. If the game called for kicking for position, and then accurate goalkicking, he had the 50m punt and the 50m place kick. If the game called, as it did in Brisbane in 1996 against the Wallabies, for some running, he could do that too.
It wasn't all smooth sailing for Mehrts, even in Canterbury. In 2001, he was briefly dropped from the Crusaders playing squad and sent back to club rugby by Robbie Deans.
The rugby community in Christchurch was on fire with gossip, but Mehrts kept his dignity intact, sharpened up his game and was soon back in the team, going on to star in the magnificent 2002 Crusaders side [that went through unbeaten to win the Super rugby title].
It's a real tribute to the calibre of Mehrtens the man that when he was sliding out of calculation for the 2003 World Cup and was not in the first All Blacks training squad of that year, he'd go on national TV, with every chance to slag the selectors, and say, ''If I was in their shoes I wouldn't pick me at the moment.''
In recent years Mehrts has lived in Europe and now Australia. We caught up when he married his lovely wife, Jacqui, in Sumner in 2006, but there was a five-year gap before our paths crossed again.
During the 2011 Rugby World Cup TV3 ran a live late-night rugby show, Cup Talk, fronted by James Gemmell.
At about 11pm I was at TV3 talking in the waiting room near their studio with James, fellow guest Trevor McKewen and producer Jon Wild when Mehrts arrived.
I guessed he was fairly tired and emotional when I was enfolded in a man hug, and the show that followed was a fascinating 30 minutes.
A Herald On Sunday story by gossip writer Rachel Glucina under the heading 'Was Andrew Mehrtens Under the Influence on TV?' kicked around the issue of whether Mehrts was intoxicated.
I'd just say, having sat next to him throughout the show, that while he may have had a drink or two beforehand, he certainly wasn't drunk. You can't express coherent opinions and never once lapse into gibberish or searing if you're tanked. TV3 obviously thought the same, keeping him as their most regular panel member for the next five weeks.
Let me finish with a story that shows how, unlike some in the public eye, Andrew enjoys a joke just as much when it's on him.
In 1996 we celebrated [my wife] Jan's fiftieth birthday with a party at the Sumner Yacht Club. The invitation asked people to come as their fantasy. I was one of the rugby tragics who dressed as an All Black. Jan was the Queen and Richard Loe (I am not making this up) came dressed as The Devil.
Mehrts arrived clothed from head to toe in a real Springbok uniform, complete with the number 10 on the back of the jersey.
When there was a chance to have a private word with him I said, ''Mehrts, I know you were born in South Africa, but please don't tell me your fantasy is to be a Springbok.''
''No, not all all. This is Joel Stransky's gear, we swapped after the [1995 Rugby World Cup] final last year. My fantasy is to be the guy who kicks the winning goal in a World Cup final, not the dick who misses it.''
Phil Gifford: Loose Amongst The Legends is published by Upstart Press under the Mower imprint.Israel's ambassador to the United States on Monday slammed the United Nations Security Council's adoption of a resolution opposing Jewish settlements in occupied territory, suggesting the incoming Trump administration and Congress should take a close look at how much money the U.S. hands over to the U.N.
RABBI RIPS OBAMA UNITED NATIONS MOVE AT DC MENORAH LIGHTING
Speaking on Fox News' "Special Report," Ambassador Ron Dermer also doubled down on Israel's claim the U.S. orchestrated the resolution vote before abstaining last week. Still, he gave few specifics. "We have that evidence... we're going to present it to the new administration, and if they choose to share it with the American people, that'll be their choice."
Dermer called the U.N. a "cesspool" of anti-Israel and anti-American activity, and said Israel appreciated that President-elect Donald Trump called the vote a mistake. After the vote, Trump vowed that "things will be different after Jan. 20th."
NETANYAHU SUMMONS AMERICAN AMBASSADOR TO PROTEST UNITED NATIONS VOTE
The ambassador responded to calls from some prominent Republicans to stop all U.S. funds bound for the U.N. "I think a new president and Congress that wants to make sure that every penny of your money is going to something that protects and defends and advances U.S. interests -- I think there's a lot of changes that could happen at the United Nations," Dermer said.
The U.S. pays 22 percent of the world's contributions to the U.N. budget, much more than any other nation, a 2014 report showed.
The resolution said the settlements had "no legal validity" and constituted a "flagrant violation" of international law. It also urged all states to distinguish between Israel and "the territories occupied since 1967."
In the short term, the resolution was largely symbolic. It did not include talk of sanctions or any other measures to punish Israel.
U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Samantha Power said "it is because this resolution reflects the facts on the ground -- and is consistent with U.S. policy across Republican and Democratic administrations throughout the history of the state of Israel -- that the United States did not veto it." She cited a 1982 statement by then-President Ronald Reagan that the United States "will not support the use of any additional land for the purpose of settlements" and that "settlement activity is in no way necessary for the security of Israel."
Speaking to Israel's Channel Two on Monday, White House Deputy National Security Adviser Ben Rhodes said Secretary of State John Kerry planned to lay out a "comprehensive vision for how we see the conflict being resolved."
David Keyes, spokesman for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, told Fox News on Sunday, "We have rather ironclad information from sources in both the Arab world and internationally that this was a deliberate push by the United States and in fact they helped create the resolution in the first place."
"The Egyptians, in partnership with the Palestinians, are the ones who began circulating an earlier draft of the resolution," White House spokesman Eric Schultz responded. "The Egyptians are the ones who moved it forward on Friday. And we took the position that we did when it was put to a vote."
Netanyahu's office told reporters he looked forward to working with Trump "to negate the harmful effects of this absurd resolution."
Texas Sen. Ted Cruz and South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham were among the Republicans calling to defund the United Nations. Cruz said the U.S. should withhold money until the Security Council vote on Israel is reversed.
Fox News' Anna Olson, Anne Marie Riha and The Associated Press contributed to this report.In 2008, lawyers Davenport Lyons courted the mainstream media with the news that a court had found a woman guilty of sharing the game Dream Pinball 3D, an action which cost her around £16,000. Anyone with an understanding of these cases knew that something was wrong and now, thanks to yet more information from the leaked ACS:Law emails, we learn that this 'conviction' was built on foundations of sand.
In August 2008, we read the news here at TorrentFreak in disbelief. The BBC was reporting that Topware Interactive had won more than £16,000 following legal action against Isabella Barwinska of London, who shared a copy of their game Dream Pinball 3D using P2P.
“The damages and costs ordered by the Court are significant and should act as a deterrent,” said David Gore, a partner at Davenport Lyons who pioneered the “pay up or else” schemes multiplying in the UK and elsewhere.
Had the UK gone mad? £16,000 for sharing a single game? Why hadn’t we heard about this case in advance? Surely this wasn’t a ‘proper’ defended case? According to the “independent” IP barrister David Harris quoted by the BBC, it was just that.
“This is a proper Intellectual Property (IP) court that has made this judgement,” said Harris. “The previous ones were default judgements where defendants never turned up.”
So who exactly was this David Harris and who prompted him to make this announcement to the BBC? We don’t know, but one thing is certain – something felt wrong with his comments.
The hearing in the IP court meant the case had been rigorously analysed and the law properly understood, said Mr Harris, as quoted by the BBC. “It’s a much more interesting case in that respect,” he said.
It was indeed interesting, but for all the wrong reasons. It has long been suspected that far from it being a contested case, Miss Barwinska never turned up to defend herself and we now know for sure that she didn’t. Contested case? Not at all Mr Harris, whoever you are. There was absolutely zero defense.
Nevertheless, in common with Davenport Lyons before them, ACS:Law used the Barwinska ‘precedent’ in their ‘marketing’ to show what happens to people who choose not to settle for a few hundred pounds and cases end up in court.
But far from being a perfect illustration of a successfully litigated case, according to an advisor to ACS:Law’s Andrew Crossley the entire process was built on perilously weak foundations that only stood up because there was no defense. How do we know? From the emails that ACS:Law accidentally published on their website last week, of course.
In an email dated 19th August 2010, Adam Glen, who advises Andrew Crossley at ACS:Law, explained to him in no uncertain terms how weak the Barwinska case was.
He began with a statement that we have known to be true for a long time – it is almost impossible to prove damages to a copyright holder beyond an infringer making a single copy of a work on his hard drive. Under UK law, this is a big deal as damages awarded must reflect a proven loss.
“Unfortunately, except for Barwinska, there have been no cases involving P2P based infringement, except for those involving statutory damages, which provide some direction as to the method of calculation,” wrote Glen to Crossley.
“I have always been [of] the view that Barwinska is a difficult judgement and should not be relied upon for a number of reasons.”
The Barwinska case has always been completely shrouded in mystery, but Glen clearly knows it inside out. The reasons he gives for not relying on it are listed below and make quite remarkable reading:
a. The claim was not defended so there was no challenge to the submissions by Davenport Lyons b. The court accepted the Davenport Lyons quantum calculation without challenge c. The model submitted by Davenport Lyons was based upon, in my opinion, an extremely poor understanding of the underlying technology of P2P interaction d. The Davenport Lyons model, in my opinion, failed to apply accepted and fundamental mathematical principals in its calculation, including queuing theory, and would have difficulty in passing an applied mathematics assessment if submitted in an “A level” statistics paper. e. There are a number of |
2001 required states to conduct their own assessments in reading and math. This analysis converts those state scores, from 2009 to 2015, into a common standard measured in grade levels.
Districts with high growth are scattered across the country, in contrast with sharp geographic divisions on proficiency that show Northern schools ahead of those in the Deep South. School systems across Arizona and Tennessee that appear to test well below national averages are in fact overperforming in growth. Many predominantly minority districts where third graders start behind have high growth rates. But in New York City, where third graders test at the national average, slow growth puts them at a disadvantage later.
Highest growth rates School district Growth after 5 years Lowest growth rates School district Growth after 5 years Among the 200 largest school districts.
Even the fastest growth rates Mr. Reardon measures couldn’t completely close the proficiency gap that exists early on between typical poor and wealthy districts. That suggests that the most effective school systems alone can’t overcome all the disadvantages of poverty that accumulate before children even reach third grade and that shape the country’s racial achievement gaps.
There is promise, however, in a place like Chicago.
“Here’s the third-biggest school system in the country that’s dramatically outperforming not just the other big poor districts, but almost every district in the country, at scale,” Mr. Reardon said. If we understood what was causing that, in Chicago and other disadvantaged but high-growth districts, that might help reduce educational inequality, he said.
Lavizzo Elementary School in Chicago serves a student population that’s 98 percent black and 93 percent low income. Lyndon French for The New York Times
Even within this city, there’s broad disbelief in good news about the schools, in how they could succeed amid perpetual budget cuts, contentious school closings, rising crime and financial crisis.
But Mr. Reardon finds no evidence of inflated test scores in the district (by contrast, the recent cheating scandal in Atlanta is apparent in his data). Researchers at the University of Chicago and the University of Illinois at Chicago have also pointed to positive results for Chicago, relative to the rest of Illinois, and using other metrics.
“At some point, you’ve got to say, ‘O.K., this is getting to be an accurate picture,’ ” Mayor Rahm Emanuel said. The district has come far from 30 years ago, Mr. Emanuel notes, when Education Secretary William Bennett described the city’s schools as the worst in the country.
“I do wonder, if our students were not predominantly minority and poor, would people have the same level of skepticism?” said Janice Jackson, the district’s chief education officer since 2015 and a former teacher and principal in the system. “In public education we talk all the time about ‘beating the odds,’ about public education as ‘the great equalizer.’ But when we see it happen, we question it.”
Computer class at Lavizzo Elementary School on the far South Side of Chicago. Lyndon French for The New York Times
Mr. Reardon’s data shows that every demographic group within the district is growing at rates well above the national average, with Hispanic students outpacing whites. But while growth is broadly distributed, the pattern in Chicago and across the country means that black-white achievement gaps aren’t narrowing much even in the districts with the strongest growth.
On the city’s far South Side, scores have risen at Mildred I. Lavizzo Elementary School, which serves a student population that’s nearly 98 percent black and 93 percent low income. Several homes across the street are boarded up, and the area has lost population and jobs. Inside the school, the halls are decorated with emblems of other places: college banners, foreign flags, clocks that tell the time in Nairobi and Dublin.
Tracey Stelly, the principal since 2009, has brought in every enhancement she can find. The school uses an International Baccalaureate curriculum. The students read the Junior Great Books. The school hosts a community farmer’s market. Outside groups lead choir classes and organized games at recess.
“Whatever kids come in here, we know we can grow them,” Ms. Stelly said. She peered into the gymnasium one afternoon this fall while the fifth graders were dancing with their teachers to celebrate a schoolwide fund-raising project. “When kids come in the building,” she said, “they know, ‘This is where I belong.’ ”
At Lavizzo, the district’s emphasis on data and performance tracking is also conveyed to students in a manner Ms. Stelly hopes will inspire competition while remaining playful. One first-floor bulletin board updates the school’s attendance targets. Another records goals that students have set for their standardized test scores.
Across the district, data about attendance and grades is being used to identify the students likely to need extra attention. And the district has emphasized the role of more autonomous principals in improving instruction, an element of reform that Mr. Emanuel said is underappreciated nationally in debates that more often focus on teachers.
Students at Chicago’s Lavizzo Elementary School learn an International Baccalaureate curriculum. Lyndon French for The New York Times
The mayor has pushed other changes, including a longer school day and expanded pre-K, but those policies have shifted too recently to explain all the gains in Mr. Reardon’s data. Mr. Casserly suggests that Chicago and other large urban districts have been focused for years on the quieter work of defining what “grade level” actually means and how to get children there.
Between all these changes, it’s hard to untangle what’s been most effective, said Elaine Allensworth, who leads an education research consortium at the University of Chicago that works with the district. But she is confident the results are real.
“I go into schools now and I see places that are very different from what I saw 15 years ago,” she said. “It’s much more collaborative among teachers and data-focused, and focused on students.”
Compare your school district with its neighbors
Use the search box here or elsewhere on the page to see how your local school district compares with others in its county or nearby.
How compares with other nearby school districts in the state District Growth after 5 years Nat. pct. Median inc. National percentiles are based on school districts with reliable data.Twitter appears to be testing a new service that will send users direct messages with news articles. TechCrunch reports that an Event Parrot account has appeared that claims it's a Twitter experiment. "Follow me to receive direct messages that help you keep up with what's happening in the world," reads the description of the account. While it could be an elaborate fake, a number of Twitter staff are among the account's initial followers, including Isaac Hepworth who participates in "unusual projects" at Twitter.
Twitter has experimented with direct messages before
One direct message received from the account appears to be a retweet of news from CNN's own @CNNbrk breaking news account, with a link to an article. Twitter has experimented with early features using similar techniques in the past. A MagicRecs account was created to send DM alerts to followers about popular users and their tweets. The testing eventually led to a recommendation feature built into the company's iOS and Android apps that notifies users when a group of people you follow all follow the same person.
There are obviously thousands of news-related accounts on Twitter, but also some high profile accounts designed to tweet the latest breaking news. @BreakIngNews, @BBCBreaking, and @CNNbrk are a few examples, and Twitter's apparent tests could see a future native service that feeds personal news directly to users. Given the "parrot" part of the name, that sounds more likely than a Twitter-owned news service. We've reached out to Twitter for comment on the account, and we'll update you accordingly.Water
It is vital that we all work to maintain and preserve our most precious natural resource. I will be diligent and informative to my constituents as we make the tough decisions on water that will affect Norman for the next 50-100 years. I served for two years on the 2060 Strategic Water Supply Committee where we examined every possible option to secure water resources for Norman's future. The problem is big and we need bold leaders that can make informed decisions to secure Norman's prosperous future.
Open Government
I believe a truly transparent civic process requires citizen oversight and involvement. Ward meetings, social media outreach, improved functionality of the City website and development of mobile app for residents. I will always find a way to meet or talk with any person that may have concerns, or be interested in getting more involved in local issues.
Smart Growth
Norman is a great place to live and with that comes a responsibility of the elected officials to plan for growth. Norman continues to see many restraints in terms of mobility, water security, and infrastructure. I will continue to analyze the cost/benefit of proposed developments and how they affect our current infrastructure and resources. We need leadership that can help shape a Norman that is based on smart planning that will benefit the community as a whole.
Public Safety
I believe in community oriented policing, fire protection that reduces response time while lowering insurance rates for property owners, and a transportation network that creates the safest possible conditions for people traveling throughout our City no matter what mode of transportation you may desire. If we are to build an inclusive community we must continue to strive to make Norman the safest community it can be.
Other Issues: If re-elected, I will continue working on this important issues for Norman.Rafe de Crespigny is Professor Emeritus at the Australian National University. He is considered to be one of the most important historians on early medieval China, focusing on the late second and third centuries, when the Han Dynasty collapsed and was replaced by the Three Kingdoms. Professor de Crespigny has written numerous books and articles related to this era, including his latest work, Imperial Warlord: A Biography of Cao Cao 155-220 AD. The book examines the life and legacy of the founder of the Three Kingdoms state of Wei, who has traditionally been portrayed as one of the greatest villains in Chinese history.
We interviewed Professor de Crespigny by email:
1. Cao Cao is certainly one the more famous individuals in Chinese history, but over the centuries he has been portrayed more as a Machiavellian-type villain (one of the famous quotes attributed to him has been “I would rather betray the world than allow the world to betray me.”). Is your book in part an attempt to give a more balanced view to this person?
Yes, I have long felt that the popular attitude to the history of the Three Kingdoms period has been distorted by the great novel Sanguo yanyi (Romance of the Three Kingdoms), and the favourable view which it takes of Liu Bei and the claim of his state of Shu to be the legitimate successor of Han. This “Romantic” tradition has been supported by plays, opera and other literary texts, and it is still the common approach. I believe that the bias affects our interpretation of history and – while recognising the power of the novel – I wanted to study the historical texts in their own terms.
It is remarkable how much information is available in early Chinese sources for the period, and particularly on Cao Cao. From that material I have sought to construct a reasonably coherent account of Cao Cao’s life and character. I have tried to make it a balanced history, but readily acknowledge that I have become increasingly impressed with his achievements and his conduct in extraordinarily difficult circumstances.
In the final chapter of the work, I offer a summary of how Cao Cao’s reputation developed in the centuries after his death, with some suggestions why he became celebrated rather as a great villain than as a hero of his time. Often enough, the answer appears to lie in the political circumstances of later generations, and also in the nature of the literary works – plays and the novel itself – and their requirements of format and plot. In any event, villains are often more interesting and attractive than simple heroes!
2. Besides the chronicles and historical works about Cao Cao, you also have access to some of his own writings, including his poetry. How did reading Cao Cao’s own words change your perception of him?
It is fortunate that such a quantity of Cao Cao’s writings has been preserved. Military and political figures are generally known only by accounts of their actions, while – despite the Confucian tradition of scholarship -men of letters seldom play a major role in public affairs, and in few cases are their writings directly relevant to their careers.
In literary terms, however, even if he had not been so active in affairs at the end of Han, Cao Cao’s poetry would have been important in the developing forms of individual expression: I personally find the Jieshi poem both powerful and touching, with some splendid imagery. It was a notable literary family: Cao Cao’s son and successor Cao Pi and his son Cao Rui were both fine poets, and Cao Pi’s brother Cao Zhi is still considered one of the greatest in all Chinese history.
We also have texts from a number of Cao Cao’s official proclamations – unlike his rivals, it appears that he wrote them himself. Many are purely political, but others express opinions, and on 1 January 211, he published a formal and public explanation of his past career and his plans for the future. As Wolfgang Bauer observed in Das Anlitz Chinas, this Apologia is one of the earliest autobiographical writings in China, and though it is naturally self-justifying – what else would one expect? – it provides a good insight to Cao Cao’s personality.
Both in his poetry and his public announcements, Cao Cao appears self-confident, practical rather than idealistic, with concern for the state of his world and sympathy for its people. Faced with a time of disorder, he has little patience with social niceties: “War is not a matter of ritual and courtesy.” In similar fashion, he looks to employ men who are competent, even if not necessarily of high character, for he can use them and deal with them: here is a refreshing contrast to the high-minded morality which confused political debate as Later Han fell into ruin.
3. One of the key episodes in the rise of Cao Cao was his victory over Yuan Shao at the Battle of Guandu in the year 200. Could you outline some of your thoughts about the strategy Cao Cao used in the battle?
The most common interpretation of the Guandu campaign is that Yuan Shao had far greater resources than Cao Cao – he is said to have controlled four provinces – but made poor use of his army, embarking on a simple offensive without any real attempt at manoeuvre. Cao Cao managed to hold his ground against heavy odds, then defeated Yuan Shao by destroying his supplies.
While it is true that Cao Cao’s final attacks on Yuan Shao’s supply depots were decisive, it is my suggestion that Yuan Shao was always at a strategic disadvantage. Though he did control Ji province in the North China plain, he had done little to develop the territory, and his position further afield was tenuous at best. Faced with the growing power of Cao Cao, he summoned all his resources for a direct attack, but had no spare troops for operations elsewhere. He probably had a local superiority at Guandu, but he certainly did not outnumber Cao Cao by ten or even two to one.
Apart from Cao Cao’s oblique and surprise attack on Yuan Shao’s supplies, the comparison I would make with Sunzi is the manner in which Cao Cao prepared his defences and then obliged his enemy to fight on the ground he had chosen, while Yuan Shao was a long way from his base with a vulnerable line of communications. No military result can ever be guaranteed, but Cao Cao controlled the course of the campaign: in Sunzi’s terms, he obliged his enemy to submit to his will.
4. This is the latest in a series of books and articles you have done related to fall of the Han Dynasty and the Three Kingdoms period. How did you become interested in this time of Chinese history?
My first degree was in European history, and I then began studying Chinese under Hans Bielenstein, the great historian of the restoration of Han in the early first century AD. During my first year I read Brewitt-Taylor’s translation of Sanguo yanyi, and simply fell in love with the story. It has everything one could look for in the Western legend of King Arthur, with a basis in reality. So I wanted to find out what actually happened – the facts behind the fiction.
I am somewhat ashamed to say that I have never really cared for Liu Bei – high-minded rhetoric to justify treachery and double-dealing. So I first concentrated on the third kingdom, Wu, and then became involved in the question of what went wrong with Han itself: why and how did the empire fall? what was its structure and what were its fatal weaknesses? And that led into studies of frontier wars and geography, administration and tax, not to mention universities and rioting students, eunuchs and the harem.
In all this, my approach is that of an historian rather than a scholar of philosophy or literature. So I try to set people and their actions into the context of their time. When I was compiling A Biographical Dictionary of Later Han to the Three Kingdoms (23-220 AD) I did my best to record dates of birth and death – and was struck repeatedly by the thought that we all know our birthday, but very few can forecast their death: time, date and the order of events matter a great deal.
5. The early medieval period of Chinese history (roughly the end of the Han Dynasty to the Tang era) is becoming a more popular period for historians to do research in. Do you have any suggestions for graduate students and young historians on what they might want to study and work on from this period?
I find it disconcerting and somewhat disappointing that we do not yet have a detailed modern history of early medieval China. The first volume of the Cambridge series, for example, is stronger on Former than on Later Han, and the second volume is unlikely to appear in the foreseeable future. One problem is that chief attention has been given to the literature and philosophy of the period, and most historical studies are concerned with individual topics rather than narrative. Such subjects are certainly important, but I believe they need to be presented within the full perspective of politics, society and economic development.
I can offer two examples of such perspective. Firstly, the division of the Han empire into three rival states owed as much to changing demography – the retreat of Chinese population from the northern frontier and the expansion of colonisation in the south – as to the military efforts of the contending warlords. And secondly, as I have suggested on occasion, a major factor in the decline and fall of Han besides a series of under-age emperors and the rivalries of regent families and eunuchs, was that during the second century the central government was chronically short of money and may well have been effectively bankrupt. As a result, it was unable to perform its traditional functions of leadership and of benevolence in time of trouble, and it was vulnerable to the prosperous, confident, and increasingly independent-minded gentry of the provinces.
So my encouragement to any scholar planning work on medieval China would be to make a close study of a coherent period of history: as detailed an account as possible of what happened and how it came to pass; this will provide context and basis for exploring more specialised questions. There is plenty of traditional Chinese material which can be used for analysis, and the study of people is always worth while.
We thank Rafe de Crespigny for answering our questions.
Please also see his earlier article: Man from the Margin: Cao Cao and the Three Kingdoms
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our weekly emailThis approach to taxation applies nowhere more reasonably than greenhouse-gas-intensive commodities—also referred to as a meat tax, since animal agriculture is notoriously environmentally costly. A meat tax is not yet among the most pressing political issues of the day, but this week, a preliminary report from an investor initiative known Farm Animal Investment Risk and Return warned that a tax on meat is becoming “increasingly probable.”
The initiative looks at the impact of agriculture on the environment and how it will shape markets. The analysts cite the global popularity of “behavioral taxes” to nudge people to achieve social ends and decrease overall taxes—by reducing societal costs of such things as sugar and tobacco and carbon emissions—and argue that meat “is on the same path,” driven by “a global consensus around meat’s negative contributions to climate change and global-health epidemics such as obesity, cancer, and antibiotic resistance.”
Livestock has been estimated to account for around 15 percent of human-related greenhouse gases, and animal agriculture is water-intensive and space-inefficient. Over the next three decades, meat consumption is projected to increase by 75 percent.
The is based in part on research from the University of Oxford, where the food-policy researcher Marco Springmann and colleagues calculated that eliminating animal protein from the global food system would save $1.6 trillion in environmental costs by 2050. Springmann noted in a press statement that taxing meat “would send a strong signal that dietary change toward more healthy and sustainable plant-based diets is urgently needed to preserve both our health and the environment.”
A similar forecast came in 2015 from Chatham House, a London-based policy institute. “Shifting diets will require comprehensive strategies,” the authors wrote, “sending a powerful signal to consumers that reducing meat consumption is beneficial and that government takes the issue seriously.” The institute’s director of energy, environment, and resources, Rob Bailey, told The Guardian this week that he would “expect to see meat taxes accumulate” over the next 10 to 20 years. An author of the new Collier analysis put the timeframe at five to 10 years.
In places, this is already underway. Earlier this year, Germany’s environmental agency expressed interest in increasing taxes on meat, eggs, and cheese from 7 to 19 percent. The Danish Council on Ethics also recently recommended a meat tax to help the country achieve its obligations to the United Nations.
Any such approach would seem extremely unlikely in the United States, which has removed itself from a position of leadership in the global attack on climate change, and which subsidizes meat production rather than taxing it.
The United States has proved deeply divided on taxing even soda—which has neither nutritional value nor such deep-rooted cultural importance.So, after excitedly involving myself in Secret Santa I sent off my gifts and eagerly awaited the surprise of my Santa...But no such luck came at first.
But all good things come to those who wait.
My rematch Santa was quite possibly the most amazing person ever to be put with. My husband and I are expecting twins - that was something new for us. Turns out it wasn't for my rematch who ALSO had twins the same age as me. Had the stars aligned?
So began a long and lovely message system between myself and the new Santa. She took so much care in asking my likes and dislikes and even included my husband. She is a wonderful human being.
Then she began to tell me of the boxes...Yes boxes, plural. I was very excited.
The packages were posted, despite a snowstorm and the antipication began. Eventually (after chasing the postman around) all 3 boxes arrived.
This was like Christmas all over again.
My Santa had started with two t-shirts. One for me and my husband each. My husband was very proud of his twin making ability and this shirt summed it up perfectly. He plans to were it at the next scan. Mine was perfect and definitely summed up the two cheeky monkies living inside me at the moment. I can't wait to wear it at my baby shower.
The sweets came next, oh the sweets! I love American candy and these are some of my favourites!!! These will not be shared, that's for sure. Although I'll let my husband in on the Star Wars treats. There will be fighting over these haha.
Next the BB8 Car charger - he's my favourite character and can now go wherever with me and keep me in contact with my new found friend in my rematch. As well as being able to call the hospital in a twin emergency haha.
The letter in this box was heartwarming. My Santa thanked me...Thanked me for helping her enjoy Christmas again. Personally it's me who should do the thanking, and I can't find a card big enough. I hope this post will be a start.
Onto the next box, the homemade baby blankets. Crocheted, homemade, beautifully soft baby blankets made by her very talented daughter. They would have been enough but she's even offered to make more. Then there were the twin baby suits... The picture says it all. She knows me well.
Then the last box...labelled homemade candies. Curiosity peaked. These. Are. Delicious. Scotch Kisses - these are a new found love. Marshmallow covered in toffee, onomnomnom. I have requests from all my family to bring them. I have to share, she said so. Then the caramels, are like UK fudge. Delicious.
So generous and an excellent cook.
I honestly don't have the words to express my gratitude. I am so overwhelmed and I've made a lifelong friend.
Reddit - you are a beautiful place. I'll see you for the next one.
Big love.Khan—a free online educational platform that provides self-paced, mastery-based education—will be the launching pad for what will become a complete, free knowledge-base for health care education. It will start with pre-medical preparation for the MCAT but perhaps one day soon encompass all didactic parts of medical education. That seems important.
Currently, those who wish to partake of that knowledge must get someone’s approval or pay somebody a fee or climb some other wall to get to it. The vision for this collaboration: anyone, anywhere in the world with access to a computer and an Internet connection may have, receive and learn this previously precious material.
The next baby step toward that vision is this week’s call to emerging leaders in medicine—current medical students and residents who love to teach, want to share this knowledge broadly and are, let’s be frank, good at making online teaching videos. Khan, AAMC and RWJF will run a national competition looking for just those kinds of leaders. The lucky 10 winners will then have the opportunity to go to a Khan-led video boot camp to hone their craft—and increase their “swerve-induction” credentials.
If you are such an emerging leader—or know one—take a look at this incredible opportunity. If you’re like me, you definitely will want to be there at the very beginning when this health care knowledge starts to break free and change everything.
The deadline for video submissions is June 14. Learn more about the contest rules and instructions.Children’s classic Thomas the Tank Engine has been blamed for a lack of female train drivers due to its absence of positive female characters, Labour's shadow transport secretary, Mary Creagh, has said.
Creagh said that the much-loved children’s series from the 1940‘s, which tells of the adventures of a steam train named Thomas and his friends, set a bad example to children and described the lack of female train drivers as ‘a national scandal’.
Of the female characters that did appear within the stories, Creagh said that they were “annoyance, a nuisance and in some cases a danger.”
ASLEF, the train driver’s union is currently working on recruiting more female drivers.
According to the Daily Mail, Hit Entertainment, the company which now own's the rights to Thomas the Tank Engine, plans to introduce new female characters into the series.
Creagh also advised that recruitment adverts be placed in female focused publications, such as Women’s Own and Good Housekeeping, in order to reach their target demographic.Why Ferguson Protests Spilled Onto Highways
Protests following a Missouri grand jury’s failure to indict Officer Darren Wilson for shooting and killing Michael Brown spilled out onto highways in several American cities on Monday evening and Tuesday. Protesters occupied freeways in Los Angeles, Seattle, Oakland, Milwaukee, Atlanta, St. Louis, Cleveland, New York, Philadelphia, and Chicago. (One reported incident of road rage at the protests — a Minnesota man who ran over a woman in downtown Minneapolis — happened on a surface street.)
Patrick Kennedy, a Streetsblog Network member who now writes at D Magazine’s Street Smart column, sees special significance in the use of highways as a protest venue. It is less tidy and harder to ignore than staying on the surface:
These aren’t exactly Tahrir or Taksim Squares, large spaces at a central convergence point for all the city making for natural gathering places. Those occur in still urban places that promote gathering rather than dispersal. We’ve replaced city, and its inherent ability to foster foment just as easily as its day-to-day intended purpose of human progress through social and economic exchange, with car-dependent, isolated anti-city, fragmented by these hulking concrete structures… The highways are the centerless epicenter of American life. What better place to disrupt? What else better represents the very literal as well as underlying divide, displacement, and disenfranchisement… My point here is not to debate the specifics of the incident in Ferguson. Any one incident belies the deeper issues at hand leading to such widespread convulsion that registers nationally. Instead, it is to take issue with the belief that protesters should go back to the fenced in area so we never have to hear from them again nor pay attention.
Here are a few more scenes of the direct action on highways.
Protesters blocked traffic on Cleveland’s Route 2 in both directions, right in the middle of rush hour. Via Northeast Ohio Media Group’s Cory Shaffer:
Here is I-70 in St. Louis, via Michael Allen:
New York City, via Keegan Stephan:
Philadelphia, via D Magazine:
Detroit’s I-75 via Motor City Muckrackers:
Providence, Rhode Island’s I-95, via J Claesse:
Elsewhere on the Network today: Strong Towns turns a skeptical eye toward the 60 Minutes report on America’s decrepit infrastructure. And Streets.mn says its time for Minnesota to institute a state sales tax on gasoline and motor vehicle purchases.The Chicago Bears had a strong first half vs. the St. Louis Rams as they score 24 points and have two scoring plays of over 80 yards.
The two 80-yard scoring plays is something that doesn’t happen in the NFL very often. In fact, the Bears are the first team in nine years to have multiple 80-yard touchdowns on offense in a game.
Bears: 1st team with multiple 80-yard TDs on offense in a game since the 2006 Bills (against Texans) — ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) November 15, 2015
Jay Cutler was directly responsible for both scoring plays, making him the first quarterback in Bears history to throw two 80-yard touchdowns in a single game.
Jay Cutler is the 1st Bears QB in franchise history to throw 2 80+ yard TDs in a single game pic.twitter.com/OeUFDd5fmw — Randall Liu (@RLiuNFL) November 15, 2015
The first 80-yard touchdown was a Jay Cutler 87-yard touchdown pass to Zach Miller in the first quarter. The second was a Cutler 83-yard touchdown pass to Jeremy Langford.Scrapes with capes aside, Madonna – the long-reigning queen of reinvention and image-driven pop – has a well-documented history of stealing the limelight, as somebody who’s always had an innate understanding of the marketing power of character dressing. No-one who grew up in the ‘80s can have failed to observe the atomic impact each new incarnation had on youth culture, as the singer’s attire (and attitude) fearlessly challenged long-held conventions regarding sexuality, gender, religion and, of late, age-appropriateness.
As a child, Madonna wanted to be either a film star or a nun when she grew up. She’s extensively explored both roles through clothes ever since, with both Marilyn Monroe and Catholic iconography being key inspirations behind her expansive back catalogue of looks, from 1950s glamour girl (Material Girl) to penitent sinner (Like a Prayer) and spiritual entity (Ray of Light). The most defining image of her career arguably remains the wedding dress worn on the cover of second album Like a Virgin, with its white bustier, long lace gloves, crucifix jewellery and Boy Toy belt. Madonna’s long-time personal stylist, Arianne Phillips, described the bright-white bridal juxtaposition as “one of the most shocking, liberating and influential moments in pop culture/fashion history”, adding that “fashion has never been the same”.
Madonna Louise Ciccone saw clothes as a tool of rebellion from early on. The impact of losing her mother to breast cancer when she was only five years old is well-known; in an interview with Vanity Fair she once described her younger self as a “lonely girl who was searching for something”. In Madonna: A Biography, author Mary Cross describes how the eldest daughter in a brood of eight refused to wear the identical outfits in which housekeeper-turned-stepmother Joan Gustafson liked to dress the Ciccone girls, so she “deliberately wore mismatched socks and clothes”. Of her teenage phase, she insists “I wasn’t rebellious in a certain way. I cared about being good at something. I didn’t shave my underarms and I didn’t wear make-up like normal girls do. But I studied and I got good grades... I wanted to be somebody.” As a dance major at the University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre & Dance in the 1970s, the Bay City native showed up for class wearing torn tights held together with safety pins and “cultivated that deliberate déshabillé look”, according to Cross.
Combining crop-tops, mini-skirts over Capri pants, punk-rock studded cuffs and belts with fishnets, the young Madonna formulated a street-meets-flea market vibe with now iconic, then edgy accessories like lace gloves, tangles of pearls and rosary beads, stacked rubber bracelets and crucifix jewellery by cult NYC-based French designer, stylist and artist Maripol. (In an interview with The New York Times, the singer’s publicist Liz Rosenberg recalled Madonna first walking into her office in 1983, an unknown singer and ‘dance artist’ from the Lower East Side club scene who’d been signed by Warner Brothers for two singles, in “a black outfit with a hundred rubber bracelets on each wrist”.) Crowning the deceptively complex look were ribbons tied in roughly bleached blonde hair and strong make-up: bushy eyebrows, heavily defined eyes, a Marilyn-style beauty mark and a bold lip shade.
Agent provocateur
When it comes to her image, Madonna has always been well supported, with fellow provocateur Jean Paul Gaultier the brains behind the bras on her 1990 Blond Ambition world tour. “The quintessential rock star-fashion designer relationship is Madonna and Jean Paul Gaultier... a mutually beneficial connection, I think they understood each other brilliantly,” said Tim Blanks, Editor at Large of Style.com, in a video about the singer’s turn on Gaultier’s Spring 1995 catwalk, pushing a puppy in a pram. “He gave her a look which people will always associate with her and she gave him a profile which he’s never ever lost. When you think about the ’90s, Madonna in her Gaultier cone bra is one of the most unforgettable images of the entire decade.” Gaultier was also behind the Memoirs of a Geisha-inspired kimono costumes featured in the Nothing Really Matters video and Drowned World tour, and worn by the singer at the 1999 Grammys, where Ray of Light won four awards.
Red-carpet theatrics are a popular sport for Madonna, who likes to part the sea of ubiquitous mermaid gowns with attention-grabbing ensembles. She wore a sari with bare feet to collect the first ever Versace Award at the VH1 Fashion Awards in 1998. “She’s outrageous, she’s provocative, she’s inscrutable and over the years we’ve all been witness to her evolution from street-smart kid sister to virgin bride, from a sex goddess to yogini,” said Sting, who co-presented the award with Donatella Versace. “Her mind is as celebrated as her body, she’s as feared as she is desired. She leads while others follow.” The most recent Grammy Awards saw her sporting thigh boots and a matador-inspired Givenchy Couture bodysuit, cheekily flipping its jet-encrusted skirt to bare her fishnetted derriere to the paps. “Be perfectly content to be who you are, someone unique and rare and fearless,” she announced before her performance of new single Living For Love.
Rebel heart
Despite now being in her sixth decade, the provocateur queen of pop – whose latest album, Rebel Heart, is released this month, its cover showing Madonna’s face lashed with S&M-style black cords – hasn’t kicked her habit of exposing body parts. She first posed nude as an unknown, then in her all-star Sex book and on Gaultier’s catwalk in 1992. The button-pushing performer showed a nipple during a concert in Istanbul on her 2012 MDNA world tour, days later flashing her bottom at a concert in Rome. Commentators have thus become more concerned with the age-appropriateness of her actions and garb than any political correctness. “She looks like she’s done 10th grade 48 times,” quipped the late Joan Rivers apropos her cheerleader-style Super Bowl half-time show outfit on a 2012 episode of Fashion Police. “(Her ever-youthful style has always been fodder for comics, with Jennifer Saunders notably spoofing the singer’s Hung Up combination of retro leotard and Farrah Fawcett hair flicks.)
“Is there a rule? Are people just supposed to die when they’re 40?” she asked in a 1992 interview with Jonathan Ross at the tender age of 34. In a recent Q&A with Rolling Stone, for whose cover she struck a Marilyn pin-up pose, she takes on ageism in pop culture and beyond. “It’s still the one area where you can totally discriminate against somebody,” she notes. “[Regarding] my age – anybody and everybody would say something degrading to me. And I always think to myself, why is that accepted? What’s the difference between that and racism, or any discrimination? They’re judging me by my age. I don’t understand. I’m trying to get my head around it. Because women, generally, when they reach a certain age, have accepted that they’re not allowed to behave a certain way. But I don’t follow the rules. I never did, and I’m not going to start.”
“When I did my Sex book, it wasn’t the average,” she adds. “When I performed Like a Virgin on the MTV Awards and my dress went up and my ass was showing, it was considered a total scandal. It was never the average, and now it’s the average. When I did Truth or Dare [aka In Bed with Madonna] and the cameras followed me around, it was not the average. So if I have to be the |
Post-traumatic kyphosis (M84.0) can arise from untreated or ineffectively treated vertebral fractures.
Grading [ edit ]
Kyphosis can be graded in severity by the Cobb angle. Also, sagittal balance can be measured. The sagittal balance is the horizontal distance between the center of C7 and the superior-posterior border of the endplate of S1 on a lateral radiograph.[15] An offset of more than 2.5 cm anteriorly or posteriorly is considered to be abnormal.[16]
Treatments [ edit ]
A diagnosis of kyphosis is generally made through observation and measurement. Idiopathic causes, such as vertebral wedging or other abnormalities, can be confirmed through X-ray. Osteoporosis, a potential cause of kyphosis, can be confirmed with a bone density scan. Postural thoracic kyphosis can often be treated with posture reeducation and focused strengthening exercises. Idiopathic thoracic kyphosis due to vertebral wedging, fractures, or vertebral abnormalities is more difficult to manage, since assuming a correct posture may not be possible with structural changes in the vertebrae. Children who have not completed their growth may show long-lasting improvements with bracing. Exercises may be prescribed to alleviate discomfort associated with overstretched back muscles. A variety of gravity-assisted positions or gentle traction can minimize pain associated with nerve root impingement. Surgery may be recommended for severe idiopathic kyphosis.
Brace [ edit ]
[17] Modern brace for the treatment of a thoracic kyphosis. The brace is constructed using a CAD/CAM device.
Body braces showed benefit in a randomised controlled trial.[18]
The Milwaukee brace is one particular body brace that is often used to treat kyphosis in the US. Modern CAD/CAM braces are used in Europe to treat different types of kyphosis. These are much easier to wear and have better in-brace corrections than reported for the Milwaukee brace. Since there are different curve patterns (thoracic, thoracolumbar and lumbar), different types of brace are in use, with different advantages and disadvantages.[17]
[17] Modern brace for the treatment of a lumbar or thoracolumbar kyphosis. The brace is constructed using a CAD/CAM device. Restoration of the lumbar lordosis is the main aim.
Physical therapy [ edit ]
In Germany, a standard treatment for both Scheuermann's disease and lumbar kyphosis is the Schroth method, a system of physical therapy for scoliosis and related spinal deformities.[19] It involves lying supine, placing a pillow under the scapular region and posteriorly stretching the cervical spine.
Surgery [ edit ]
Surgical treatment can be used in severe cases. In patients with progressive kyphotic deformity due to vertebral collapse, a procedure called a kyphoplasty may arrest the deformity and relieve the pain. Kyphoplasty is a minimally invasive procedure,[20] requiring only a small opening in the skin. The main goal is to return the damaged vertebra as close as possible to its original height.[21]
People [ edit ]
See also [ edit ]
References [ edit ]I was talking to someone recently about inking a project for them, and to rummage up some sample inked pages, I did a Google search for the above words “Ty Templeton ink”. It seemed so much quicker than digging through my own files. The internet is my friend.
I got what I expected, a bunch of pages from my various inking jobs over the years that people had in their collections and have scanned and put online. All fine.
But I didn’t expect to find this:
That’s my cover to Gotham Adventures #1…or a version of it…burned into someone’s arm with needles and pain and the oh boy, sweet glavin! The arm belongs to Craig Kandiko, and this and the other images I’m going to show you are taken from his MySpace site which you can find here.
Craig is a Batman fan. A serious Batman fan, and he’s focused the meat and flesh of his fandom on the Gotham Adventures comic title as all of his tattoos are from covers of that series. This is an ongoing project for Craig, as he’s added to the Batman Animated gallery on his legs and other arms as the years have gone by. I’ll let you go to his site to see all his tattoos, some based on Bruce Timm, and some by Bob Smith – but since this is MY blog, I’m showing you the two other tats he has with my artwork on his largest organ!
This isn’t the first time someone has tattooed my artwork onto their body. I’ve been sent a couple of images of a Riddler tattoo that a girl put on her lower hip a few years ago, and another one that features a JOKER I drew that ended up on someone’s shoulder….and a friend of mine has a design between her shoulder blades that I designed for her. These are all small, singular tattoos that take up just a bit of someone’s body, and I’m flattered to see someone wanted my drawing or my character on them for life. Craig is clearly the biggest Batman Adventures fan on Earth from this level of dedication.
So Craig, I salute you, and feature you on my blog. I’ll just say this, I often erase and redraw my figures while I’m working on them. Next time, I’ll realize the importance to your very skin that I get every line right!
Ty the Guy
To share post:
–A Spark Neglected Burns the House
(1885.)
'Then came Peter, and said to him, Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? until seven times? Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee, Until seven times; but, Until seventy times seven. Therefore is the kingdom of heaven likened unto a certain king, which would make a reckoning with his servants. And when he had begun to reckon, one was brought unto him, which owed him ten thousand talents.
But forasmuch as he had not wherewith to pay, his lord commanded him to be sold, and his wife, and children, and all that he had, and payment to be made. The servant therefore fell down and worshipped him, saying, Lord, have patience with me, and I will pay thee all. And the lord of that servant, being moved with compassion, released him, and forgave him the debt. But that servant went out, and found one of his fellow-servants, which owed him a hundred pence: and he laid hold on him, and took him by the throat saying, Pay what thou owest.
So his fellow-servant fell down and besought him, saying, Have patience with me, and I will pay thee. And he would not: but went and cast him into prison, till he should pay that which was due. So when his fellow-servants saw what was done, they were exceeding sorry, and came and told unto their lord all that was done. Then his lord called him unto him, and saith to him, Thou wicked servant, I forgave thee all that debt, because thou besoughtest me: shouldest not thou also have had mercy on thy fellow-servant, even as I had mercy on thee? And his lord was wroth, and delivered him to the tormentors, till he should pay all that was due. So shall also my heavenly Father do unto you, if ye forgive not every one his brother from your hearts.'
- Matthew. xviii. 21-35.
THERE once lived in a village a peasant named Iv�n Stcherbak�f. He was comfortably off, in the prime of life, the best worker in the village, and had three sons all able to work. The eldest was married, the second about to marry, and the third was a big lad who could mind the horses and was already beginning to plough. Ivan's wife was an able and thrifty woman, and they were fortunate in having a quiet, hard-working daughter-in-law. There was nothing to prevent Iv�n and his family from living happily. They had only one idle mouth to feed; that was Iv�n's old father, who suffered from asthma and had been lying ill on the top of the brick oven for seven years. Iv�n had all he needed: three horses and a colt, a cow with a calf, and fifteen sheep. The women made all the clothing for the family, besides helping in the fields, and the men tilled the land. They always had grain enough of their own to last over beyond the next harvest and sold enough oats to pay the taxes and meet their other needs. So Iv�n and his children might have lived quite comfortably had it not been for a feud between him and his next-door neighbour, Limping Gabriel, the son of Gord�y Iv�nof.
As long as old Gord�y was alive and Iv�n's father was still able to manage the household, the peasants lived as neighbours should. If the women of either house happened to want a sieve or a tub, or the men required a sack, or if a cart-wheel got broken and could not be mended at once, they used to send to the other house, and helped each other in neighbourly fashion. When a calf strayed into the neighbour's thrashing-ground they would just drive it out, and only say, 'Don't let it get in again; our grain is lying there.' And such things as locking up the barns and outhouses, hiding things from one another, or backbiting were never thought of in those days.
That was in the fathers' time. When the sons came to be at the head of the families, everything changed.
It all began about a trifle.
Iv�n's daughter-in-law had a hen that began laying rather early in the season, and she started collecting its eggs for Easter. Every day she went to the cart-shed, and found an egg in the cart; but one day the hen, probably frightened by the children, flew across the fence into the neighbour's yard and laid its egg there. The woman heard the cackling, but said to herself: 'I have no time now; I must tidy up for Sunday. I'll fetch the egg later on.' In the evening she went to the cart, but found no egg there. She went and asked her mother-in-law and brother-in-law whether they had taken the egg. 'No,' they had not; but her youngest brother-in-law, Tar�s, said: 'Your Biddy laid its egg in the neighbour's yard. It was there she was cackling, and she flew back across the fence from there.'
The woman went and looked at the hen. There she was on the perch with the other birds, her eyes just closing ready to go to sleep. The woman wished she could have asked the hen and got an answer from her.
Then she went to the neighbour's, and Gabriel's mother came out to meet her.
'What do you want, young woman?'
'Why, Granny, you see, my hen flew across this morning. Did she not lay an egg here?'
'We never saw anything of it. The Lord be thanked, our own hens started laying long ago. We collect our own eggs and have no need of other people's! And we don't go looking for eggs in other people's yards, lass!'
The young woman was offended, and said more than she should have done. Her neighbour answered back with interest, and the women began abusing each other. Ivan's wife, who had been to fetch water, happening to pass just then, joined in too. Gabriel's wife rushed out, and began reproaching the young woman with things that had really happened and with other things that never had happened at all. Then a general uproar commenced, all shouting at once, trying to get out two words at a time, and not choice words either.
'You're this!' and 'You're that!' 'You're a thief!' and 'You're a slut!' and 'You're starving your old father-in-law to death!' and 'You're a good-for-nothing!' and so on.
'And you've made a hole in the sieve I lent you, you jade! And it's our yoke you're carrying your pails on -- you just give back our yoke!'
Then they caught hold of the yoke, and spilt the water, snatched off one another's shawls, and began fighting. Gabriel, returning from the fields, stopped to take his wife's part. Out rushed Iv�n and his son and joined in with the rest. Iv�n was a strong fellow, he scattered the whole lot of them, and pulled a handful of hair out of Gabriel's beard. People came to see what was the matter, and the fighters were separated with difficulty.
That was how it all began.
Gabriel wrapped the hair torn from his beard in a paper, and went to the District Court to have the law of Iv�n. 'I didn't grow my beard,' said he, 'for pockmarked Iv�n to pull it out!' And his wife went bragging to the neighbours, saying they'd have Iv�n condemned and sent to Siberia. And so the feud grew.
The old man, from where he lay on the top of the oven, tried from the very first to persuade them to make peace, but they would not listen. He told them, 'It's a stupid thing you are after, children, picking quarrels about such a paltry matter. Just think! The whole thing began about an egg. The children may have taken it -- well, what matter? What's the value of one egg? God sends enough for all! And suppose your neighbour did say an unkind word -- put it right; show her how to say a better one! If there has been a fight -- well, such things will happen; we're all sinners, but make it up, and let there be an end of it! If you nurse your anger it will be worse for you yourselves.'
But the younger folk would not listen to the old man. They thought his words were mere senseless dotage. Iv�n would not humble himself before his neighbour.
'I never pulled his beard,' he said, 'he pulled the hair out himself. But his son has burst all the fastenings on my shirt, and torn it.... Look at it!'
And Iv�n also went to law. They were tried by the Justice of the Peace and by the District Court. While all this was going on, the coupling-pin of Gabriel's cart disappeared. Gabriel's womenfolk accused Ivan's son of having taken it. They said: 'We saw him in the night go past our window, towards the cart; and a neighbour says he saw him at the pub, offering the pin to the landlord.'
So they went to law about that. And at home not a day passed without a quarrel or even a fight. The children, too, abused one another, having learnt to do so from their elders; and when the women happened to meet by the river-side, where they went to rinse the clothes, their arms did not do as much wringing as their tongues did nagging, and every word was a bad one.
At first the peasants only slandered one another; but afterwards they began in real earnest to snatch anything that lay handy, and the children followed their example. Life became harder and harder for them. Iv�n Stcherbak�f and Limping Gabriel kept suing one another at the Village Assembly, and at the District Court, and before the Justice of the Peace until all the judges were tired of them. Now Gabriel got Iv�n fined or imprisoned; then Iv�n did as much to Gabriel; and the more they spited each other the angrier they grew -- like dogs that attack one another and get more and more furious the longer they fight. You strike one dog from behind, and it thinks it's the other dog biting him, and gets still fiercer. So these peasants: they went to law, and one or other of them was fined or locked up, but that only made them more and more angry with each other. 'Wait a bit,' they said, 'and I'll make you pay for it.' And so it went on for six years. Only the old man lying on the top of the oven kept telling them again and again: 'Children, what are you doing? Stop all this paying back; keep to your work, and don't bear malice -- it will be better for you. The more you bear malice, the worse it will be.'
But they would not listen to him.
In the seventh year, at a wedding, Ivan's daughter-in-law held Gabriel up to shame, accusing him of having been caught horse-stealing. Gabriel was tipsy, and unable to contain his anger, gave the woman such a blow that she was laid up for a week; and she was pregnant at the time. Iv�n was delighted. He went to the magistrate to lodge a complaint. 'Now I'll get rid of my neighbour! He won't escape imprisonment, or exile to Siberia.' But Ivan's wish was not fulfilled. The magistrate dismissed the case. The woman was examined, but she was up and about and showed no sign of any injury. Then Ivan went to the Justice of the Peace, but he referred the business to the District Court. Ivan bestirred himself: treated the clerk and the Elder of the District Court to a gallon of liquor and got Gabriel condemned to be flogged. The sentence was read out to Gabriel by the clerk: 'The Court decrees that the peasant Gabriel Gord�yef shall receive twenty lashes with a birch rod at the District Court.'
Ivan too heard the sentence read, and looked at Gabriel to see how he would take it. Gabriel grew as pale as a sheet, and turned round and went out into the passage. Ivan followed him, meaning to see to the horse, and he overheard Gabriel say, 'Very well! He will have my back flogged: that will make it burn; but something of his may burn worse than that!'
Hearing these words, Ivan at once went back into the Court, and said: 'Upright judges! He threatens to set my house on fire! Listen: he said it in the presence of witnesses!'
Gabriel was recalled. 'Is it true that you said this?'
'I haven't said anything. Flog me, since you have the power. It seems that I alone am to suffer, and all for being in the right, while he is allowed to do as he likes.'
Gabriel wished to say something more, but his lips and his cheeks quivered, and he turned towards the wall. Even the officials were frightened by his looks. 'He may do some mischief to himself or to his neighbour,' thought they.
Then the old Judge said: 'Look here, my men; you'd better be reasonable and make it up. Was it right of you, friend Gabriel, to strike a pregnant woman? It was lucky it passed off so well, but think what might have happened! Was it right? You had better confess and beg his pardon, and he will forgive you, and we will alter the sentence.'
The clerk heard these words, and remarked: 'That's impossible under Statute 117. An agreement between the parties not having been arrived at, a decision of the Court has been pronounced and must be executed.'
But the Judge would not listen to the clerk.
'Keep your tongue still, my friend,' said he. 'The first of all laws is to obey God, Who loves peace.' And the Judge began again to persuade the peasants, but could not succeed. Gabriel would not listen to him.
'I shall be fifty next year,' said he, 'and have a married son, and have never been flogged in my life, and now that pockmarked Ivan has had me condemned to be flogged, and am I to go and ask his forgiveness? No; I've borne enough.... Ivan shall have cause to remember me!'
Again Gabriel's voice quivered, and he could say no more, but turned round and went out.
It was seven miles from the Court to the village, and it was getting late when Ivan reached home. He unharnessed his horse, put it up for the night, and entered the cottage. No one was there. The women had already gone to drive the cattle in, and the young fellows were not yet back from the fields. Iv�n went in, and sat down, thinking. He remembered how Gabriel had listened to the sentence, and how pale he had become, and how he had turned to the wall; and Ivan's heart grew heavy. He thought how he himself would feel if he were sentenced, and he pitied Gabriel. Then he heard his old father up on the oven cough, and saw him sit up, lower his legs, and scramble down. The old man dragged himself slowly to a seat, and sat down. He was quite tired out with the exertion, and coughed a long time till he had cleared his throat. Then, leaning against the table, he said: 'Well, has he been condemned?'
'Yes, to twenty strokes with the rods,' answered Iv�n.
The old man shook his head.
'A bad business,' said he. 'You are doing wrong, Iv�n! Ah! it's very bad -- not for him so much as for yourself!... Well, they'll flog him: but will that do you any good?'
'He'll not do it again,' said Iv�n.
'What is it he'll not do again? What has he done worse than you?'
'Why, think of the harm he has done me!' said Iv�n. 'He nearly killed my wife, and now he's threatening to burn us up. Am I to thank him for it?'
The old man sighed, and said: 'You go about the wide world, Iv�n, while I am lying on the oven all these years, so you think you see everything, and that I see nothing.... Ah, lad! It's you that don't see; malice blinds you. Others' sins are before your eyes, but your own are behind your back. "He's acted badly!" What a thing to say! If he were the only one to act badly, how could strife exist? Is strife among men ever bred by one alone? Strife is always between two. His badness you see, but your own you don't. If he were bad, but you were good, there would be no strife. Who pulled the hair out of his beard? Who spoilt his haystack? Who dragged him to the law court? Yet you put it all on him! You live a bad life yourself, that's what is wrong! It's not the way I used to live, lad, and it's not the way I taught you. Is that the way his old father and I used to live? How did we live? Why, as neighbours should! If he happened to run out of flour, one of the women would come across: "Uncle Trol, we want some flour." "Go to the barn, dear," I'd say: "take what you need." If he'd no one to take his horses to pasture, "Go, Iv�n," I'd say, "and look after his horses." And if I was short of anything, I'd go to him. "Uncle Gord�y," I'd say, "I want so-and-so!" "Take it Uncle Trol!" That's how it was between us, and we had an easy time of it. But now?... That soldier the other day was telling us about the fight at Plevna (A town in Bulgaria, the scene of fierce and prolonged fighting between the Turks and the Russians in the war of 1877).. Why, there's war between you worse than at Plevna! Is that living?... What a sin it is! You are a man and master of the house; it's you who will have to answer. What are you teaching the women and the children? To snarl and snap? Why, the other day your Tar�ska -- that greenhorn -- was swearing at neighbour Irena, calling her names; and his mother listened and laughed. Is that right? It is you will have to answer. Think of your soul. Is this all as it should be? You throw a word at me, and I give you two in return; you give me a blow, and I give you two. No, lad! Christ, when He walked on earth, taught us fools something very different.... If you get a hard word from any one, keep silent, and his own conscience will accuse him. That is what our Lord taught. If you get a slap, turn the other cheek. "Here, beat me, if that's what I deserve!" And his own conscience will rebuke him. He will soften, and will listen to you. That's the way He taught us, not to be proud!... Why don't you speak? Isn't it as I say?'
Iv�n sat silent and listened.
The old man coughed, and having with difficulty cleared his throat, began again: 'You think Christ taught us wrong? Why, it's all for our own good. Just think of your earthly life; are you better off, or worse, since this Plevna began among you? Just reckon up what you've spent on all this law business -- what the driving backwards and forwards and your food on the way have cost you! What fine fellows your sons have grown; you might live and get on well; but now your means are lessening. And why? All because of this folly; because of your pride. You ought to be ploughing with your lads, and do the sowing yourself; but the fiend carries you off to the judge, or to some pettifogger or other. The ploughing is not done in time, nor the sowing, and mother earth can't bear properly. Why did the oats fail this year? When did you sow them? When you came back from town! And what did you gain? A burden for your own shoulders.... Eh, lad, think of your own business! Work with your boys in the field and at home, and if some one offends you, forgive him, as God wished you to. Then life will be easy, and your heart will always be light.'
Iv�n remained silent.
'Iv�n, my boy, hear your old father! Go and harness the roan, and go at once to the Government office; put an end to all this affair there; and in the morning go and make it up with Gabriel in God's name, and invite him to your house for to-morrow's holiday' (it was the eve of the Virgin's Nativity). 'Have tea ready, and get a bottle of v�dka and put an end to this wicked business, so that there should not be any more of it in future, and tell the women and children to do the same.'
Iv�n sighed, and thought, 'What he says is true,' and his heart grew lighter. Only he did not know how, now, to begin to put matters right.
But again the old man began, as if he had guessed what was in Ivan's mind.
'Go, Iv�n, don't put it off! Put out the fire before it spreads, or it will be too late.'
The old man was going to say more, but before he could do so the women came in, chattering like magpies. The news that Gabriel was sentenced to be flogged, and of his threat to set fire to the house, had already reached them. They had heard all about it and added to it something of their own, and had again had a row, in the pasture, with the women of Gabriel's household. They began telling how Gabriel's daughter-in-law threatened a fresh action: Gabriel had got the right side of the examining magistrate, who would now turn the whole affair upside down; and the schoolmaster was writing out another petition, to the Tsar himself this time, about Iv�n; and everything was in the petition -- all about the coupling-pin and the kitchen-garden -- so that half of Ivan's homestead would be theirs soon. Iv�n heard what they were saying, and his heart grew cold again, and he gave up the thought of making peace with Gabriel.
In a farmstead there is always plenty for the master to do. Iv�n did not stop to talk to the women, but went out to the threshing-floor and to the barn. By the time he had tidied up there, the sun had set and the young fellows had returned from the field. They had been ploughing the field for the winter crops with two horses. Iv�n met them, questioned them about their work, helped to put everything in its place, set a torn horse-collar aside to be mended, and was going to put away some stakes under the barn, but it had grown quite dusk, so he decided to leave them where they were till next day. Then he gave the cattle their food, opened the gate, let out the horses. Tar�s was to take to pasture for the night, and again closed the gate and barred it. 'Now,' thought he, 'I'll have my supper, and then to bed.' He took the horse-collar and entered the hut. By this time he had forgotten about Gabriel and about what his old father had been saying to him. But, just as he took hold of the door-handle to enter the passage, he heard his neighbour on the other side of the fence cursing somebody in a hoarse voice: 'What the devil is he good for?' Gabriel was saying. 'He's only fit to be killed!' At these words all Ivan's former bitterness towards his neighbour re-awoke. He stood listening while Gabriel scolded, and, when he stopped, Iv�n went into the hut.
There was a light inside; his daughter-in-law sat spinning, his wife was getting supper ready, his eldest son was making straps for bark shoes, his second sat near the table with a book, and Tar�s was getting ready to go out to pasture the horses for the night. Everything in the hut would have been pleasant and bright, but for that plague -- a bad neighbour!
Iv�n entered, sullen and cross; threw the cat down from the bench, and scolded the women for putting the slop-pail in the wrong place. He felt despondent, and sat down, frowning, to mend the horse-collar. Gabriel's words kept ringing in his ears: his threat at the law court, and what he had just been shouting in a hoarse voice about some one who was 'only fit to be killed.'
His wife gave Tar�s his supper, and, having eaten it, Tar�s put on an old sheepskin and another coat, tied a sash round his waist, took some bread with him, and went out to the horses. His eldest brother was going to see him off, but Iv�n himself rose instead, and went out into the porch. It had grown quite dark outside, clouds had gathered, and the wind had risen. Iv�n went down the steps, helped his boy to mount, started the foal after him, and stood listening while Tar�s rode down the village and was there joined by other lads with their horses. Iv�n waited until they were all out of hearing. As he stood there by the gate he could not get Gabriel's words out of his head: 'Mind that something of yours does not burn worse!'
'He is desperate,' thought Iv�n. 'Everything is dry, and it's windy weather besides. He'll come up at the back somewhere, set fire to something, and be off. He'll burn the place and escape scot free, the villain!... There now, if one could but catch him in the act, he'd not get off then!' And the thought fixed itself so firmly in his mind that he did not go up the steps but went out into the street and round the corner. I'll just walk round the buildings; who can tell what he's after?' And Iv�n, stepping softly, passed out of the gate. As soon as he reached the corner, he looked round along the fence, and seemed to see something suddenly move at the opposite corner, as if some one had come out and disappeared again. Iv�n stopped, and stood quietly, listening and looking. Everything was still; only the leaves of the willows fluttered in the wind, and the straws of the thatch rustled. At first it seemed pitch dark, but, when his eyes had grown used to the darkness, he could see the far corner, and a plough that lay there, and the eaves. He looked a while, but saw no one.
'I suppose it was a mistake,' thought Iv�n; 'but still I will go round,' and Iv�n went stealthily along by the shed. Iv�n stepped so softly in his bark shoes that he did not hear his own footsteps. As he reached the far corner, something seemed to flare up for a moment near the plough and to vanish again. Iv�n felt as if struck to the heart; and he stopped. Hardly had he stopped, when something flared up more brightly in the same place, and he clearly saw a man with a cap on his head, crouching down, with his back towards him, lighting a bunch of straw he held in his hand. Iv�n's heart fluttered within him like a bird. Straining every nerve, he approached with great strides, hardly feeling his legs under him. 'Ah,' thought Iv�n, 'now he won't escape! I'll catch him in the act!'
Iv�n was still some distance off, when suddenly he saw a bright light, but not in the same place as before, and not a small flame. The thatch had flared up at the eaves, the flames were reaching up to the roof, and, standing beneath it, Gabriel's whole figure was clearly visible.
Like a hawk swooping down on a lark, Iv�n rushed at Limping Gabriel. 'Now I'll have him; he shan't escape me!' thought Iv�n. But Gabriel must have heard his steps, and (however he managed it) glancing round, he scuttled away past the barn like a hare.
'You shan't escape!' shouted Iv�n, darting after him.
Just as he was going to seize Gabriel, the latter dodged him; but Iv�n managed to catch the skirt of Gabriel's coat. It tore right off, and Iv�n fell down. He recovered his feet, and shouting, 'Help! Seize him! Thieves! Murder!' ran on again. But meanwhile Gabriel had reached his own gate. There Iv�n overtook him and was about to seize him, when something struck Iv�n a stunning blow, as though a stone had hit his temple, quite deafening him. It was Gabriel who, seizing an oak wedge that lay near the gate, had struck out with all his might.
Iv�n was stunned; sparks flew before his eyes, then all grew dark and he staggered. When he came to his senses Gabriel was no longer there: it was as light as day, and from the side where his homestead was something roared and crackled like an engine at work. Iv�n turned round and saw that his back shed was all ablaze, and the side shed had also caught fire, and flames and smoke and bits of burning straw mixed with the smoke, were being driven towards his hut.
'What is this, friends?...' cried Iv�n, lifting his arms and striking his thighs.' Why, all I had to do was just to snatch it out from under the eaves and trample on it! What is this, friends?...' he kept repeating. He wished to shout, but his breath failed him; his voice was gone. He wanted to run, but his legs would not obey him, and got in each other's way. He moved slowly, but again staggered and again his breath failed. He stood still till he had regained breath, and then went on. Before he had got round the back shed to reach the fire, the side shed was also all ablaze; and the corner of the hut and the covered gateway had caught fire as well. The flames were leaping out of the hut, and it was impossible to get into the yard. A large crowd had collected, but nothing could be done. The neighbours were carrying their belongings out of their own houses, and driving the cattle out of their own sheds. After Ivan's house, Gabriel's also caught fire, then, the wind rising, the flames spread to the other side of the street and half the village was burnt down.
At Ivan's house they barely managed to save his old father; and the family escaped in what they had on; everything else, except the horses that had been driven out to pasture for the night, was lost; all the cattle, the fowls on their perches, the carts, ploughs, and harrows, the women's trunks with their clothes, and the grain in the granaries -- all were burnt up!
At Gabriel's, the cattle were driven out, and a few things saved from his house.
The fire lasted all night. Iv�n stood in front of his homestead and kept repeating, 'What is this?... Friends!... One need only have pulled it out and trampled on it!' But when the roof fell in, Iv�n rushed into the burning place, and seizing a charred beam, tried to drag it out. The women saw him, and called him back; but he pulled out the beam, and was going in again for another when he lost his footing and fell among the flames. Then his son made his way in after him and dragged him out. Iv�n had singed his hair and beard and burnt his clothes and scorched his hands, but he felt nothing. 'His grief has stupefied him,' said the people. The fire was burning itself out, but Iv�n still stood repeating: 'Friends!... What is this?... One need only have pulled it out!'
In the morning the village Elder's son came to fetch Iv�n.
'Daddy Iv�n, your father is dying! He has sent for you to say good-bye.'
Iv�n had forgotten about his father, and did not understand what was being said to him.
'What father?' he said. 'Whom has he sent for?'
'He sent for you, to say good-bye; he is dying in our cottage! Come along, daddy Iv�n,' said the Elder's son, |
Prachatai about the deeply-embedded culture of impunity in Thai society. In her view, the 6 October 1976 massacre is a profound wound and a primary metaphor of this culture, which is nourished by the connections woven across the ruling class. Even after four decades, the families of those killed on 6 October continue to live in fear while the ruling class does not comprehend the anger that continues to drive the people into the streets.
The 6 October 1976 massacre has been made to be indistinct and forgotten in Thai society. Puangthong noted that many people still think that the photograph of a man raising a chair to beat the lifeless body of a student hanged on Sanam Luang while a crowd gathers to watch is merely a scene from a movie.
The memory of the events of 14 October 1973 are more prevalent in Thai society than that of 6 October 1976. This is because the event signifies the victory of the students and people in driving out the long-standing dictatorship of Thanom Kittikhachorn, Narong Kittikhachorn, and Praphat Jarusathien. The form of the memorials to both events contain and illustrate the difference between them. The 14 October 1973 memorial was built in a visible location at Kok Wua intersection on Ratchadamnoen Avenue, but the 6 October 1976 memorial is instead a sculpture inside the walls of Thammasat University. Puangthong described the location of the memorial as being “hidden next to the gate by the Thammasat auditorium.”
Puangthong Pawakapan (file Photo)
“Some say that the massacre is a traumatic history for those who experienced it, which includes students as well as their family and friends. This is true. But there may be a fair number of people who do not feel that it is a traumatic history. For them, the massacre does not need to be remembered or information unearthed. I may be wrong, but I do not believe that every person who calls themselves an Octobrist [those who participated politically between 14 October 1973 and 6 October 1976] still feels anguish from 6 October or that it is a wound embedded in their psyche. There is no one perspective on 6 October among the Octobrists, but diverse thoughts and views. This differs from 14 October, which was a victory for the side of democracy. Students were the victors who led the country to democracy. No one among the Octobrists hesitates to define themselves as part of 14 October.”
“They [the families of those killed] have not forgotten, but they live with fear. This fear indicates that 6 October remains a forbidden issue. This is a history that no one has wanted to speak about for 20 years. The massacre led them to suffer losses – they lost their loved ones, who remain stigmatized. They cannot be remembered as heroes like those who were killed during 14 October.”
An enduring fear
Different from 14 October 1973, the 6 October 1976 massacre is an instance in which the democratic movement was suppressed and those killed were accused of being outsiders and communists who wanted to topple the primary institutions of the country. The powerful groups involved with the violence of 6 October still have a grip on power. In Puangthong’s opinion, these are some of the constraints that cause a reluctance and lack of daring to unearth, dust off, and reveal clarity about the past.
“My colleague and I are making a documentary film to honor those who were killed on 6 October. The theme is simple: to let people learn about their identities that existed before their lives were brutally suspended. We are doing this because we realized that after 40 years, we still know very little about their individual lives. We spoke with the grandchildren in some families. They clearly stated that they did not dare to ask their parents or grandparents about this issue. They know it is a wound and that no one wants to talk about it in their families. This is especially the case for those whose relatives were brutally killed. So, the trauma of the relatives is related to the manner in which the victims lost their lives. With other families who were willing to grant interviews, we barely talked about present-day politics. We wanted to let them talk about the personality of the person who died and how they were connected to others in the family. Relatives and siblings of those who were killed were willing to grant interviews. But then they called several days later and said that they were afraid because we are currently living under a military government. They asked if their names could be changed and their faces not shown. Simultaneously, many other families did not want to talk about the massacre.”
The perpetrators remain at large
What causes fear to endure? Puangthong’s analysis is this fear is an effect of the poisonous effect of the culture of impunity in Thai society that has operated to produce a complete lack of attempts to trace, find, and punish the perpetrators for 40 years.
“This issue has completely disappeared in Thai society. No one talks about it, at all. Those who wish to see justice feel as though it is impossible. Many people say that the issue should not be dredged up. All of this is a clear indication that the perpetrators have been allowed to get away with their actions. This is because they still hold power. Second, fear [of discussing 6 October] is even sharper because we are living under a military government. People feel that soldiers were one of the powerful groups that had a role in suppressing students on 6 October.”
“Those who were involved with the violence of 6 October have never had to fear that they will be punished. This is the clear culture of impunity in Thai society. Viewed from the perspective of the families who lost their loved ones, this lack of accountability and the culture of impunity is the second time that they are punished. They were victimized the first time when they lost the people they loved. They must suffer in silence for the second time. They continue to live in fear up until the present. Is this just? My view is that this is not just. But no one wants to talk about it. The majority call for silence. They majority say that the issue should not be dredged up.”
When a society allows the culture of impunity to continue undisturbed, the opportunity for the state to use violence against the people remains an inevitable possibility. Thai society has already learned this lesson: once in May 1992 and again in April-May 2010.
The deeply-ingrained culture of impunity
Puangthong further explained that the 6 October 1976 massacre is grave instance of impunity. There incident is surrounded by anger and unfairness. The faces of those who used violence against the students and people on that day can clearly be seen in photographs and videos. But no one asks the question of how those who used violence are going to be charged under the law. Moreover, nearly two years after the massacre, an amnesty law was passed.
“The people who were criminally prosecuted after the 6 October massacre were 19 student leaders. There was no prosecution of any of those who used violence. During the examination of the case, the information that was revealed indicated that the defendants were solely victims. In the end, there was an amnesty and political compromise. The ruling class realized that if they continued to use hawkish tactics, it was going to create greater rupture in Thai society because the Communist Party of Thailand expanded a great deal after the massacre. In truth, those who benefitted the most from the amnesty were those who used violence because it covered soldiers, police and every group that was involved with the 6 October massacre.”
“This was an instance in which we can clearly see those who carried out criminal acts [in photographs and video footage]. We can see the faces of those who were involved. This included those who may not have been state officials, such as the person who used the chair to beat the person who was hanged, the Village Scouts who beat the person who was hanged with wooden bats, others in the mob, and also state officials. But we have not asked any questions, any questions at all, about whether or not those in the pictures broke the law or if we should go in search of them. We have not asked any questions about whether or not the amnesty law was just.”
The legacy of the culture of impunity for later generations is that it is apparent that if one has power in society – if one has a network and supporters – then one does not have to be held to account. Thai society has acquired (bad, incorrect) knowledge that one must build a network and connections to serve as a protective armor from the law and being held to account. This operates from the level of ordinary life up to politics on the national stage.
Networks of the Thai ruling class
“Connections are important in the sense that if one is going to climb up the ladder, you have to have the right connections. If you do something illegal, these connections will help protect you from your crimes. Therefore, one gift from the culture of impunity to every level of Thai society is the notion that we do not have to take principles into consideration. Connections are what matter. This shapes how Thai people act when they wish to express an opinion or do something, because they must be careful in case it will affect their connections.
But in Puangthong’s view, what is particularly painful is that even some of those who work for peace and human rights do not fully call for justice. She explained that some among this group do not go beyond demanding the release [of those wrongly arrested] or providing compensation for those affected. Once these demands are accomplished, this group goes silent. They are mum on the issue of how perpetrators should be punished and how justice will be restored for victims. This silence of peace and human rights activists is a specifically Thai characteristic that endures until the present.
“Not too long ago, a peace activist said that he did not understand why there were calls to prosecute those who held power who used violence to suppress the people, such as in the case of the attempt to locate and prosecute the Nazis for what they did to the Jews during the Holocaust. This is a struggle that remains ongoing even after 40-50 years.”
“But for Thais, it is enough to help those who face trouble by releasing them [from prison] or providing compensation. Once that is done, do not think about implicating those who hold power. They may give the explanation that if one goes after those who hold power, it may result in even greater conflict. Those who hold power may retaliate. Any opportunities to build reconciliation or harmony, or develop democracy, will be stopped short.”
For certain, Puangthong does not agree with this kind of thinking. Her explanation of its origin is that peace and human rights activists are of the same stripe as the ruling class in Thai society. We have to expand the frame through which we view the ruling class, which does not only include politicians and businesspeople, but also includes academics, social activists, nongovernmental organization workers, etc.
“The ruling class in Thai society is very narrow. The number is limited and they all know each other. The ruling class is marked by friendship, continuity, and the experience of having helped and supported one other. These connections eclipse taking a stand to restore justice. Therefore, the reason we do not see some peace and human rights activists demand the implication of those involved in violence is because that in the end, they know those who are involved.”
“I would like you to view the ruling class as insular and constituted by connections founded on a patronage system and mutually-beneficial relationships. These connections drive Thai politics -- sometimes in a positive direction, but sometimes in a negative direction or in a manner that attempts to safeguard the culture of impunity. The culture of impunity is itself within the system of networks and connections of the narrow Thai ruling class.”
A lesson to learn before it is too late
6 October is a wound that should also serve as a lesson. In truth, it seems to be the former more than the latter. The latter has not happened … at least it has not happened yet. The creation of hatred of those who think differently than the dominant view in society is no different from the past in which the Yan Kraw [military radio] or Dao Sayam [right-wing newspaper] led the charge. The difference is that in the present, anyone is able to disseminate hatred via social media.
“In the case of 2010, many in Bangkok did not mourn the loss of the lives of nearly one hundred people. They felt greater sorrow about the burning down of the Siam Square movie theater. At present, we see broad and extensive use of hate speech. Those who use this speech will not listen to warnings. Is there an opportunity for violence to occur once again? Violence just took place in 2010. Can violence occur again? Of course it can.”
“At present, groups who hold power attempt to close their eyes or choose not to notice that a large number of people, I would dare to say the majority of those in the country, feel resentment. The majority are not satisfied that their political voices have been silenced using various means.”
Puangthong noted that the constitution passed during the 7 August referendum may be a catalyst for future violence because it contains mechanisms designed to thwart the political voices of a large number of people. The political needs communicated via voting will be brushed aside. The government may not be able to advance policy. When the political apparatus fails to work, the people are not able to resolve political problems via democratic mechanisms. They will inevitably be pushed into the streets.
This article was translated from Thai into English by Tyrell HaberkornScreeching, flailing, mockery and corporal punishment are Trump's platform planks, and it's chum for his disciples.
UPDATE: Chaos has erupted in Chicago, both inside and outside the Trump rally there. LIVE stream immediately below, followed by two previously recorded clips.
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When leaders behave irresponsibly, their followers aren't too far behind. In the case of Donald Trump, his behavior on the main-stage of his traveling circus sideshow has been slowly leeching out to infect his throng of white, derangement-suffering disciples. The distinguishing difference between Trump and his people, however, is this: Trump is more or less playing a character in his own reality show, while his followers think he's being serious.
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And so they're zealously lashing out because they believe their master would want them to.
This week, we've witnessed Trump supporters sucker-punching African-American protesters. We've seen Trump's campaign manager roughing up an otherwise friendly reporter from Breitbart. We've watched over and over again as Trump himself has not just condoned violence against protesters and unfriendlies, but in fact he's repeatedly ordered his minion to do it.
Overall, Trump is running a campaign in which the rules of decency, decorum and collegiality, heretofore employed in even the most contentious political debates, have been rejected in lieu of an anything-goes campaign. Profanity is good. Rage is good. Obama's America sucks. And Trump is God. Whatever it takes to "make America great again" is the perpetual order of the day in Trump's microcosmic, microphallussed universe of orange shitola. Unfortunately, Trump's recipe for greatness calls for modern day manifestations of old-school lynchings.
Screeching, flailing, mockery and corporal punishment are Trump's platform planks, and it's chum for the feckless mob. Bad behavior breeds worse behavior and nothing Trump can say now will put the racist egg back into the KKK shell. It's out there now, and Trump has barely been held accountable for any of it, presumably because 1) he'll threaten to sue his accusers, and 2) the Trump mosh-pit is great for cable news ratings.
It's one thing to inspire voters and activists to greatness. It's one thing to challenge the people to build a better society. Trump is doing neither of these things. His path to "greatness" appears to be an extension of the Bush-era GOP's path: shoot now, ask questions later, demand a trophy.
But, of course, most decent people understand that true greatness is earned by courage, restraint, honor and sacrifice. Not bullying. Not bug-eyed fury. Duh. (Frankly, and speaking of the Bush era, if the Iraq War wasn't enough of a waste of humanity and treasure, the fact that so few of the apoplectic rage-aholics at Trump's rallies have been inspired by the courage, restraint, honor and sacrifice of our returning veterans further squanders the greatness of the troops.)
So, today I'll speak directly to Trump's brainwashed supporters with a very serious question. Tell me whether the following videos are helping to "make America great again" or if it's a shocking embarrassment, representative of how shockingly embarrassing your candidate is. The rest of us know it's the latter, but I want to hear it from the Trump people.
This week in St. Louis, Missouri:
And more:
For better or worse, Trump is a national political leader now. And he needs to start acting like one -- either that, or he needs to shut the hell up before someone gets killed.Enterprising Chinese who live or travel abroad have built makeshift businesses buying make-up, jewellery, and clothing, among other items, and reselling them on popular online platforms in China like Taobao or WeChat. The practice is known as daigou in Chinese, and by 2015, had built a market estimated to be worth $6.5 billion.
It might also be shaping perceptions of Asian shoppers.
A complaint recently filed by New York-based law firm Wigdor against Macy’s alleges that managers at its flagship Herald Square department store in Manhattan instructed staff to racially profile Asian customers and limit their buying out of concern that they might engage in online reselling of the goods. The lawsuit was first reported by the NY Post.
According to the filing seen by Quartz, one of the plaintiffs said that her manager once told her bluntly, “Don’t sell to Chinese [customers].” She added that she was instructed to only sell one unit of a product to Asian customers, whereas non-Asian customers could purchase up to six. Another plaintiff leveled similar allegations, claiming that her manager told her that non-Asian customers could purchase eight units of a single item, whereas Asian customers could purchase “fewer than six.” Another recalled her manager stating that she could not sell to a repeat Asian customer within 90 days of his or her last purchase.
According to Wigdor’s complaint, Macy’s requires a manager’s approval on every purchase that involves more than six units of one product.
All four employees were terminated in April 2016, according to the filing, after they complained to the Macy’s union and to managers. Three of the four identify as Asian-American, said the filing.
The suit also alleged that employees in the loss-prevention department at Macy’s would “regularly make Asian customers uncomfortable by conspicuously staring at them through the completion of their transactions.”
The law firm and the plaintiffs argued that the Macy’s managers’ alleged behavior “is based on the discriminatory stereotype that all Asian customers are resellers.”
Macy’s said in a statement to Quartz on Sept. 13 that it denies the allegations in the lawuit.
“Macy’s has longstanding policies and practices that embrace and promote diversity and inclusion and prohibit discriminatory conduct against its customers, employees, vendors and business partners,” the statement said. “We are confident that the allegations in this matter will ultimately be found to be without merit.”
Wigdor has a history of defending clients on claims of racial discrimination. In 2017 alone it has filed lawsuits against Goldman Sachs, Fox News (paywall), and Daisy Soros, the sister-in-law of George Soros on such grounds.
The practice of daigou arose because China has, for a long time, placed steep taxes on imported luxury goods, making them more expensive to buy in the country than outside.
For retailers, however, resellers mean a loss of sales that they should otherwise be making in China—and Macy’s has bet big on China to revive its flagging revenues. In 2015 it opened a virtual store on Alibaba’s Tmall platform, and it reportedly has plans to launch a standalone e-commerce site this year.DISTURBED's comeback is off to a roaring start. According to The Pulse Of Radio, guitarist Dan Donegan posted online that the video for the group's new single, "The Vengeful One", had racked up more than one million views in 24 hours, adding, "Thanks everyone for your support. It's good to be back." The song is taken from DISTURBED's first new album since 2011, "Immortalized", which is due out August 21.
The band announced its return on Tuesday (June 23) and Donegan told The Pulse Of Radio they kept the creation of the new album a secret for the better part of a year. "It's been tough, because we haven't even told like some of our family and friends, so, I mean, for us to go away for almost four months, it was tricky," he said. "I mean, there was some family that I didn't even tell what I was doing. It was tricky to kind of keep that secret, 'cause I'm very bad at lying. I'm not a good liar at all, so to kind of withhold that information from our friends and family, it was tough."
"Immortalized" is available for pre-order everywhere and follows 2010's gold-certified "Asylum", DISTURBED's fourth consecutive No. 1 on The Billboard 200 album chart.
In addition to 15 new songs — including 12 on the album and three more on the deluxe edition — "Immortalized" contains a cover of SIMON & GARFUNKEL's "The Sound Of Silence".
Regarding the songwriting process for "Immortalized", DISTURBED singer David Draiman told Billboard.com: "There's a lot of new and fresh in the mix. We had more input on each other's parts than we probably ever had previously. Everything was really put under the microscope and everybody had an opinion, and, believe me, everyone was voicing them loudly. You get all these very, very alpha type of mentalities all in one room together, all being very, very cocksure about what they want to do and how they want to do it. There were fireworks on an occasion or two, but I must say everyone was very, very decent and open and willing to try anything anyone suggested at any point in time. We were very, very cooperative with one another, very professional the entire time — not that we haven't always been, but especially this time."
DISTURBED has yet to announce tour plans behind the new record
Photo credit: Travis ShinnYou Will Soon Be Able To Rent Out Office Space Inside A Staples Store
With a growing number of shoppers going online, retailers no longer need the vast acreage of floor space inside their stores — like Hallmark shops inside of JCPenney, or Sears Hometown mini-stores inside of Ace Hardware. And with more people working remotely, it was only time before some retailer got the notion of carving out some rental office space for customers.
In Staples’ case, the space will be rented by startup Workbar, which will operate a 2,500 to 3,500 square-feet communal office sharing space inside three of the office supply chain’s stores in Boston, the retailer announced on Monday.
The workspaces, which are available to Workbar members for a fee, will include a mix of simple desk areas, conference rooms, private phone room, and other typical office fare such as printers, copiers, and more.
“We’re excited to team up with Workbar to offer business people a productive working environment in our Staples stores by providing convenient, affordable space and amenities so they can make more happen during their workday,” Peter Scala, executive vice president merchandising, Staples, said in a statement. “Workbar locations will provide a sense of community and the opportunity to network and collaborate with other motivated professionals.”
Scala tells the Wall Street Journal that the deal gives Staples a chance to boost its sales, which have been declining for several years.
“Obviously, it drives traffic for us,” Scala says. “Our goal here is to continually focus on making large stores more productive.”
Staples’ partnership with Workbar comes as the office supply company continues to prepare for life with or without proposed merger-mate Office Depot.
The two companies are currently battling anti-trust regulators in court for approval of the $6.3 billion deal. As a result, both retailers have closed stores and cut staff.
Staples Finds New Use for Its Stores: Office Space [The Wall Street Journal]We can picture the scene perfectly: Two guys on the way home from a trip to lovely Vancouver approaching the U.S./Canadian border. Suddenly, there’s a current of fear when guards search the car and inform them they’re smugglers. Each man pictures the other cackling evilly while shoving drugs or laundered money into a secret compartment in the car. But wait! It’s just illegal candy with a toy inside. Whew.
Two Seattle men ran afoul of U.S. contraband laws after their trip across the border. They say they had no idea they were doing anything wrong or turning themselves into smugglers when they purchased Kinder Eggs, reports KOMO News. The chocolate eggs come with a little toy inside, and are banned in the U.S. for containing a “non-nutritive object.”
The two men had decided to bring home treats for their friends and family, and picked up six of the eggs.
“We packed it in the back of the car because we weren’t going to eat them,” said one man.
Guards searched the car at the border, and notified the men that they were now accused smugglers.
“He said, ‘Are you aware kinder eggs are illegal in the United States and carry a $2,500 fine per egg?’ And I actually laughed,” said the other. That would be $15,000, for harmless chocolate eggs.
They spent over two hours trying to convince officers in a border detention center that they hadn’t meant to do anything wrong, before getting off with a warning.
“They wasted our time,” said one. “They wasted the money spent on the agents to do this and there are other cars that went through without checking them at all.”
Customs and Border Protection seized 25,000 Kinder Eggs in 2011. Rules be damned — we need our chocolate and our cheap, tiny toys!
Seattle men busted at the border with illegal candy [KOMO News]With last December’s announcement of Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite, more than a few fans have wondered is if Marvel’s existing cinematic universe would have any influence on it. A recent announcement by Marvel however confirms that this will not be the case.
Speaking to IGN at DICE 2017, Marvel Games Creative Director Bill Rosemann–regarding the teams behind the various Marvel games being made this year, including Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite–assured fans that, “We want to give [developers] freedom to tell their story and we want to make it an original story.” He continues by saying, “We want all of our games to tell an original, all-new story, we want [our development partners] to have passion, we want them to put their stamp on the games. It’s their game. We want it to be their vision.”
However, he does state that they do consider where audiences are coming from regarding their familiarity with the properties, indicating that they will stick closer to the versions that most fans are familiar with. That said, he posits that Marvel Games’ goal is to never force a game’s development timeline to match up with any upcoming movie, TV show, or comic book. Rosemann stated that they’re now “Going to try to do the very tricky balancing act of trying to make a game that adapts a movie and get it out in the same window as the movie.”
With this, it seems that Marvel is committed to making sure that each and every upcoming game in their stable, including Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite, is allowed to shine by not limiting them to any other existing project or story that Marvel is working on.
Source: IGNAbsolute hot is a concept of temperature that postulates the existence of a highest attainable temperature of matter. The concept has been popularized by the television series Nova.[1][2] In this article, absolute hot is assumed to be the high end of a temperature scale starting at absolute zero, which is the temperature at which entropy is minimal and classical thermal energy is zero.
Contemporary models of physical cosmology postulate that the highest possible temperature is the Planck temperature, which has the value 7032141678500000000♠1.416785(71)×1032 kelvins.[3] Above about 7032100000000000000♠1032 K, particle energies become so large that gravitational forces between them would become as strong as other fundamental forces according to current theories. There is no existing scientific theory for the behavior of matter at these energies. A quantum theory of gravity would be required.[4] The models of the origin of the universe based on the Big Bang theory assume that the universe passed through this temperature about 6958100000000000000♠10−42 s (one Planck time) after the Big Bang as a result of enormous entropy expansion.[3]
Another theory of absolute hot is based on the Hagedorn temperature,[2] where the thermal energies of the particles exceed the mass-energy of a hadron particle-antiparticle pair. Instead of temperature rising, at the Hagedorn temperature more and heavier particles are produced by pair production, thus preventing effective further heating, given that only hadrons are produced. However, further heating is possible (with pressure) if the matter undergoes a phase change into a quark–gluon plasma.[citation needed] Therefore, this temperature is more akin to a boiling point rather than an insurmountable barrier. For hadrons, the Hagedorn temperature is 7012200000000000000♠2×1012 K, which has been reached and exceeded in LHC and RHIC experiments. However, in string theory, a separate Hagedorn temperature can be defined, where strings similarly provide the extra degrees of freedom. However, it is so high (7030100000000000000♠1030 K) that no current or foreseeable experiment can reach it.[5]
Considering only certain degrees of freedom in matter, such as nuclear spins, systems with a negative temperature can be produced. They occur because equipartitioning is too slow to allow communication between the degrees of freedom where thermal energy is stored, such as the vibrational, rotational and nuclear spin states of molecules. These systems are familiar from lasers. For these, theory predicts a mathematical singularity in temperature. When a spin system is excited with electromagnetic radiation and undergoes population inversion into an excited state, quantum physics formally assumes that its temperature function goes through a singularity. The spin temperature tends to positive infinity, before discontinuously switching to negative infinity.[6] However, this applies only to specific degrees of freedom (the spin temperature in this case) in the system, while others would have normal temperature dependency. Thus, this singularity cannot be observed as ordinary sensible heat. If equipartitioning is possible, the system undergoes relaxation into a thermally uniform state with release of a finite quantity of heat. Before a physical infinite temperature could be reached, realistic ordinary matter would undergo phase transitions, such as evaporation, and never actually reach the infinite temperature.
See also [ edit ]How is this possible?
The PCILeech DMA attack hardware attached to a mac victim.
After the PCILeech hardware is connected just run the mac_fvrecover command on the attacker computer.
Retrieving the FileVault password with PCILeech. The correct password is DonaldDuck.
In Details
t. In this example the phrase eerrbbnn is used. In memory this is stored as 6500650072007200620062006e006e.
Searching the mac memory for the test phrase eerrbbnn.
uch as phd0 at the
The phrase is clearly visible at the memory location.
Can I try it out myself?
Other Notes
End of July: Issue found.
August 5th: PCILeech presented and released at DEF CON 24. (FileVault issue not mentioned).
August 15th: Apple notified.
August 16th: Apple confirmed issue and asked to hold off disclosure.
December 13th: Apple released macOS 10.12.2 which contains the security update. At least for some hardware - like my MacBook Air.
Conclusion
macOS FileVault2 let attackers with physical access retrieve the password in clear text by plugging in a $300 Thunderbolt device into a locked or sleeping mac. The password may be used to unlock the mac to access everything on it. To secure your mac just update it with the December 2016 patches.Anyone including, but not limited to, your colleagues, the police, the evil maid and the thief will have full access to your data as long as they can gain physical access - unless the mac is completely shut down. If the mac is sleeping it is still vulnerable.Just stroll up to a locked mac, plug in the Thunderbolt device, force a reboot (ctrl+cmd+power) and wait for the password to be displayed in less than 30 seconds! Check out the demo video below:At the very core of this issue there are two separate issues.The first issue is that the mac does not protect itself against Direct Memory Access (DMA) attacks before macOS is started. EFI which is running at this early stage enables Thunderbolt allowing malicious devices to read and write memory. At this stage macOS is not yet started. macOS resides on the encrypted disk - which must be unlocked before it can be started. Once macOS is started it will enable DMA protections by default.The second issue is that the the FileVault password is stored in clear text in memory and that it's not automatically scrubbed from memory once the disk is unlocked. The password is put in multiple memory locations - which all seems to move around between reboots, but within a fixed memory range.This makes it easy to just plug in the DMA attack hardware and reboot the mac. Once the mac is rebooted the DMA protections that macOS previously enabled are dropped. The memory contents, including the password, is still there though. There is a time window of a few seconds before the memory containing the password is overwritten with new content.The password, when entered, is stored in memory as unicode. Every 2nd byte will be zero if a password consisting only of ascii characters is used. Enter a "random" phrase, not naturally occurring in memory, at the password prompSearch for this using PCILeech and you'll notice that the phrase is stored in multiple memory locations as per the example below.After finding the memory locations it's possible to have a look at it. One might have to re-attach the attack device to the mac if the first read fails.If the locations found are checked out the password will be clearly visible. In addition to this other signatures that may be scanned for are also found, sbeginning of the memory page read.Yes - Absolutely! Download PCILeech from Github and purchase the hardware. Password recovery have been tested and found to work on multiple macbooks and macbook airs (all with Thunderbolt 2). The attack is not tested on more recent macs with USB-C.Password recovery may fail if the user uses special (non ascii) characters in the password. In those cases a memory dump will be saved so that it can be manually searched for the password.Please note that trying this on other macs than your own might not be legal.Recovering the password is just one of the things that are possible unless the security update is applied. Since EFI memory can be overwritten it is possible to do more evil...The disclosure timeline is as follows:The solution Apple decided upon and rolled out is a complete one. At least to the extent that I have been able to confirm. It is no longer possible to access memory prior to macOS boot. The mac is now one of the most secure platforms with regards to this specific attack vector.This issue is classified as: CVE-2016-7585First Panasonic GH5 specs started to surface on the web. The company will announce the video-centric shooter at Photokina event.
It is expected that this will be a pre-announcement of the Panasonic GH5. The flagship Micro Four Thirds camera will be released in early 2017.
The GH5 from Panasonic will replace the current GH4 mirrorless camera which has been introduced back in February, 2014. Now trusted sources has posted more Panasonic GH5 specs details regarding 4K video recording.
Panasonic GH5 Specs To Feature 4K and 4:2:2 10 bits internal recording
It is rumored that the upcoming video-centric model might feature the same 16-megapixel MFT sensor just like the GX85 camera. There were so much rumors floating around about the sensor. As a video-centric device the rumored 16-megapixel resolution will fit well for the product.
So overall expectation is that the Panasonic GH5 sensor will be 16-megapixels in resolution with better performance. It will also make the most of its output because of better processing and cooling.
According to the leaked Panasonic GH5 specs, the camera will have no crop for 4K video. This means that when recording 4K videos, camera will use the whole sensor. Currently the GH4 uses 2.3x crop for 4K and this is only a part of the sensor.
The GH5 will also feature 4:2:2 10 bits internal recording. If true this is big news for professional filmmakers. This means that the MFT camera will produce very accurate color reproduction, especially with skin tones. On the other hand it also means much better LOG profile shooting.
Panasonic will hold a product launch event on September 19. They will announce the new G80, the LX100 successor and might display the GH5 prototype.Danger! (?) Photo from Edyta Pawlowsk/Shutterstock
Though there isn’t strong evidence to support it, controversy about the supposed link between cellphone radiation and cancer is always percolating somewhere on the Internet. And this week the conversation broadened to include pregnancy and Wi-Fi. You know this can’t end well.
The Chinese company Qihoo 360 unveiled a device, an upgrade to an existing product, that has three settings it describes on its website as wall penetration, balance, and “pregnant women.” That last one may sound weirdly specific, but Zhou Hongyi, the president and CEO of Qihoo, said, according to South China Morning Post, “We are targeting people who are afraid of radiation.”
The company says that the pregnancy mode cuts radiation emissions by 70 percent, but Hongyi also told SCMP, “We aren’t scientists. We haven’t done many experiments to prove how much damage the radiation from Wi-Fi can cause.” That’s true! “We leave the right of choice to our customers.” Oof.
Maybe no one |
to Beck's beer sold at retail outlets, not at bars or restaurants.Performance debugging in aeson
Posted on October 8, 2017
Making aeson run fast
Ideally, whether we are using Template Haskell or Generics, we would like automatically derived code to be as fast as code we could have written and optimized manually. To understand what it takes to achieve such a result, I’ve recently started to work on the performance of aeson, a JSON library in Haskell. In this blog post, I walk through the process of finding a simple performance bug.
Benchmarking
To get an idea of where to look, we need some benchmarks. The aeson repository has a few benchmarks for encoders and decoders derived using Template Haskell and Generics. Interestingly, without any handwritten implementation for reference, this is still sufficient to reveal some issues: if we get different performance out of the two derived implementations, then there are optimizations to fit in the slower one.
During development, compiler optimizations are disabled to reduce compile times. For benchmarking, we must remember to enable them again. Using stack, here is a typical-looking sequence of commands to build and run a benchmark:
Generics is usually not faster than Template Haskell. Indeed, the latter is a straightforward way of generating arbitrary code, so it seems easier to write optimized code. Consequently, it is surprising to see numbers which contradict that intuition: benchmarks show Template Haskell to be slower than Generics at encoding records directly as byte strings.
Let us illustrate what encode does. With the default options, it would convert a record Record { x = 0, y = "lambda", z = True } to the string:
{"x":0,"y":"lambda","z":true}
For a big record of 25 fields in the benchmark above, this takes 3.6 μs for TH, against 3.0 μs for Generics. For a smaller record of 5 fields, the relative difference is even greater: 940 ns vs. 590 ns. ( SmallRecord.hs, source)
The measured run times are summarized in the following table, in μs.
n. fields 5 25 orig. TH 0.94 3.6 generics 0.59 3.0
Analyzing code
We need to take a closer look at the functions thBigRecordEncode and gBigRecordEncode. Instead of staring aimlessly at the library code behind them, we can ask GHC to output the Core terms it optimized.
GHC Core
Core is the intermediate representation on which GHC performs optimizations. It is a minimalistic functional language; the main type representing it has only 10 constructors!
Straight from the source code of GHC:
For the purpose of understanding performance issues, we can ignore the last four because they will ultimately be erased from run time. The remaining six constructors are a familiar bunch common to most functional programming languages: variables, literals, function applications, anonymous functions, local definitions, and pattern matching. So if you can already read Haskell, Core sounds pretty easy to pick up. We’ll see some output soon enough.
Reducing the test case
To make the final output easier to navigate, I simplified the original AesonCompareAutoInstances.hs from the aeson repository to SmallRecord.hs (source) with a single small record type.
Here is an example of encoding such a record as JSON:
> let bigRecord = BigRecord 1 2 3 4 5 > ByteString.putStrLn (gBigRecordEncode bigRecord) {"field01":1,"field02":2,"field03":3,"field04":4,"field05":5}
Dump options
The incantation to obtain optimized Core together with the Template Haskell output is the following:
$ stack ghc -- SmallRecord -O2 -ddump-splices -ddump-simpl \ -dsuppress-all -ddump-to-file
Let us explain briefly the new options.
Template Haskell
-ddump-splices outputs the code fragments generated with Template Haskell. Here, we are trying to figure out why the mkToEncoding splice at line 61 is slow. It corresponds to the following output in SmallRecord.dump-splices :
(...) mkToEncoding opts ''BigRecord ======> \ value_aeD3 -> case value_aeD3 of { BigRecord arg1_aeD4 arg2_aeD5 arg3_aeD6 arg4_aeD7 arg5_aeD8 -> wrapObject (commaSep [((string "field01") >< (colon >< (toEncoding arg1_aeD4))), ((string "field02") >< (colon >< (toEncoding arg2_aeD5))), ((string "field03") >< (colon >< (toEncoding arg3_aeD6))), ((string "field04") >< (colon >< (toEncoding arg4_aeD7))), ((string "field05") >< (colon >< (toEncoding arg5_aeD8)))]) }
An object is a comma-separated list of fields ( commaSep ), surrounded by braces ( wrapObject ). Each field is represented by its name and contents, separated by a colon. Doesn’t it look fine?
Core dump
-ddump-simpl outputs the optimized (“simplified”) Core; -dsuppress-all hides a lot of type information that’s irrelevant to us; -ddump-to-file, as its name indicates, makes GHC write the output to files ( SmallRecord.dump-splices, SmallRecord.dump-simpl ) instead of flooding standard output by default.
I pasted the core for thBigRecordEncode here and gBigRecordEncode here below it, although we won’t need to look past the first 12 lines.
Even with -dsuppress-all, the Core output by GHC is quite an eyeful. Both gBigRecordEncode and thBigRecordEncode take about 500 lines each! We can see that all the low-level details of writing a ByteString got inlined. Indeed, inlining is key to enable other compiler optimizations, and one of the main methods to improve performance is ensuring inlining happens.
Spot the not inlined
Conversely, values that don’t get inlined are a common source of inefficiency. We can just look for those, without paying much attention to what the program is actually doing. User-defined values that aren’t inlined easily stand out if the source code has descriptive names, since Core reuses them (a bit mangled sometimes) and they contrast with the short names that are made up for fresh local variables.
Look, there’s one non-inlined function just at the top of thBigRecordEncode :
Oh, sorry, that’s a false positive. toLazyByteString is marked NOINLINE in the bytestring library. Let’s trust that it’s there for a good reason. Furthermore, the Generic variant gBigRecordEncode begins identically, so it seems unlikely to be the cause of the performance gap we observed earlier.
Dig just a bit deeper, and here’s another one:
commaSep_$scommaSep is basically commaSep, which appears in the Template Haskell snippet from earlier. It inserts a comma between consecutive elements of a list. Its definition is (source):
It is recursive, hence the compiler makes it non-inlineable. In this case, its argument is essentially the list of record fields, so we know it would be safe to unroll the definition of commaSep here.
Looking at Core here may seem somewhat overkill, as commaSep is one of only six functions that appear in the Template Haskell splice, so it wouldn’t have taken too long to figure out the problem either way. But reading Core is a reliable method: it could also reveal non-inlining of functions that are not immediately visible in the source code.
Bug fixed
Let us have the Template Haskell code unroll the insertion of commas; the result now looks like this:
(...) mkToEncoding opts ''BigRecord ======> \ value_aeXm -> case value_aeXm of { BigRecord arg1_aeXn arg2_aeXo arg3_aeXp arg4_aeXq arg5_aeXr -> fromPairs ((pair "field01" (toEncoding arg1_aeXn)) <> ((pair "field02" (toEncoding arg2_aeXo)) <> ((pair "field03" (toEncoding arg3_aeXp)) <> ((pair "field04" (toEncoding arg4_aeXq)) <> (pair "field05" (toEncoding arg5_aeXr)))))) }
The monoid operation (<>) takes care of inserting a comma between its non-empty operands. With the recursive function out of the way, we get the speed up we were looking for (see third line):
n. fields 5 25 orig. TH 0.94 3.6 generics 0.59 3.0 fixed TH 0.61 2.5
For small records, TH now performs as well as Generics. But for large records, TH performs better. This is because GHC fails to optimize Generics for large types. That will be another story to tell.
Time for a pull request.Ropeway: About 25 minutes Hiking : About 90 minutes to 2 hours
Misen Hondo Hall (Main Hall)
Misen Hondo
This is the actual place where Kobo Daishi accomplished 100 days “Gumonji” training (a secret Buddhist practice) in the hall built in Mt. Misen.
In an attempt to discover a spiritual place round Miyajima on the occasion he visited Miyajima on his return home from Tang, Daishi himself named it after Mt. Shumisen in China similar in shape.
A cultural asset of national importance “Temple Bell” (Bonsho) attributed to the donation of Munemori, the 3rd son of Kiyomori Taira is housed here.
The main deity is Akasagarbha (Kokuzo-bosatsu) accompanied by Acala and Vaisravana.
They say brave generals such as Taira-no-Kiyomori, Ashikaga Yoshihisa or Fukushima Masanori had deep faith in it.
Gumonji-dojo and Gyojado Hall :
One of the three largest dojos (training halls) of Shingon Esoteric Buddhism in Japan, along with Tairyudake in Awa and Murotomisaki in Tosa.By Greg Hambrick and Deb Belt
Updated at 11:25 a.m. Monday
LANDOVER, MD — A Prince George's County Police officer shot Sunday died in what is described by authorities as an ambush by two brothers, one of whom was wounded.
Officer Jacai Colson was fatally shot at the District III station in Landover, according to Prince George's County Police. He was a four-year member of the department and would have celebrated his 29th birthday this week.
Prince George's County Police Chief Hank Stawinski said, "One of your defenders lost his life in defense of this community today. This was an unprovoked attack. Our officers were going about their business and were attacked."
Colson was assigned to the Narcotic Enforcement Division. Police said late Sunday night that he was fatally wounded after exchanging gunfire with a suspect outside the District III station, which is attached to police headquarters in Palmer Park.
Investigators say a suspect opened fire outside the front doors of the station around 4:30 p.m. and Colson returned fire. Colson was shot and died a short time later.
The two suspects in custody in the shooting are brothers, identified as Malik Ford and Michael Ford, both of Temple Hills, reports The Washington Post.
A woman who lives nearby says that when the gun battle began, she thought someone was lighting firecrackers. As nurse Lascelles Grant looked out her window to see what was going on, she saw a man dressed in black armed with a handgun.
Gunshots sounded and Grant ran to her bathroom with her baby for safety as police officers charged the shooter. "I'm like, 'Oh my God, look at all these police officers running out, putting their lives really in danger,' " she told the Post.
The suspect shot at the first officer he saw and kept shooting as police responded, the police chief said.
"Those officer did not shrink, they bravely advanced and engaged this individual," Stawinski said.
One of the officers carried Colson to a patrol car and raced him to Prince George's Hospital Center, where he was pronounced dead.
The unidentified suspect was also wounded. He is expected to survive and remains under police custody at an area hospital. Charges are pending, police said.
A second suspect was taken in for questioning. Investigators are working to determine the motive in this case.
A press conference will be held Monday afternoon to give updates on the case.
John Teletchea, president of the Fraternal Order of Police, said, "Jacai was a cops cop. He was a personal friend. I'm going to miss him."
"Jacai was important to his family, he was important to the entire community. We have another mother tonight who is without her son. And for that we are deeply sorry," said Prince George's County State's Attorney Angela Alsobrooks.
PGFD mourns loss @PGPDNews Officer Jacai Colson lost in line of duty this evening. Our thoughts & prayers to family, PGPD & community — Marc Bashoor (@PGFD_Chief) March 14, 2016
"I am shocked and saddened by the news this evening of the death of Prince George's County police officer Jacai Colson in the line of duty," Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan said in a statement. "The First Lady and I send our sincere prayers to the family and loved ones of Officer Colson, who made the ultimate sacrifice in service to his fellow citizens and community."
The governor ordered flags across Maryland to fly at half-staff.
NBC Washington reports that the suspects were arrested at the Popeye's fast food restaurant at Dodge Park and Landover Road.
ABC7's Brad Bell reports that Colson was involved in a shootout and three others were shot. He said sources said the suspects were heavily armed and ambushed the police station; police tactical officers are sweeping through the police buildings to ensure there are no other suspects.
PHOTO: Police Officers Hold Hands In Prayer After PGPD Officer Shot, Critically Wounded - https://t.co/kAeCHPSRLu pic.twitter.com/t3nzsF1DaA — Breaking911 (@Breaking911) March 13, 2016
It was less than two weeks ago that officers across the region honored Ashley Guindon, a Prince William County (Va.) officer killed when she responded to a domestic dispute.
Route 202 is closed from the Beltway to Martin Luther King Jr. Highway. Barlowe Road is also closed, no traffic is able to enter Barlowe Road from side streets.
A shelter in place order for residents in the Palmer Park/Landover area was lifted by police about 7:30 p.m.
Following the shooting, police cars, including an armored police van were seen heading toward Interstate 495, according to FOX5DC reporter Van Applegate.
Officer shot, possible active shooter(s) outside District III station next to PGPD HQ. Stay inside. Avoid area. — PGPDNEWS (@PGPDNews) March 13, 2016
"Our thoughts and prayers are with the PGPD officer shot and critically wounded this afternoon," according to a Prince George's County Sheriff's Office statement.
The thoughts and prayers of the world are with @PGPDNews right now. Please follow their twitter feed for latest updates. #Breaking #Urgent — Rushern L. Baker III (@CountyExecBaker) March 13, 2016
»Screenshot from NBC Washington of Popeye's restaurant; photo of Officer Jacai Colson, courtesy of Prince George's County Police
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article is about the poet. For other uses, see Matthew Arnold (disambiguation)
Family tree
Matthew Arnold (24 December 1822 – 15 April 1888) was an English poet and cultural critic who worked as an inspector of schools. He was the son of Thomas Arnold, the famed headmaster of Rugby School, and brother to both Tom Arnold, literary professor, and William Delafield Arnold, novelist and colonial administrator. Matthew Arnold has been characterised as a sage writer, a type of writer who chastises and instructs the reader on contemporary social issues.[1]
Early years [ edit ]
The Reverend John Keble stood as Godfather to Matthew. Thomas Arnold admired Keble's Christian Year, first published in 1827, but the elder Arnold became disappointed with Keble when he became a leader of the Oxford or Tractarian Movement (1833-1845), whose leaders had a plan for the renewal of the Church of England that Thomas Arnold regarded as too conservative and traditionalist. In 1828, Arnold's father was appointed Headmaster of Rugby School and his young family took up residence, that year, in the Headmaster's house. In 1831, Arnold was tutored by his uncle, Rev. John Buckland in the small village of Laleham. In 1834, the Arnolds occupied a holiday home, Fox How, in the Lake District. William Wordsworth was a neighbour and close friend. In 1836, Arnold was sent to Winchester College, but in 1837 he returned to Rugby School where he was enrolled in the fifth form. He moved to the sixth form in 1838 and thus came under the direct tutelage of his father. He wrote verse for the manuscript Fox How Magazine co-produced with his brother Tom for the family's enjoyment from 1838 to 1843. During his years there, he won school prizes for English essay writing, and Latin and English poetry. His prize poem, "Alaric at Rome," was printed at Rugby.
In 1841, he won an open scholarship to Balliol College, Oxford. During his residence at Oxford, his friendship became stronger with Arthur Hugh Clough, another Rugby old boy who had been one of his father's favourites. Arnold attended John Henry Newman's sermons at St. Mary's but did not join the Oxford Movement. His father died suddenly of heart disease in 1842, and Fox How became his family's permanent residence. Arnold's poem Cromwell won the 1843 Newdigate prize. He graduated in the following year with a 2nd class honours degree in Literae Humaniores (colloquially Greats).
In 1845, after a short interlude of teaching at Rugby, he was elected Fellow of Oriel College, Oxford. In 1847, he became Private Secretary to Lord Lansdowne, Lord President of the Council. In 1849, he published his first book of poetry, The Strayed Reveller. In 1850 Wordsworth died; Arnold published his "Memorial Verses" on the older poet in Fraser's Magazine.
Marriage and a career [ edit ]
Wishing to marry, but unable to support a family on the wages of a private secretary, Arnold sought the position of, and was appointed, in April 1851, one of Her Majesty's Inspectors of Schools. Two months later, he married Frances Lucy, daughter of Sir William Wightman, Justice of the Queen's Bench. The Arnolds had six children: Thomas (1852–1868); Trevenen William (1853–1872); Richard Penrose (1855–1908), an inspector of factories;[2] Lucy Charlotte (1858–1934) who married Frederick W. Whitridge of New York, whom she had met during Arnold's American lecture tour; Eleanore Mary Caroline (1861–1936) married (1) Hon. Armine Wodehouse (MP) in 1889, (2) William Mansfield, 1st Viscount Sandhurst, in 1909; Basil Francis (1866–1868).
Arnold often described his duties as a school inspector as "drudgery," although "at other times he acknowledged the benefit of regular work."[3] The inspectorship required him, at least at first, to travel constantly and across much of England. "Initially, Arnold was responsible for inspecting Nonconformist schools across a broad swath of central England. He spent many dreary hours during the 1850s in railway waiting-rooms and small-town hotels, and longer hours still in listening to children reciting their lessons and parents reciting their grievances. But that also meant that he, among the first generation of the railway age, travelled across more of England than any man of letters had ever done. Although his duties were later confined to a smaller area, Arnold knew the society of provincial England better than most of the metropolitan authors and politicians of the day."[4]
Literary career [ edit ]
In 1852, Arnold published his second volume of poems, Empedocles on Etna, and Other Poems. In 1853, he published Poems: A New Edition, a selection from the two earlier volumes famously excluding Empedocles on Etna, but adding new poems, Sohrab and Rustum and The Scholar Gipsy. In 1854, Poems: Second Series appeared; also a selection, it included the new poem, Balder Dead.
Arnold was elected Professor of Poetry at Oxford in 1857, and he was the first in this position to deliver his lectures in English rather than in Latin.[5] He was re-elected in 1862. On Translating Homer (1861) and the initial thoughts that Arnold would transform into Culture and Anarchy were among the fruits of the Oxford lectures. In 1859, he conducted the first of three trips to the continent at the behest of parliament to study European educational practices. He self-published The Popular Education of France (1861), the introduction to which was later published under the title Democracy (1879).[6]
Matthew Arnold's grave at All Saints' Church, Laleham, Surrey.
In 1865, Arnold published Essays in Criticism: First Series. Essays in Criticism: Second Series would not appear until November 1888, shortly after his untimely death. In 1866, he published Thyrsis, his elegy to Clough who had died in 1861. Culture and Anarchy, Arnold's major work in social criticism (and one of the few pieces of his prose work currently in print) was published in 1869. Literature and Dogma, Arnold's major work in religious criticism appeared in 1873. In 1883 and 1884, Arnold toured the United States and Canada[7] delivering lectures on education, democracy and Ralph Waldo Emerson. He was elected a Foreign Honorary Member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1883.[8] In 1886, he retired from school inspection and made another trip to America. An edition of Poems by Matthew Arnold, with an introduction by A. C. Benson and illustrations by Henry Ospovat, was published in 1900 by John Lane.[9]
Death [ edit ]
Arnold died suddenly in 1888 of heart failure whilst running to meet a train that would have taken him to the Liverpool Landing Stage to see his daughter, who was visiting from the United States where she had moved after marrying an American. Mrs. Arnold died in June 1901.[10]
Arnold's character [ edit ]
Punch, 1881: "Admit that Homer sometimes nods, That poets do write trash, Our Bard has written "Balder Dead," And also Balder-dash" Caricature from, 1881: "Admit that Homer sometimes nods, That poetswrite trash, Our Bard has written "," And also Balder-dash"
"Matthew Arnold," wrote G. W. E. Russell in Portraits of the Seventies, is "a man of the world entirely free from worldliness and a man of letters without the faintest trace of pedantry".[11] Arnold was a familiar figure at the Athenaeum Club, a frequent diner-out and guest at great country houses, charming, fond of fishing (but not of shooting),[12] and a lively conversationalist, with a self-consciously cultivated air combining foppishness and Olympian grandeur. He read constantly, widely, and deeply, and in the intervals of supporting himself and his family by the quiet drudgery of school inspecting, filled notebook after notebook with meditations of an almost monastic tone. In his writings, he often baffled and sometimes annoyed his contemporaries by the apparent contradiction between his urbane, even frivolous manner in controversy, and the "high seriousness" of his critical views and the melancholy, almost plaintive note of much of his poetry. "A voice poking fun in the wilderness" was T. H. Warren's description of him.
Poetry [ edit ]
Arnold is sometimes called the third great Victorian poet, along with Alfred, Lord Tennyson and Robert Browning.[13] Arnold was keenly aware of his place in poetry. In an 1869 letter to his mother, he wrote:
My poems represent, on the whole, the main movement of mind of the last quarter of a century, and thus they will probably have their day as people become conscious to themselves of what that movement of mind is, and interested in the literary productions which reflect it. It might be fairly urged that I have less poetical sentiment than Tennyson and less intellectual vigour and abundance than Browning; yet because I have perhaps more of a fusion of the two than either of them, and have more regularly applied that fusion to the main line of modern development, I am likely enough to have my turn as they have had theirs.[14]
Stefan Collini regards this as "an exceptionally frank, but not unjust, self-assessment.... Arnold's poetry continues to have scholarly attention lavished upon it, in part because it seems to furnish such striking evidence for several central aspects of the intellectual history of the nineteenth century, especially the corrosion of 'Faith' by 'Doubt'. No poet, presumably, would wish to be summoned by later ages merely as an historical witness, but the sheer intellectual grasp of Arnold's verse renders it peculiarly liable to this treatment."[15]
Harold Bloom echoes Arnold's self-characterization in his introduction (as series editor) to the Modern Critical Views volume on Arnold: "Arnold got into his poetry what Tennyson and Browning scarcely needed (but absorbed anyway), the main march of mind of his time." Of his poetry, Bloom says,
Whatever his achievement as a critic of literature, society, or religion, his work as a poet may not merit the reputation it has continued to hold in the twentieth century. Arnold is, at his best, a very good but highly derivative poet.... As with Tennyson, Hopkins, and Rossetti, Arnold's dominant precursor was Keats, but this is an unhappy puzzle, since Arnold (unlike the others) professed not to admire Keats greatly, while writing his own elegiac poems in a diction, meter, imagistic procedure, that are embarrassingly close to Keats.[16]
Sir Edmund Chambers noted, however, that "in a comparison between the best works of Matthew Arnold and that of his six greatest contemporaries... the proportion of work which endures is greater in the case of Matthew Arnold than in any one of them."[17] Chambers judged Arnold's poetic vision by
its simplicity, lucidity, and straightforwardness; its literalness... ; the sparing use of aureate words, or of far-fetched words, which are all the more effective when they come; the avoidance of inversions, and the general directness of syntax, which gives full value to the delicacies of a varied rhythm, and makes it, of all verse that I know, the easiest to read aloud.[18]
He has a primary school named after him in Liverpool, where he died, and secondary schools named after him in Oxford and Staines.
His literary career — leaving out the two prize poems — had begun in 1849 with the publication of The Strayed Reveller and Other Poems by A., which attracted little notice and was soon withdrawn. It contained what is perhaps Arnold |
script. While the story itself isn’t snow-bound, there’s potential in the story, which I think is among Fleming’s finest writing, for snow-set action.
Jake Del Toro, my co-host on the Q-Branch Podcast: I try not too let myself get carried away with thoughts of what the finished product will be like so the thing I look forward to the most is the feeling of anticipation as the BBFC rating appears on screen on opening night and announces the film imminent start.
Ben Williams, journalist, screenwriter, and James Bond aficionado (MI6 HQ): Honestly, I’m hoping for a much more coherent narrative. I genuinely thought Skyfall was a lot of fun and a real crowd pleaser, but its story was riddled with more holes than Bond’s incongruous DB5.
I hope that we get a film that is closer to Casino Royale in terms of character development and narrative cohesion.
Bill Koenig, The HMSS Weblog: Curious to see the direction the Bond films take after Skyfall.
Marketto, who runs James Bond Brasil: The Gun barrel in the beginning of the movie; Mallory (M) in his new old style office; A fantastic car chase; More Bond Theme in action sequences
Mark O’Connell, writer and author of Catching Bullets – Memoirs of a Bond Fan (available from all good stockists): The development stepping stones… the title announcement, cast confirmation, the first few stills, the first teaser trailer and then hearing the song for the first time. Oh, and the poster.
I am not one to get too excited about the video blogs featuring a day in the life of a Range Rover as seen in the current Bond so don’t pay too much attention to guestimates about plot and incident. It will be great to see how Eon and the Bond team follow up Skyfall and I think they will be doing so with a big statement of a film that really stands head and shoulders with Bond’s 2015 box office cousins (The Force Awakens, Avengers II, Jurassic World, Inside Out).
Joan Casanovas, founder of Spanish website Archivo 007: An epic adventure with James Bond against SPECTRE/QUANTUM featuring Blofeld (or Quantum’s chief).
Tom, from James Bond Radio: I’m most looking forward to seeing Bond walk through those double leather padded doors and sitting opposite M to receive his mission details. Having Ralph as M was an inspired decision and I can’t wait to see their dynamic together.
Anders Frejdh, Swedish expert and collector. Bond scholar since 1985 after seeing TSWLM on VHS. Founded From Sweden with Love in 2004: Ever since the financial mega success of Skyfall I’ve wondered how any film maker can top that with a Bond (and I guess that is something the producers are fully aware of too). All I’m hoping for is a classic Bond defined by great stunts and a good story.
Me: The locations mean it’s largely going to be a European Bond film. Hopefully there won’t be too much hopping from one country, a lot of the pleasure of Fleming’s books and the early films is taking in the locales. Also note Edward’s answer, above, which was ahead of the Christoph Waltz story which does link Bond 24 to Octopussy.
Morten Steingrimsen, film journalist and editor of The Norwegian James Bond Magazine (“James Bond-magasinet“), one of Norway’s biggest James Bond fans/experts: The list is very long … For example: The cinematography (by Hoyte Van Hoytema), the production design (Dennis Gassner), the stunts (coordinated by Gary Powell), the action sequences (Alexander Witt), the acting (Craig, Fiennes, Whishaw etc) the locations (Austria, Maraokko, Italy and Mexico, in addition to England).
But I also hope that Bond 24 has a number of surprises. The fact that Sam Mendes returns as Bond director, is something I really look forward to. I think he did a brilliantly job on Skyfall. Hopefully he will make another great Bond movie. In many ways I think Sam Mendes is the new Terrence Young.
I believe Sam Mendes can build on the success of Skyfall.
And what are you not looking forward to so much?
Matt Sherman: I fear the recent emphasis in the Bonds on drama and “art” may remove some of the fun.
Matt Spaiser: I’m not looking forward to the new film likely repeating the mistakes of Skyfall‘s poor tailoring. The sloppy shrunken suit is more popular than ever!
Edward Biddulph: Can’t think of anything off hand.
Jake Del Toro: All the daft press stories that plague Bond productions.
Ben Williams: All I can hope is that there is more time and consideration given to the script. I hope we see a film that is well-paced and has some room to breathe between the action, and that there are reasons for things being in there other than to fulfil a perceived audience expectation.
Bill Koenig: Not especially looking forward the press conference. Last time, it was clear the principals didn’t want to be there, acted as if they resented being asked questions.
Marketto: Until now, everything is exciting for me.
Mark O’Connell: Clocking that end caption that reads “JAMES BOND WILL RETURN” as it is never soon enough!
Joan Casanovas: Moneypenny/M in the field, NO gadgets at all, only one Bond affair and Bond’s past.
Tom: Hmmmm…I really wasn’t a fan of the dialogue in Skyfall. To me it felt forced and was more ‘trying to sound cool’ rather than actually being quality dialogue. I also thought the one liners were too forced and wedged in there for the sake of it. I just don’t think it works with Daniel’s Bond. One or two here and there but no more.
Anders Frejdh: How is it possible not to look forward to a new Bond film?
Me: Mainly the kind of stories that appear in the media, such as “Bond ditches vodka martinis for Heineken” (although that one got me a radio interview to put things right) or the one from this week “Bond ditches Aston Martin for Fiat”.
What do you think of what you’ve learnt about Bond 24 so far, or is it too early to say?
Matt Sherman: Too early.
Matt Spaiser: I’m glad to see Sam Mendes back as the director, since I think he was able to get a more human performance from Daniel Craig than in Craig’s first two Bond films. And it’s exciting that Christoph Waltz will be in the film.
Edward Biddulph: So far so good. EON has put together a good team – the writers, camera crew, and of course the director – which together represents a lot of great experience, whether within the world of Bond or on other films. The settings are varied, and the casting rumours are exciting.
Jake Del Toro: I actively try to avoid anything that could be spoilery but so far I reckon I’ve learned that possible locations are Austria, Rome and Morocco. Also that Christoph Waltz has been cast and a lot of people are speculating that he could be Blofeld. I’d say that’s unlikely as Blofeld would surely be a recurring character and I can’t see him being tied to a multi picture deal with the Bond franchise.
Ben Williams: As always in the lead up to a new Bond film there are tidbits of information that are revealed, or that leak out, about what the film will contain, where it will be shot, who is being cast. Whilst it’s always entertaining to wonder what we’ll eventually see, and the mooted return of Blofeld is an interesting notion, I think that it’s pointless to speculate too wildly at this juncture.
Bill Koenig: Too early to say definitively. Curious to see if various reports – rebooted Blofeld, Moneypenny as more of a sidekick than secretary – pan out.
Marketto: I think is going to be as great as Skyfall was. Taking Craig’s Bond to places he never been before, like the snowy mountains.
Mark O’Connell: No comment (!). Seriously, a lot of things develop and evolve on a Bond movie so what was correct four months ago may not be the case now.
Joan Casanovas: Indeed it is too early but, by now, everything sounds fine. Especially Christoph Waltz rumour as Blofed, he would be the ultimate Bond nemesis.
Tom: Still too early to say, though if the Franz Oberhauser/Blofeld rumours are true, I think I will most likely dissolve into fits of uncontrollable joy.
Anders Frejdh: Everything I’ve heard and read so far looks very promising based on what we’ve found out about the cast and crew. Being Swedish, I can’t wait to see Stockholm based Hoyte van Hoytema’s work on filming the piece and hear Per Hallberg’s input on the sound.
The ‘news’ that Blofeld will return would be expected in the case they’ve decided to give us a classic-style Bond a la 1960’s. It also makes sense to tie in with the current time-line in Bond’s on-screen life.
Me: The delay because of the script problems caused me concern at the time, although it may be a positive that they took the extra time.
Morten Steingrimsen: Based on what I know, it seems that Bond 24 will be a classic Bond movie.
The traditional gun barrel at the start of the film has been absent from the entire Daniel Craig era. How do you feel about that and should it be returned to the start in Bond 24?
Matt Sherman: At the start would be thrilling, but it’s only a few seconds of screen time, really.
Matt Spaiser: I feel that the gun barrel should return to the beginning. Without the gun barrel at the beginning it’s not a proper Bond film. There was no reason for it not being at the beginning of Quantum of Solace and Skyfall. I didn’t buy the excuses people made for it being stuck on at the end. It shouldn’t be negotiable.
Edward Biddulph: I admit I’d rather see the gun barrel restored to the start of the film, but I can understand why it hasn’t been. We have to remember too that there are many cinema-goers who were introduced to Bond through the Craig films, and so don’t particularly expect to see the gunbarrel. For them, it’s not an essential part of the Bond experience. That said, if the film did open with it, I wouldn’t mind betting that audiences will erupt with cheering.
Jake Del Toro: During Daniel Craig’s first two films I didn’t really miss it but the start of Skyfall feels incomplete without it. I really want to see it back at the start of the film where it belongs.
Ben Williams: For many, the gunbarrel is an intrinsic part of a Bond film. Its look, its pacing, its position, they are all aspects that Bond fans will argue over at length.
Personally, it doesn’t really bother me, although I thought the Casino Royale gunbarrel was inspired.
Bill Koenig: I’ve seen some fans say something like, “What would rather have, a gunbarrel at the start or a great movie?” I think that’s a false choice. I’m skeptical it will be at the start of Bond 24, but I’d be happy to be proven wrong.
Marketto: IT MUST BE IN THE START OF THE FILM. 🙂
Mark O’Connell: I know some people hold biblical importance to the gunbarrel sequence and obviously it has its iconography, but it is only 30 seconds in a two hour film. And a director like Mendes has already proved that whilst he wants to make a Bond movie the audience expects, he also wants to put his stamp on it and if a slight moving of one 30 second coda gets proceedings away fro the fingerprints of countless 007 directors before him then more power to his elbow.
Joan Casanovas: It worked great with Casino Royale, as a complete reboot of the franchise. It was ok with Quantum of Solace, as it closed a plot and, from them, James Bond started to be the real 007. Perhaps would have worked with Skyfall but indeed looks repetitive with the first corridor scene. Definitely, the gunbarrel in Bond 24 must be at the beginning.
Tom: I definitely, definitely, definitely want it back at the start of the movie. I’ve missed it so much during the Daniel era. My gut feeling tells me we won’t see it back until the next guy picks up the Walther.
Anders Frejdh: Honestly, I don’t bother that much as long as it’s either at the beginning or the end. On a different note, I’m sure it’ll be back in the beginning sooner or later.
Me: It should definitely be at the start. I liked how it was done in Casino Royale and could live with it done in a similar way in future films, but tacking it on at the end makes no sense to me. I’d rather get rid of it completely than have it at the end.
Morten Steingrimsen: It should definitely be at the start of the film. The gun barrel at the start of the film immediately creates a good feeling!
In Skyfall the secondary characters played a much larger part than earlier films. Do you think that was a positive move and should we see more of M, Q and Moneypenny in Bond 24?
Matt Sherman: I think Daniel Craig is a smart actor and even allowed other actors to upstage him in certain Skyfall scenes. However, consider the film titles “The Adventures of M” and “Moneypenny, Secret Agent” and you’ll see how a Bond film is supposed to be about Bond’s journey and not that of minor characters.
Matt Spaiser: I’m glad the subsidiary characters played a big role. In the old movies it was always welcome to see M, Q and the Minister of Defence outside of the office. Ralph Fiennes is an excellent actor and was fantastic in Skyfall, so I look forward to seeing more of him. For me, his suits tailored by Timothy Everest were a highlight of Skyfall. I think they’re the nicest suits we have seen in a Bond film since Roger Moore wore Douglas Hayward suits in the 1980s. For the other characters, I just hope Q has matured this time around.
Edward Biddulph: Well, we watch a Bond film for Bond, not the other characters. When the story demands, however, the other characters do have place, and in a way the prominence of M and others reflect the fact that spy work these days is as much about as what’s going on back at headquarters (eg computer-based surveillance), as it is about operatives in the field. It’s just not as exciting.
Jake Del Toro: No, Bond should be about James Bond. As a one off I didn’t mind smaller characters getting a bigger role but it should not be the norm. If there is a great story to be told in which these characters need greater prominence then that is fine but the story should dictate their roles within it not the other way round.
Ben Williams: I think it is inevitable that they will have a somewhat expanded role. It’s difficult to expect actors of the calibre of Fiennes, Whishaw, and Harris to be satisfied with playing characters that will have little ongoing character development. However, I also believe that this shouldn’t be done arbitrarily at the expense of the narrative. So, I suppose it will ultimately come down to whether the story requires it.
Bill Koenig: I’m not sure. In one post I referred jokingly to how Bond 24 may see Team Bond, with a sidekick Moneypenny and possibly M getting out into the field. Judi Dench getting so much screen time definitely changed the dynamic of the movies. Spreading it around three such characters has the potential to do that even more.
Marketto: Sure. But I’m not sure about Moneypenny. I’d like to see her in the office again, flirting with Bond.
Mark O’Connell: Of course casting Naomie Harris, Ralph Fiennes and Ben Whishaw in that key trinity of Bond roles was a slick, welcome move. Aside from Moneypenny, the trio didn’t play that much or a larger part. They were just used adeptly and skilfully, which is the great luxury Eon Productions and Sam Mendes have right now with that palette of actors ready in the wings.
I am sure we will see more of Q, M, Moneypenny and maybe even that tufted leather door.
Joan Casanovas: It was indeed a positive move to introduce those characters in this new James Bond era, now it is not necessary to give them a much larger part.
Tom: Definitely. It’s good to have Q and Moneypenny back. I thought they handled the gadget side of things really well. It could so easily have turned into a cheese fest, but I think it worked out great.
Anders Frejdh: Could be both ways but I see no problem in the fact that has happened since those parts have been played by some of the finest actors around. Everything boils down to the script and if that is good as long as the character and elements of James Bond are there, why not?
Me: I’m not a fan of having too many characters involved in the field, however it may reflect reality. Give Bond his mission, send him to do the job and goodbye to M, Q and Moneypenny until Bond 25.
Morten Steingrimsen: James Bond needs to be in the center. But with so good actors as Fiennes, Whishaw and Harris, I think the director should take advantage of their talent.
Say you were given the task of selecting an artist for the Bond 24 theme song. Who would you choose and why?
Matt Sherman: I’ll make an oddball choice here and say Rick Astley, who was rumored for a Bond title years ago but has a sensuous voice with power and with a tremendous range from low to high. He’s more than a voice and brings a lot to the production and authoring of his music. He would be interesting.
Matt Spaiser: I’m not familiar enough with current musicians to select an artist for the theme song, but I hope that David Arnold will return and write the theme song so it can be carried through the soundtrack for the film. It always makes for a satisfying score when the title theme can be carried through the film.
Edward Biddulph: Muse. It’s time for a rocky number again on the lines of Live and Let Die or You Know My Name. In the past, I would have suggested Queen, but Muse will do just as well.
Jake Del Toro: David Bowie. I think his voice and style would be a great fit for Bond.
Ben Williams: I thought Adele was an excellent choice for Skyfall, although I don’t think it really showed her at her best.
I’d welcome her return, but I would also love it if Muse got their shot at doing the theme. I thought Supremacy was fantastic and, although I think Adele’s theme was better suited to the film, it was a shame that they missed out for Skyfall.
Honestly, I think a British artist is the way to go, and there are a lot of talented individuals and groups to choose from.
Bill Koenig: I’m not sure.
Marketto: Michael Bublé, he’s the man for a theme tune.
Mark O’Connell: It’s a hard one to call. Adele proved that astute casting and big casting can work for a Bond tune, but so many factors circle that decisions nowadays.
I would not be surprised to hear Adele’s name again in connection with a Bond. Sam Smith is an appropriate, rumoured name too but we shall see.
If it was my gig to choose… I would go for some big sounds like Depeche Mode or the Rolling Stones. Or see what Kylie, Goldfrapp, London Grammar or Lady Gaga could do with it.
Joan Casanovas: It is difficult to say as it would depend on the film mood. Perhaps Adele again would be a good/safe choice.
Tom: I think Lana Del Rey could do a good job. I also think The Killers could serve up something great, provided they adapted their sound to be a little more traditional and less synthy.
Anders Frejdh: All I can say about this is… If the concept of classic Bond should be fulfilled I can’t think of anyone better Shirley Bassey. If not possible to get her, I’d stick with Adele.
Me: I struggle with this. I’m not a huge fan of Adele’s Skyfall, (although it is on my iPhone all the same) but most of my musical choices don’t fit well with Bond. Arctic Monkeys might do, as they have shown they can be quite versatile but Alex Turner’s voice can be a bit iffy. I read an interview once in which Turner claimed the first tune the Arctic Monkeys guitarist learnt to play was the James Bond Theme, so they’re obviously fans!
Morten Steingrimsen: I hope that Adele returns.
Daniel Craig is contracted to film one more after Bond 24. Do you think he’ll stick with it and how much longer do you think he’ll be in the role?
Matt Sherman: He certainly could do one more and it would be nice for the producers to get 25 done ASAP or else recast. Fans don’t care, frankly, that actors want to do other stage and film projects. They want their Bond to do Bond!
Matt Spaiser: I think Craig will stick with a fifth Bond film, but I don’t think he will do any more than that. Unlike Roger Moore, Craig prides himself on being a versatile actor and knows he can do far more than Bond. He will get bored of it.
Edward Biddulph: After the huge success of Bond 24, as I’m sure it will be, I’m sure he sign on to do another one. But he’ll hang up his Walther PPK after that.
Jake Del Toro: I hope he does one more providing the gap between Bonds 24 & 25 is no more than 2 years, then it’s time to get someone else in.
Ben Williams: I can’t possibly predict that. I imagine that he will play it out to the end of his contract and after that, who knows? I think as long as he still enjoys playing the character and feels capable of doing so, then he should keep at it. Criticisms of age and relevance have always dogged Bond actors as they go further into their tenure, but you simply can’t please everyone all the time. As long as he’s happy and the producers are happy, then I’m sure we’ll see Daniel continuing to play Bond well into the future.
Bill Koenig: I think he’ll do Bond 25. I’m not sure what happens next. Even if he’s ready to move on, I don’t think Barbara Broccoli will be.
Marketto: I believe he will do Bond 25 and Bond 26, nothing more.
Mark O’Connell: Craig’s Bond is doing okay. It seems wrong to be thinking of looking for a new husband when the current marriage is in such a solid state. He has signed on for two more (including Bond 24) so there is nothing to doubt that would not be the case.
Joan Casanovas: I am afraid that perhaps he will be too old for the role after Bond 25. From then he will probably quit (or will be retired).
Tom: I think we’ll get Bond 25 and then he’ll bow out. Unless the producers have difficulty finding the next actor, I guess there’s a chance they could lure him back for one more provided they give him a shitload of money.
Anders Frejdh: Well, if I were him I’d stick with it as long as I could. Apart from a money making machine, he’ll be more and more immortalized as an actor for every film. I’m sure he’ll do a couple more if the scripts meet his approval.
Me: I’m not so sure he will be around for Bond 25. It’s mainly gut feeling, but unless Eon can commit to releasing Bond 25 within 2 years of Bond 24 I have the feeling Craig will feel enough is enough. After Skyfall, Bond 24 has a mountain to climb and it is going to be hard to top it. There is only so much money he can need and may want to pursue other film and stage projects.
Morten Steingrimsen: Daniel Craig is my favorite Bond actor. Therefore, I hope he plays 007 in several Bond films after Bond 24.
If it were announced tomorrow that he were to quit as 007, who would you put forward as the new James Bond (excluding yourself)?
Matt Sherman: Clive Owen has the look and has played Bondlike roles before, and well. I think Benedict Cumberbatch is an extraordinary actor, and if he worked out a bit and they could make his hair and clothes just right he is young enough to take on the role for many years to come.
Matt Spaiser: Benedict Cumberbatch would make an excellent Bond. He has the refinement and the looks.
Edward Biddulph: Not sure. A few years ago, I would have said Jack Davenport, but I think his boat has sailed.
Jake Del Toro: I hope it’s someone fairly unknown that no-one has thought of but if I had to chose right now I’d go with Henry Cavill.
Ben Williams: As a moderator on MI6 Community, I have seen this question posed numerous times and have seen literally hundreds of suggestions put forward, from the sensible to the out right insane.
For me, an actor playing Bond should look the part, have a strong, masculine presence, and be able not only physically perform the action, but also be capable of giving us insight into his emotional state. I really can’t think of a current actor who is of the right age who could do this right now.
I have often suggested that British male model David Gandy would make a good Bond, but whilst he looks the part, whether he can act is an entirely different matter.
Bill Koenig: At one time, I’d have said Henry Cavill, but I don’t think that’s possible now. I think he’s too big physically now. And with all these Superman-related movies he’s contracted for, he’s going to have to maintain that bulk for the foreseeable future. Plus, he’s done UNCLE (though that won’t be out until August 2015) and he’s going to do a project called Stratton through his own production company. I honestly can’t really focus on this until Craig is actually gone. The answer is probably different in 2015 than it would be in 2018 or later.
Marketto: Have no idea.
Mark O’Connell: I would still not rule out Henry Cavill. Dan Stevens and Nicholas Hoult would not be wrong either but the usual genius of the new Bond casting is it is often someone left of field. Damian Lewis has also worked on another Eon film this year and his wife (Helen McCrory) has already served her time on a Bond.
Joan Casanovas: Excluding myself?? Damn,… not sure…Henry Cavill?…not sure…
Tom: Michael Fassbender…though he’s way to big to take on the role now. Watching X-Men: First Class, I think he’d be an amazing Bond, maybe even better than Daniel.
Anders Frejdh: Due to the fact that Daniel Craig is a great actor I’d rather not. (My personal choice before he was announced was Clive Owen, now I don’t even bother to think how he could have done is better than DC has done.)
Me: I honestly don’t know. It’s a real shame they can’t work to the same schedule as the Sean Connery era and knock out a film every year without compromising quality. Those days are over though.
Morten Steingrimsen: I trust that EON makes a wise choice. Most preferably, I would like an unknown British actor.
Is there anything else you’d like to add?
Matt Sherman: Hear the fans, Eon Productions, and get Bond 25 done soon as well as Bond 24!
Matt Spaiser: I’ll have a lot more to say when pictures of Daniel Craig in his new suits for Bond 24 surface.
Edward Biddulph: My title prediction: Property of a Lady.
Ben Williams: To me, it just seems incredible that, more than half a century after Dr No was released, we are still seeing Bond films being made. It is a testament to the enduring appeal of Fleming’s creation. I think that Bond fans are incredibly fortunate that the legacy of Bond continues and we are given that alluring promise at the end of each film: James Bond Will Return.
Bill Koenig: The Bond films sometimes go awry after a big success (Moonraker after Spy Who Loved Me, Quantum after Casino Royale). I’m also curious to see if the Christopher Nolan influence present in Skyfall continues in Bond 24.
Marketto: Bond forever.
Mark O’Connell: I wonder if Bond 24 will put a big Christmas smile on a lot of Bond fan’s faces.
Joan Casanovas: Bond is back!!!
Tom: Fingers crossed they get it right in Bond 24. Less CGI, better dialogue, lesson one liners (quality over quantity) and some classic Fleming elements would be my recipe for a great film.
Anders Frejdh: Personally, I have no desire to know every little detail about a new film before seeing it as it totally ruins the first-time experience.
Me: Thanks to everyone who participated in this Q&A!Advanced Lens System: One built-in Wide Angle lens with 0.4m closest focusing distance, plus additional Fisheye and Portrait lens attachments available.
One built-in Wide Angle lens with 0.4m closest focusing distance, plus additional Fisheye and Portrait lens attachments available. 3 Shooting Modes: Shoot photos with auto-flash on for immediate great results, or take direct control with manual shooting modes (with flash and without flash).
Shoot photos with auto-flash on for immediate great results, or take direct control with manual shooting modes (with flash and without flash). Unlimited Multiple Exposures: Combine multiple shots on one frame for amazing experimental instants.
Combine multiple shots on one frame for amazing experimental instants. Infinite Long Exposures: Perfect for low light, dawn/dusk and nighttime shooting. Get artistic with light painting and create beautiful light streaked instants!
Perfect for low light, dawn/dusk and nighttime shooting. Get artistic with light painting and create beautiful light streaked instants! Color Gels: Transform your photos with color (in a flash!) by shooting with fun color gels in blue, red, purple and yellow!
Transform your photos with color (in a flash!) by shooting with fun color gels in blue, red, purple and yellow! Easy 2 Step-Focusing: Quickly get the shot you want.
Quickly get the shot you want. Uses Fujifilm Instax Mini Film: The most widely available instant film on Earth.
The most widely available instant film on Earth. Tripod Mount and Cable Release Thread: Advanced extras for ultra-impressive instant photography!
We want to say a huge thanks to everyone who has pledged and made the Lomo’Instant Kickstarter project such a massive success. Really, thanks from the bottom of our hearts for your support and we can’t wait to start dispatching the cameras to our loyal Kickstarter backers!
If you missed out on pledging for the Lomo’Instant camera during the Kickstarter campaign, it is still possible for you to get one! Please head over to our Lomo’Instant Site to read more about the camera and pre-order your camera from the Lomography Online Shop!
An Additional Note to Kickstarter Backers: Before any Lomo’Instant are shipped out to anyone else, all Kickstarter orders will be fulfilled. Also, whilst we will offer pre-order customers certain added extras as a thanks for pre-ordering, the pre-order price of the Lomo’Instant is higher than the Kickstarter pricing.
Uncrate: "The people at Lomography do as much as anyone to keep analog photography alive — so we couldn't think of anyone better to make an all-new instant system."
Techcrunch: "The Lomo’Instant looks like no other instant camera. It comes in multiple colors and styles and features multiple modes including color filters, fisheye shots, and infinite long and multiple exposures."
Hypebeast: "What sets this apart from other instant cameras is its extensive feature set, which includes add-on lenses, a variety of filters, several shooting modes, and much more."
Gizmodo: “The retro camera fanatics at Lomography are diving into the world of instant photography with a colorful new shooter packed with all the charm and nostalgia of the 35mm Lomos you've known for years.”
PetaPixel: “Where Lomography’s instant camera stands out is in the customization options, both for the camera and the images it shoots.”
Endgadget: “You get a wide-angle lens in the box for the ultimate selfies”
Geeky Gadgets: “The Lomo Instant camera is also equipped with infinitely long exposures which are perfect for low light or night-time shooting to add to creativity to your photography.”
Gizmag: “Among the neater features of the Lomo'Instant is the ability to take unlimited multiple exposures, meaning you can capture countless shots and mesh them into the one print for unique composite photographs.”
Instant photography is an excellent hybrid of our human desire for immediacy and Lomography’s love for analogue photography. The process is fast, exciting and at the end, there is a beautiful moment captured in front of your eyes. And it doesn't stop there - This creative moment is right there in your hand. Unlike one of the hundreds of photos you take on your phone, this instant is a real object. You can put it on your wall, share it with a friend or slip it in your pocket to always keep the precious memory with you.
So, for this Kickstarter project, we set out to design the ultimate instant camera. A camera that combines our passion for instant analogue photography with our technical experience. A camera that is accessible for everyone, from long time instant photography lovers to first time Lomo'Instant owners. Most importantly, we wanted to create a fun camera packed with awesome features and endless opportunities to experiment!
Say hello to the Lomo'Instant Camera!
On top of its fountain of features, the Lomo'Instant is available in a range of awesome styles and is the perfect size to take wherever you go! It’s the most creative way to shoot fantastic photos which you can share anywhere and with everyone in an instant. Enjoy the beauty of analogue photography and get inspired with this fun-tastic camera!
We are really thrilled to be working on this Kickstarter project and can’t wait to start snapping with the Lomo'Instant. We would love for you to support us on this mission because we really need your help to make this instant dream come to life.
The retail launch price of the Lomo'Instant (without the additional attachable lenses) is currently planned as being between $120 and $150, so with the Early Bird Deal rewards, you save at least 40% on your camera! We plan to have the camera manufactured and ready for delivery in November 2014 (please note this is an estimate only; we unfortunately cannot guarantee this delivery date). Please back us today to help make our instant dream a reality and make huge, exclusive Kickstarter savings!
3 Shooting Modes To Cover Every Kind Of Instant
The Lomo'Instant has an auto flash shooting mode so you can easily shoot fantastic instant photos with flash in the touch of a button. You can also switch to the 2 manual shooting modes to open up all kinds of experimental shooting possibilities.
Flash On Auto Mode – With this mode you can easily get amazing instant photos on the go. A sensor on the flash detects the brightness, and the light meter automatically gives off the right amount of flash. The default aperture value is f/16 and the exposure compensation dial can be adjusted.
– With this mode you can easily get amazing instant photos on the go. A sensor on the flash detects the brightness, and the light meter automatically gives off the right amount of flash. The default aperture value is f/16 and the exposure compensation dial can be adjusted. Flash On Manual Mode - This mode is great for shooting indoors. The flash is on and you can switch between N for normal daytime shots and B shutter for long exposures.
- This mode is great for shooting indoors. The flash is on and you can switch between N for normal daytime shots and B shutter for long exposures. Flash Off Manual Mode – This mode is great for long exposures at night. The flash is switched off and you can switch between N for normal daytime shots and B shutter for long exposures at night.
Four Stunning Designs
We have created four editions of the Lomo'Instant Camera for you to choose from for this Kickstarter project.
An Ultra-Advanced Lens System
Shoot tons of unique instant photos and push the limits of your imagination with the Lomo'Instant Lens System! The camera has a built-in Wide Angle lens. Additionally, the Fisheye and Portrait lens attachments are included in the Lens Package on offer.
Wide Angle Lens (built-in): This 27mm equivalent wide angle lens captures more than your eyes can see and allows you to shoot uber-cool up-close-and-personal shots with the 0.4m closest focusing distance. It’s perfectly suited to spontaneous instant shooting and we love using it for selfies!
Fisheye Lens Attachment (Included in the Lens Package): Get hooked, lined and shamelessly sinkered for wonderful circular instants with the 170° Fisheye Lens Attachment.
Portrait Lens Attachment (Included in the Lens Package): This 35mm equivalent lens attachment is incredibly versatile and gives great results indoors and out. It's great for portraits as well as street photography and landscape shots.
Sh-o-o-o-o-t L-o-o-o-o-o-ng Exposures
The N setting on your camera is perfect for daytime shots and night shots with a flash. But the Lomo'Instant also has a B setting so you can create light-streaked photos by holding the shutter open for as long as you like. Give it a go for low-light or night-time shooting and creating breathtaking light paintings.
Shoot Crazy Unlimited Multiple Exposures
The Lomo'Instant is the only modern Instant camera which allows you to shoot unlimited multiple exposure instants. This means you can combine numerous shots on one frame for show-stopping effects!
Color Gels
Take full control of your instants in a flash (!) with the selection of color gels that come with the Lomo'Instant. Choose from blue, red, purple and yellow! By adding the filters over your flash, you can play around with cool and warm tones, and give |
chance like this, to realise that you are participating in something much larger than yourself?"
New Horizons continues to downlink data on approach to Pluto. Selected pictures are being processed for public release.
Each new release brings surface features into sharper focus.
The latest posting is of the dwarf planet's largest moon, Charon.
Seen clearly in this new view are huge chasms and craters, as well as the moon's so-far-unexplained dark pole.
Scientists say this has been one of the major surprises of the encounter so far, as has the very contrasting appearance of Charon and Pluto.
Image copyright NASA/JHU-APL/SWRI Image caption The 2,300km-wide Pluto, as seen on Saturday by the fast-approaching New Horizons
The former is very grey; the latter is quite red.
Theory holds that their present forms were created in an ancient collision, and therefore they should share many similarities.
"(But) they are completely dichotomous," said Alan Stern, the mission's principal investigator.
"They look as though they are completely different worlds; they just as well could have been raised billions of miles apart, but they weren't."
A last batch of pre-flyby data will come down on Monday. This will include a 600-pixel-wide, full-frame image of Pluto itself.
The probe will then go radio silent. Its final contact is set for 03:17 GMT on Tuesday (04:17 BST; 23:17 EDT Monday).
Image caption Alan Stern briefing reporters on Sunday
During the hours of closest approach, when it gets to within 12,500km of the surface, New Horizons is simply too busy to talk to Earth.
The automated observation sequence will see it make hundreds of movements as it slews every which way to point its cameras, not just at Pluto and Charon, but also at the lesser moons in the system: Styx, Nix, Kerberos and Hydra.
The mission team will be waiting anxiously at its operations centre here at Johns Hopkins University for a signal confirming that the flyby was completed without incident.
This message should start to come through at 00:53 GMT Wednesday (01:53 BST; 20:53 EDT Tuesday).
All it will contain at that time will be engineering data on the status of the probe. But New Horizons' mission manager, Alice Bowman, said that just this ordinary telemetry would indicate whether all the observations were conducted as they should have been.
"If everything looks normal, there's no reason to think we didn't get the goods," she told BBC News.
Some choice images acquired at the moment of closest approach will be released on Wednesday.
Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Nasa's planetary science chief Jim Green says there are two key moments this week
The BBC will be screening a special Sky At Night programme called Pluto Revealed on Monday 20 July, which will recap all the big moments from the New Horizons flyby.
Jonathan.Amos-INTERNET@bbc.co.uk and follow me on Twitter: @BBCAmosThe all-but-confirmed trade that would have sent Mariners lefty Cliff Lee to the Yankees for a top catching prospect, among others, appears to have hit a snag, Joel Sherman of the New York Post reported Friday afternoon.
“To repeat the Yankees aren’t getting Cliff Lee, Mariners concerned about David Adams ankle plus apparently another team has jumped in hard,” Sherman said on his Twitter feed.
Sherman reported that the Texas Rangers are that other team.
ESPN’s Buster Olney, citing sources, said the talks stalled over the second player in the deal, previously reported to be Adams, a second baseman. Olney indicated that the Mariners might have been pushing for a player other than Adams.
Earlier Friday, Sherman reported that the Mariners and Yankees had agreed in principle to a deal that would send Lee to New York for catcher Jesus Montero. Later reports said Adams and right-hander Zach McAllister would be included in the deal.
With the deal apparently hitting a snag, it’s possible that one or more teams have approached Mariners general manager Jack Zduriencik with alternatives to the Yankees offer.
Lee will be a free agent after the season and will command a large contract, which the Yankees seemed well suited to offer.
On Thursday, Lee said the Mariners passed on a chance to sign him to a new contract before the season started.
“It’s their prerogative to do what they want,” Lee said Thursday. “They don’t have to do anything they don’t want to do. You can’t force them to do anything, so, that’s it.”PETITION IS HERE The Bread Street Estates is an ultra-modern luxury townhouse project that is due to be constructed in Philadelphia's Old City, less than a block from Elfreth's Alley ('the oldest residential street in the United States'). This soon-to-be eyesore has clearly been approved for construction by Philadelphia's City Government and it is to be placed alongside historical buildings from the 18th and 19th century. The following is a letter to the Mayor to cancel this project and to ensure that a less brash, and more understated, building is constructed instead. A link to sign an onlineand below.
This is what will be constructed
alongside historical buildings.
* Let is also be known that we are not proposing to have an imitiation-style Victorian building constructed in place of this one, but that one with a more neutral and conventional design be proposed instead. There are quite a few newer buildings in Old City, but all of them maintain a more conventional aesthetic and do not deface the district. This sort of construction, however, is setting a precedent for similar cheap ultra-modern construction in the future—possibly leading to the disintegration of this historic district of Philadelphia altogether.
Dear Mayor, Dear Mayor,
This morning, I came across a sign for a prospective townhouse project on 2nd & Race in Old City. Although I am keen on seeing the development of the neighborhood and so forth, I believe that this particular construction project should be looked into a second time and that, if it goes through, it will be seen as a gross error on your part.
The Old City of Philadelphia is a historical district and, much like the old cities in all other countries in the world—i.e. Charleston, Montréal, Québec and those all throughout Europe and the Maghreb—, it should maintain a "historical" aesthetic. People from all over the world travel to Philadelphia in order to see the the Old City—the place in which the Founding Fathers had first deliberated and set the groundwork for this country. The tourism that the Old City attracts is a source of considerable income for the city and I believe that, if you are to approve such ultra-modern and unattractive housing projects (as the one that is now about to be implemented), you are contributing to the defacement of one our country's most visited historical districts.
Not only is this project going to be a blight to the historical feel of the Old City, but it is also going to set a precedent for the construction similar housing projects in the future and, in turn, for the defacement of the entire neighborhood. Thus far, most of the condominiums and estates in Old City proper have maintained a more neutral and antiquated look, but this one is radically modern and clearly does not belong in this part of the neighborhood.
I intend to start a petition supporting the cancellation of the Bread Street Estates project, and perhaps to even make this letter public through social media, but I figured that it would be both tactful and respectful to bring this matter to your attention beforehand.
Elfreth's Alley, the oldest residential
neighborhood in the United States &
a US National Historic Landmark.
Cordially,Read the first chapter of the book, “Guantánamo Diary,” written by Mohamedou Ould Slahi. It is the first and only public account written by a still-imprisoned Guantánamo detainee.
Slahi has been imprisoned since 2002. The United States has never charged him with a crime. A federal judge ordered his release in 2010, but he remains in custody.
Click here to watch DemocracyNow.org interview with Slahi’s editor, Larry Siems, his lawyer, Nancy Hollander, and retired Air Force Col. Morris Davis. Davis says he met with Slahi shortly before he resigned as the former chief military prosecutor at Guantánamo Bay in 2007, and argues he is “no more a terrorist than Forrest Gump.”
Read Chapter 1 of Guantánamo Diary below.
Democracy Now! has regularly covered the stories of those imprisoned at the U.S. detention facility located in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, since former President George W. Bush began the so-called war on terror. The first captives arrived at the detention camp on January 11, 2002. Browse an archive of our reports here.
Excerpted from the book “Guantánamo Diary” by Mohamedou Ould Slahi. Diary and annotated diary copyright © 2015 by Mohamedou Ould Slahi. Introduction and notes copyright © 2015 by Larry Siems. Reprinted with permission of Little, Brown and Company.
CHAPTER 1
Jordan–Afghanistan–GITMO
July 2002– February 2003
The American Team Takes Over … Arrival at Bagram … Bagram to GTMO … GTMO, the New Home … One Day in Paradise, the Next in Hell
July __, 2002, 10 p.m.
The music was off. The conversations of the guards faded away. The truck emptied. I felt alone in the hearse truck. The waiting didn’t last: I felt the presence of new people, a silent team. I don’t remember a single word during the whole rendition to follow.
A person was undoing the chains on my wrists. He undid the first hand, and another guy grabbed that hand and bent it while a third person was putting on the new, firmer and heavier shackles. Now my hands were shackled in front of me.
Somebody started to rip my clothes with something like a scissors. I was like, What the heck is going on? I started to worry about the trip I neither wanted nor initiated. Somebody else was deciding everything for me; I had all the worries in the world but making a decision. Many thoughts went quickly through my head. The optimistic thoughts suggested, ‘Maybe you’re in the hands of Americans, but don’t worry, they just want to take you home, and to make sure that everything goes in secrecy.’ The pessimistic ones went, ‘You screwed up! The Americans managed to pin some shit on you, and they’re taking you to U.S. prisons for the rest of your life.’
I was stripped naked. It was humiliating, but the blindfold helped me miss the nasty look of my naked body. During the whole procedure, the only prayer I could remember was the crisis prayer, Ya hayyu! Ya kayyum! and I was mumbling it all the time. Whenever I came to be in a similar situation, I would forget all my prayers except the crisis prayer, which I learned from life of our Prophet, Peace be upon him.
One of the team wrapped a diaper around my private parts. Only then was I dead sure that the plane was heading to the U.S. Now I started to convince myself that “every thing’s gonna be alright.” My only worry was about my family seeing me on TV in such a degrading situation. I was so skinny. I’ve been always, but never that skinny: my street clothes had become so loose that I looked like a small cat in a big bag.
When the U.S. team finished putting me in the clothes they tailored for me, a guy removed my blindfold for a moment. I couldn’t see much because he directed the flashlight into my eyes. He was wrapped from hair to toe in a black uniform. He opened his mouth and stuck his tongue out, gesturing for me to do the same, a kind of AHH test which I took without resistance. I saw part of his very pale, blond-haired arm, which cemented my theory of being in Uncle Sam’s hands.
The blindfold was pushed down. The whole time I was listening to loud plane engines; I very much believe that some planes were landing and others taking off. I felt my “special” plane approaching, or the truck approaching the plane, I don’t recall anymore. But I do recall that when the escort grabbed me from the truck, there was no space between the truck and the airplane stairs. I was so exhausted, sick, and tired that I couldn’t walk, which compelled the escort to pull me up the steps like a dead body.
Inside the plane it was very cold. I was laid on a sofa and the guards shackled me, mostly likely to the floor. I felt a blanket put over me; though very thin, it comforted me.
I relaxed and gave myself to my dreams. I was thinking about different members of my family I would never see again. How sad would they be! I was crying silently and without tears; for some reason, I gave all my tears at the beginning of the expedition, which was like the boundary between death and life. I wished I were better to people. I wished I were better to my family. I regretted every mistake I made in my life, toward God, toward my family, toward anybody!
I was thinking about life in an American prison. I was thinking about documentaries I had seen about their prisons, and the harshness with which they treat their prisoners. I wished I were blind or had some kind of handicap, so they would put me in isolation and give me some kind of humane treatment and protection. I was thinking, What will the first hearing with the judge be like? Do I have a chance to get due process in a country so full of hatred against Muslims? Am I really already convicted, even before I get the chance to defend myself?
I drowned in these painful dreams in the warmth of the blanket. Every once in a while the pain of the urine urge pinched me. The diaper didn’t work with me: I could not convince my brain to give the signal to my bladder. The harder I tried, the firmer my brain became. The guard beside me kept pouring water bottle caps in my mouth, which worsened my situation. There was no refusing it, either you swallow or you choke. Lying on one side was killing me beyond belief, but every attempt to change my position ended in failure, for a strong hand pushed me back to the same position.
I could tell that the plane was a big jet, which led me to believe that flight was direct to the U.S. But after about five hours, the plane started to lose altitude and smoothly hit the runway. I realized the U.S. is a little bit farther than that. Where are we? In Ramstein, Germany? Yes! Ramstein it is: in Ramstein there’s a U.S. military airport for transiting planes from the Middle East; we’re going to stop here for fuel. But as soon as the plane landed, the guards started to change my metal chains for plastic ones that cut my ankles painfully on the short walk to a helicopter. One of the guards, while pulling me out of the plane, tapped me on the shoulder as if to say, “you’re gonna be alright.” As in agony as I was, that gesture gave me hope that there were still some human beings among the people who were dealing with me.
When the sun hit me, the question popped up again: Where am I? Yes, Germany it is: it was July and the sun rises early. But why Germany? I had done no crimes in Germany! What shit did they pull on me? And yet the German legal system was by far a better choice for me; I know the procedures and speak the language. Moreover, the German system is somewhat transparent, and there are no two and three hundred years sentences. I had little to worry about: a German judge will face me and show me whatever the government has brought against me, and then I’m going to be sent to a temporary jail until my case is decided. I won’t be subject to torture, and I won’t have to see the evil faces of interrogators.
After about ten minutes the helicopter landed and I was taken into a truck, with a guard on either side. The chauffeur and his neighbor were talking in a language I had never heard before. I thought, What the heck are they speaking, maybe Filipino? I thought of the Philippines because I’m aware of the huge U.S. military presence there. Oh, yes, Philippines it is: they conspired with the U.S. and pulled some shit on me. What would the questions of their judge be? By now, though, I just wanted to arrive and take a pee, and after that they can do whatever they please. Please let me arrive! I thought; After that you may kill me!
The guards pulled me out of the truck after a five-minute drive, and it felt as if they put me in a hall. They forced me to kneel and bend my head down: I should remain in that position until they grabbed me. They yelled, “Do not move.” Before worrying about anything else, I took my most remarkable urine since I was born. It was such a relief; I felt I was released and sent back home. All of a sudden my worries faded away, and I smiled inside. Nobody noticed what I did.
About a quarter of an hour later, some guards pulled me and towed me to a room where they obviously had “processed” many detainees. Once I entered the room, the guards took the gear off my head. Oh, my ears ached so badly, and so did my head; actually my whole body was conspiring against me. I could barely stand. The guards started to deprive me of my clothes, and soon I stood there as naked as my mother bore me. I stood there for the first time in front of U.S. soldiers, not on TV, this was for real. I had the most common reaction, covering my private parts with my hands. I also quietly started to recite the crisis prayer, Ya hayyu! Ya kayyum! Nobody stopped me from praying; however, one of the MPs was staring at me with his eyes full of hatred. Later on he would order me to stop looking around in the room.
A __________________________ medic gave me a quick medical check, after which I was wrapped in Afghani cloths. Yes, Afghani clothes in the Philippines! Of course I was chained, hands and feet tied to my waist. My hands, moreover, were put in mittens. Now I’m ready for action! What action? No clue!
The escort team pulled me blindfolded to a neighboring interrogation room. As soon as I entered the room, several people started to shout and throw heavy things against the wall. In the melee, I could distinguish the following questions:
“Where is Mullah Omar?” “Where is Usama Bin Laden?” “Where is Jalaluddin Haqqani?”
A very quick analysis went through my brain: the individuals in those questions were leading a country, and now they’re a bunch of fugitives! The interrogators missed a couple of things. First, they had just briefed me about the latest news: Afghanistan is taken over, but the high level people have not been captured. Second, I turned myself in about the time when the war against terrorism started, and since then I have been in a Jordanian prison, literally cut off from the rest of the world. So how am I supposed to know about the U.S. taking over Afghanistan, let alone about its leaders having fled? Not to mention where they are now.
I humbly replied, “I don’t know!”
“You’re a liar!” shouted one of them in broken Arabic.
“No, I’m not lying, I was captured so and so, and I only knowAbu Hafs..” I said, in a quick summary of my whole story.
“We should interrogate these motherfu$kers like the Israelis do.”
“What do they do? ” asked another.
“They strip them naked and interrogate them!”
“Maybe we should!” suggested another. Chairs were still flying around and hitting the walls and the floor. I knew it was only a show of force, and the establishment of fear and anxiety. I went with the flow and even shook myself more than necessary. I didn’t believe that Americans torture, even though I had always considered it a remote possibility.
“I am gonna interrogate you later on,” said one, and the U.S. interpreter repeated the same in Arabic.
“Take him to the Hotel,” suggested the interrogator. Thistime the interpreter didn’t translate.
And so was the first interrogation done. Before the escort grabbed me, in my terrorizing fear, I tried to connect with the interpreter.
“Where did you learn such good Arabic? ” I asked.
“In the U.S.!” he replied, sounding flattered. In fact, he didn’t speak good Arabic; I just was trying to make some friends.
The escort team led me away. “You speak English,” one of them said in a thick Asian accent.
“A little bit,” I replied. He laughed, and so did his colleague. I felt like a human being leading a casual conversation. I said to myself, Look how friendly the Americans are: they’re gonna put you in a Hotel, interrogate you for a couple of days, and then fly you home safely. There’s no place for worry. The U.S. just wants to check everything, and since you’re innocent, they’re gonna find that out. For Pete’s sake, you’re on a base in Philippines; even though it’s a place at the edge of legality, it’s just temporary. The fact that one of the guards sounded Asian strengthened my wrong theory of being in the Philippines.
I soon arrived, not at a Hotel but at a wooden cell with neither a bathroom nor a sink. From the modest furniture — a weathered, thin mattress and an old blanket — you could tell there had been somebody here. I was kind of happy for having left Jordan, the place of randomness, but I was worried about the prayers I could not perform, and I wanted to know how many prayers I missed on the trip. The guard of the cell was a small, skinny white _______, a fact which gave me more comfort: for the last eight months I had been dealt with solely by big, muscular males.
I asked about the time, and ____ told me it was about eleven, if I remember correctly. I had one more question.
“What day is it?”
“I don’t know, every day here is the same,” _ –_ replied. I realized I had asked too much; _ –_ wasn’t even supposed to tell me the time, as I would learn later.
I found a Koran gently placed on some water bottles. I realized I was not alone in the jail, which was surely not a Hotel.
As it turned out, I was delivered to the wrong cell. Suddenly, I saw the weathered feet of a detainee whose face I couldn’t see because it was covered with a black bag. Black bags, I soon would learn, were put on everybody’s heads to blindfold them and make them unrecognizable, including the writer. Honestly, I didn’t want to see the face of the detainee, just in case he was in pain or suffering, because I hate to see people suffering; it drives me crazy. I’ll never forget the moans and cries of the poor detainees in Jordan when they were suffering torture. I remember putting my hands over my ears to stop myself from hearing the cries, but no matter how hard I tried, I was still able to hear the suffering. It was awful, even worse than torture.
The _______ guard at my door stopped the escort team and organized my transfer to another cell. It was the same as the one I was just in, but in the facing wall. In the room there was a half-full water bottle, the label of which was written in Russian; I wished I had learned Russian. I said to myself, a U.S. base in the Philippines, with water bottles from Russia? The U.S. doesn’t need supplies from Russia, and besides, geographically it makes no sense. Where am I? Maybe in a former Russian Republic, like Tajikstan? All I know is that I don’t know!
The cell had no facility to take care of the natural business. Washing for prayer was impossible and forbidden. There was no clue as to the Kibla, the direction of Mecca. I did what I could. My next door neighbor was mentally sick; he was shouting in a language with which I was not familiar. I later learned that he was a Taliban leader.
Later on that day, July 20, 2002, the guards pulled me for routine police work, fingerprints, height, weight, etcetera. I was offered _________ as interpreter. It was obvious that Arabic was not ____ first language. ____ taught me the rules: no speaking, no praying loudly, no washing for prayer, and a bunch of other nos in that direction. The guard asked me whether I wanted to use the bathroom. I thought he meant a place where you can shower; “Yes,” I said. The bathroom was a barrel filled with human waste. It was the most disgusting bathroom I ever saw. The guards had to watch you while you were taking care of business. I couldn’t eat the food — the food in Jordan was, by far, better than the cold MREs I got in Bagram — so I didn’t really have to use the bathroom. To pee, I would use the empty water bottles I had in my room. The hygienic situation was not exactly perfect; sometimes when the bottle got filled, I continued on the floor, making sure that it didn’t go all the way to the door.
For the next several nights in isolation, I got a funny guard who was trying to convert me to Christianity. I enjoyed the conversations, though my English was very basic. My dialogue partner was young, religious, and energetic. He liked Bush (“the true religious leader,” according to him); he hated Bill Clinton (“the Infidel”). He loved the dollar and hated the Euro. He had his copy of the bible on him all the time, and whenever the opportunity arose he read me stories, most of which were from the Old Testament. I wouldn’t have been able to understand them if I hadn’t read the bible in Arabic several times — not to mention that the versions of the stories are not that far from the ones in the Koran. I had studied the Bible in the Jordanian prison; I asked for a copy, and they offered me one. It was very helpful in understanding Western societies, even though many of them deny being influenced by religious scriptures. I didn’t try to argue with him: I was happy to have somebody to talk to. He and I were unanimous that the religious scriptures, including the Koran, must have come from the same source. As it turned out, the hot-tempered soldier’s knowledge about his religion was very shallow. Nonetheless I enjoyed him being my guard. He gave me more time on the bathroom, and he even looked away when I used the barrel.
I asked him about my situation. “You’re not a criminal, because they put the criminals in the other side,” he told me, gesturing with his hand. I thought about those “criminals” and pictured a bunch of young Muslims, and how hard their situation could be. I felt bad. As it turned out, later on I was transferred to these “criminals,” and became a “high priority criminal.” I was kind of ashamed when the same guard saw me later with the “criminals,” after he had told me that I was going to be released at most after three days. He acted normally, but he didn’t have that much freedom to talk to me about religion there because of his numerous colleagues. Other detainees told me that he was not bad toward them, either.
The second or the third night _________ pulled me out of my cell himself and led me to an interrogation, where the same ___________Arabic already had taken a seat. _________________________________________________
_________________________________. You could tell he was the right man for the job: he was the kind of man who wouldn’t mind doing the dirty work. The detainees back in Bagram used to call him ________________; he reportedly was responsible for torturing even innocent individuals the government released.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ didn’t need to shackle me because I was in shackles 24 hours a day. I slept, ate, used the bathroom while completely shackled, hand to feet. _________ opened a file in his hand ______________________________________ and started by means of the interpreter. _________ was asking me general questions about my life and my background. When he asked me, “What languages do you speak? ” he didn’t believe me; he laughed along with the interpreter, saying, “Haha, you speak German? Wait, we’re gonna check.”
Suddenly _________________________________________________ the room _______________________________________________________________________. There was no mistaking it, he was ___________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________.
“Ja Wohl,” I replied. ___________ was not _____________ but his German was fairly acceptable, given that he spent ___
_____________________________________________
_ __ _ _ __ _ __ _ __ _ _ __ _ __ _ __ _ __ _ __ _ _. He confirmed to his colleague that my German was “____ ____. Both looked at me with some respect after that, though the respect was not enough to save me from _________ wrath. _________ asked me where I learned to speak German, and said that he was going to interrogate me again later.
, “Wahrheit macht frei, the truth sets you free.” When I heard him say that, I knew the truth wouldn’t set me free, because “Arbeit” didn’t set the Jews free. Hitler’s propaganda machinery used to lure Jewish detainees with the slogan, “Arbeit macht frei,” Work sets you free. But work set nobody free.
took a note in his small notebook and left the room. ________ sent me back to my room and apologized___________________.
“I am sorry for keeping you awake for so long,” “No problem!” ___ replied.
After several days in isolation I was transferred to the general population, but I could only look at them because I was put in the narrow barbed-wire corridor between the cells. I felt like I was out of jail, though, and I cried and thanked God. After eight months of total isolation, I saw fellow detainees more or less in my situation. “Bad” detainees like me were shackled 24 hours a day and put in the corridor, where every passing guard or detainee stepped on them. The place was so narrow that the barbed wire kept pinching me for the next ten days. I saw _____________________ being force-fed; he was on a forty-five day hunger strike. The guards were yelling at him, and he was bouncing a dry piece of bread between his hands. All the detainees looked so worn out, as if they had been buried and after several days resurrected, but ___________________ was a completely different story: he was bones without meat. It reminded me of the pictures you see in documentaries about WWII prisoners.
Detainees were not allowed to talk to each other, but we enjoyed looking at each other. The punishment for talking was hanging the detainee by the hands with his feet barely touching the ground. I saw an Afghani detainee who passed out a couple of times while hanging from his hands. The medics “fixed” him and hung him back up. Other detainees were luckier: they were hung for a certain time and then released. Most of the detainees tried to talk while they were hanging, which made the guards double their punishment. There was a very old Afghani fellow who reportedly was arrested to turn over his son. The guy was mentally sick; he couldn’t stop talking because he didn’t know where he was, nor why. I don’t think he understood his environment, but the guards kept dutifully hanging him. It was so pitiful. One day one of the guards threw him on his face, and he was crying like a baby.
We were put in about six or seven big barbed-wire cells named after operations performed against the U.S: Nairobi, U.S.S. Cole, Dar-Es-Salaam, and so on. In each cell there was a detainee called English, who benevolently served as an interpreter to translate the orders to his co-detainees. Our English was a gentleman from Sudan named __________________. His English was very basic, and so he asked me secretly whether I spoke English. “No,” I replied — but as it turned out I was a Shakespeare compared to him. My brethren thought that I was denying them my services, but I just didn’t know how bad the situation was.
Now I was sitting in front of bunch of dead regular U.S. citizens. My first impression, when I saw them chewing without a break, was, What’s wrong with these guys, do they have to eat so much? Most of the guards were tall, and overweight. Some of them were friendly and some very hostile. Whenever I realized that a guard was mean I pretended that I understood no English. I remember one cowboy coming to me with an ugly frown on his face:
“You speak English? ” he asked. “No English,” I replied.
“We don’t like you to speak English. We want you to die slowly,” he said.
“No English,” I kept replying. I didn’t want to give him the satisfaction that his message arrived. People with hatred always have something to get off their chests, but I wasn’t ready to be that drain.
Prayer in groups wasn’t allowed. Everybody prayed on his own, and so did I. Detainees had no clues about prayer time. We would just imitate: when a detainee started to pray, we assumed it was time and followed. The Koran was available to detainees who asked for one. I don’t remember asking myself, because the handling by the guards was just disrespectful; they threw it to each other like a water bottle when they passed the holy book through. I didn’t want to be a reason for humiliating God’s word. Moreover, thank God, I know the Koran by heart. As far as I recall, one of the detainees secretly passed me a copy that nobody was using in the cell.
After a couple of days, _____________________ pulled me to interrogate me. ___________ acted as an interpreter.
“Tell me your story,” _________ asked.
“My name is, I graduated in 1988, I got a scholarship to Germany…” I replied in very boring detail, none of which seemed to interest or impress _________. He grew tired and started to yawn. I knew exactly what he wanted to hear, but I couldn’t help him.
He interrupted me. “My country highly values the truth.
Now I’m gonna ask you some questions, and if you answer truthfully, you’re gonna be released and sent safely to your family. But if you fail, you’re gonna be imprisoned indefinitely. A small note in my agenda book is enough to destroy your life. What terrorist organizations are you part of?”
“None,” I replied.
“You’re not a man, and you don’t deserve respect. Kneel, cross your hands, and put them behind your neck.”
I obeyed the rules and he put a bag over my head. My back was hurting bad lately and that position was so painful; _________ was working on my sciatic problem. _________ brought two projectors and adjusted them on my face. I couldn’t see, but the heat overwhelmed me and I started to sweat.
“You’re gonna be sent to a U.S. facility, where you’ll spend the rest of your life,” he threatened. “You’ll never see your family again. Your family will be f **cked by another man. In American jails, terrorists like you get raped by multiple men at the same time. The guards in my country do their job very well, but being raped is inevitable. But if you tell me the truth, you’re gonna be released immediately.”
I was old enough to know that he was a rotten liar and a man with no honor, but he was in charge, so I had to listen to his bullshit again and again. I just wished that the agencies would start to hire smart people. Did he really think that anybody would believe his nonsense? Somebody would have to be stupid: was he stupid, or did he think I was stupid? I would have respected him more had he told me, “Look, if you don’t tell me what I want to hear, I’m gonna torture you.”
Anyway, I said, “Of course I will be truthful!” “What terrorist organizations are you part of?”
“None!” I replied. He put back the bag on my head and started a long discourse of humiliation, cursing, lies, and threats. I don’t really remember it all, nor am I ready to sift in my memory for such bullshit. I was so tired and hurt, and tried to sit but he forced me back. I cried from the pain. Yes, a man my age cried silently. I just couldn’t bear the agony.
after a couple of hours sent me back to my cell, promising me more torture. “This was only the start,” as he put it. I was returned to my cell, terrorized and worn out. I prayed to Allah to save me from him. I lived the days to follow in horror: whenever _________ went past our cell I looked away, avoiding seeing him so he wouldn’t “see” me, exactly like an ostrich. _________ was checking on everybody, day and night, and giving the guards the recipe for every detainee. I saw him torturing this other detainee. I don’t want to recount what I heard about him; I just want to tell what I saw with my eyes. It was an Afghani teenager, I would say 16 or 17. _________ made him stand for about three days, sleepless. I felt so bad for him. Whenever he fell down the guards came to him, shouting “no sleep for terrorists,” and made him stand again. I remember sleeping and waking up, and he stood there like a tree.
Whenever I saw _________ around, my heart started to pound, and he was often around. One day he sent a ________________ interpreter to me to pass me a message. “_________ is gonna kick your ass.”
I didn’t respond, but inside me I said, May Allah stop you! But in fact _________ didn’t kick my rear end; instead ___________ pulled me for interrogation. He was a nice guy; maybe he felt he could relate to me because of the language. And why not? Even some of the guards used to come to me and practice their German when they learned that I spoke it.
Anyway, he recounted a long story to me. “I’m not like _________. He’s young and hot-tempered. I don’t use inhumane methods; I have my own methods. I want to tell something about American history, and the whole war against terrorism.”
was straightforward and enlightening. He started with American history and |
iotic Resistance Simulation'
5. Ship Map
Not much depth in comment required to justify my inclusion of this work other than to say I really loved it. Created by Duncan and Robin from Kiln in partnership with the UCL Energy Institute, it offers a visual window to see'movements of the global merchant fleet over the course of 2012'. This is data I've never seen visualised before (I'm sure some will correct me!), it is elegantly produced and hugely addictive to sit, watch, and search for avenues of intense shipping and outliers alike.
6. Profiling the Parks
Profiling the Parks is a wonderful hand-drawn video produced by RJ Andrews that presents some fascinating data driven insights about the US National Parks. RJ describes the motivation for the project emerging from a visit to Yosemite, "I tried to picture the Yosemite valley compared to Zion, my favorite Park. Yosemite felt taller (it is) and also wider (yup) – but I couldn’t really tell by how much. I also had no idea which park floor was at a higher elevation. Read more about the background to the project, the methods used and some nice mood board references.
7. Jonni Walker
There are many incredibly smart and talented people pushing the limits of what tools like Tableau can achieve. Each day I see something new being produced that makes me feel increasingly inadequate and driven to find out how they have 'done that'. It therefore feels rather unfair to shine the light on just one person but I came across Jonni Walker's portfolio of work this year and feel it is really outstanding. He's doing things in Tableau I've rarely seen before with such creativity and with an aesthetic you might normally associate with that of centres of excellence like National Geographic magazine.
8. 'Joy Division' Charts
This is a mention for the first of two techniques I've seen popping up in a few places recently. I'm terming them 'Joy Division' charts, which is quite lame really, but captures my instinctive visual association with the famous cover design of Joy Division's 'Unknown Pleasures' album, as designed by Peter Saville. Some have termed them 2.5D charts, others horizon graphs, but whatever the name I feel they offer a neat spatial solution to highlight the peaks of change over time when you have many concurrent series/categories to display, with opacity helping overcome any occlusion caused by intrusive shaped values. They have been deployed in different ways to show patterns of insults, the evolution of scientific impact, and for plotting the peaks of political support across America.
9. Map Containers
The visualisation work produced by the Washington Post this year has been particularly exceptional, even for them. With as broad an array of different techniques being used as you can almost imagine, (including rare sightings in the wild of things like the Marimekko), one approach I have seen them use on several occasions (here, here and here) has been a variation on the grid map/tile map whereby the individual geographic containers have hosted smaller charts. The 'container' attribute is without question my favourite encoding device of the year (try it! it can be quite liberating to not be bound by axis scales) and I really like this approach that blends the advantages of small multiples with the best-fit properties of geographical layout.
10. The NYT's Composite 'PhotoVizzes'
("Oh, he's profiling the Washington Post and New York Times again". Yes I am, shut up, make your own list!) With the dominance of the US election coverage it is easy to forget the breadth and quality of visualisation-based reporting of the Rio Olympics by the New York Times. Feast your eyes on this surely-2017-award-winning collection of work that, again, sees them innovating in staggering new ways. I loved the devilishly simple but compelling interactive that randomly simulates how fast an Olympian could travel from your house to nearby locations based on the distances of their specialist events. It makes you feel super slow and inferior as a fellow human being but that's ok. The works I most loved, however, were the composite 'photoviz' style stories showing the key stages of a race or performance in a single merged, annotated photo image.
Special mentions...
Here are the other highlights from the second half of 2016 that deserve a special mention:
Information+ Conference | A brand new conference for 2016, this was one of the few events I attended so am biased but I thought it offered a super blend of speakers that few others have attempted. Robert Kosara has a nice selection of some of the headline talks
The Great Animal Orchestra | This is such a wonderfully absorbing experience, developed by the Fondation Cartier pour l'art contemporain unveiling "the mysteries of the acoustic harmony of the animal kingdom, offering an unprecedented interactive experience that reveals the ecology of the soundscape and the forces behind it"
Chart Chooser/Flash Cards | I include these developments - packs of custom designed cards to assist in selecting different visaulisation methods - with a mixture of envy and satisfaction because I too was in the early stages of working on such a thing but Stephanie and Jon/Severino (and collaborators) beat me to it! However, they have done a great job and I'm sure they will be successfully adopted by many
A Timeline of Earth's Average Temperature | A typically exceptional explainer from Randall Munroe showing the disturbing story of the increasing temperature
Orchestra guide | Technically from May but I only came across this (I think!) during the second half of the year, an excellent visual device used to help guide audiences of the Toronto Symphony Orchestera through the music being performed
(Translated) 'Berlin-Marathon 2016 - Your city is going fast' | A super nice animation simulating runners of the Berlin marathon working their way round the course at the range of different speeds you would expect
Income Inequality maps | Stunning large prints 3D maps created by Herwig Scherabon visualises income inequality in Los Angeles, Chicago and New YorkBrendan Kuty/Patch.com
So you know how a 500-pound bear was found in the basement of a Hopatcong, NJ home on Wednesday afternoon by the cable guy? Well, now it turns out the bear was living there for weeks and was getting ready for hibernation!
The cable guy scared the sleeping bear, who escaped the house and was eventually tracked down by Animal Control officers (it took hours to catch up with the bear and tranquilize him). But WCBS 2 reports the "officers believe the bear had been living in the basement for at least several weeks. The bear had fashioned a den of his own in the basement, bringing in twigs and leaves, in anticipation of a winter-long stay."
Homeowner Frank Annacone, 85, admitted he doesn't visit his basement and doesn't usually lock his basement door, so "it was probably slightly ajar, allowing the big bear to push his way inside." Annacone marveled, "I could have ended up lunch for that big guy!"According to OKCupid, 39% of their users are willing to be in an open relationship with the right person. With the increased popularity of nonmonogamy, trends of open relationships that are rooted in sexism are increasing. Many couples who first open their relationships have an extremely harmful rule- the one penis policy.
In an effort to protect themselves from jealousy and insecurity people in these open relationships agree to open their relationship, but only if their partner only dates people of the gender opposite of themselves.
Typically, one penis policies involve a straight cisgender man and a bisexual cisgender woman. There are exceptions, but overwhelmingly this gender combination is the trend. Basically, the cis man wants to be the only penis in his partner’s life as a way to control the relationship and his partner.
Opening relationships to see other people can be scary and often couples are tempted to construct rules to protect their feelings, but often these rules are ineffective and unethical.
The one penis policy is not actually protecting anyone’s feelings.
The one penis policy acts as a crutch for insecurity and jealousy. Instead of working on overcoming insecurity the one penis policy perpetuates sexism, trans- exclusion, and anti- LGBTQIA+ attitudes.
1. The OPP Oversimplifies Gender and Is Trans-exclusionary
The term “one penis policy” is in itself exclusionary because it assumes only allowing your partner to have your penis in their life is synonymous with only having one male partner. Both the name and practice of OPP are trans-exclusionarily. Men aren’t the only people with penises and not all men have penises.
Additionally, the one penis policy oversimplifies gender. The idea of the OPP is that one partner can only date the opposite gender. However, there is no “opposite” gender because gender is not a binary. Men choosing who their partner dates based on the potential new partner’s gender is sexist in a big way. Gender should not affect how okay someone is with their partner dating because relationships between all genders (or absence of gender) are all valuable and legitimate.
2. Male Privilege & Cisgender Men Make The Rules
The one penis policy’s name is not a coincidence. Usually, the rule is made by cis-men with penises and the OPP has deep roots in toxic masculinity. Often men are allowed to sleep with any gender they want (which usually is just women) while their girlfriends can only sleep with women, despite an existing attraction to other off-limit genders.
Any dating rule with a double standard for men and women is a problem. OPP is a step away from gender equality and another form of male privilege. Men should not continue to be in control of women’s sexuality whether they are in a relationship or not.
One member of a relationship making decisions for both or all people is unacceptable.
Another example of male privilege showing up in nonmonogamy is polygamy. The differences between polygamy and polyamory are complicated. However, often in polygamy men make all decisions for their female partners. The man in the relationship gets to have multiple partners, but all his partners must be faithful to only him.
OPP is not all that different from polygamy. Men allowing their partner to date only who they choose is a less extreme example of how even in alternative relationships escaping sexism and patriarchal control of women is difficult.
3. Devalues Real Relationships
During my attempt at monogamy, I was in an open relationship with a one penis policy. At first, I was excited to have a partner who was willing to try an open relationship. After a while, the hypocrisy began to weigh on me.
Why was my partner okay with me dating women and not men?
When I asked he claimed my relationships with women “didn’t count,” as if it were obvious. I was astonished and dismayed. I made the assumption that since he knew I was bisexual he was supportive of same- sex relationships. Supportive was absolutely the wrong word.
Even though he was not openly hateful towards relationships between women he also didn’t recognize the value of relationships between women. The very fact that he was more threatened by potential relationships with men than women was a red flag that he saw relationships between women as less legitimate.
The one penis policy is a quieter form of discrimination against gay/ bisexual couples that is still harmful.
Saying my relationship did not count was insulting to my sexual identity and every relationship between women or other marginalized genders. Relationships between two women do count, they are just as legitimate as heterosexual relationships, and the penis policy minimizes that.
4. Sexualizes Legitimate Relationships
Along with the one penis policy devaluing relationships between women it also sexualizes relationships between women.
It is no secret that many men are turned on by “girl on girl action.” For example, “lesbian” dominates this map of porn searches.
The problem is that this preoccupation goes beyond the porn folder. When relationships between two women are commonly sexualized it affects the women in the relationship.
Sexualizing equally legitimate relationship is dehumanizing for those involved.
The catcalling, whooping, and sexual invitations towards same-sex woman couples have gotten entirely out of hand. In fact, I have multiple same-sex partners and friends who will not participate in public displays of affection with their girlfriend because they are so jaded by these experiences. Same sex couples need to be taken seriously and be able to act as any heterosexual couple does without fear of sexual harassment.
The one penis policy is commonly put into place with this mindset of sexualizing their partner’s relationship. This other relationship turns them on- so they allow it. This is so problematic because in doing so they diminish their partner’s legitimate relationship to masturbation material and dehumanize their partner in the process.
5. OPPs Are Controlling
A lot of unhealthy behaviors are common and romanticized in romantic relationships. One of these is seeing and treating partners as possessions rather than autonomous people. When sexism is added to these attitudes OPP is the result. OPP is an extension of men trying to control women. Too often, men see their women as one of their possessions to control and this attitude seeps into their relationships.
OPP is an extension of men trying to control women. Too often, men see their women as one of their possessions to control and this attitude seeps into their relationships. Sexism contributes to this attitude being normalized and even romanticized.
Fortunately, in some cases, this controlling, possessive attitude can be unlearned. Some men are oblivious to their sexism and when they realize that OPP is problematic they correct their behavior.
Cisgender men who decide the one penis policy is necessary put a little too much value in their penis. Many see sex between women as unthreatening without acknowledging that the sex between women can be just as good- or even better (most women actually know where the clitoris is.)
What people who participate in the OPP fail to realize is that adding another penis to the relationship isn’t going to make their partner leave them any more than a vagina might. Their hurtful policy isn’t actually protecting anyone.
I have heard claims that the OPP can be ethical if everyone involved wants the same thing. However, it is always unethical to rely on a rule that is hurtful to women, transgender people, and same- sex relationships between women. Our sexist society may even lead women in OPP relationships to believe that OPP is really what they want or what they deserve. Because sexism is difficult to detangle, it is impossible to tell if this is the truth or if internalized misogyny is at play. Due to this, the OPP should always be avoided in an attempt at more ethical relationships.
Open and clear communication as well as taking open relationships slow are a much more ethical solution to the fears and insecurities that come with opening a relationship than implementing rules to control other’s behavior.
AdvertisementsWhat is ‘white fragility’?
2017, perhaps more than any other year in recent history, has seen an uptick of accusations of oversensitivity from across the political spectrum. Famous men accused (and sometimes convicted) of sexual harassment complain that women are being ‘too sensitive’. Conservative activists accuse college students of being ‘special snowflakes’ who can’t tolerate opposing views. On the left, anti-racist activists accuse white folks of wallowing in ‘white fragility’. But is calling someone out on white fragility from the left the same as calling them a snowflake from the right?
In this blog post, I argue that the term speaks to much more than arguments about appropriate levels of cultural sensitivity, especially in this current socio-political moment. Indeed, the concept of white fragility is useful for understanding the enduring legacy of racism and how it still affects our everyday lives.
Defining ‘white fragility’
Oxford Dictionaries’ recently added entry for white fragility, defines it this way:
For her part, in the article in which she coined the term, the (white) professor Robin DiAngelo discusses the phenomenon like this:
White Fragility is a state in which even a minimum amount of racial stress becomes intolerable, triggering a range of defensive moves. These moves include the outward display of emotions such as anger, fear, and guilt, and behaviors such as argumentation, silence, and leaving the stress-inducing situation.
An illustrative example of ‘white fragility’
Last week presented us with an illustrative example of white fragility, and its consequences in practice. Plainfield, Indiana police Captain Carri Weber was briefly suspended (though later reinstated), when another officer, Captain Scott Arndt, claimed that she ‘racistly and sexistly slurred’ him. The offense? Weber, who is a white, female officer was conducting a diversity training, and Arndt, a white, male officer disagreed with statistics about the likelihood of transgender people (of color) experiencing police violence. Weber responded ‘cause [of] your white, male privilege, you wouldn’t know’. Arndt later filed a complaint with the department against Weber, claiming that he was the victim of racism and sexism.
Returning to DiAngelo’s discussion of white fragility, Arndt’s behavior in this case is a fairly textbook example of actions taken by folks who are experiencing white fragility. Let’s examine the incident one step at a time.
According to the scholarly data that Weber used in her presentation, transgender people of color are 2.46 times more likely to experience police violence than their white non-transgender counterparts. Arndt’s incredulity about this data in a diversity training setting shows his discomfort with being told about the structural advantages that both men and white folks are more likely to have. After Weber points this out to him, Arndt chooses to leave the stress-inducing situation. After the training, Ardnt proceeds to file a complaint about how he is a victim of discrimination, because Weber pointed out that his experience was likely different than the folks in the data set because of his race and gender.
Approximately 77% of police officers in the US are white, and 88% are male, according to 2015 statistics from the Bureau of Justice. Honestly, it’s pretty bold to claim that you’re the victim of discrimination when over three-quarters of the people who hold your job look like you. Despite being firmly in the demographic majority of police officers with respect to both his race and gender, Ardnt’s actions showed that he was completely unwilling to consider his positionality with respect to the information being presented to him. The diversity training and Weber’s candid response to Arndt’s incredulity about the data were simply too stress-inducing for him to cope with as a white man.
Arndt’s framing of the incident, in which he is the victim, is an example par excellence of white fragility. Instead of meaningfully engaging with the issues around gender and racial differences in citizens’ experiences with law enforcement, Arndt created a dynamic in which he – and indeed white males in general – are the ‘real victims’. And Ardnt’s case is not unique.
White fragility is what allows white Americans, for example, who represent 76% of the country’s millionaires, 84% of its professors, and 96% of Fortune 500 CEOs, to react defensively whenever they are presented with this information, and so to believe that they are systematically victimized because of their racial identity. White fragility is dangerous precisely because it allows individuals with more power to reframe discussions about justice in a way that will only reinforce the power that they already have.
The Plainfield police department is now known across the country for a situation in which one white, male officer felt victimized, instead of for their work trying to address structural inequalities in policing. And that’s what white fragility does: it takes the story away from the victims of discrimination and gives it back to the perpetrators, who then use it as a weapon to defend the unjust status quo.
Find out more about our Word of the Year 2017 campaign.Story highlights The email address listed -- bobama@ameritech.net -- is from before Obama became President
All of the eight emails (plus attachments) are from October and November 2008
Washington (CNN) Correspondences with Barack Obama over his personal account before he was president are among John Podesta's emails in the latest document dump hack published by WikiLeaks on Thursday.
The email address listed -- bobama@ameritech.net -- is from the period immediately before Obama's November 2008 election as president, when he still had his Blackberry. Podesta, who now serves as chairman of Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign, was leading Obama's transition team before he was inaugurated in his first term at the time of the emails.
All of the eight emails (plus attachments) are from October and November 2008. These emails were not hacked from White House servers, but part of a wider hack of Podesta's emails published by WikiLeaks.
CNN cannot independently confirm the emails' authenticity. But the Clinton campaign has not challenged any emails in other WikiLeaks releases.
Read MoreFacebook Will Undergo a “Rapid Decline”, Researchers Say
Extrapolating the best fit model into the future suggests that Facebook will undergo a rapid decline in the coming years, losing 80% of its peak user base between 2015 and 2017.
It’s a known fact that young users no longer hang out on Facebook as much as they used to, but now there’s some scientific proof to it. A paper by John Cannarella and Joshua A. Spechler of the Princeton University titled “ Epidemiological modeling of online social network dynamics ” predicts grim future for the social media giant saying: “Extrapolating the best fit model into the future suggests that Facebook will undergo a rapid decline in the coming years, losing 80% of its peak user base between 2015 and 2017.”
The following graph shows search query data for “Facebook” compared to “MySpace” (Source: Google Trends)
Cannarella and Spechler used this data to make prediction of the trend of “Facebook” search query using best fit irSIR model and found a likely range when and how rapidly the decline is likely to happen. In the following graph we see Google Trends data overlaid with their prediction model.
A big part of Facebook’s pitch is that it has so much information about its users that it can more effectively target ads to those who will be responsive to the content. If Facebook can prove that theory to be true, then it may not worry so much about losing its cool cachet.
In a recent article on Time.com, Christopher Matthews talks about Facebook’s declining young user base and reflects their one remaining strength – the depth of user data, making their targeted ads highly effective for advertisers. “A big part of Facebook’s pitch is that it has so much information about its users that it can more effectively target ads to those who will be responsive to the content. If Facebook can prove that theory to be true, then it may not worry so much about losing its cool cachet.”
Let’s just remember that there is one social network that rivals Facebook’s model in terms of real identity and user data. Unlike Twitter and other social networks which support anonymity and nicknames, Google’s policy has always been that of real identity. Since integration of Google+ into the rest of their systems the search giant has managed to build and grow a reliable social graph and continues advance interaction with users while gathering data from an enormous number of sources including YouTube, Picasa, Gmail, Places and many more.Scores of military veterans have begun arriving to take part in the North Dakota pipeline protest, with hundreds, possibly thousands more expected, including a US congresswoman.
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Members of the group Veterans for Standing Rock, organized on Facebook, have come to support Native American and environmental protesters against the Dakota Access Pipeline. Over 2,000 veterans have pledged their support, with the step coming as law enforcement authorities increase their efforts to crack down on the protest. Hundreds have been arriving at a protest camp on Friday, according to Reuters.
“The militarized police paid for by tax dollars... is unconstitutional,” Ashleigh Jennifer Parker, a former member of the Coast Guard, told USA Today.
“People are being brutalized; concussion grenades are being thrown into crowds. They're spraying people, even old women, and other elders of the tribe with tear gas and pepper spray, and all of this is just unconstitutional. I can't believe the media hasn't taken more of an interest in this.”
Mark Sanderson, a former special forces soldier from Texas, told CBC News: “I bled in Iraq and you're going to threaten to shoot me on a bridge in North Dakota?”
A number of veterans have already arrived at the protest camp, including Purple Heart recipient Chris Turley.
Others charted their progress on social media.
Just a Wake Up and I'm on my way to #VeteransStandForStandingRock#NoDAPL. This isn't about the Veterans it is about the People there. — Chris Duesing (@cduesing74) December 1, 2016
Also joining the protest will be Tulsi Gabbard, a Democrat congresswoman from Hawaii who served two tours of duty in Iraq. Gabbard, a lifelong environmental activist, said she wanted to highlight how the proposed pipeline project would affect the supply of drinking water to the Standing Rock Sioux tribe and other local people.
“If my participation in this protest helps send one message, it is this: we must protect our fragile water resources for current and future generations,” said Gabbard, as quoted by the Nation.
Other groups of veterans launched solidarity protests around the country, including in Austin, Texas.
Protests first erupted over the Dakota Access Pipeline in April, but received little mainstream media coverage until recent months. Critics of the pipeline say it will cut through indigenous land, including sacred burial sites, as well as threaten the local environment and drinking water.
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The Standing Rock protests are said to be the largest gathering of native peoples in modern American history, involving members of 280 tribes. Demonstrators have clashed with police, with water cannon and rubber bullets being deployed against protesters, whom the authorities have accused of rioting.
However, not all veterans have supported their comrades’ decision to join the protests. In West Fargo, North Dakota, representatives of the North Dakota Veterans Coordinating Council held a press conference denouncing those who have taken part in the campaign.
"We agree that it is our constitutional right to assemble and to peacefully protest," said Council President Russ Stabler, as quoted by Reuters. “However, protests over the last 100-plus days in North Dakota have been less than peaceful.”
“Participating in this kind of assembly even as a peaceful bystander or participant will only mar the image of the North Dakota veterans and the veterans of our nation.”
Meanwhile, Morton County Sheriff's Department published a video on Thursday in which they interview a “North Dakota veteran” named Raymond Morell. Morell said that the veterans coming from outside the state “don't understand that relationship that we have,” and “are imposing their misunderstandings and quite possibly their disgruntlement with our federal government into a relationship that has been ongoing for generations within the state of North Dakota.”
In response to the video, veteran Stephen Handlin told RT: “I don't even know what [Morell's] talking about. The veterans who are coming here are coming here because of the police abusing the citizens. It's Morton County Sheriff. It's not the Feds! They're on our side. That's ridiculous. He's trying to discredit the veterans that are coming here. He's trying to delegitimize them and the federal government is the one being reasonable here."
Read more
Handlin says he has met at least 50 other veterans at the Standing Rock camps. “You have guys of all stripes. You have me, who is an agitator. I believe in direct action against machinery. That’s prayer in action. Then you have the Veterans for Peace guys who are very passive and want to be organized and are a part of the whole tribal system and meet with all these groups. There’s really nothing you can say like ‘all veterans are like this,’" Handlin told RT, adding that veterans are less likely to engage in gossip and are more determined to complete “whatever their project is.”
Another veteran who spoke with RT anonymously explained that arriving at Standing Rock was how she was able to “spiritually heal” from the Post Traumatic Stress Disorder she sustained overseas.
On Thursday, US President-elect Donald Trump said that he supports the completion of the Dakota Access Pipeline. Despite unproven claims that Trump owns a stake in Energy Transfer Partners, the company building the pipeline, his endorsement “has nothing to do with his personal investments and everything to do with promoting policies that benefit all Americans” read a daily briefing note, as reported by Reuters.It looks like Toddlers & Tiaras: The French Edition won't be happening anytime soon. The French government has issued a report calling for a ban on child beauty pageants, as well as padded bras and high heels on young girls. The proposed ban comes after 10-year-old Thylane Blondeau showed up in heels and a provocative outfit in Vogue Paris last year and sent the world into a tizzy fit. The senator who wrote the report, Chantal Jouanno, has said that the sexualization of young girls is "contrary to the dignity of the human being" and is a step backward for gender equality.
A ban like this doesn't sound like the worst idea, though parts of it seem rather tricky to enforce. But it could have serious consequences. Just think of all the little French aspiring Honey Boo Boo Childs who are already out their guzzling their Jus Spécial in preparation for stardom. Their dreams will be crushed, but it's probably worth it to restore the "dignity of the human being."
French report: Ban child beauty pageants, padded bras for little girls [MSNBC]A white Twin Cities man who was sentenced to more than 15 years in prison Wednesday for shooting and wounding five black protesters said he’ll live with the consequences of his actions for the rest of his life, but stopped short of apologizing.
Allen Scarsella’s sentence of 15 years and two months was short of prosecutors’ request for the maximum 20 years but within state guidelines. The 25-year-old Bloomington man was convicted in February on assault and riot charges for shooting the five men at a Black Lives Matter protest encampment outside a North Minneapolis police station following the fatal police shooting of a black man, Jamar Clark, in November 2015.
“I recognize the severity of the events of November 23rd, 2015,” Scarsella said as he stood before Hennepin County District Judge Hilary Caligiuri. He said the shootings were not what he wanted to happen that night when he and three friends went to the protest, where demonstrators chased them away because they were wearing masks.
“I’ll live with the consequences the rest of my life.”
Prosecutor Chris Freeman dismissed self-defense claims that Scarsella made during his trial. He called the crime, “five unarmed black men gunned down in what can only be described as a mass shooting” by a man whose numerous racist texts to friends made his motivations clear to the jury.
Defense attorney Laura Heinrich argued for the minimum sentence under the guidelines of just more than six years in prison, telling the judge that if Scarsella could change what happened, he would. She said he feels “deeply sorry” about the harm to the victims and has come to understand how hurtful the language he once used might be to others. She declined to comment after the hearing but said they plan to appeal.
Caligiuri said she didn’t claim to understand why Scarsella did what he did or where he got his “repugnant, racist ideas.” She said the only saving grace in the events of that night was that none of the victims died.
The hearing and the aftermath highlighted how emotions remain raw over Clark’s death. The only victim who testified at the sentencing was Clark’s cousin, Cameron Clark, who was shot in the foot and leg. He suggested that Scarsella got a break that a black man would not have gotten.
“If that had been me I would have been looking at 25 to 30 (years) for shooting five white people,” Cameron Clark said.
Clark and his grandfather James Clark — Jamar Clark’s father — kept up their criticism afterward of Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman. Freeman last year decided not to charge the white officers involved in the killing of Jamar Clark.
Cameron Clark said Scarsella should have been charged with attempted murder. Instead, the most serious charge he faced was first-degree assault resulting in great bodily harm, which Freeman had said earlier was the most serious charge the evidence allowed.In a post last week on the debate around the Charlie Hebdo killings, I explained why I’m not convinced by the argument that Muslims are facing an unusual (phobic?) level of provocations toward their religion in the West, and why I think a consistent standard of self-censorship around religion that excluded cartoon treatments of Muhammed would require a radical change in the way that religion generally, but especially Christianity, is treated in contemporary culture. Now, as promised, I want to take up the question of other cases, particularly around racism and anti-Semitism, where our culture more explicitly self-censors, and where the argument I made immediately following the killings about speech and violence deserves a qualification. Here’s part of what I originally wrote:
If a large enough group of someones is willing to kill you for saying something, then it’s something that almost certainly needs to be said, because otherwise the violent have veto power over liberal civilization, and when that scenario obtains it isn’t really a liberal civilization any more. … when offenses are policed by murder, that’s when we need more of them, not less, because the murderers cannot be allowed for a single moment to think that their strategy can succeed.
Looking at it again, I’d say my language here was overly sweeping. It’s not hard to think of ideas that fall on the wrong side of that “almost,” and cases where even if someone were policing certain forms of speech with murder, you wouldn’t say, “well, we need more of exactly that form of speech.” Paul Waldman has cited the case of Stormfront as an example of the limits of liberal solidarity, while Glenn Greenwald, in his inimitable way, invoked the example of anti-Semitic propaganda, and they both raise important points. If you imagine a situation where Jewish vigilante groups were assassinating anyone who published “The Protocols of the Elders of Zion” or other blood-libelous texts, would that make the blood libel something that absolutely “needs to said,” lest the Jewish terrorists win and liberalism be compromised? I don’t think so, no. Likewise with the Klu Klux Klan and “The Turner Diaries” or some similar supremacist tract: As Waldman says, if white nationalists were killed for publishing such material, we would (hopefully) deplore the killings and affirm the importance of free speech, but we wouldn’t urge the wide republication of the work.
With this in mind, I think my original language might reasonably be amended to something like this: “When offenses are policed with murder, we need more speech that challenges/offends the murderers,” leaving more room for prudential and moral judgment about exactly what form the new challenge/offense should take. (This has some relevance for the related question of whether a religious person can ever welcome blasphemy, to which I may return later.)
And the existence of examples like the above feeds into the argument, raised by Greenwald’s post and elsewhere on the left, that non-Muslim Westerners should self-censor more around Islam and Muslim not because of issues related to religion or blasphemy per se, but because of intersecting issues of culture, race and power, which put Muslims — or at least Muslims in the West — in a very different position than Christians, and justify stronger taboos against mockery, caricature, and other forms of what one widely-quoted anti-Charlie Hebdo post called “white men punching down.” The same impulses that make racism and anti-Semitism officially protected but culturally taboo, in other words, can reasonably be extended to the racism-cum-Islamophobia allegedly at work in the Hebdo cartoons and related provocations.
This argument runs into at least one immediate difficulty, in that the Muslims most offended by the Hebdo cartoons aren’t generally objecting to the fact that the caricatures of Mohammed reflect ethnic tropes or contempt for Arab or African Muslims as an oppressed people. Instead, they’re making an explicitly religious objection about the treatment of things sacred to their community and faith, and saying that “non-Muslims should condemn these cartoons because racism” is in some ways orthogonal to both the actual offense and the actual response.
But bracket that for the moment. The deeper issue, it seems to me, is that we have particular taboos around anti-Semitic and white supremacist rhetoric and propaganda because of 1) very specific historical events and 2) very specific political agendas associated with those ideas. The Holocaust and chattel slavery are understood to be exceptional cases, unique stains on our civilization, different in their gravity and shamefulness from other forms of oppression and disadvantage, and forms of expression that justify the ideologies that made those crimes possible are therefore treated with a kind of cultural strict scrutiny, not universally applied to any image or argument that might offend any group that’s been somehow mistreated at some point.
Or put another way: If Western European nations had, in recent memory, had deliberately murdered millions of Arabs and Africans for the alleged crime of being Muslim, and if Charlie Hebdo (or Jyllands-Posten, or Salman Rushdie, or the creators of “South Park,” or whomever) were associated with arguments that either denied that this holocaust had even happened or regularly deployed eliminationist, explicitly-inciting rhetoric about contemporary Muslims in the West, then the analogy between parodic images of Muhammed and cartoons of bloodthirsty Jewish puppeteers might be more apt. But few of the provocations in question have any such agenda of subjugation attached (unless, I suppose, support for immigration restriction is supposed to count as “eliminationism”), the provocations from the left-wing, pro-immigrant editors of Hebdo certainly do not, and Muslims in the West are not facing pogroms or organized violence from their religion’s critics; for all the fears of backlash, anti-Islamic hate crimes in both Europe and the United States remain mercifully rare.
Moreover, even though anti-Muslim bigotry is real enough and Muslims are often disadvantaged in the West (and more so in Europe than in the United States), the present position of Islam and Islamic civilization vis-a-vis the Europe and the U.S. — to say nothing of the position of radical Islam vis-a-vis its critics, in the West and the Islamic world alike — is too complicated to fit into a simple oppressor/victim narrative, or for the language of “punching down” to make real sense. The Hebdo cartoons, in particular, were often using images of Muhammed to mock the beliefs of people, like the brigands of ISIS, who are very much in power, who are the ones doing the real “punching” (that is, killing) in this story, and whose ideology actually quite explicitly supports slavery and genocide. So it is slightly strange for the cartoonists’ critics to invoke the examples of how we deal with Holocaust apologists to justify taboos that today’s genocidaires want to see enforced.
Now in fairness, Hebdo’s left-wing critics don’t see themselves as doing anything like that: They aren’t trying to |
grows faster than GDP, mainly as a result of globalisation. And yet, since the crisis-induced ‘Great Trade Collapse’ of 2008/2009, followed by a brisk but brief recovery in 2010, international trade has been growing roughly in line with world GDP. This pace is markedly slower than in the previous fifteen years, in which yearly trade growth at times even doubled global GDP growth (Figure 1). In addition, the last spell of data shows that trade might have slowed down even more during the first part of 2015.
Is this ‘Global Trade Slowdown’ a signal that globalisation has structurally ‘peaked’, and thus we should expect a stagnation of trade growth also in the future? Or is the slowdown just the result of cyclical drivers, e.g. the fragile European recovery and slower growth in China?
Figure 1: World GDP and exports in volumes – index 2008=100
Source: World Bank – World Development Indicators
The ongoing debate, summarized in a previous Bruegel’s blogpost, acknowledges the fact that, besides the well-known cyclical explanations, a more structural reason behind the trade slowdown might be associated to the role of Global Value Chains (GVCs), i.e. the break-up of production processes into ever-narrower discreet activities and tasks, combined with the international dispersion of these activities and tasks across countries.
The development of GVCs has been one of the key factors behind the fast trade growth recorded since the 90s, and it has somehow changed the very nature of international trade. In fact, trade has increasingly involved multiple flows of inputs and semi-finished products across borders, as different production steps were moved to different countries. This in turn has led to trade growing much faster than GDP, also as a result of the so-called ‘double counting’ in gross trade figures. This GVCs expansion process seems to have now levelled off, especially for China and the US, leading to a structural reduction in the elasticity of trade with respect to GDP in the 2000s, starting already before the crisis.
Still, in this blog-post we show that cyclical factors can be at play also in the adjustment of global value chains to the post-crisis context. In other words, there is reason to believe that some components of trade, as generated by the fragmentation of production across borders, have yet to fully overcome the trade collapse shock of 2008/09 (potentially amplified by specific events such as the Japanese earthquake of 2011). Therefore, even within a GVCs-related explanation of the trade slowdown, we risk to be identifying as ‘structural’ (and thus permanent) a phenomenon that might still reflect cyclical factors, and may thus partly revert back in the near future.
The empirical analysis
In a world characterized by global value chains, gross exports from country A to country B do not only include domestic value added generated in A, but also foreign value added generated in any other country (C, D, E…). Being able to decompose gross export flows in their different value added components is key for our analysis, as we want to understand how each component of trade has been behaving over the crisis. For doing so, we exploit a new dataset by Wang et al. (2013) based on WIOD data, covering 40 countries between 1995 and 2011. This allows us to decompose each trade flow in several value added terms. In particular, we focus on the following three main components:
Domestic value added (DVA) : it is the value added generated in the exporting home country which is finally absorbed abroad. This accounts on average for 77% of gross exports.
: it is the value added generated in the exporting home country which is finally absorbed abroad. This accounts on average for 77% of gross exports. Foreign value added (FVA) : it is the foreign value added embodied in domestic exports, both in final goods and in intermediates. This makes up on average 16% of gross exports.
: it is the foreign value added embodied in domestic exports, both in final goods and in intermediates. This makes up on average 16% of gross exports. Pure double counting (PDC): it is the portion of gross exports accounted for by intermediates crossing borders several times before being finally absorbed. PDC may include value added generated both in the home country and abroad, and can be considered as a sort of indicator for the extent of production sharing across countries (Wang et al., 2013). PDC accounts on average for 6% of gross exports.[1]
FVA and PDC are the two components of exports most directly related to the participation of a country in global value chains, while DVA represents somehow a more traditional component of exports. Investigating the dynamics of these different terms separately allows us to shed new light on the role of GVCs with respect to the trade collapse and the subsequent slowdown.
Figure 2 shows the growth of gross export and its components between 2001 and 2011. In 2009, as already discussed, trade experienced a sudden drop, and indeed all its components exhibited substantial negative growth rates in that year. However, FVA and PDC witnessed a much larger reduction than DVA. In particular, while DVA dropped by 19%, FVA dropped by 32%, and PDC by a striking 50%. In other words, the components of exports that are most directly related to GVCs were the ones most affected by the crisis.
Figure 2: Export components growth
Source: Authors’ elaboration on Wang et al. (2013) data.
Starting from this novel descriptive evidence, we investigate whether the different components of exports display different speeds of adjustment to income shocks. In particular, we want to understand whether the GVCs-related components of trade, which have been most hardly hit by the crisis, are also experiencing a slower recovery. That would in fact provide an additional cyclical explanation for the recent trade slowdown. We perform this analysis by estimating an Error Correction Model (ECM), separately for gross export and each of its terms.[2]
First of all, our results seem to support the idea that, over time, the growth of global exports, and each of its components, should revert back to its long-run equilibrium relationship with GDP growth. In particular, the magnitude of our estimated long-run elasticity of gross exports to GDP is 1.3, very similar to what Constantinescu et al. (2015) have found for the period 2001-2013. Clearly though, the crisis may have induced a structural change in the trade-GDP relationship, which would imply that the very same long-run equilibrium elasticity has changed. This cannot be excluded at this moment, although it is too early to evaluate given the limited amount of data points available after 2009.
By running the Error Correction Model separately on the different components of trade, we find that FVA and PDC display a significantly lower speed of adjustment after a shock with respect to DVA. In particular, the estimated coefficients suggest that it takes around six years for FVA and PDC to converge after a shock, ceteris paribus, against slightly more than four years for DVA. Considering that FVA and PDC have dropped by more than DVA in 2009, such evidence of a slower adjustment sheds light on a new, GVCs-related cyclical explanation for the trade slowdown, as the hardest hit components of trade are also the slowest to recover.
Overall, our results suggest that the trade slowdown is likely to be partly re-absorbed over the coming years, at least to the extent that GVCs dynamics are responsible for it.
Policy implications
Our results have two main implications for policy. First, it is important that policy measures are undertaken in order to smooth the recovery process of trade after the initial collapse. This entails exerting more policy efforts on multilateral negotiations within the Doha round, but also on bilateral agreements such as the TTIP between the US and the EU. These agreements are in fact instrumental to trade facilitation, and to the reduction of non-tariff barriers. Thus, they are crucial for smoothing the operations of Global Value Chains across countries.
A second implication is related to the fact that GVCs are known to be relatively more important in some industries (e.g. automotive or chemicals) than in others (e.g. food). Therefore, country-specific patterns of the trade-GDP relationship are likely to depend on each country’s industry specialization. In particular, our analysis suggests that those countries that are relatively more specialized in GVCs-intensive industries (e.g. France or Germany) may expect their export slowdown to be less structural than thought so far. In fact, while part of the slowdown is certainly likely to depend on the deceleration of GVCs expansion, there seems to be also a GVC-induced cyclical component of the slowdown that is likely to be re-absorbed over time. By same token, countries in which GVCs play a relatively lesser role (e.g. Portugal or Finland) may expect to experience a relatively more persistent trade slowdown.
References
Amador, Joao, and Filippo di Mauro. “The Age of Global Value Chains: Maps and Policy Issues.” VoxEU eBook, Centre for Economic Policy Research, 2015.
Baldwin, Richard E., ed. “The great trade collapse: Causes, Consequences and Prospects.” Centre for Economic Policy Research, 2009.
Constantinescu, Cristina, Aaditya Mattoo, and Michele Ruta. “The global trade slowdown: cyclical or structural?” World Bank Policy Research Working Paper, WPS 7158, 2015.
Hoekman, Bernard. “The Global Trade Slowdown: A New Normal?” VoxEU eBook, Centre for Economic Policy Research, 2015.
Koopman, Robert, Zhi Wang, and Shang-Jin Wei. “Tracing Value-Added and Double Counting in Gross Exports.” American Economic Review, 104(2) (2014): 459-94.
Wang, Zhi, Shang-Jin Wei, and Kunfu Zhu. Quantifying international production sharing at the bilateral and sector levels. No. w19677. National Bureau of Economic Research, 2013.
[1] A fourth component of gross exports is the “domestic value added which is first exported but eventually returned home” (RDV). This includes the export of intermediates that are processed abroad and return home, both as final as well as intermediate goods. We disregard this component in our analysis, as it makes up only 0.4% of exports on average.
[2] Our methodological approach follows earlier studies in the literature, for instance the recent paper by Constantinescu et al. (2015). Essentially, an ECM analysis of exports and GDP produces three interesting results: (1) an estimate of the long-run elasticity of exports to GDP, i.e. their long-term relationship; (2) an estimate of the short-run elasticity of exports to GDP, i.e. their immediate responsiveness after an income shock; (3) an estimate of the speed of adjustment of exports back to their long-term relationship after an income shock, i.e. how much time it takes for exports to converge again to the equilibrium, ceteris paribus.Sodium bicarbonate (NaHCO 3 ) is an active ingredient against early stage gum disease (gingivitis), present in various toothpastes. When present in high concentrations, sodium bicarbonate gives the toothpaste a very strong salty taste that makes the toothpaste taste unpleasant. As a result, acceptability by consumers is low and this salty taste constitutes a huge barrier to mass market appeal.
The Challenge is to find a method to mask the salty taste in toothpastes with high concentrations of sodium bicarbonate, so that this acceptance barrier is overcome and consumers can benefit from the these products.
The Seeker intends to award up to 2 winning solutions from a total pool of $50,000, for the solution(s) that meet the criteria as solely determined by the Seeker. No award will be smaller than $20,000.
To receive an award, the Solvers will have to transfer to the Seeker their exclusive Intellectual Property (IP) rights to the solution. However, the Seeker will be willing to consider a licensing agreement for a partial award if exclusive IP cannot be transferred by the Solver.
Submissions to this Challenge must be received by 11:59 PM (US Eastern Time) on July 31, 2016. Late submissions may not be considered.
IMPORTANT NOTE:
The Seeker for this Challenge requires additional Solver verification and due diligence. Please read carefully the respective sections in the Challenge Specific Agreement for further information or use your Project Room to ask a question.CLOVIS, N.M. — A plane crash in which three airmen were killed earlier this year was caused by "human factors," Air Force officials said.
Capt. Kenneth Dalga, First Lt. Frederick Dellecker and Capt. Andrew Becker from the Cannon Air Force Base died instantly when their propeller-driven plane crashed on March 14 while they were practicing approaches and landings near the Clovis Municipal Airport, the Eastern New Mexico News reported.
Over control or under control of the aircraft led to the crew "losing control of the aircraft when it stalled at low altitude" causing the crash, according to a report released last month by the U.S. Air Force Aircraft Accident Investigation Board signed by Brig. Brad Sullivan, president of the U.S Air Force Aircraft Accident Investigation Board.
"We don't know if they overcontrolled or undercontrolled, which is why it says that," said Capt. Emma Rush with Cannon's public affairs office.
The report does not indicate which airman was controlling the plane, but does note that the aircraft, valued at $18.3 million, did not have any mechanical malfunctions.
The Cannon Air Force Base has not made changes to its routine procedures after the accident or the report was released, according to Rush.
"It was a routine training procedure that has been accomplished the same way for a while," she said.
This article was from The Associated Press and was legally licensed through the NewsCred publisher network. Please direct all licensing questions to legal@newscred.com.
Related content:The Ontario SPCA Midland & District Animal Centre managed to save four of the eight puppies after they were discovered in Midland
NEWS RELEASE
ONTARIO SPCA
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MIDLAND – The Ontario SPCA is appealing to the public to come forward with any information about eight puppies found inside a garbage bag in a ditch on Baseline Road South in Midland.
The puppies, which are believed to be a Lab-Shepherd mix, were found by a local resident who discovered them on Friday, Oct. 14 while outside doing yard work.
It is not known how long the puppies had been there, but they were estimated to be between three and five days old and still had umbilical cords attached when they were found. They were rushed to the Ontario SPCA Midland & District Animal Centre, but sadly four puppies did not survive.
The four surviving puppies are now in the care of the Ontario SPCA Renfrew County Animal Centre, which had a nursing dog in its care. The puppies are currently nursing and are being closely monitored by centre staff.
“If you have any information about these puppies that could assist with this investigation, please call 310-SPCA (7722) immediately,” says Alison Green, Senior Inspector, Ontario SPCA. “There is no excuse when it comes to failing to care for your animals.”
*************************After three intense days of round robin games, the group stage of Netease's Gold Club World Championship has concluded and the teams have been seeded accordingly. The past three days have been full of exciting clashes between the regions, as well as some not-so-exciting curb stomps. In any case, GCWC so far is looking like one of the best Heroes tournaments to date.
The Results
As expected, the top four teams managed to hold onto their spots with relative ease. MVP Miracle showed up strong on the final day to overtake ZeroPanda with a clean sweep over eStar and a hard-fought series against Dignitas. Likewise, Ballistix went into overdrive and struck down their rival MVP Black with impunity to take the number one seed.
As we move on to the playoffs, the stakes are even higher. The playoffs will be played in a double elimination bracket, with the top four seeded into the winners bracket and the bottom four seeded into the losers bracket. The teams in the upper bracket will have the luxury of dropping a series, while everyone in the lower bracket will be in constant danger of elimination.
Dignitas won a base race against SPT by the slimmest of margins;
tomorrow, this could mean elimination.
MVP Black and Ballistix seem destined to meet again in the Grand Finals, but with Miracle, ZeroPanda, and a revitalized Dignitas hanging around, it might be more difficult than expected. In fact, nothing is off the table. The Chinese underdogs SPT took a game off of Ballistix. The crippled eStar broke down MVP Black.
The Evolving Meta
We’ve seen some pretty wild talent choices so far at the Gold Club World Championship. Perhaps the most striking has been the re-emergence of autoattack Falstad after last week’s patch uncapped Seasoned Marksman, though players don’t seem to agree on a particular build. Double marksman compositions including Falstad were sighted a few times, but most teams reverted back to the trusty BOOMerang build on the final day.
Muradin also had a few unorthodox builds. After the recent changes to Heavy Impact and Skullcracker, the Dwarf King's builds have gone through a few interesting variations. Some teams have preferred a full tank build with a huge emphasis on survivability talents - usually meaning Iron-Forged Momentum over Skullcracker - while others went far out for damage, not only taking Skullcracker but also Burning Rage on 13. Surprisingly, Give 'Em The Axe has not been used at all. It appears Stoneform is the new go-to talent for these top tier teams.
We haven’t seen full tank Muradin in a long time.
Globals are highly prized at the moment, so Falstad, Brightwing, Dehaka, and E.T.C. have made it into almost every draft. Kharazim, Thrall, and Zeratul's latest power tweaks, however, have created some interesting dynamics in the otherwise predictable meta.
In terms of assassins, sustained damage seems to be the name of the game; burst Heroes like Li-Ming and Alarak have fallen considerably in priority, although Greymane has come out of hibernation for a few appearances. Malfurion's near perma-ban status reflects this.
The New Gold Standard
Hats off to the production crew. The Gold Club World Championship has lived up to the hype; perhaps this is sacriledge, but NetEase may have even outdone OGN’s outstanding Superleague production. The sets are beautiful and professional. The venue looks wonderfully spacious.
Who doesn’t love MVP overlays? This is exactly the sort of thing we need in tournaments!
Eight to ten Bo2 matches have been played every day during the group stage. Divided between two streams - one casted by the English crew and the other by the Chinese commentators - production has been able to knock all of the games out in under seven hours every day. Very few delays or technical issues have plagued the set, and the series have flowed easily from one game to another.
Admittedly, the interviews are a bit cringeworthy, but they did have the oddly endearing Asian mix of confidence and BM to keep them entertaining. The intro video was also straight up awesome.
When and Where to Watch
The playoffs begin on December 1st at 1:00am PST on GCWC’s stream: kicking off the action will be Ballistix vs ZeroPanda, alongside an MVP grudge match between Black and Miracle. Drop by and watch some of the best Heroes of the Storm games in the world!For more on Marvel’s The Defenders, including exclusive photographs and interviews, pick up Entertainment Weekly on stands, or buy it here now. And don’t forget to subscribe for more exclusive interviews and photos, only in EW.
When Marvel TV tapped Daredevil season 2 showrunners Doug Petrie and Marco Ramirez to helm their small-screen mash-up series The Defenders, the pair faced what seemed an impossible task: They had to work with four entirely different heroes who come from four entirely different worlds. Strip away their superhero exteriors, and Daredevil is an ultraviolent law drama, Jessica Jones a heady noir, Luke Cage a hip-hop-infused character study, and Iron Fist a martial arts extravaganza. “On paper, it seems like such a crazy challenge, because they’re all so different,” Ramirez admits. “How do you put Daredevil, Luke Cage, Jessica Jones, and Iron Fist in the same room and give them the same goal?”
To make the balancing even more difficult, when Ramirez and Petrie began working on The Defenders, neither Luke Cage nor Iron Fist had aired, but they had to draft the shows’ arcs in advance. Plus, they had to make sure their familiarity with Daredevil didn’t mean his story would overshadow the others’. And finally, by the time The Defenders was set to start shooting at the end of October, Petrie had exited as co-showrunner. “We got to a point where the scripts were done, and we wanted Marco to continue, and Doug pursued other avenues,” Marvel TV head Jeph Loeb says.
But Ramirez wasn’t worried. “We’ve all been working on this for a very long time, so we’re good,” he explains. “Daredevil season 2 was an interesting audition, in a way, because we dealt with three major characters,” he says, citing the additions of Elektra and the Punisher. “I’d gone through the motions of figuring out how to cross those streams and mix the tones of each of those worlds.”
Ramirez spoke to EW about putting together The Defenders, the unique way the show has tackled working with other writers’ rooms, and what to expect when the series finally airs. Below is a condensed version of two separate interviews.
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: Let’s go all the way back to the beginning of this series. How did you land the role as a showrunner? Was there an audition process or something like that among all the showrunners?
MARCO RAMIREZ: There wasn’t an audition process or anything. Marvel turned to me and Doug and said, “You know, you guys did some cool work on Daredevil season 2,” so now I’m here. Daredevil season 2 was an interesting audition for The Defenders in a way, in retrospect, because we dealt with three major characters [Daredevil, Elektra, and the Punisher]. I’d gone through the motions of figuring out how to cross those streams and mix the tones of each of those worlds.
How did you go about breaking the story? What pieces did you already have when you started writing?
The very bare-bones structure of it, I think Jeph Loeb has had since day one. He always knew what he wanted The Defenders to be in the end, he always had a broad sense. So when we initially took the job and when we initially started breaking the story down with the other writers, we knew the very broad strokes of what Marvel wanted to do, and it was our job to make that into eight cool episodes of TV.
Some things change along the way as the shows individually get made. Jessica Jones was such a massive success, Luke Cage was such a massive success, and with Iron Fist coming up, it’s never what you think the first thing is going to be. They’re changing on the fly, who these characters end up being. Even to a certain degree, what Charlie [Cox, who plays Daredevil] brought to Daredevil was different from what anyone had anticipated, and that’s so great. It helps us define who Daredevil was on this, so I do think there was a lot of recreating the initial plan.
We didn’t even know how many episodes we were going to do in the beginning. We were just like, “What do we want? How much do we need?” We finally found, with the writers, a shape that we felt was right for these four characters who are all individually really strong and independent and have really strong fan bases. We wanted no one to feel left out, so it was a fun challenge. We didn’t want to shortchange anyone.
What did you talk about at that first meeting with Jeph, with you and Doug being brought on board?
We were talking about where we would even begin with it, how to make this feel as organic as possible and not like, you know, a corporate mandate or something that we were just doing just because we had this project that we had to fulfill in any kind of way. It was like, “How can we make this feel earned and real and grounded the way that all these shows feel earned and real and grounded, and also topical and important, the way that Luke Cage and Jessica Jones did? If we tell this story, what is this story?”
How did you begin exploring each of the other characters, then? Like you said, it sounds kind of insane to put them together, but how did you learn about them? Did you meet with the other showrunners, visit the other writers’ rooms, or watch every show and take notes?
It was a lot of watching every show and taking notes and reading all of the scripts. For Luke Cage, for example, that hadn’t aired yet when we started writing, so we were just reading all the scripts and then watching everything from the initial auditions. Even before they had people cast, before they had any episodes shot, we needed to know, you know, what is Misty [Knight, played by Simone Missick] going to feel like? What is Luke going to sound like?
I remember when Jessica Henwick was cast as Colleen [in Iron Fist], Marvel representatives ran up to our offices, and they were like, “This is Colleen, just so you know!” And we were like, “Oh, cool! Now we know what she looks like!” It felt like we were making dessert while someone else was cooking dinner, and we were all in the same kitchen at the same time. The chicken isn’t even ready yet, and we’re already making the chocolate cake. [Laughs] That’s a bad metaphor.
So did you feel like you were sort of running multiple shows then?
It didn’t feel like we were running any of the other shows, because obviously Cheo [Hodari Coker, showrunner of Luke Cage] and Scott Buck [on Iron Fist] and Melissa [Rosenberg, on Jessica Jones] with season 2 of Jessica Jones have their own plans and their own stories to tell, but it felt like we were leasing other people’s cars. They were like, “Please drive this gorgeous, fast Ferrari. These are the specs on it. This is what it can do. Please just don’t break it.” [Laughs] You know? By breaking it, I mean, “Please don’t go against what the character is meant to do.” All I wanted to do was honor the hard work they’d already done, so yeah, we were always in conversation with Cheo and Scott and Melissa, and they would read our scripts.
How do you communicate with all of them? Do you have an email chain or something?
Well luckily, Marvel has a compound [laughs] so we’re all in the same building. Like, and this happened very early on, if I wanted to go over and ask Cheo questions, I would just go over and ask Cheo questions about Luke Cage’s world. I’m not sure [Marvel] would like the word “compound,” but it’s certainly one big building. It feels like a dorm. I say that because I sleep here. [Laughs.]
A massive Marvel sleepover sounds fun, but then, how do you guys work out the continuity of all the characters’ arcs? Are you running around all the time, or do you have a giant board with index cards set up tracing where all the stories are going?
[Laughs] Yeah, my office looks like Claire Danes’ office in Homeland. It’s just a bunch of arrows and color-coded things. It’s a lot of timelines, a lot to remember. But even beyond the timeline stuff, what’s really important to all of the writers on this was we were basically telling a version of Daredevil season 2.5, a Luke Cage season 1.5, a Jessica Jones 1.5, and Iron Fist 1.5, so it felt like we had to tell the story that came after their immediate seasons and before their next ones.
So, you know, what was important was emotionally, we were picking people up exactly where they were and telling a story that would get them to where they needed to be. It was really about tracking emotions and motivations more than it was about tracking events or dates. That goes for everyone, all the protagonists and the [supporting] members of our cast.
Does that mean that the story you and the writers were crafting had to be reactive to everyone else’s endpoints? Like, you had to wait for a show to reach a conclusion they’d film before you could move forward?
I wouldn’t say it’s reactive. I would say there’s a give and take, even to the story point. This is where the Marvel executives are really good. If we have a story that’s somewhat similar to what someone else is going to do on any of the individual shows, we would get flagged. It’s just a big, massive conversation. It’s weirdly like there’s a massive writers’ room with all of these shows existing as little organisms.
What’s an example of a story point that had to be changed become another show was already doing it?
I mean, for major story arcs and emotional arcs, we never really risk repeating those, thankfully, because we’re always so aware. It would come down to the logistics of a fight scene or a car chase or something, or a beat or even a character that feels similar to what someone else was going to establish. I can’t get too specific, but suffice to say if we came up with a cool car chase with three motorcycles, they’d be like, “Oh, we’re doing a three-car chase on this other show, so let’s not make the same thing.”
So Doug left as a co-showrunner at the end of October. Does that change anything at all? I know the scripts were finished by then.
It didn’t really [change anything]. I mean, we’ve all been working on this for a very long time, so we’re good.
NEXT: “It was almost like a checklist, like, ‘Where’s our great Luke and Jessica scene? Where’s our Danny and Matt scene?'”“What would a war between Russia and the USA look like?”
This must be the question which I am most frequently asked. This is also the question to which I hear the most outlandish and ill-informed responses to. I have addressed this question in the past and those interested in this topic can consult the following articles:
It would be pointless for me to repeat it all here, so I will try to approach the issue from a somewhat different angle, but I would strongly recommend that those interested take the time to read this articles which, while mostly written in 2014 and 2015, are still basically valid, especially in the methodology used to tackle this issue. All I propose to do today is to debunk a few popular clichés about modern warfare in general. My hope is that by debunking them I will provide you with some tools to cut through the nonsense which the corporate media loves to present to us as “analysis”.
Cliché No 1: the US military has a huge conventional advantage over Russia
It all depends by what you mean by “advantage”. The US armed forces are much larger than the Russian ones, that is true. But, unlike the Russians ones, they are spread all over the planet. In warfare what matters is not the size of your military, but how much of it is actually available for combat in the theater of military operations TMO (conflict area). For example, if in any one given TMO you have only 2 airfields each capable of sustaining air operations for, say 100 aircraft, it will do you no good to have 1000 aircraft available. You might have heard the sentence “civilians focus on firepower, soldiers on logistics“. This is true. Modern military forces are extremely “support heavy” meaning that for one tank, aircraft or artillery piece you need a huge and sophisticated support line making it possible for the tank, aircraft or artillery piece to operate in a normal way. Simply put – if your tank is out of fuel or spares – it stops. So it makes absolutely no sense to say, for example, that the USA has 13,000 aircraft and Russia only 3,000. This might well be true, but it is also irrelevant. What matters is only how many aircraft the US and NATO could have ready to engage on the moment of the initiation of combat operations and what their mission would be. The Israelis have a long record of destroying the Arab air forces on the ground, rather than in the air, in surprise attacks which are the best way to negate a numerical advantage of an adversary. The reality is that the USA would need many months to assemble in western Europe a force having even a marginal hope to take on the Russian military. And the reality also is that nothing could force the Russians to just sit and watch while such a force is being assembled (the biggest mistake Saddam Hussein made).
Cliché No 2: an attacker needs a 3:1 or even 4:1 advantage over the defender.
Well, this is one “kinda true”, especially on a tactical level. There is an often used as a general rule of thumb that being in the defense gives you a 3:1 advantage meaning that if you have 1 battalion on the defense you should could about 3 battalions on the offense in order to hope for a victory. But when looking at an operational or, even more so, strategic level, this rule is completely false. Why? Because the defending side has a huge disadvantage: it is always the attacker who gets to decide when to attack, where and how. For those interested by this topic I highly recommend the book “Surprise Attack: Lessons for Defense Planning” by Richard Betts which, while relatively old (1982) and very focused on the Cold War, provides a very interesting and thorough discussion of the advantages and risks of a surprise attack. This is a fascinating topic which I cannot discuss in detail here, but let’s just say that a successfully pulled off surprise attack almost totally negates the advantage in theoretical forces ratios for the defender. Let me give you a simple example: imagine a front line of 50 km in which each 5 km are defended on both sides by a one division. So each sides has 10 divisions, each responsible for the defense of 5km of front, right? According to the 3:1 rule, side A needs 30 divisions to overcome the 10 divisions in the defense? Right? Wrong! What side A can do is concentrate 5 of its divisions on a 10km wide front and put the other five in the defense. On that 10km wide front of attack side now had 5 attacking divisions against 2 defending ones while on the rest of the front, side A has 5 defending divisions against 8 (potentially) attacking ones. Notice that now side B does not have a 3:1 advantage to overcome side A’s defenses (the actual ration is now 8:5). In reality what B will do is rush more divisions to defend the narrow 10km sector but that, in turn means that B now has less divisions to defense the full front. From here on you can make many assumptions: side B can counter-attack instead of defending, side B can defend in depth (in several “echelons”, 2 or even 3), side A could also begin by faking attack on one sector of the front and then attack elsewhere, or side A can send, say, one reinforced battalion to move really fast and create chaos deep in the defenses of B. My point here is simply that this 3:1 rules is purely a tactical rule of thumb and that in real warfare theoretical forces ratios (norms) require much more advanced calculations, including the consequences of a surprise attack.
Cliché No 3: high technology wins the day
ORDER IT NOW
That is a fantastically false statement and yet this myth is sacred dogma amongst civilians, especially in the USA. In the real world, high teach weapons systems, while very valuable, also come with a long list of problems the first one of which is simply cost.
[Sidebar: when I was studying military strategy in the late 1990s one of our teachers (from the US Air Force) presented us with a graph showing the increasing cost of a single US fighter aircraft from the 1950s to the 1990s. He then projected this trend in the future and jokingly concluded that by roughly 2020 (iirc) the USA would only have the money to afford one single and very, very expensive fighter. This was a joke, of course, but it had a very serious lesson in it: runways costs can result in insanely expensive weapon systems which can only be produced at very few copies and which are very risky to engage].
Technology is also typically fragile and requires a very complex support, maintenance and repair network. It makes no sense to have the best tank on the planet if it spends most of its time in major repairs.
Furthermore, one of the problems of sophisticated high tech gear is that its complexity makes it possible to attack it in many different ways. Take, for example, an armed drone. It can be defeated by:
shooting it out of the sky (active defense) blinding or otherwise disabling its sensors (active defense) jamming its communications with the operator (active defense) jamming or disabling its navigation system (active defense) camouflage/deception (passive defense) providing it with false targets (passive defense) protecting targets by, for example, burying them (passive defense) remaining mobile and/or decentralized and/or redundant (passive defense)
There are many more possible measures, it all depends on the actual threat. They key here is, again, cost and practicality: how much does it cost to develop, build and deploy an advanced weapon system versus the cost of one (or several) counter-measures.
Finally, history has shown over and over again that willpower is far more important that technology. Just look at the absolutely humiliating and total defeat of the multi-billion high tech Israeli Defense Forces by Hezbollah in 2006. The Israelis used their entire air force, a good part of their navy, their very large artillery, their newest tanks and they were defeated, horribly defeated, by probably about less than 2000 Hezbollah fighters, and even those where not the very best Hezbollah had (Hezbollah kept the best ones north of the Litani river). Likewise, the NATO air |
The potential for higher successful prosecution rates
The potential for the cameras to change public behaviour
Inspector Darren Henstock, the project director for the Evidence Based Policing Division with the WA police said the objective of the division was to reduce demand on policing services by analysis of international research into what does and does not work..
The use of body-worn cameras has been studied in both the UK and the US but Inspector Henstock said that the WA context was not necessarily the same as overseas.
He said the equipment was expensive and data costs were high when spread across the 6,000 police officers in Western Australian.
Inspector Henstock said the results of the both the trial and the survey would be used to build a business case for providing the cameras throughout the state.
Survey results
The results from the survey into public opinion on body worn cameras will not be available before the end of the year or later when the assessment is complete.
However, according to a police media spokesperson, public feedback on police social media pages shows that 90 per cent of people supported the idea.
Those comments which expressed concern speculated that cameras might be turned on or off to capture only what police want to video.
Inspector Henstock said public perception was an important part of policing and that it would be important for the community to understand exactly how the cameras would be used.
He stressed that the scientific academic trial underway meant a more rigorous comparison of results versus resources spent.
"We can use resources in a more directed and targeted way."
The survey, which was launched last Friday, is supported by ECU, Murdoch and Griffith Universities.
Questions gauge public feeling about camera use, whether people have noticed officers wearing the equipment and whether they believe that the cameras would change behaviour in any way.
"What the public think will form part of that business case," Inspector Henstock said.
In addition, police and WA universities initiated a forum six weeks ago with the goal of forming a think tank to look at more interesting areas of research.
Inspector Henstock said the results needed to be independently assessed and verified.
"[Academics] understand criminology, understand the nuances of what we do and will help us to design effective experiments," he said.
The evidence speaks
Experience overseas shows that a scientific approach can contradict accepted thinking.
One area of policing that is receiving focus currently is "hotspot policing", Inspector Henstock said.
"We all know anecdotally that there are areas where there is high demand for policing services."
Conventional wisdom suggested that we flood the area with police officers over an eight hour tour of duty and that will solve the problem.
"Research is showing now that if you do three discrete 15 minute patrols within eight hours, [this approach] provides exactly the same benefits as that eight hour tour of duty."
He said, on the other hand, studies in the UK and US supported belief by officers that the cameras would produce better evidence.
"Offenders understand that there is no wriggle room and they plead guilty a lot earlier in the judicial process."
"The early pleas also ease the load on the court system."
The future of policing
"We want … to foster an ethos of evidence-based policing in Australasia," Inspector Henstock said.
He said the Evidence Based Policing Division had a number of experiments running.
Future projects could investigate domestic violence, including trigger factors, plus other methods used around the world deal with the issue.
Inspector Henstock said repeat burglaries and the support of victims were other areas of interest.
"We'd like to revisit hotspots and how we do our patrols and how to feed back to the officers the benefits of what they're doing out there."
Topics: research, bunbury-6230, perth-6000The law, which came into effect October 2015, requires that telecoms store call records, location data, internet addresses and other info for 2 years. That's bad enough by itself, but police don't even need a warrant for that info in most cases. The journalist-oriented warrant is the exception, and it's clear that police didn't have enough measures in place to protect the press from that unfettered data access.
There's a good chance that the police are being honest when they say there wasn't "ill will, malice, or bad indent" in scooping up the journalist's info. The media member wasn't even being targeted by the investigation at hand, the AFP says. However, that won't do much to reassure privacy-minded Australians. After all, you're only learning about this because the police felt compelled to self-report. What if an unscrupulous investigator decides to "cheat" in a case by getting a journalist's info? What if someone decides to run a smear campaign against a reporter? Even if the oversight was flawless, the very existence of data collection makes it difficult to completely avoid misuse.This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.
AMY GOODMAN: Well, we wanted to turn now, go sort of down the pipeline. The Dakota Access pipeline is also facing legal resistance in Iowa. The pipeline goes from North to South Dakota through Iowa to Illinois. In Iowa, about 30 people were arrested last week in an effort to block construction. For more, we’re going to Des Moines, where we’re joined by Bill Hanigan, an attorney representing 15 Iowa landowners who are contesting the use of eminent domain by the Dakota Access pipeline.
Welcome to Democracy Now!, Bill Hanigan. Isn’t the Dakota Access pipeline a private company?
BILL HANIGAN: Good morning. Thank you for having me. Dakota Access is absolutely a private company. It’s a multibillion-dollar corporation owned by about five other multibillion-dollar corporations.
JUAN GONZÁLEZ: So, how, then, were they—was the company able to get access to the land of the folks that you are representing?
BILL HANIGAN: I represent about 15 Iowa landowners, all of them farmers. And Dakota Access is using in Iowa the power of eminent domain. The power of eminent domain is the authority of the state to take real estate and other assets for public purposes. And Dakota Access has applied to and obtained the power of eminent domain from our Iowa Utilities Board. So they have represented to the state that they are a public pipeline that is providing a common carriage service for the benefit of Iowans and the nation, and therefore they should be entitled to use the power of eminent domain. And about that, we very much disagree.
AMY GOODMAN: Can you talk about the connection between the protests in North Dakota and what’s happening to you downstream, if you will, from North Dakota, South Dakota—now you’re in Iowa—those connections?
BILL HANIGAN: Well, the legal arguments are different, but the purpose and the power behind Dakota Access is the same. In North Dakota, they’re arguing about Native American artifacts. In Iowa, we’re arguing about the application of the Constitution. And what’s common between those two things is, first of all, we’d like Dakota Access to stop what they’re doing until everybody gets their day in court, so we can make our arguments before it’s too late, before it’s a moot point. Now, the commonality among it, in addition to seeking this stay, the commonality is the issue of the great economic disparity. So, you’ve got, again, these multibillion-dollar companies who have combined this joint effort to build this pipeline across Iowa and across North Dakota and Illinois and South Dakota. And the commonality is that great economic force behind those billions of dollars pushing this through, both with law firms and both with the power of politics and the money of politics, to get this thing on a fast track in all of these places, before Iowans and South Dakotans and North Dakotans and Native Americans have an opportunity to even get to the court to get the court to review this and say it’s not fair.
JUAN GONZÁLEZ: And how do you hope to prevail in court, given, of course, the infamous Kelo decision of the Supreme Court some decades back, where, in essence, the court allowed private interests to be able to use eminent domain in commercial—in commercial projects? And interesting, as I recall, it was the, quote, “liberals” on the Supreme Court who backed the Kelo decision and the, quote, “conservatives” who opposed it.
BILL HANIGAN: That’s correct. And we think that even the Kelo majority—in that case, the so-called liberals—would apply the Kelo case and rule in our favor. And what the majority in Kelo said—and it was a bare 5-4 majority—what the majority in Kelo said is that we’re going to leave it up to the states to determine what a public purpose is for the purposes of using the power of eminent domain. However, they also said that public purpose does not include and can’t be a shill for a true private purpose. And so, in Kelo, that was a comprehensive community redevelopment plan, and the court said that, in that context, where there would be some public assets, including streets and sidewalks and sewers, that they would allow there to be a using of the power of eminent domain to help repair a blighted community. And in that context, economic development was a legitimate consideration.
AMY GOODMAN: You know—
BILL HANIGAN: Here, in Iowa, we don’t have—we don’t have economic development to repair a blighted community. We’ve got—we’ve got farmland that doesn’t need repair.
AMY GOODMAN: You know, when I was in North Dakota this weekend, I was speaking to an oil trucker, who trucked Bakken oil around the area and said it was precipitous how low the demand had gone in this last year. You could conceivably set up this pipeline, the Dakota Access pipeline could be set up—it’s built through to Illinois—and the demand gets lower and lower. And they have just destroyed these sacred sites along the way. And then, eventually, you see the abandonment of the pipeline.
BILL HANIGAN: We feel the same way about our farmland. See, in Iowa, in the Midwest, our strategic and competitive advantage is our black soil, that from the black soil and the earth, that’s where we grow our crops. That’s how we feed our families. That’s how we fuel our cars.
And so, what they’ve done is they plow this trench that is eight, 10, 12 feet deep, and they put the soil out, and it rains on the soil. And they put their pipe in there. Then they put the soil back in. And it’s just not the same as it was. And on top of that, there’s the risk of this oil leaking into our water supply, and there’s this risk of this oil leaking into the soil and making the fertility of it much less than it was before.
So, the idea that a Texas company can take our land for its private purpose—you know, the argument that Dakota Access has made, that this is a somehow public purpose, is that they will take this oil off to the Gulf of Mexico through Iowa, and then they’ll produce unleaded gasoline, and somehow some of that gasoline will splash its way back to Iowa. They can’t prove it, they can make an estimate of it, and they can’t tell us how much, but they think that is somehow our public use or public purpose.
JUAN GONZÁLEZ: And what’s the—
BILL HANIGAN: Now, everyone has to remember that in—in December, Congress repealed the decades-old prohibition on exporting that crude oil. So what we think’s going to happen, and what has already happened with the same-quality oil, is it’s being prepared for export. So, the idea that there is a public purpose here and that we’re all going to benefit from it, not only can they not prove that this oil is not coming back to Iowa, they really can’t prove or demonstrate that it’s even going to be for the U.S. market. So I think that the state of Iowa and the other states are being played for suckers, if you will, and this is all going to accrue to Texas profits and foreign export.
AMY GOODMAN: Because the pipeline that goes to Illinois would then link up with a pipeline down to the Gulf. Bill Hanigan, thanks so much for being with us, attorney representing 15 Iowa landowners who are contesting the use of eminent domain by the Dakota Access pipeline. And again, if you want to see the coverage of the security of Dakota Access pipeline, if you can call them security, unleashing dogs and pepper spray on the protesters, the full report, go to democracynow.org.
When we come back, why would a government official, why would a person working with immigration, come to women who are on hunger strike at Berks and tell them, if they eat an apple, they can leave? Stay with us.NEW DELHI: Public sector lender Bank of India has cut MCLR rates by 0.05-0.10 per cent for various tenors from September 10."Bank of India has reduced its marginal cost based lending rates (MCLRs). The revised marginal cost based lending rate for one-year now stands at 8.30 per cent," the bank said in statement today.As of now, the one year MCLR stands at 8.40 per cent.The reduced rates would come into effect from September 10, 2017, Bank of India said.Among others, the overnight and 1-month MCLR have been cut by 0.10 per cent each to 7.90 per cent and 8 per cent, respectively.While loan of 3-month tenor will bear interest rate of 8.10 per cent, down 0.05 per cent from current MCLR.There has been no change for 6-month MCLR which stands at 8.25 per cent.Banks had adopted MCLR from April 2016 following the directive of Reserve Bank of India.However, a majority of them still follow the base rate or the minimum lending rate formula to charge interest on loans.MCLR, which is changed every month, is a uniform methodology, which was introduced to ensure fair interest rates to borrowers as well as banks.The Reserve Bank in its last monetary policy in August had said it would review the MCLR method as banks were not passing on the benefit of repo rate reduction to consumer.A new market-linked benchmark rate is being worked out for a better rate transmission, Deputy Governor Viral Acharya had said.Shares of Bank of India closed 0.87 per cent up at Rs 144.30 on BSE.Fukushima Fuel Pools Are an American National Security Issue
After visiting Fukushima, Senator Ron Wyden warned that the situation was worse than reported … and urged Japan to accept international help to stabilize dangerous spent fuel pools.
An international coalition of nuclear scientists and non-profit groups are calling on the U.N. to coordinate a multi-national effort to stabilize the fuel pools. And see this.
Fuel pool number 4 is, indeed, the top short-term threat facing humanity.
Anti-nuclear physician Dr. Helen Caldicott says that if fuel pool 4 collapses, she will evacuate her family from Boston and move them to the Southern Hemisphere. This is an especially dramatic statement given that the West Coast is much more directly in the path of Fukushima radiation than the East Coast.
And nuclear expert Arnie Gundersen recently said (at 25:00):
There’s more cesium in that [Unit 4] fuel pool than in all 800 nuclear bombs exploded above ground… But of course it would happen all at once. It would certainly destroy Japan as a functioning country… Move south of the equator if that ever happened, I think that’s probably the lesson there.
This week, Wyden said that the spent fuel is a national security threat to the U.S.:
AlterNet asked Sen. Wyden if he considers the spent fuel at Fukushima Daiichi a national security threat. In a statement released by his office, Wyden replied, “The radiation caused by the failure of the spent fuel pools in the event of another earthquake could reach the West Coast within days. That absolutely makes the safe containment and protection of this spent fuel a security issue for the United States.” [Robert Alvarez – a nuclear expert and a former special assistant to the United States Secretary of Energy] agrees, saying, “My major concern is that this effort to get that spent fuel out of there is not something you should be doing casually and taking your time on.” Yet Tepco’s current plans are to hold the majority of this spent fuel onsite for years in the same elevated, uncontained storage pools, only transferring some of the fuel into more secure, hardened dry casks when the common pool reaches capacity.
Government Agencies Underplaying Risk … So No One Has to Do Anything Different
Why are American nuclear authorities ignoring this threat?
Well, they are totally captured by the nuclear industry, and:
Nuclear waste experts … charge that the NRC is letting this threat [of the Fukushima fuel pools] fester because acknowledging it would call into question safety at dozens of identically designed nuclear power plants around the U.S., which contain exceedingly higher volumes of spent fuel in similar elevated pools outside of reinforced containment. *** In an interview with AlterNet, Alvarez … said that the Japanese government, Tepco and the U.S. NRC are reluctant to say anything publicly about the spent fuel threat because “there is a tendency to want to provide reassurance that everything is fine.” *** “The U.S. government right now is engaged in its own kabuki theatre to protect the U.S. industry from the real costs of the lessons at Fukushima,” Gunter said. “The NRC and its champions in the White House and on Capitol Hill are looking to obfuscate the real threats and the necessary policy changes to address the risk.” There are 31 G.E. Mark I and Mark II boiling water reactors (BRWs) in the U.S., the type used at Fukushima. All of these reactors, which comprise just under a third of all nuclear reactors in the U.S., store their spent fuel in elevated pools located outside the primary, or reinforced, containment that protects the reactor core. Thus, the outside structure, the building ostensibly protecting the storage pools, is much weaker, in most cases about as sturdy, experts describe in interviews with AlterNet, as a structure one would find housing a car dealership or a Wal-Mart.
Remember that American nuclear power plants are storing much more nuclear fuel rods in highly-vulnerable pools than even Fukushima.
The NRC and Japanese claim that fuel pool 4 has been stabilized, but:
Nuclear experts, including Arnie Gundersen, a former nuclear industry senior vice president who coordinated projects at 70 U.S. nuclear power plants, and warned days after the disaster at Fukushima last year of a “Chernobyl on steroids” if the spent fuel pools were to ignite, strongly disagreed with this assessment. “It is true that in May and June the floor of the U4 SFP [spent fuel pool] was ‘reinforced,’ but not as strong as it was originally,” Gundersen noted in an email to AlterNet. “The entire building however has not been reinforced and is damaged by the explosion in both 4 and 3. So structurally U4 is not as strong as its original design required.” *** Alvarez said that even if the unit 4 structure has been tentatively stabilized, it doesn’t change the fact “it sits in a structurally damaged building, is about 100 feet above the ground and is exposed to the atmosphere, in a high-consequence earthquake zone.” He also said that the urgency of the situation is underscored by the ongoing seismic activity around northeast Japan, in which 13 earthquakes of magnitude 4.0 to 5.7 have occurred off the northeast coast of Honshu between April 14 and April 17. “This has been the norm since 3/11/11 and larger quakes are expected closer to the power plant,” Alvarez added.
(Last year’s big earthquake made a huge earthquake close to Fukushima more likely.)
Boils Down to Money
Of course, it all boils down to money … just like every other crisis the world faces today.
Nuclear power can be safe, or it can be cheap … but it can’t be both. For example, we’ve previously noted:
Apologists for the nuclear power industry pretend there are no better alternatives, so we just have to suck it up and suffer through the Japanese nuclear crisis. But this is wholly illogical. The truth is that we can store spent fuel rods in dry cask storage, which is much safer than the spent fuel rod pools used in Fukushima and many American reactors. As the Nation pointed out: Short of closing plants, there is a fairly reliable solution to the problem of spent fuel rods. It is called “dry cask storage.” *** But there is a problem with dry cask storage: it costs money….
Indeed:
Experts say the only near-term answer to better protect our nation’s existing spent nuclear fuel is dry cask storage. But there’s one catch: the nuclear industry doesn’t want to incur the expense, which is about $1 million per cask. “So now they’re stuck,” said Alvarez, “The NRC has made this policy decision, which the industry is very violently opposed to changing because it saves them a ton of money. And if they have to go to dry hardened storage onsite, they’re going to have to fork over several hundred million dollars per reactor to do this.” He also pointed out that the contents of the nine dry casks at the Fukushima Daiichi site were undamaged by the disaster. “Nobody paid much attention to that fact,” Alvarez said. “I’ve never seen anybody at Tepco or anyone [at the NRC or in the nuclear industry] saying, ‘Well, thank god for the dry casks. They were untouched.’ They don’t say a word about it.”
Get it? The Japanese and American governments are playing Russian roulette with the fuel pools at Fukushima to save nuclear companies from having to spend a couple of million dollars to safely store spent fuel in dry casks.Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play. With just two full days of campaigning left before the United States chooses a new president, the two candidates are undertaking a final push for votes. Democrat Barack Obama still holds a lead in polls, but one survey suggests Republican John McCain is moving up. Mr Obama will attend rallies in the key swing state of Ohio later on Sunday. Mr McCain is focusing campaign efforts in neighbouring Pennsylvania, having appeared on the TV comedy show Saturday Night Live. He played on his reputation as a maverick and the reality of being outspent on the campaign trail by Mr Obama. "I'm a true Republican maverick: a Republican without money," Mr McCain joked, pretending to introduce a sale of campaign-related products on shopping channel QVC - chosen, he told viewers, because the McCain-Palin campaign could not afford nationwide network TV coverage like Mr Obama. Campaigning in Virginia earlier, the Arizona senator told voters: "We can and will win". For his part, Mr Obama told voters in Nevada they had "three days to turn the page". Crucial states Both campaigns have thousands of volunteers working flat-out manning phone banks, handing out brochures and knocking on doors. Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play. Mr Obama, who also made appearances in Colorado and Missouri on Saturday, has warned against complacency and urged Democratic supporters to vote. "Don't believe for a second this election is over," the Illinois senator told a 15,000-strong crowd in Henderson, Nevada. "But I know this, Nevada, the time for change has come. We have a righteous wind at our back." The candidates have been focusing on states seen as crucial to their chances of winning Tuesday's election. Speaking to supporters in Newport News, Virginia, Mr McCain questioned Mr Obama's readiness to lead in the face of such "grave threats" as al-Qaeda and the prospect of a nuclear-armed Iran. FROM THE CAMPAIGN TRAIL This is the time of anxiety where events and statements should be treated with most caution
Gavin Hewitt
Updates from the campaign trail In pictures: US candidates' rallies He also attacked the Illinois senator's tax plans. "He's running for redistributor-in-chief, I'm running for commander-in-chief," said Mr McCain. After a lunchtime rally in Springfield, Virginia, Mr McCain headed to Perkasie, Pennsylvania, in the afternoon. Analysts say the 72-year-old Republican needs to win in Pennsylvania - where he is behind in state polls - to have a chance. Obama's aunt Mr Obama, 47, has extended his campaign advertising into traditionally Republican territory, running advertisements in Georgia, North Dakota and Arizona - his rival's home state. LATEST POLLS To view this content you must have Javascript enabled and Flash player version 9 or higher installed. download Flash player
US election polltracker in full Polls in Virginia, Nevada and Colorado, all of which favoured the Republicans four years ago, put the Democrats ahead. Missouri - where the Democrats currently hold a slim poll lead - is seen as a vital state to win because of its record of backing the eventual winner in almost every election since 1904. Republican vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin was campaigning in Florida, a battleground state which voted Republican in 2004, but where an early Republican poll lead has been whittled away. On Saturday, it was revealed the Alaska governor had been duped by a prank call in which a Canadian radio presenter successfully convinced her for five minutes that he was French President Nicolas Sarkozy. Meanwhile, it was reported that a Kenyan aunt of Mr Obama was living in Boston illegally, after an immigration judge rejected her request for asylum four years ago. Mr Obama said he did not know the aunt, Zeituni Onyango, was in the country illegally, adding that the laws covering the situation should be followed. High turnout? President George W Bush, in his last weekly radio address before his successor is chosen, urged citizens to use their vote on 4 November. ELECTION DAY ON THE BBC Join us on 4 November to follow the news as America votes, including: Live text updates through the day and night, with input from BBC correspondents around the US Results as they come in, on a live updating map, from midnight GMT Streaming video of the BBC election night programme in Washington Analysis from BBC North America editor Justin Webb in Washington, and Gavin Hewitt and Matthew Price at the candidates' HQs Polling officials are expecting some 130 million Americans to vote, says the BBC's North America editor Justin Webb reports - a turnout which would be higher than in any election since 1960. In a Reuters/Zogby poll released on Saturday, Mr Obama's lead had narrowed, scoring 49% to Mr McCain's 45%. Our correspondent says despite the McCain camp claiming their candidate is only four points behind in national polls, his problem remains that in many must-win states, he is further behind. No Republican has ever been elected without winning Ohio, where Mr McCain appears to be five points adrift, our correspondent adds.
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StumbleUpon What are these? E-mail this to a friend Printable versionNew Delhi: Months after it came out with its free services that disrupted the Indian telecom market and sparked a bruising tariff war, Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd has accused market leader Bharti Airtel Ltd of offering misleading and discriminatory tariff plans.
In a letter addressed to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) dated 21 April, Jio said some of Airtel’s tariff plans and promotional offers such as the so-called “first recharge" ones that, for Rs293 and Rs449, offer free, unlimited local and STD calls and 1 GB data per day for 70 days “are being marketed in (a) misleading manner in gross violation of extant telecommunication laws".
Jio requested the regulator to impose the highest penalty on Airtel as well as direct the company to immediately withdraw the offers.
“Airtel is providing the headline benefits only to a very specific group of new subscribers, i.e, the subscribers that opt to be Airtel’s subscriber with a 4G connection and also possess a 4G handset," Jio said in the letter.
It added that all other “unwitting" new subscribers are not only provided with substantially lower data benefits of 50 MB in place of 70 GB, but the validity of recharge is also curtailed to 35 days from 70 days... and “post that they will be charged the exorbitant data tariff of Rs4,000/GB".
An Airtel spokesperson said, “Bharti Airtel is in full compliance of all regulatory guidelines, including tariff orders. We categorically deny these allegations. Discounts are a standard lever in the arsenal of any business—be it e-commerce, telecom, insurance or aviation, etc.—and companies deploy these from time to time.
“These allegations are nothing but a continuation of Reliance Jio’s standard ploy of blaming others for all its problems, including network deficiencies. What’s even more ironic is that Jio itself offered free services for several months but is now pointing fingers at other operators, who are merely offering simple discounts to their own customers to retain them. In fact, it is Jio that has been blatantly disregarding all guidelines and directions of Trai."
Jio did not respond to an email seeking response.
Jio’s counter-accusations come at a time when Trai has put out a discussion paper to address loopholes in rules dealing with predatory pricing and promotional offers.
When Reliance launched Jio in September, offering free data and voice calls, undercutting established rivals and eroding industry profitability, incumbent telcos responded by taking up the matter to the telecom tribunal, accusing the regulator of being a “mute spectator" and killing competition by allowing Jio’s free services.
Jio offered free voice calls and data until 31 December 2016 in a promotional offer, and later extended it to 31 March, and further to June-end.
It was forced to withdraw the last offer.
Jio’s entry also sparked consolidation, with Vodafone Group Plc’s India unit and Idea Cellular deciding to merge to create India’s largest telecom firm.
The annual revenue of Indian telecom firms declined for the first time since 2008-09 to Rs1.88 trillion in 2016-17 (from Rs1.93 trillion the previous year), and is likely to decline further to Rs1.84 trillion in 2017-18, CLSA said in a report released on 7 April.
Jio, in the 21 April letter to Trai, said Airtel is also violating another direction by the regulator that prohibits telcos from discriminating between subscribers of the same class and such classification of subscribers shall not be arbitrary.
“Airtel has chosen to create an arbitrary distinction on the basis of subscribers possessing 4G handset and 4G SIM. It has arbitrarily reduced the validity of voice benefits under the same recharge for the same class of subscribers without a 4G handset or 4G sim to half of that for those possessing both 4G handset and 4G sim," it said.
Dharmesh Kant, head of retail research, Motilal Oswal Financial Services Ltd, said: “The good thing is that they want the law to intervene. So, eventually, this will lead to sanity coming back to market. Lower band of tariffs will get free. For the industry, it is a good thing."Hillary Clinton may have helped steer millions of dollars in government grants to a disgraced banker — and major Clinton Foundation donor — during her time as secretary of state.
And the FBI is reportedly already investigating the matter.
A shocking report by the Daily Caller found that Bangladeshi banker Muhammad Yunis received $13 million in grants through State Department programs while Clinton was America’s top diplomat.
The millions in funds were given to Yunus’ Bangladesh-based Grameen Bank through 18 different U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) grants.
Yunus is a personal friend of the Clintons who donated $300,000 to their foundation during that time — and he’s also faced a mountain of corruption charges that possibly should have precluded him from getting government grants.
Now the FBI is quietly looking into how Yunnis got the funds, the Daily Caller reported.
According to the Daily Caller, “Secretary Clinton’s mixing of official work with foundation donors is reportedly the focus of a second, less publicized FBI public corruption investigation of the former secretary of state. The more widely known FBI probe focuses on her use of a private email server located in her New York residence to conduct official government business.”
Yunus’ idea of giving out small “microloans” while the head of Grameen Bank was praised by many — including the Clinton’s, who in 2006 had strongly backed the campaign that helped Yunus win a Nobel Prize.
But he was removed as Grameen’s managing director after a defamation trial and allegations of unauthorized bank transfers. It was a humiliating blow for the Clinton pal, and led to Hillary Clinton to publicly intervene on his behalf with then-Bangladesh Foreign Minister Dipu Moni.
In addition to Yunus’ legal troubles, former Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina accused Grameen Bank and other microfinance institutions of charging high interest rates and “sucking blood from the poor borrowers.”
Controversy swirled around Yunus after a Norwegian television documentary that screened in December of 2010 accused him of transferring Norwegian development funds from Grameen Bank to another venture without prior approval in 1996.
The Associated Press contributed to this article.A MARTYN WAGHORN double was enough to see off Hamilton Accies on a chill Lanarkshire evening at New Douglas Park.
Rangers were utterly dominant for long spells of the match and ought to have won by a wider margin, and indeed, they were made to sweat late-on as Dougie Imrie pulled one back for Martin Canning’s men.
Despite that, Gers held-on to record their third league win in succession for the first time this season.
It was Mark Warburton’s side who began the brighter at New Douglas Park, and an early Barrie McKay corner wasn’t cleared properly allowing Joe Garner to get an effort on goal before the ball rebounded once again to McKay, and this time he set up Martyn Waghorn for a shot, but his strike was on the half-volley and went over the bar.
Lee Hodson then showed a real burst of pace to sprint up the right wing, and he played an excellent one-two with Jason Holt on the edge of the area before firing in a powerful shot which ‘keeper Gary Woods did well to get down and smother.
Captain Lee Wallace last week showed his prowess with a long-throw in setting up Barrie McKay for Gers’ second goal in the win over Hearts, and he came close to repeating the trick as Garner got a flick on his shy at the near post which hit the bar and was clawed out by Woods where Jason Holt was just inches away from connecting.
Hamilton weren’t much in the way of an attacking threat, but Greg Docherty came close to handing them an advantage in the 34th minute after he burst beyond James Tavernier on the left-wing, raced into the area and screamed an effort just over the bar.
A minute later at the other end, McKay slipped Holt in and only a last-ditch block from Michael Devlin prevented the former Hearts man from netting his first league goal of the season. Seconds later, Devlin headed a goalbound Waghorn effort over the bar after the Englishman cut inside Scott McMann, and then from the resulting corner, Rob Kiernan was denied a second goal in as many games as he powered a header onto a McKay corner only to see it cleared from the line by a plethora of red and white striped bodies.
It was all Rangers all of a sudden, and their next opportunity saw Jason Holt take a quick throw, play it to and then get it back from Andy Halliday before Holt raced to the edge of the box and saw his shot only just deflected wide for a corner.
Waghorn then had another opportunity when Garner won the ball in midfield and played it through the two Accies centre-halves but the striker’s effort on the volley was saved by Woods at the second attempt.
He wasn’t to be denied for long however as he got his head on a Jason Holt cut-back and his effort looped in off the underside of Woods’ bar.
It was a rather unorthodox way to find the net, but it was a terrific effort from Gers top scorer of last season to hand his side a thoroughly deserved lead.
The one-way traffic from the end of the first half continued at the start of the second, with Waghorn forcing another save from Woods after latching onto a Halliday through-ball, and the second goal Gers craved wasn’t to be too far away, with Waghorn again the scorer.
Barrie McKay played a sumptuous ball through for the marauding Lee Wallace to latch onto in the area and he had the simple task of cutting the ball back across the face of goal for Waghorn to fire in his brace for the evening before celebrating with the thousands of Rangers supporters gathered behind the net.
That was Waghorn’s third league goal of the season, with the trio having all come against Accies after he netted against them on the opening day of the season at Ibrox.
The pace from the Light Blues wasn’t to drop on what was becoming a pretty cold night in South Lanarkshire, and James Tavernier really should have sealed the points after Garner won the ball in midfield, fed Waghorn who in turn played Tavernier in only for Woods to dive low at his feet to clear.
From the resulting corner, Danny Wilson headed on to defensive partner Rob Kiernan, and his effort dropped just wide of the post. Seconds later, another Waghorn charge forward ended with him giving it to Garner on the edge of the box with his first-time shot only just clearing the bar.
Any time Accies did venture forward, they were soon robbed of possession by Gers who were playing at such a high-tempo, and on one such occasion, Tavernier strode forward from deep in his own half, all the way into the home box and fired his eventual shot over the bar, although he may have been better served in feeding Garner, McKay or Waghorn who had joined in him in the area.
Waghorn was understandably keen to complete his hat-trick, and he had two efforts in quick succession, firstly cutting in from the left and shooting just over before nodding a Tavernier cross wide of the post.
That was to be his last action of the night as he was replaced by Harry Forrester on 75 minutes. Almost immediately though, Accies pulled a goal back on one of their few forays into Rangers territory.
Andy Halliday conceded possession out in the right-back position allowing Danny Redmond to square the ball for Dougie Imrie to tap home.
It began a nervy close to the game for Gers, but in that time Tavernier again had the chance to secure the points, being set up this time by Forrester, but he shot wide and then, as McKay was taken out following a |
point: the Biebs is donating all of the money he got from his recent car auction to charity! Yep, you better Belieb it!
“Justin is going to donate the proceeds from the auction to charity. He hasn’t decided which one yet, but it will likely be either Pencils of Promise, City of Hope or Children’s Miracle Network — maybe even a combination of the three,” a source tells HollywoodLife.com EXCLUSIVELY. “Justin gets such a bad rap but he has a heart of gold. He does so much to give back, and to help those in need, but people never care about that, all they focus on is the times he messes up.”
As previously reported, the Canadian recently auctioned off his beloved blue 2011 Ferrari 458 Italia at Barrett Jackson auto auction in Scottsdale, Arizona, according to AZCentral. After three and a half minutes of super hot bidding – which even included Justin throwing in tickets to a U.S. show AND backstage passes – the ride sold for a world-record-breaking $434,500. The car was originally valued between $250-$300,000! Quite a tidy profit, right?
However, Justin already has more money in the bank than any of us could possibly ever imagine — how about $244 MILLION?!! So, yeah, it’s not like he needs the cash, right? Meanwhile, turns out the Biebs is a big fan of spreading his wealth, and loves nothing more than splashing the cash in the name of a good cause. “Honestly, people have no idea how much Justin does for various different charities,” the source says. “He has a huge heart and never stops giving.”
HollywoodLifers, what do you think about Justin Bieber? Sound off in the comments below!ON THE NIGHT before the U.S. Supreme Court issued its ruling Monday in Montgomery v. Louisiana, giving new hope for release to prisoners serving life without parole for crimes they committed as juveniles, Sister Alison McCrary received a collect call from the Louisiana State Penitentiary, better known as Angola. It came from a man she had met during her 10 years visiting the prison as a spiritual adviser to those on death row. Nicknamed “Reverend Joe,” he did not face execution, but like most of Angola’s residents, nonetheless confronted the prospect of dying in prison.
“He usually calls me wanting to talk about scripture,” McCrary told me over the phone from New Orleans. “He’ll want to make sure he’s got the right interpretation.” But on Sunday night, he was calling because he was anxious. Convicted of murder in Shreveport in the early 1960s, Reverend Joe was one of hundreds of Louisiana prisoners anxiously awaiting the decision in Montgomery, which would determine whether an earlier Supreme Court ban on mandatory life without parole for juveniles should apply retroactively to people like him. In 2012, in Miller v. Alabama, the justices had declared such sentences unconstitutional for people who committed their crimes when they were younger than 18. But Louisiana, among other states, refused to apply the ruling to people already behind bars. A different Angola prisoner, Henry Montgomery, appealed his sentence all the way to the Supreme Court. Following oral arguments held last fall, it would be up to the justices to tell Louisiana whether or not it was breaking the law by forcing people like Montgomery and Reverend Joe to keep serving a sentence the Court had previously declared unconstitutional.
When he called McCrary, Reverend Joe had no idea that the Court would be ruling the very next day. Nor were his hopes vested solely in Montgomery — he was seeking other avenues to challenge his sentence. But if the justices were to rule in his favor, McCrary said, “that’s when he would know for sure” he had a shot at release. After a life spent in prison, for the first time Reverend Joe could catch a glimpse of freedom. And it scared him.
“Reverend Joe is well-respected at Angola,” McCrary explained. “He has community there.” Now in his 70s, he is active in the prison’s many religious activities and he works as a trustee, bringing food to death row visitors like McCrary. Outside the prison gates, however, he knows almost no one. While he has family in Louisiana and Texas, McCrary believes he has not been in touch with them for 50 years.
In addition to the obvious challenges of finding a home or a job, the question of health care will be serious and immediate for a man his age. For McCrary, who along with a community of activists in New Orleans took in Louisiana exoneree Glenn Ford after his release in 2014, caring for him before he died of cancer last June, the challenges that accompany the victory in Montgomery are familiar.
“Folks are really celebrating now,” she said on Monday, “but there’s also lots of concern.” For those who get out after decades behind bars, “What’s it going to be like in the free world?”
SUCH A QUESTION might feel premature to those who followed the long road to Montgomery. After all, it took three-and-a-half years and much litigation for the Supreme Court to force the states to apply Miller retroactively. Even now, the Montgomery ruling is no guarantee for release. “Today’s decision simply provides an opportunity for review,” Mark Plaisance, the Louisiana attorney who argued the case before the Court last fall, reminded reporters on Monday. The ruling is “just the first step in a long process for Mr. Montgomery.”
At 69, Henry Montgomery does not have the luxury of time. Yet he is among the lucky ones — at least he has representation. For other prisoners, finding a lawyer to challenge their continued incarceration is the first in a daunting series of hurdles. According to McCrary, word at Angola is that local attorneys will soon be visiting the prison to instruct “offender counsel substitutes” — jailhouse lawyers — on how to begin filing petitions on behalf of fellow inmates. But juvenile lifers must also wait for the state to decide on the legal venue for such a challenge. Then, ultimately, they must convince the state’s chosen decision-makers that they are worthy of early release.
From state to state, the question of who will make these decisions is still up in the air. After Miller, several states simply abolished juvenile life without parole, restoring parole eligibility or imposing lesser determinate sentences on those already imprisoned. Other states opted for resentencing hearings, putting individual prisoners’ fates in the hands of a judge. For those recalcitrant states that refused to do either, Justice Kennedy sought to provide reassurance in Montgomery that the 6-3 ruling “does not require States to relitigate sentences, let alone convictions, in every case where a juvenile offender received mandatory life without parole.” Instead, he suggested, writing for the majority, states can give a chance for such prisoners “to be considered for parole.”
In New Orleans, the Louisiana Center for Children’s Rights was quick to embrace this suggestion. The state “has a choice to make,” the legal nonprofit explained on its website following Monday’s ruling. It can offer prisoners “costly, lengthy, substantive hearings” to the tune of $3 million to fund the first year of defense attorneys alone, according to an estimate by the Louisiana Public Defender Board. Or it can grant juvenile lifers some shot at release by allowing them to go before a parole board — an option the group’s director argues saves money, preserves public safety (“by ensuring that nobody is released without review”), and is “fairer for victims, because it will mean that they do not have to go through the difficulties of a new court hearing.”
For lifers in Louisiana, the prospect of going before a parole board is practically unthinkable — a dream come true. Unlike in other states that retain as a sentencing option life with the possibility of parole, until very recently, all life sentences in Louisiana were death-in-prison sentences. This has begun to change: In 2012, following a campaign by the American Civil Liberties Union and others, Gov. Bobby Jindal signed legislation to grant parole eligibility to lifers convicted of certain nonviolent crimes.
Still, as in most states, winning parole in Louisiana is exceedingly difficult. Last summer, following a thorough review of the state of parole across the country, the Marshall Project found parole boards nationwide to be secretive, driven by politics, and “vested with almost unlimited discretion to make decisions on almost any basis. Hearsay, rumor and instinct are all fair game.”
Louisiana is no exception — although modest reforms have recently sought to make parole decisions more informed and less arbitrary. Nevertheless, the odds are stacked against prisoners. Both prosecutors and crime victims play a role in parole hearings, and eligible prisoners do not even meet with board members in person, but rather by videoconference. And, perhaps most importantly, decisions often come down to “the nature of the crime” rather than any proof of rehabilitation — the one thing a prisoner cannot change, even if he or she has.
Yet, such a venue is still a better option than what Louisiana lifers have relied upon to date: seeking mercy in a state so famous for its high incarceration rate it has been dubbed the prison capital of the world. Among those who did not live to see the ruling in Montgomery this week was a man named Robert Howard, sent to Angola as a teenager in 1967, and known to many for his writing and counseling to youth. A Facebook page created by one of his supporters tracks years of denied clemency requests dating back to the 1970s. Some years, board members recommended commutations only to see them denied by the governor. Most recently, in March 2015, Gov. Jindal denied a unanimous clemency request for Howard by the Board of Pardons and Parole. Soon after that, Howard was diagnosed with liver cancer. In August, he died at the prison hospice at Angola.
AS LAWYERS AND SCHOLARS continue to parse the ruling in Montgomery, the broader implications are yet to be seen. For now, although it continues to chip away at the harshest sentences for youth, with Montgomery, the Supreme Court has decided once more to preserve the option of juvenile life without parole, meaning that defendants will continue to be sent to die behind bars for crimes they committed as children. There is good reason to think such sentences will be rare — existing data after Miller shows a large drop in new sentences of life without parole for juvenile crimes across the country. And some legal experts have interpreted Montgomery to mean that a prosecutor pursuing such a punishment will now have to somehow “prove to a judge that a particular youth is beyond saving as a reformed person” — a dubious proposition that should be burdensome in theory.
Yet, it is not hard to imagine that in such cases, the “nature of the crime” will continue to have the final say. After all, even as it seeks to narrow life without parole sentences for youth offenders, Montgomery keeps intact the same assumption that set the stage for them in the first place. “Miller drew a line between children whose crimes reflect transient immaturity and those rare children whose crimes reflect irreparable corruption,” Kennedy wrote in Montgomery. It remains possible that a court “might encounter the rare juvenile offender who exhibits such irretrievable depravity that rehabilitation is impossible and life without parole is justified.”
It was this image of irredeemably bad youth — applied along starkly racist lines — that created the superpredator myth, fueling the very sentences states are now being forced to reconsider. After all, while it may be easy to accept that, as an old man, Henry Montgomery is not the same person he was in 1963, it is difficult to imagine such sober perspective governing the fate of a 17-year-old who today committed the same crime — the fatal shooting of a police officer. These are the very crimes for which mandatory sentencing was invented — and for which parole will be routinely denied.
It is this enduring idea — that a crime tells us everything we need to know about the person who committed it — that must be overcome, by parole boards, by judges, and by the legions of people who now claim the broader mantle of criminal justice reform. The Supreme Court has taken another important step in recognizing that people in prison can change. It is up to the states to give juvenile lifers a meaningful chance to go home — before prison becomes the only home they know.
Top photo: Orleans Parish Prison in New Orleans currently houses about 23 juvenile boys. Photo from juvenile-in-justic.com.Cleveland Cavaliers’ Lebron James may have healthy relationship with members of the Kardashian-Jenner family, but that doesn’t necessarily mean he loves their reality show Keeping Up With The Kardashians.
James took to Snapchat to record a TV crew that visited the Cavaliers’ training facility. Although the star forward made no mention of the show’s name, it was presumed to be for Keeping Up With The Kardashians due to Khloe Kardashian’s relationship with James’ teammate, Tristan Thompson.
“The sh*t show is here today” Lebron James posted on his Snapchat story. “Look at the sh*t show gang,” he added, panning his cellphone around members of the film crew, BET reported.
It’s likely the KUWTK crew was there to get footage of Thompson for the show, especially after it was reported that he is expecting his first child with girlfriend Khloe Kardashian.
The video, however, was all made in good fun. James and Kardashian are good friends, and they were spotted sharing a hug after they hung out with Thompson and other members of the team, Hollywood Life wrote.
Although things appear to be well with the team, fans of the Cleveland Cavaliers aren’t too keen on having Kardashian on board. After the reality show star’s pregnancy announcement, fans expressed their concern about the “Kardashian curse” on Twitter.
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Meanwhile, Kardashian’s ex-husband, Lamar Odom, recently opened up about their current relationship. In an episode of Complex’s Everyday Struggle, Odom said they’re “still cool” and that he wishes her well, People reported. Although he didn’t particularly mention the pregnancy, the retired NBA player said he “still got love for her.”
Kardashian is reportedly three months pregnant. She’s reportedly due to give birth around February next year. Although the baby’s gender hasn’t been revealed yet, a source previously said that she wants a baby girl. Since Thompson is a “total momma’s boy” who grew up with all boys in the family, she feels that having a baby girl would “give him an amazing, new experience.”
As for the kid’s name, it’s possible Kardashian will choose a name that starts with a “K” to keep the family tradition. But an insider also said that she’s considering naming a baby girl Andrea after Thompson’s mother.
Keeping Up With The Kardashians Season 14 airs every Sunday on E!
[Featured Image by Jason Miller/Getty Images]The Supreme Court upheld a key part of Arizona's tough anti-illegal immigration law in a 5-3 decision on Monday that allows police officers to ask about immigration status during stops. That part of the law, which never went into effect because of court challenges, will now immediately be enforced in Arizona. Other parts of the law, including a provision that made it a state crime for illegal immigrants to seek work, will remain blocked, as the justices affirmed the federal government's supremacy over immigration policy.
[Yahoo News reporter Liz Goodwin will be answering your questions about the Supreme Court's immigration ruling today at 4 p.m. ET on Facebook.]
Justice Anthony Kennedy, the court's swing vote, wrote the opinion, and was joined by Chief Justice John Roberts, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Stephen Breyer and Sonia Sotomayor. Conservative Justices Antonin Scalia, Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas partially dissented, saying the entire law or most of the law should have been upheld.
In the opinion, Justice Kennedy wrote that the federal government's "power to determine immigration policy is well settled." But he also showed concern for what he described as Arizona's outsize burden in dealing with illegal immigration, seeming to sympathize with the state's decision to butt in on immigration enforcement. "Arizona bears many of the consequences of unlawful immigration," he wrote. "Hundreds of thousands of deportable aliens are apprehended in Arizona each year." But, ultimately, the justices found that Arizona cannot mete out its own state punishments for federal immigration crimes.
"Arizona may have understandable frustrations with the problems caused by illegal immigration while that process continues, but the State may not pursue policies that undermine federal law," Kennedy wrote in the opinion's conclusion.
The police immigration checks are allowed, however, because state police would simply flag federal authorities if they found an illegal immigrant. The federal government would then decide if they wanted to try to deport the suspect, or let him or her go. Kennedy did not rule out that these checks may be implemented in an illegal way, which means more lawsuits may be forthcoming.
Nevertheless, Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer cast the decision as a "victory" for the state. "I am confident our officers are prepared to carry out this law responsibly and lawfully. Nothing less is acceptable," she said in a statement, adding that officers have been trained not to racially profile in their stops.
Erika Andiola, an activist and undocumented immigrant in Arizona, said that the Latino community will not be happy with the decision, as the immigration checks portion of the law was most unpopular with them. "It's another message to the Latino community that if you look brown you're a perfect target for the police," she said.
The Obama administration sued to block Arizona's law, called SB1070, shortly after it passed two years ago, saying it interfered with federal authority over immigration. The law made it a state crime for illegal immigrants to seek work or fail to carry proper immigration papers. It also requires police officers to check immigration status and make warrantless arrests for immigration crimes in some cases. A federal judge prevented those aspects of the law from going into effect, but the law became a lightning rod around the country, sparking boycotts and counterboycotts and opening up a debate about the nation's illegal immigrant population.
In oral arguments in April, many of the justices seemed deeply skeptical of the government's argument that local police officers would interfere with federal authority over immigration law if they began asking people about their immigration status during stops. Though much of the debate around the law has focused on "racial profiling"—whether Hispanic people would be stopped and questioned by police based on their ethnicity—the government did not even mention those words in its case against the law, instead focusing on the federal government's supremacy in immigration matters. Justices repeatedly criticized the government's argument against immigration checks. Even Sotomayor, part of the court's liberal wing, said she was "terribly confused" by the government's argument against the checks.Voters in France are vying for Barack Obama to become their next President, in a wild bid to bring about a “sixth Republic” in the French presidential elections this year.
A website and poster campaign launched on Monday, titled “Obama17”, calls on French people to make the "radical choice" of signing a petition asking that the former US President to run for the position of 25th head of state in the 2017 leadership race.
More than 30,000 people have so far signed the petition, and photos of posters mounted around Paris have been widely shared on social media.
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The creators of the campaign, four Parisians in their thirties who have decided to remain anonymous, said the idea arose from growing discontentment with the choice of candidates, and a desire to "make people smile" amid "repeated scandals" coming out of the approaching election.
One of them, who simply called himself "Barack", told The Independent: "It arose from a conversation with friends. We decided that we didn't want to vote for any of the candidates in this election, and that it has been the same for the last few elections. We are fed up of voting against people rather than for someone we actually support every time.
"So we thought it would be ingenious to give the power to Obama, since he's now available."
Asked whether they were serious in their endeavour, Barack said: "It is ultimately a joke. We want people to wake up in the morning and, rather than have to see our usual candidates, rejoice in seeing Obama's face on the 500 posters we put up on the streets of Paris, and get away from the repeated scandals we are hearing about.
"The reaction from people has been brilliant. It's what they want. The funniest thing is when people first thing it's totally crazy, but then ask themselves: 'Actually, why not?'"
Barack said the group behind "Barack2017" did not express politcial views, but that it was "certain" that they wouldn't be voting for Marine Le Pen.
The approaching French election, for which the first round of voting begins in April, has caused concern among many French people due to a number of scandals that have emerged about candidates and the prominence in the polls of far-right candidate Marine Le Pen.
The "Obama2017" website's homepage cites the "inevitable failure of the next presidential election" and call on voters to sign the petition to "get France out of its lethargy".
“The French are ready to make radical choices. That is good because we have a radical idea to propose to them," it states.
“After a phantom five-year-term and faced with the announced failure of the next presidential election, we think it is time to move to the sixth Republic to get France out of its lethargy.
“To launch this sixth Republic, we wish to strike a blow by electing a foreign president as the head of our beautiful country.
“Barack Obama completed his second term as President of the United States on January 21, now why not hire him as President for France?”
The site proceeds to list several reasons why people should sign the petition, including a claim that Mr Obama “has the best CV for the job”, and a rallying cry that voters must "teach the world a lesson in democracy [...] at a time when France is about to vote for the extreme right.”
We’ll tell you what’s true. You can form your own view.
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Subscribe nowVoters are in a bad mood. Again. We are routinely (and justifiably) frustrated with our politicians, but “throwing the bums out” doesn’t seem to change much. And we are all bracing for another anger-pageant that will stomp through American life for the next 13 months until election day.
A forgotten moment in our history suggests that the way out of a bad political mood is not more rage, but a new political perspective. Around 1900, after years of anger at “vulgar” politicians, a young journalist pushed voters to resist the impulse “to go out with the crowd and ‘smash something.’”
It was too easy, the muckraker Lincoln Steffens began to argue, to believe that bad politicians were just immoral people. Instead he asked his massive readership to look at the structure rather than the individual, to think about the warped systems that enabled political corruption, and to consider the ways angry voters inadvertently encouraged behavior they condemned.
Steffens was the perfect man for the job. The young writer had bounced from California to Europe to Manhattan, driven by wanderlust, contrarianism and a preference for the sleazy over the respectable. He honed his scorching prose, and learned about New York’s “low-life,” as a crime reporter in rough-and-tumble Manhattan in the 1890s. There was something feisty about Steffens. Over his long career, he was often wrong, sometimes a sucker, but rarely a coward. One politico called him “a born crook that’s gone straight.”
Like many Americans, Steffens grew up cursing his leaders. Between 1865 and 1900, frustrated citizens pointed to the never-ending string of political scandals and stolen elections, as leaders failed to address the massive traumas of the Gilded Age. Citizens often looked down on the parties, like the wealthy young man who wrote that all politicians were a “shifty-eyed lot, dribbling tobacco juice, badly dressed, never prosperous and self-respecting…a degraded caste.”
Attacking leaders was an easy route to becoming one. Self-impressed tycoons, high-toned editors and rising politicians “greedy for power” all insisted that they knew how to clean up politics. Replace bad, immoral men with “the best men”—wealthy, God-fearing, respectable—and the democracy would fix itself. And by “the best men,” they meant themselves.
Again and again, angry voters tried this approach, throwing the bums out in election after election. In major cities, “reformers” applied the same formula, winning the mayor’s office periodically, but falling out of power just as quickly. And control of Congress changed hands with dizzying speed in the 1880s and 1890s, yet politics only grew more corrupt.
But as a crime reporter who befriended crooked cops and scheming politicos, Steffens stumbled onto a new approach to journalism. Instead of moralizing, he listened. People would talk, he found, if you let them. Steffens hung around police stations and pool halls, absorbing everything he could. He even tolerated the ceaseless lectures of a young police commissioner named Teddy Roosevelt (though Steffens devised ways to shut his new friend up). And he refused to sit, isolated, in New York, setting out across the country to study dirty tricks from Boston to San Francisco.
Steffens introduced American readers to corrupt bosses who make today’s most obnoxious candidates look timid. He befriended characters with nicknames like “Hinky Dink” and “Bathhouse John.” Taciturn party thugs opened up to Steffens, analyzing their best tricks like fans of the same sport. By humanizing election-buyers, union-busters, accused murderers, and confirmed murderers, he helped explain why America’s leadership problem persisted.
Steffens came away with two major insights. Bad politicians were not necessarily bad people, and society, as a whole, encouraged their sins.
He learned the most from Israel Durham, boss of the Philadelphia political machine, an organization so rotten that Ben Franklin and George Washington’s names often showed up on voting rolls. (People in Philly joked: “The founders voted here once, and they vote here yet.”)
But Steffens liked Iz’ Durham. He concluded that Durham was not a bad man, but merely a successful man, trapped at the head of a system beyond his control. Durham was certainly guilty of tremendous crimes, but society kept rewarding him for them. Among other things, Durham explained that regular campaign donations, coming from upstanding citizens, did more to buy influence than any illegal kickback. Such contributions, the boss shouted, were “worse than bribes!”
Conversations with Durham and other bosses led Steffens to conclude that the angry public was focused on the wrong problem. Political dirty tricks were not “exceptional, local, and criminal…not an accidental consequence of the wickedness of bad men, but the impersonal effect of natural causes.” Americans—obsessed with individualism—liked to rage against immoral men, but really it was big, impersonal structures—like the steady drip of campaign contributions—that did more to buy power and harm the democracy.
Steffens began to write, furiously, publishing his “dawning theory” in his famous “Shame of the Cities” series in McClure’s Magazine between 1901 and 1904. Politicians were not a special caste of wicked men; they were no more immoral than bribing businessmen or lazy cops or short-sighted voters. Often, angry middle-class citizens, looking for someone to blame, perpetuated the pointless cycle of reform and relapse, throwing out individuals but failing to make real change.
Their outrage at the “bad men” in government was really just a “thought-saver of the educated who think that they think,” Steffens declared, a way to avoid considering the deeper problems with their political system.
Steffens was the most articulate voice of the new burst of reform remaking American democracy after 1900. American voters began to see that the country’s political problems were, really, social problems. Instead of hollering about immoral bosses, reformers simply went around them, introducing primary elections, ballot initiatives, recall votes, and eventually the direct election of senators. Progressive activists focused on improving political structures, not what they labeled electoral “lynchings” of the bad guys.
Some clever bosses jumped on the bandwagon. Tammany Hall cleverly recast itself as a reform organization. But this was fine; it meant that voters were rewarding reform over corruption. By 1910, journalist William Allen White imagined the sleaziest bosses of the 19th century observing the new, cleaner elections, “cackling in derision until they were black in the face” at neutered politicians forced to play by the fairer rules.
These changes marked the greatest moment of political reform, not sparked by a major crisis like a war or depression, in American history.
In our own era of intense skepticism towards the media, it’s important to remember how much we owe muckrakers like Steffens. And in our time of anger at politicians, it’s important to consider where bad leaders come from. Those today who call politicians “losers” are no better than phony Gilded Age moralists, who condemned the “bad men” in Washington while trying to join them. Their rhetoric turns every campaign into a contest that rewards anger, providing a smokescreen behind which elites masquerade as outsiders.
And it confuses the issue: politicians are, as a group, no better or worse than the rest of us. If they stink, something’s rotten with the system that feeds them.
Yet anger at our leaders is the political cliché of our day. As long as we see politics as a war between good and bad individuals, ignoring the structures that reward or punish them, this will continue. America’s stalled democracy is not our leaders’ fault alone, but ours as well, for treating all political problems as personnel problems.Ed Smith, 16, Daisy Abraham, 16, and Rose MacKenzie, 15, pictured in the new gender-neutral toilets.
For a transgender teenager, something as simple as going to the loo at school can be a huge stress.
So two Wellington schools are leading a dunny revolution: fitting gender-neutral bathrooms for students who feel uncomfortable using'male' or 'female' bathrooms.
Wellington High School has transformed its level 4 boys' bathroom into, well, just a bathroom.
And Onslow College is soon to follow suit, spending tens of thousands converting an old block of girls' toilets into gender-neutral facilities.
READ MORE:
* Farmers stores plan gender neutral changing rooms
* Gender neutral toilets a sign of the times says Professor
* Opinion: New Zealand needs gender-neutral loos and changing rooms
* American school adopts gender-neutral bathrooms
The schools join a global trend of schools and cities moving towards bathrooms that are not set up specifically for men or women.
"Some people don't identify with male or female fully, so it's hard for those people not feeling they can go into one of those bathrooms," said Wellington High School student Rose MacKenzie.
The 15-year-old said she had sometimes avoided using bathrooms in public, not knowing which to choose
"If I go into one I know I'll be told this is the female bathroom, but if I go into the other I might receive threats because of, you know, what I look like," she said.
MacKenzie is a member of Wellington High's UltraViolet club, representing LGBTQI+ students, which - led by student Ed Smith, 16 - raised the issue with the school board.
Deputy principal Andrew Savage said UltraViolet put together a comprehensive proposal on how the urinals could be converted, with sanitary bins put in each cubicle, and the sign outside changed to simply read 'bathroom'.
"The board of trustees listened to what the need was and within a short amount of time it was all done and dusted. It's kind of a boring story, in a good way," he laughed.
"The sky didn't fall in, there was no Erin Brockovich moment, it was very straight-forward."
Onslow College is also about to convert one block of girls' toilets into gender-neutral stalls, after its LGBTQI+ group Club Sandwich took the idea to staff.
"It's all about respecting diversity and meeting the needs of diversity, and I think it is the way to go," principal Peter Leggat said.
RainbowYOUTH national communication manager Toni Duder said Onslow and Wellington High were the first schools she had heard of taking the lead on gender-neutral bathrooms.
"It's phenomenal, and it's inspiring to see students doing it," she said.
Opposition against unisex bathrooms was often raised by people who thought women could be put in unsafe situations with men in shared loos, she said.
"But shouldn't we be addressing why women don't feel safe around men, not why they should have different bathrooms?"
Others argued that once the transgender community got the bathrooms, they might want more.
"But if you couldn't pee without feeling like you were going to get beaten up or teased, wouldn't you want that, too?" she said.
While Secondary Principals' Association of NZ president Sandy Pasley hadn't heard of any other schools fitting full gender-neutral bathroom stalls, she said many were installing individual unisex toilets.
She said some schools were being more flexible with their uniforms to be more inclusive, too.
WHAT IS LGBTIQ+?
LGBTQI stands for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer or Questioning, and Intersex.
The + stands for other marginalised genders and identities not covered by the LGBTQI acronym.Diaspora is a hard science fiction novel by the Australian writer Greg Egan which first appeared in print in 1997. It originated as the short story "Wang's Carpets" which originally appeared in the Greg Bear-edited anthology New Legends (Legend, London, 1995). The story appears as a chapter of the novel.
Setting and premise [ edit ]
An appended glossary explains many of the specialist terms in the novel. Egan invents several new theories of physics, beginning with Kozuch Theory, the dominant physics paradigm for nearly nine hundred years before the beginning of the novel. Kozuch Theory treats elementary particles as semi-point-like wormholes, whose properties can be explained entirely in terms of their geometries in six dimensions. Certain assumptions common to Egan's works inform the plot.
This novel's setting is a posthuman future, in which transhumanism long ago (during the mid 21st century) became the default philosophy embraced by the vast majority of human cultures.
Most of the characters choose a neutral gender; Keri Hulme's gender-neutral pronouns "ve", "vis", and "ver" are used for them.
By 2975 CE (Universal Time), the year in which the novel begins, humanity has "speciated" into three distinct groupings:
fleshers, biological societies consisting of statics, the original, naturally-evolving race of Homo sapiens, and a wide variety of exuberant derivatives, who have modified their genes beyond the static baseline. These include enhancements such as disease-resistance, life-extension, intelligence-amplification, and the ability to allow selected transhumans to thrive in new environments, such as the sea. There even exists a subculture (the dream apes) whose ancestors bred out the capacity for speech and some of the higher brain-functions, apparently in order to attain a primal innocence and rapport with nature. In contrast to 21st-century society prior to the novel's "Introdus" event, the vast profusion of qualitatively different types of fleshers has made any sort of global civilisation impossible. This divergence has prompted the development of a culture of "Bridgers" who modify their own minds to form a chain of intermediates between exuberant strains.
, biological societies consisting of, the original, naturally-evolving race of, and a wide variety of derivatives, who have modified their genes beyond the static baseline. These include enhancements such as disease-resistance, life-extension, intelligence-amplification, and the ability to allow selected transhumans to thrive in new environments, such as the sea. There even exists a subculture (the dream apes) whose ancestors bred out the capacity for speech and some of the higher brain-functions, apparently in order to attain a primal innocence and rapport with nature. In contrast to 21st-century society prior to the novel's "Introdus" event, the vast profusion of qualitatively different types of fleshers has made any sort of global civilisation impossible. This divergence has prompted the development of a culture of "Bridgers" who modify their own minds to form a chain of intermediates between exuberant strains. gleisner robots, individual software-based intelligences housed inside artificial anthropoid, or flesher-shaped, physical bodies (from a design by a corporation named Gleisner [1] ) who interact with the world in flesher-paced "real time," a trait which they regard as important, as they consider the polis citizens too remote and solipsistic. The gleisners live in space, mostly in the asteroid belt, and in various other places in the Solar System; Egan implies that they long ago agreed to leave Earth to the fleshers to avoid conflict. They eventually implement a program of interstellar exploration using a fleet of 63 ships, targeting the nearest 21 stars.
, individual software-based intelligences housed inside artificial anthropoid, or flesher-shaped, physical bodies (from a design by a corporation named Gleisner ) who interact with the world in flesher-paced "real time," a trait which they regard as important, as they consider the polis citizens too remote and solipsistic. The gleisners live in space, mostly in the asteroid belt, and in various other places in the Solar System; Egan implies that they long ago agreed to leave Earth to the fleshers to avoid conflict. They eventually implement a program of interstellar exploration using a fleet of 63 ships, targeting the nearest 21 stars. the citizens,[2] intelligence as disembodied computer software running entirely within simulated reality-based communities known as polises.[3] These represent the majority by far of "humanity" in the novel, followed in a distant second place by the gleisners. Together with vast networks of sensors, probes, drones and satellites throughout the Solar system, they collectively make up the Coalition of Polises, the backbone and bulk of human civilisation. They interact primarily in virtual environments called scapes, through the use of avatars or icons. The citizens of the Coalition view the gleisners and their colonial aspirations as puerile and ultimately futile, believing that only |
interesting discussions.
The event takes place September 1st to September 3rd and, like last year, it will be held in the beautiful Jugendherberge Wannsee which contains a large room for central events, several seminar rooms, and lots of comfortable spaces inside and out to socialize or relax.
Some valuable information
Most of the talks and discussions will be held in English, so you do not need to be able to speak German to attend.
The ticket price of €150 includes accommodation for two nights, on-site meals and snacks, and a welcome lunch on Friday at 12:00.
The event wraps up Sunday afternoon around 15:00. In the days after the weekend, participants are invited to stay in Berlin a little longer to explore the city, go bouldering, play frisbee, etc. While this is not part of the official event, we will coordinate couch-surfing opportunities to avoid the need for hotels.
To sign up, fill out this form.
tl;dr
When? 1–3 September 2017
Where? JW Wannsee in Berlin
How much? €150
Where do I sign up? Here
If you have any questions, please email us at lwcw.europe@gmail.com.
Looking forward to seeing you there,Members of an indigenous people living on both sides of the Brazil-Peru border in the remote Amazon say they are prepared to fight with spears, bows and arrows if companies enter their territories to explore for oil.
The Matsés have publicly opposed operations by Canada-based firm Pacific Rubiales Energy for at least five years, but they say that neither the company nor Perupetro, the government body which granted the licences to two oil concessions in Peru, are taking any notice.
"It seems that the [Peruvian] state is a child", says Dora Canë from the most remote Matsés village on the Peruvian side of the border, Puerto Alegre. "It doesn't listen. We say no, but it just carries on. It wants to extinguish us."
"We have told the company no, but it isn't listening", says Nestor Binan Waki, another Puerto Alegre resident. "Our patience is running out. We have nothing more to say. The only thing we have is our spears."
"They should respect indigenous peoples' rights, but in my view they're not doing so", says Lorenzo Tumi, also from Puerto Alegre. "We've been saying no for many years. The only weapon we have is to kill one of them. We could kill one of the company."
Support promised from over the border in Brazil
The Matsés based in Brazil are equally concerned about the concessions - partly because they consider the Peruvian side of the border their territory too and partly because of the potential impacts on the Brazilian side where they live in the protected Javari Valley Indigenous Territory.
"We don't want the oil company", says Waki Mayoruna, the head of the remotest Matsés village, Lobo, in Brazil. "If they don't listen to us, if they don't understand our no means no, there'll be conflict that'll lead to people being killed. That will always be my position."
"We'll always fight against the invasion of our territories", says José Tumi, from Sao Meireles in Brazil. "If they don't listen, we could fight like we have done in the past, with bows and arrows. We could attack anyone who invades our territory. We're not afraid of dying."
"The government is not listening, not respecting, our decision", says Juan Bai, another Sao Meireles resident. "One day our patience could run out. We have our limits. If they invade the only thing to do will be this [to fight]."
A violent past
Many Matsés stress that previous generations were forced to fight against rubber-tappers, loggers, road-builders and soldiers invading their territories, and that they could do the same again now.
"Before contact [in the late 1960s] there was always conflict in this region", says Romulo Teca from Puerto Alegre in Peru. "It could come to that again. We are the sons of those fighters. We can defend ourselves with arms like they did. I'll always fight to ensure no oil companies enter."
"Our fathers had to defend our territories and fought with other tribes, mestizos and soldiers", Felipe Reyna Regijo, from Remoyacu village in Peru, told a bi-national meeting held by the Matsés last month. "Why don't we continue that position, given that we are the sons of fighting fathers?"
The bi-national meeting concluded with the "total rejection" by the Matsés of both oil concessions, and the signing of a statement saying the decision was "unanimous" and stressing the social and environmental impacts of oil operations elsewhere in Peru.
Raimundo Mean Mayoruna, from Soles village in Brazil and president of the General Mayoruna Organization (OGM), says that the Matsés don't want conflict, but it is possible if their rights are not respected.
"We don't want this, but if there is a lot of anger it could happen", he says. "My message to the companies is that they respect our decision and understand we've lived here for a long time and want to live in peace. We didn't come from any other place. We're from here."
Empty threats? Or are the Matsés for real?
Many of the most aggressive statements were made by Matsés men wielding and thrusting long spears or carrying bows and arrows - leading one man, Rafael Shaba Maya, a teacher in Puerto Alegre, to remark, "It's true they will fight. When they say something, they do it."
That opinion is shared by the former president of the Matsés community in Peru, Ángel Uaqui Dunu Maya, who stresses the potential environmental impacts and the Matsés's past experience of oil operations in the 1970s when "many people died of illnesses" as a result.
"Yes, in my opinion, it's certain that [this] is going to create a lot of conflict between the Matsés and the state", he says. "Why? Because the Matsés don't want hydrocarbon activities in their territories but the state wants to explore."
Brazilian anthropologist Beatriz de Almeida Matos, who has worked with the Matsés for 10 years, says that "without a doubt" they will do "whatever it takes to defend their territory" from anything threatening their way of life and existence.
"It wasn't so long ago, in the 1970s and 1980s, there were conflicts between Matsés and non-indigenous people in their territories, with deaths on both sides", she says. "If they're not consulted and their decisions not respected, they'll understand dialogue is over and defend themselves by taking up arms again, rather than using the law."
The Matsés say they were not consulted by Peru's government before the two concessions were established in 2007 - as is their right under a legally-binding agreement ratified by Peru in 1994 - but Pacific Rubiales claims this right has only applied since 2012.
Billion barrel oil concessions overlap indigenous territories, protected areas
According to Peruvian NGO CEDIA, one of the concessions, Lot 137, includes 49% of the Matsés's titled community land in Peru and 36% of a supposedly 'protected natural area' called the Matsés National Reserve, which they consider their territory too.
The other concession, Lot 135, also includes community land, the reserve, and other areas considered Matsés territory, as well as a huge chunk of a proposed reserve for indigenous people living in what Peruvian law and indigenous organizations call 'isolation' or 'voluntary isolation'.
The eastern boundary of Lot 135 and part of Lot 137 is the River Yaquerana - which acts as the Brazil-Peru border and many Matsés from both countries rely on for drinking water, cooking, washing, bathing and fishing.
Together the two concessions cover almost 1.5 million hectares and have been estimated to hold almost one billion barrels of oil. Some exploration has already been done by Pacific Rubiales in Lot 135, starting in late 2012, which involved conducting seismic tests and drilling wells.
Pacific Rubiales says it "fully respects" the Matsés's position and is therefore not currently "performing any exploration activities" in Lot 135 and Lot 137, but declined to respond to a question from The Ecologist why it still holds the licences to both concessions.
According to Brazilian NGO Instituto Socioambiental, there are almost 3,500 Matsés - 1,700 of whom live on the Peruvian side and almost 1,600 on the Brazilian side, although movement across the borders is common.
David Hill is a freelance journalist and environment writer based in Latin America, writing for the Guardian, The Ecologist and other publications. For more details see his website: www.hilldavid.com or follow him on Twitter: @DavidHillTweetsMANILA, Philippines – “Lolong,” a giant saltwater crocodile captured in Bunawan, Agusan del Sur in 2011, was officially certified by the Guinness Book of World Records as the “world’s biggest crocodile in captivity.”
The certification, which was read in public during the celebration of Araw ng Bunawan, said the crocodile measures 6.17 meters or 20.24 feet.
Bunawan Mayor Edwin Elorde said more visitors are expected to flock to the province to visit Lolong.
He added that the giant crocodile has become Bunawan’s main tourist attraction and is a big boost to the town’s economy.
Last summer, around 800 daily guests visited the eco park to see Lolong.
Authorities said the local government has earned P2.5 million since public viewing was allowed in September 2011.
Visitors were charged entrance fees of P20 for adults and P15 for children. Senior citizens and persons with disabilities were let in for free.
They also said Lolong has adjusted to its new closure and is under the care of 16 crocodile experts.
The crocodile was named after after Palawan crocodile hunter Ernesto “Lolong” Coñate. -- Report from Richmond Hinayon, ABS-CBN News CaragaA startup backed by Andy Rubin’s Playground incubator and venture capital firm has rolled out a new hardware product, one that addresses the pain points of an unexciting but crucial area of business technology: video conferencing systems.
Owl Labs’ new camera, called Owl, is a thermos-shaped, robotic video camera that captures a 360-degree view of a meeting space and automatically shifts its point of focus to show whoever is talking in the meeting. This robotic shifting is supposed to replace the remote controls or awkward manual turning of cameras that happens sometimes during video conference meetings.
The Owl is a 2.6-pound, fabric-covered Wi-Fi device with two round LED indicator lights and a custom-designed fish-eye lens at its crown. All of the imagery is captured in 720p HD from the fish-eye lens. It has an eight-microphone array at the top, built-in speakers, and connects to a computer or monitor via USB. It runs on a forked version of Android, and is powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 410 processor.
The Owl automatically shifts its point of focus as a group of people talk within a meeting or boardroom
The hardware is admittedly cute, but you don’t really get a sense of how it works until you see the output of the camera, as I saw earlier this week during a remote demo. Using the video conferencing app Zoom, four members of the Owl Labs team sat around a conference room table in Boston. As they chatted with me, I was able to see a panoramic view of the four of them around the room, and as they took turns speaking the camera would appear to shift its focus to the next person speaking. If two people were going back and forth in conversation and were sitting across from each other, not directly next to each other, the Owl would automatically create a split view, showing both as they spoke.
Currently, a lot of video conferencing platforms, including Zoom and Google Hangouts, automatically adjust to put whoever is speaking front and center in the field of view. Owl Labs says the difference between its system and others is that others are prioritizing people from different cameras or remote locations, whereas Owl offers that function for multiple people within the same room.
The Owl camera starts selling today for $799, putting it at a midrange price point when compared with video conferencing cameras from manufacturers like Logitech, Vaddio, and HuddleCamHD. Owl Labs’ vice president of growth, Karen Rubin, says its target market is businesses with fewer than 1,000 employees or smaller tech companies that are keen to adopt the latest technology in their offices.
It’s clearly a hardware-centric solution to what Owl Labs sees as a persistent problem within conference rooms and workspaces. It was partly inspired by the experience of Owl Labs co-founder Mark Schnittman, who worked remotely at his last company, Romotive. Schnittman says 75 percent of his working life was “not only working remotely but working remotely with hardware,” he said. “When I saw my colleagues rotate the [video conferencing] camera as opposed to robotics doing it, I knew I could make it happen robotically.”
“I’ve heard stories of people bringing a Lazy Susan to work to get their cameras to rotate,” said Max Makeev, another co-founder who serves as chief executive officer of Owl Labs. “And, there are lots of remote-controlled cameras for meeting rooms, but we found that people have the desire to steer the camera but not the will do it.”
Owl Labs is based in Boston, where Makeev and Schnittman joined forces after leaving iRobot and Romotive, respectively. But the team spent a year and a half in Silicon Valley after being backed by Playground Global, the Andy Rubin-founded company in Palo Alto, California.
Playground is both a venture capital firm and an accelerator for startups. It invests in fledgling companies, but also helps them prototype products and leverages relationships with suppliers like Foxconn and Seagate to get the products made. It’s the same company that is making the Essential Phone, which was revealed at Recode’s Code Conference. (The Verge had an exclusive hands-on with it last month.)
“The world has since evolved so that every device around you is capable of enabling you as a remote worker — except for these business meetings.”
Initially, Makeev and Schnittman didn’t want to move to Silicon Valley, and almost passed on the investment opportunity. Eventually they agreed to incubate the company within Playground, and have since raised $6 million in a funding round led by Matrix Partners, in addition to the $1.3 million in seed funding from Rubin and his team.
“It’s essentially a robotic cameraman who’s going to cut together the meeting of who’s talking,” said Bruce Leak, a tech veteran who co-founded Playground Global with Rubin. “It’s using advanced technology and machine learning to get that done. If you have a cameraman just focusing on the important stuff, and cutting out the person that was crinkling their potato chip wrapper... [it’s] a much better experience for remote attendees.”
Both Leak and Rubin say they see a market opportunity in Owl because of the growing number of remote workers in the US. According to a Gallup poll released in February of this year, 43 percent of American workers said they spent some of their time working remotely in 2016, up 4 percent from 2012. And in some cases, having adequate remote capabilities is also critical to luring talent who may not want to move to an expensive city for a new job.
“People used to talk about remote workers and telepresence, and it used to be a thing, back when IBM made its big decision that 20 percent of its workers would be remote,” Rubin said. “The world has since evolved so that every device around you is capable of enabling you as a remote worker — except for these business meetings. So as the world continues to distribute, this is going to become more and more important.”
Rubin estimates that the potential market for this kind of camera is in the “hundreds of millions of dollars,” for a single product line aimed at enterprise customers.
Right now the Owl is being positioned as a software-agnostic piece of hardware, something that will work with Skype or Hangouts or Zoom or Slack video, or any other platform that currently exists. But Owl Labs seems to have its own software ambitions as well. The Owl already works with a mobile app that enables remote control of the camera. The company also plans to develop smart meeting analytics software, and, eventually, use the Owl camera as a sensor that can let employees know if meeting rooms are available, based on activity levels of the Owl.
“We’ll push software updates to deliver that value,” Schnittman said, but plans to wait to see what the demand is first. “Maybe people really want an Alexa in their meeting room. Maybe we’ll tap into APIs. But we really want that user feedback.”It’s probably a good thing that Google got rid of its longtime slogan, “Don’t be evil,” because the company’s been working around the clock on that front for years. Case in point: earlier this week, following NASA’s successful mission to send the Juno spacecraft to Jupiter, Google released a “celebratory” sketch that whitewashed (blackwashed) the ethnicity of the Juno mission team members:
Had Google depicted a group of non-whites as white, the left would have gone apoplectic with fury. In fact, right now there’s a controversy brewing over the upcoming live-action adaptation of Ghost in the Shell, in which white actress Scarlett Johansson was cast as a Japanese character. However, falsely depicting a team of white men as a multiethnic, multigender team is apparently acceptable.
This is yet another example of how Google is using its power as the world’s largest search engine to force a leftist agenda on all of us. Google has steadily worked to erode the privacy of Internet users while simultaneously trying to manipulate reality in order to boost support for the Democratic Party and leftist political causes. Anyone who uses Google’s services in any way should be aware of their actions.
Examples Of Google’s Evil
While Google has been a supporter of the left for years—both of Google’s founders, Sergey Brin and Larry Page, are Democrats, as are much of the site’s employees—the site’s political advocacy has become ridiculously overt in the past year. For example, YouTube channel SourceFed discovered last month that Google had been manipulating its search results to favor Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton. Google’s autocomplete would bury suggestions for searches on Hillary’s various corruption scandals while working normally for her rivals Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders:
https://youtu.be/PFxFRqNmXKg
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Additionally, Google and YouTube have been trying to no-platform Return of Kings contributor Davis Aurini for several months now. Back in March, YouTube shut down Aurini’s channel for supposed “violations” of their Terms of Service, then reinstated him after a public backlash. He recently became the victim of a false copyright strike for his review of the film Tombstone, and has been banned from uploading videos longer than 15 minutes as a result.
Google has also been a pioneer in violating the privacy of its users. For example, if you’re a user of Chrome, Google is surreptitiously turning on your microphone and using it to record your voice. Virtually every Google product, from Gmail to Android phones to Google Maps, secretly hoovers up all the data entered into it and spreads it to Google without your knowledge or consent.
More insidiously, Google has been steadily working to destroy online anonymity: former CEO Eric Schmidt has stated multiple times that anonymity on the Internet is “dangerous” and will soon be a thing of the past. Anonymity is the tool by which many dissident writers and bloggers can express their views without worrying about losing their jobs or being publicly pilloried by leftists. Anonymity is also an important tool for writers fighting authoritarian governments; Google’s erosion of online privacy will aid tyrants and effectively make it impossible to advocate for conservative, neomasculine values.
The Online Hydra
Google’s sheer dominance of the Internet—from email to video sharing to data analytics—makes breaking free of its clutches relatively difficult. I myself make use of Google’s services extensively because they’re convenient, easy-to-use and free. The problem is that Google’s products come with a hefty price tag: empowering a corporation whose values are antithetical to your own.
I’ve extricated myself from the Google hydra in some ways; for example, I’ve switched to using Pale Moon as my browser because it’s faster, hogs less resources and doesn’t spy on me. However, we need to search for ways to get the Google monkey off our backs. We cannot continue enriching a corporation who uses its heft to advocate for everything we oppose.
If you like this article and are concerned about the future of the Western world, check out Roosh's book Free Speech Isn't Free. It gives an inside look to how the globalist establishment is attempting to marginalize masculine men with a leftist agenda that promotes censorship, feminism, and sterility. It also shares key knowledge and tools that you can use to defend yourself against social justice attacks. Click here to learn more about the book. Your support will help maintain our operation.
Read More: How History Shows Us The Evil Of Western MasochismTWO weeks ago, Andrew Fifita could not hold his mobile phone in his left hand. Couldn’t grip a glass or use a knife and fork.
On Sunday, the Test and Cronulla prop will make a shock return to tackle Newcastle at Remondis Stadium in a desperate bid to continue the Sharks’ mid-season revival.
Revealing he should be sidelined for a further fortnight after tearing ligaments in his left hand during a training mishap four weeks ago, Fifita is confident of avoiding any further damage.
A MODEST SHEPHERD GUIDES FLOCK
He claimed his comeback carries a personal goal of spearheading the Sharks towards an unlikely finals berth.
“I feel comfortable, I’ve seen the specialist and he was fine,’’ Fifita said. “The scans suggest I should be out for a bit longer, but it’s not going to feel any better in three or four weeks, so I’m good to go.
Andrew Fifita to make a shock return against the Knights. Source: News Limited
“I did some scrimmage (tackling) with the boys on Thursday and I pulled up fine.
“If I can do push-ups with my 120kg, I’m pretty sure I can fend off a lot of the players that are lighter than me.’’
By his own account, Fifita has had a horrendous year.
His season began with a two-week suspension from a shoulder charge in round one, before he suffered a syndesmosis ankle injury in round nine against Parramatta.
The injury placed a serious dent in his bid to play for NSW. Then just as he was approaching a return to the paddock, Fifita injured his left hand in a wrestling drill.
Andrew Fifita thanks the heaves for his miraculous recovery. Source: News Limited
“I’ve never sat out this long, its been really frustrating,’’ Fifita said. “It was really upsetting that I couldn’t be there (Origin), especially because I was there last year.
“I usually play through injuries, but this was the first time I couldn’t.
“But these things happen — and it happens for a reason. It gave me another mini pre-season to get fit.
“The injury made me a lot stronger and tougher, mentally and physically.’’
Fifita has also had a front-row seat to the Sharks’ season from hell, watching the capitulation of a club riddled by injuries, the ASADA investigation, the resignation of stand-in coach Peter Sharp and sacking of star playmaker Todd Carney.
Andrew Fifita hasn’t had too many chances to put on his big fend this year. Pic Brett Costello Source: News Corp Australia
Desperate to knock off the Knights today as both clubs battle to avoid the wooden spoon, the Sharks have displayed character in come-from-behind wins over Brisbane and the Roosters.
And, according to Fifita, they are far from finished yet.
“I’ve never missed out on a semi-finals and I feel that if we win every game from here, we’ll have 30 points on that ladder and that’s 100 per cent, you’re in the eight,’’ Fifita said.
“That’s my goal, that’s the team’s goal and I haven’t given up no matter what.’’
The 25-year-old said the end of season Four Nations tournament remained a personal goal.
“I’m going to try and keep my spot in the tour side, but my main goal is to get my team back into form,’’ he said.American spy technologies gather intelligence in vast quantities, yet US foreign policy is rife with unqualified pseudo-experts. To know or not to know? This is the great conundrum of empire.
"I am sitting you next to Secretary Clinton at dinner. Say exactly what you think. If you don't, I never - ever - want to hear you criticise the policy again." So said Richard Holbrooke, the US Special Representative to the Af-Pak region, barely a week after assuming his new position under the Obama administration. He was talking to Rory Stewart, and Stewart told the anecdote on the Huffington Post after Holbrooke's sudden death in 2010.
Holbrooke, Stewart remembered, praised his acumen regarding Afghanistan, and listened to him, even though Stewart disapproved of the emerging policy of General Petraeus. To Holbrooke, Stewart was the expert who dared disagree, but whose disagreement still needed to be heard in the halls of power.
Stewart is widely considered an expert on Afghanistan. Currently a Member of Parliament in Britain, he sits on the influential Foreign Affairs Select Committee. Previously, he was the Ryan Family Professor of the Practice of Human Rights at the Harvard Kennedy School. Before that, in 2003-04, he worked in southern Iraq with the American administration. And prior to that, in 2002, he walked 6,000 miles - partly across Afghanistan. This last bit, his walk in Afghanistan, became the fulcrum of his 2004 book, The Places in Between, which was a bestseller in the UK and the USA. The website for his book declared that he survived his walk because of "his knowledge of Persian dialects and Muslim customs" and a grounded knowledge of the entire region.
Now, as an elected politician, Stewart has moved out of that nebulous region of policy experts into policy-makers, but his credentials in the field continue to dominate his public persona. A sure sign of his biographical and political heft was Ian Parker's recent profile in The New Yorker which frankly assessed his chances of becoming prime minister.
Parker notes that Stewart "speaks some Dari and no Pashto" and had only limited exposure to the country, having lived, on and off, in Kabul. Yet the very fact of his "walking" had transformed a recent college graduate with fantasies of becoming the next TE Lawrence (who tried to engineer the birth of a new Arabia during the First World War) or Wilfred Thesiger (who walked over the Empty Quarter of Arabia and became known for his sparse travelogues of the Middle East) into the "real thing". Unlike his heroes, however, Stewart's main competence was not in navigating the desert but knowing DC. He isn't the only person who has managed to merge a personal narrative implying site-specific knowledge, avowedly ethnographic in nature, with a deep engagement with the political and analytical clusters of the American and British military.
In July 2010, The New York Times reported on the popularity of Greg Mortenson's 2006 memoir Three Cups of Tea: One Man's Mission to Promote Peace … One Man's Mission to Fight Terrorism and Build Nations … One School at a Time among the US Military high-command. The report described General McChrystal and Admiral McMullen using the text as a guide to their civilian strategy in Pakistan. Mortenson's book quickly became required reading in military academies (the report hinted at the role played by the wives of senior military brass in promoting the title) and Mortenson has since spoken to the US Congress and testified in front of committees. Mortenson himself, though a selfless worker for the most disenfranchised of Pakistan's northwestern citizens, possesses no deep knowledge of the region's past or present and is avowedly "non-political" in his local role. Still, his personal story, his experiences and the work of his charity are now widely considered to be a blueprint for US strategy in the Af-Pak region.
Both Stewart and Mortenson illustrate one particular configuration of the relationship between knowledge and the American empire - the "non-expert" insider who can traverse that unknown terrain and, hence, become an "expert".
Even a cursory examination of the archive dealing with the American efforts in Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan demonstrates that there has been no related growth in specific scholarly knowledge about those sites of conflict. The knowledge of Arabic, Urdu or Pashto remains at extremely low levels in official corridors. There is, one can surmise simply from reading the back and forth sway of military and political policy in Afghanistan, very little advancement in understanding of either the text or context of that nation.
In America's imperial theatre, Stewart and Mortenson exemplify a singular notion of "expert". We can build, based on the profiles of other specimens - Robert D Kaplan, Fareed Zakaria, Robert Kagan - a picture of what the ideal type looks like from the official point of view. Such an "expert" is usually one who has not studied the region, and especially not in any academic capacity. As a result, they do not possess any significant knowledge of its languages, histories or cultures. They are often vetted by the market, having produced a bestselling book or secured a job as a journalist with a major newspaper. They are not necessarily tied to the "official" narratives or understandings, and can even be portrayed as being "a critic" of the official policy. In other words, this profile fits one who doesn't know enough.
At the same time there are greater claims, and greater efforts, towards satellite cameras and listening devices; drones which can hover for days; databases which can track all good Taliban and all bad Taliban. Yet who can decipher this data? When one considers the rise of "experts" such as Stewart or Mortenson against the growth of digitised data which remains elusive and overwhelming, one is left with a rather stark observation - that the American war effort prefers its human knowledge circumspect or circumscribed and its technical knowledge crudely totalised.
***
It wasn't always this way. In 1879, when the US Congress created the United States Geological Survey to chart and measure the American West, it simultaneously established the Bureau of American Ethnology. Funded directly by the Congress, this body was chartered to record the languages, habitations, folk-tales and oral histories of Native American tribes. It ought to be noted that these efforts to "know" occurred in direct relationship with the opening up of the American West to Eastern capital, labour and settlement.
The decade following the Second World War saw the creation of Area Studies departments across universities in America. These had an explicit charter to study those countries and regions which had remained "hidden" from American purview, but which were now considered the frontline in the emerging Cold War: China, India, Japan, the Middle East. Whether they were funded by the Department of State or Defense, or via external, "independent" sources such as the Social Sciences Research Council, the Ford Foundation or the Carnegie Mellon Foundation, conferences and publications were established to serve the interests of the American state. These developments saw the rise of the "Kremlinologist" and the "East Asianist", both within and outside the Academy.
If there was ever a situation in which linguistic, cultural and historical expertise were privileged in American foreign policy, then the period between the Vietnam War and the end of the Cold War fundamentally altered it. The academy grew critical of American foreign policy and tried to distance itself. At the same time, the activities of US academics became the subject of official scrutiny. Various scholars were investigated by the House Un-American Activities Committee for secret communist sympathies or for having "gone native". The realignment of expertise under Kissinger and, later, the Clinton Administration, eliminated those career foreign services officers who had lifelong attachments to the regions they covered. The rise of postcolonial and post-structuralist critiques of the relationship between power and knowledge further complicated the terrain.
This widening gulf between the corridors of power and the halls of academia came with the unintended consequence that, barring a few notable exceptions, any knowledgeable critique of American foreign policy gradually vanished. It is this vacuum that is filled by Stewart and Mortenson, who combine accessibility with a whiff of "on-the-ground" expertise. A very similar role is played, in a popular culture hungry for "authentic" voices from the conflicted sites, by the fictions of Khaled Hosseini or Daniyal Mueenuddin.
***
Yet these pundits are only part of the story. The more troubling aspect is the change from human expertise to technical knowledge. The Washington Post noted recently that the US Air Force is rolling out a satellite-based observation technology called "Gorgon Stare". A triumphalist quote described the programme thus: "Gorgon Stare will be looking at a whole city, so there will be no way for the adversary to know what we're looking at, and we can see everything."
This "everything" dominates most tech-based strategies which are regularly puffed in the media. Some mention databases of tribal affiliations and sympathies down to each inhabitant of a given street, neighbourhood, city and district. This database is then placed at the fingertips of US military personnel via their hand-held electronic devices, letting them bring up the dossier on each Afghan they encounter.
This peculiar urge to know and then unknow remains a central conundrum for all empires. A very similar teleology is visible in the history of the British Empire in India. The earlier colonisations were accompanied by a bevy of East India Company employees who assiduously studied languages, learnt the local customs and became - to use the term popularised by writer William Dalrymple - "White Mughals". That is, they "went native". But just as the colonial efforts to map and know India picked up steam - in the 1830s and 1840s - the company administration began to raise concerns that British officers were losing their loyalty to their own country.
Lord Ellenborough, who led the British invasion of Afghanistan, was famously sceptical of British officers such as Richard F Burton or James Outram, who were regarded with suspicion for being too good with languages, travelling in disguise among the natives. Before he became a renowned traveller and Orientalist, Burton served in Karachi and wrote the following regarding the conduct of his fellow officers: "The white man lives a life so distinct from the black, that hundreds of the former serve through what they call their 'terms of exile,' without once being present at a circumcision feast, a wedding, or a funeral".
The "mutiny" of 1857 fully cleaved this ruling elite from the ruled masses - as the British coloniser retreated from civic space, creating segregated communities, thoroughfares, and establishments. Linked to this withdrawal, however, was the most extensive and descriptive effort to count, catalogue and tabulate the vast populations of India. The 1870s and 1880s were, as in the case of the American West, decades of prodigious ethnographic output where geographies of caste, lineage, tribe, language, settlements were carefully and explicitly mapped through survey teams headed by colonial administrators and staffed by legions of local knowledge brokers. By the turn of the century, however, British high imperialism once again changed the character of knowledge gathering and the relationship of colonial power to the Indian landscape. The description gave way to the table.
One particularly pertinent example of this process is the geographical surveys and census of the North West Frontier Provinces. First conducted in 1904, and again, in 1910, they produced reams of maps, alongside came the Gazettes, which gathered lore, history, ethnographies. By 1930, this had progressed to the creation of databases - or Registers, as they were then called - on individual people.
In a register produced in December 1930, to give one quick example, titled - "List of leading Mullas on the border of the North West Frontier Province" - the following categories of information are listed: "Name", "Parentage", "Year of birth", "Caste or sect", "Residence", "Whether influential. If so with which tribes or sections", "Attitude towards Government as far as known", and "Remarks". Remarkably close in conception and execution to the databases maintained by the United States in Afghanistan, this Register shows the progression from the ethnographic narrative to the data table, as the instrumentalisation of political and colonial power began to converge explicitly into a brute-force stratagem.
Whether by the use of anthropologists and social scientists in the Human Terrain System or the reliance on the ethnographic "expert", the American empire has often held the British example as a template (most likely at the behest of other scholar-combatants like Niall Ferguson or Bernard Lewis). Implicit in their critique, as in that of Rory Stewart, is the express desire that America must do a better job at being an empire.
Even superficially this is, of course, a categorically illogical thing to assert. There is no better way to do empire. The condition of asserting political and military will over a distant population is one that cannot sustain itself in any modern, liberal society. The efforts to understand, will inevitably lead to the understanding that the people of Afghanistan or Pakistan or Iraq desire the power to make their own decisions - without the imposition of governments or militaries sanctioned and placed from afar.
The knowledge of languages and expertise will inevitably expose the lie that there is widespread support for unilateral military escalations. The hope of a civilisational mission (which sustained the likes of Lawrence or Burton in their critiques of the failure of the British to do empire better) does still glimmer in some eyes - those of Fouad Ajami or Thomas Friedman, or George W Bush.
This hope, being irrational and racist, actually requires blindness to the immediate and the real. Notice simply the befuddled faces of area experts when confronted by Tahrir Square. Notice simply that it isn't the masses in the street that confound but the lack of explicit violence from the masses and the lack of religiosity of the masses.
The appeal of the drone's eye is precisely that it does not see everything, because it carries no understanding of the things it records. The experts who are required to imagine Afghanistan or Pakistan traverse those spaces in a manner similar to the drones, on their own preprogrammed missions where every little thing becomes a target on which to pin their policies.
Manan Ahmed is a historian of Pakistan at Freie Universitat Berlin. He blogs at Chapati Mystery.Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Police video shows fug |
solidified East Village’s position as the regional hub for homeless providers, a reality that’s helped make it San Diego’s most visible, concentrated homeless population.
Leslie said he is convinced decisions in the 1980s contributed to the neighborhood taking on more than its fair share of the problem.
Leslie recently visited East Village. He admits he was stunned by the volume of homelessness there but not surprised by where it had grown.
“It is all directly attributable to the actions the city took back then,” Leslie said.
“The city designated East Village because it was broken-down warehouses,” recalls Father Joe Carroll, the now-retired CEO of Father Joe’s Villages. “It was never gonna be developed.”
At the time, East Village looked like this.
But plans for East Village changed. The former urban wasteland is now a gentrifying neighborhood that looks more like this.
It’s also home to Petco Park.
And it’s a neighborhood where, according to a business group’s latest count, 866 people live on the streets.
They’re more visible than ever as condo developments and businesses pop up around them, forcing folks who might’ve once nestled in abandoned buildings into the streets. The homeless population has spiked nearly 80 percent in the past year by one count – leading to more conflicts between the residents and businesses that have moved in and the homeless who also call the area home.
Decades after the nonprofits moved downtown, the draw remains. This year, about three-quarters of city funding for direct homeless services is set to support programs in East Village. It’s a place where a homeless person can seek a shelter bed, a shower or a free meal – resources that are harder to come by in other areas. Those resources are limited even in East Village, but there are more of them in one place than in other parts of the region.
“Most people want to stay in East Village because they have resources that are accessible and within walking range,” said Anne Rios, who leads homeless advocacy nonprofit Think Dignity, which operates a city-funded storage center for homeless people in the neighborhood.
That doesn’t mean East Village is always a comfortable place if you’re homeless.
Homeless people who live there acknowledge they sometimes feel unsafe. Some are concerned about growing violence and crime in their neighborhood – and the others moving in.
There’s also frustration about weekly encampment sweeps which force the homeless to move for sidewalk cleanups.
Yet it’s where the services are, and where many church groups go to deliver meals to those who live on the streets.
“It’s easier to survive here,” Oceanside native Shawn Avery Watkins told me earlier this year.
Watkins moved to East Village three years ago in hopes of getting into a program at Father Joe’s Villages. He got in but fell back into homelessness. When I last talked to him, Watkins told me he regularly visited the Neil Good Day Center, run by Father Joe’s Villages. He often ate meals and picked up clothing at nearby nonprofit God’s Extended Hand.
Life would be even more difficult in another neighborhood or city, he said.
Indeed, repeated pushes to further disperse homeless services across the city have largely fallen flat.
Leslie, the former San Diego Rescue Mission official, was involved in some of those conversations, too.
He became the city’s first homeless services coordinator in 1991.
In that position, Leslie heard neighborhood complaints about what East Village had become. Leslie, who was once homeless himself, didn’t blame residents for their frustration.
“It was like everything was being funneled and squeezed toward that direction,” he said.
At the time, a task force produced an eight-point plan to address the city’s homeless problem. The Los Angeles Times reported that the 1992 plan “urged citizens to see homelessness as a citywide problem, and called for emergency shelters in areas outside downtown.”
A few years later, the City Council approved a comprehensive policy that, among other tacks, called for homeless services to be further spread throughout the city.
It didn’t spur major action.
Stepner said he wishes the city would have pursued those suggestions, including greater resources for the homeless elsewhere.
“I look back at some of the decisions about a lot of things that we did,” the former planning official said. “If we had just taken that extra step, the problems may not be as great as they are today.”
Services have opened up elsewhere in the city, though.
Connections Housing, sometimes dubbed a model for potential projects in other neighborhoods took over the old World Trade Center building on Sixth Avenue in 2013. Veterans Village of San Diego, which serves homeless veterans, opened in the Midway area in 1991.
And the Rescue Mission, pushed again due to the development of Petco Park, moved from East Village to Banker’s Hill in 2001.
Leaders in other parts of the region are working to assemble more year-round assistance for the homeless in their communities, too. Escondido opened a year-round shelter this winter and an Oceanside nonprofit is trying to pull together funds for one.
Yet the pull to East Village remains. Residents and business owners there are demanding that the city do something. They’d like to see more homeless services elsewhere.
The East Village Residents Group has met with local leaders to push an action plan that emphasizes providing shelter and help for homeless people across the region – rather than simply their neighborhood.
“We don’t want it concentrated in one area,” said Joan Wojcik, the group’s president.
City Councilman Todd Gloria, who represents the area and chairs a regional group that oversees initiatives to reduce homelessness locally, is sympathetic to residents’ concerns.
“We ought to have facilities throughout the region for which anyone can go and get services,” he said, noting that there are homeless people across the county need help, including large populations in Mission Valley and beach communities.
Mayor Kevin Faulconer, who as a councilman represented downtown neighborhoods, agreed.
“It is not just an East Village solution. It can’t be,” Faulconer said. “It has to be every neighborhood helping out and that’s our commitment.”
But no new permanent shelters or services in other San Diego neighborhoods seem to be in the works despite more visible street homelessness in other parts of the city, too.
Thus far, there’s been a lack of political will and funding to open them.
The federal Department of Housing and Urban Development, a major source of homeless funding, has prioritized bankrolling new programs for temporary rental subsidies and permanent housing rather than the types of shelters and services that populate East Village.
Cities across the region also have limited cash for shelters or day centers, making significant private investment crucial.
The nonprofit Alpha Project has informally pitched a 600-bed central intake facility just outside downtown in hopes of addressing rising street homelessness in East Village. It’s not clear where the money would come from to support it – or whether residents would accept it.
For the foreseeable future, East Village is likely to remain the San Diego hub for homeless services.
To view PDF documents, Download Acrobat Reader.This project is something for me that has been in the works for years. I've been working on these songs off an on for an extended period of time and only in the last couple of years did I decide to actually seriously complete them and started hunting for fellow musicians who might be interested in working on the project. Joe Sundell, who is a super talented guy is going to do some banjo and hopefully harmonica on the album and my brother in law Brendan Danley will be slapping some bass for me, with my near neighbor Kermit bringing on the drum action. If you don't already know, I'll be doing the singing, adding in my own vocal harmonies, and playing my mandolin. I'm going to be using East Hall Recording in Fayetteville to work on this project and I'm greatly looking forward to it. My goal is to start this project in October and be done by March of next year. I sort of feel like my whole life has been leading up to this first real album. I've got my heart and soul in these songs and this is really for self fulfillment and glory to God above all else. I've had so much encouragement along the way, as I've been singing since I could talk. Music is my passion and this is the gift I was given. I feel a responsibility to share it with others, and with a little financial and musical help, I can and I will.Tonight will see Titan FC put forth their latest effort, and I've got to say, the card looks great. What's really admirable, is that a little over a week ago, they willingly gave up their main event to help a fighter realize his dream of getting back into the UFC.
When a promoter comes along who puts his money where his mouth is, it's like a breath of fresh air, and people tend to take notice, especially when MMA's landscape has seemed so seedy and opaque over the last couple months, with several PED and domestic abuse issues casting a dark shadow over our fair sport.
So what separates Titan from the rest of the promotions vying for that coveted Number 2 spot? Probably the fact that the organization's owner, Jeff Aronson isn't actually trying to claim that spot. His idea is to put forth his level best effort for the fans with great fight cards and to provide a quality environment for his fighters to flourish in. His philosophy is that once those two goals are accomplished, the rest will sort itself out.
When you offer finish bonuses to every fighter that finishes a fight, no matter the method, and when you have a very liberal revolving door policy with a generous UFC out clause, the athletes start taking notice, too.
I recently sat down with Jeff where he discussed a variety of topics including the relationship he has with the UFC, what he thinks of talent exchanges between organizations, the CBS deal and more. Here's what he had to say:
Since I took over Titan, I would say a minimum of 10 fighters have gone to the UFC, and we're not missing a beat.
Relationship with the UFC
I think we have an excellent relationship with the UFC. Obviously, the long term work at Alchemist certainly helped a lot. You know, I think a lot of promotions are very uncomfortable and feel like they have to over-complicate the contracts with the athletes and not allow them to move on because of their fear of not being able to replace their talent. From my perspective, there is so much talent out there today, and the waters are so talent-rich, that I'm excited to help facilitate someone's dream of getting back into the UFC. It happened with Ben Saunders a week or so ago, and he was part of my main card for this week's show. Efrain Escudero happened 10 days before that. Since I took over Titan, I would say a minimum of 10 fighters have gone to the UFC, and we're not missing a beat. We're adding new people and growing like crazy. This card shaped up incredibly well. The one coming up in Texas is going to be awesome, as well. We're thrilled to be that conduit, and I want the top prospects in the world and the top vets in the world to know that they can come to Titan, they can perform on a national stage, they can get the best exposure, and should they want to go to the UFC, I'm going to allow them to go.
Talent Exchange
If World Series of Fighting wants to step up and do a challenge night, I'm in. If Bellator wants to do it, I'm in.
I think that's a natural progression for the sport. I think we are going to see cross-promotion superfights at some point, I think we're going to see talent exchanges happening, and I think we're going to see like-minded individuals from a business perspective that understand how to achieve what they want without being selfish. It's okay to be "rationally selfish." In other words, I want to be as successful as I can, but I know I can't do it without the help of others, so I need to give back to them in order for them to give to me. When you deal with people that are like-minded like that, it works out incredibly well, and you wind up with this anomaly of this organization where people come in and we become the de facto place for the best prospects. This is where the Number 1 prospect can say, ‘The UFC is bogged down at 145. I don't have to sign with an organization that's going to hold me hostage for the rest of my life. I can sign at Titan, stay there for 6 months, a year, a year-and-a-half, whatever and once they open up, I know that Titan is going to let me go if I want to.' If World Series of Fighting wants to step up and do a challenge night, I'm in. If Bellator wants to do it, I'm in. I'm excited where we're at right now, and it's only getting better. My goal is to be the Number 1 fighter and fan appreciation promotion in the world. There are a lot of gaping holes that I see with some of the other promotions and I see them and take note so that I can go straight for that top position without making those mistakes I see others make. RFA has borrowed fighters from me and I've borrowed fighters from them. It's been a reciprocal, mutually beneficial relationship. I'm very happy to be sitting in the position I'm in rather than where some of the other promotions are sitting right now.
CBS Deal
When you look at the MMA landscape right now, there are four network deals that are in play right now with US based promotions. You have FOX Sports 1 with the UFC, Bellator on SPIKE, WSOF on NBC Sports and us on CBS Sports. Right off the bat, we immediately became one of the Top 4 promotions. There are talks going on right now about moving Titan onto a bigger platform within the CBS network. We've already moved from CBS Sports Network to CBS Sports, which is one of the biggest sports websites in the world. They now do our prelims and they also have a Titan library of fights on CBSSports.com now. We've moved from an 11:30 slot to a 10 pm slot. Things are going well and CBS is completely behind Titan. I think they see that we're doing things very responsibly. Not just fiscally responsible, but for the fighters and fans, too. When I say that, I want to use Ben Saunders as an example of what I mean. When Ben got the call to go back to the UFC, people were asking me if I was really going to let him go so close to an event he was going to be a major part of. I said, ‘Absolutely.' It's not going to hurt me one bit, but it's going to change Ben's life. With CBS supporting my attitude and my values and the way that I represent my company, I couldn't be happier. The projectile growth of the company is on target. On top of that, I've never seen a happier group of fighters than the ones I have under my banner.
Taking the High Road
I think you achieve a certain level of success by doing things the right way. With that comes a level of maturity. I'm not in the frame of mind to feel I need to badmouth someone to make myself look better. I'm more than happy to let my actions speak louder than my words. I'm the one that has to look at myself in the mirror every night, so I try to make sure I like what I see. There are real POS promoters out there, but what do I gain by badmouthing them? I don't want to give them one single ounce of notoriety or press. All I'm concerned with is becoming the very best organization I can possibly offer up to the fans.
Talent Scouting
There are so many great fighters out there waiting to be discovered that just need a chance, an opportunity to get to that next level. I'm constantly looking for those guys.
From my time at Alchemist, I connected with 99% of the managers in the MMA space and I have a great relationship with all of them. They know that I'm going to do the right thing by their athletes. I have this whole group of managers that are constantly on the lookout for prospects, in addition to my group of people that work with me at Titan. We're all scouting on a daily basis. I'm watching film and looking at fighters every day. We've been lucky. We've been able to leverage our relationships with managers, gyms, trainers and we're making incredible signings. The talent level is just crazy. There are so many great fighters out there waiting to be discovered that just need a chance, an opportunity to get to that next level. I'm constantly looking for those guys.
No matter which way you slice it, Titan FC is striving to make its mark on the sport, and if Aronson has anything to say about it, it's going to be a positive, indelible mark for all to see.
via TitanFighting.com1,333 Bracketeers voted in this batch and 2.33m votes have now been cast.
The full results for Batch 30 are:
Mana Drain defeats Maze Sentinel with 92.7% of the vote
Kor Chant defeats Alesha’s Vanguard with 67.1% of the vote
Lord of Shatterskull Pass defeats Ally Encampment with 67.0% of the vote
Vicious Kavu defeats Sophic Centaur with 69.9% of the vote
Nissa, Voice of Zendikar defeats Treetop Bracers with 93.9% of the vote
Grim Tutor defeats Explosive Impact with 86.8% of the vote
Docent of Perfection defeats Weird Harvest with 75.4% of the vote
Daily Regimen defeats Living Artifact with 58.4% of the vote
Savage Alliance defeats False Demise with 57.3% of the vote
Perish defeats Guardians of Akrasa with 65.1% of the vote
Ainok Bond-Kin defeats Tiger Claws with 67.5% of the vote
Putrid Imp defeats Trigon of Infestation with 64.8% of the vote
Mizzix of the Izmagnus defeats Kederekt Creeper with 78.3% of the vote
Dimir House Guard defeats Poisonbelly Ogre with 75.2% of the vote
Ondu Champion defeats Starved Rusalka with 59.3% of the vote
Cleansing Meditation defeats Mistform Wall with 72.1% of the vote
Eidolon of the Great Revel defeats Guardians of Meletis with 82.4% of the vote
Nessian Asp defeats Keldon Berserker with 77.9% of the vote
Indomitable Archangel defeats Cerebral Eruption with 77.3% of the vote
Hymn of Rebirth defeats Simian Grunts with 61.3% of the vote
Twinning Glass defeats Liliana’s Indignation with 62.8% of the vote
Sift Through Sands defeats Animus of Predation with 55.4% of the vote
Sarcomite Myr defeats Rush of Ice with 61.2% of the vote
Bant Battlemage defeats Oran-Rief Invoker with 58.9% of the vote
Deadwood Treefolk defeats Alpha Authority with 67.9% of the vote
Mephidross Vampire defeats Dukhara Scavenger with 90.2% of the vote
Rakish Heir defeats Ceaseless Searblades with 65.4% of the vote
Armed Response defeats Canopy Gorger with 55.6% of the vote
Eureka defeats Sin Prodder with 62.6% of the vote
Hum of the Radix defeats Metropolis Sprite with 76.0% of the vote
Burning of Xinye defeats Rousing of Souls with 73.3% of the vote
Nissa Revane defeats Elvish Promenade with 62.0% of the vote
The full results to date can be seen here.Why Artificial Insemination? Most people are unaware that french and English Bulldogs are usually not able to breed naturally. Bulldogs are a man made breed and quite frankly they are anatomically incorrect when it comes to mating. Not only can the males “not reach” the females, often the females anatomy is such that her vulva is set very high up on her body. Our experience has been that when we allow the males to attempt a free breed they generally become exhausted, over heated and will even vomit from the strain, all in all it just isn't worth the health or well being of an expensive champion male. There are several advantages to doing AI. I have listed some of the main reasons: · When we collect the semen we can check it under the microscope to be sure it is of good quality before injecting it into the female. Problems can be detected quickly. · We are able to visually inspect and measure the amount of semen, we can also inspect the males reproductive parts for injury, bleeding, lesions or anything out of the ordinary. · Manually collecting the semen keeps the spread of disease in check, there is no way for a female to contaminate the male as they never even touch. · When performing the AI the female is manually palpated, this allows for close physical inspection of the females reproductive parts, any foul odor or discharge is noted immediately. · By using AI we prevent injury to male and female both, the dogs do not actually ever come in contact with each other. Sometimes when dogs tie naturally they will bite, fight or try desperately to pull away from each other, sometimes this can cause prolapse of the female. How do we know when to inseminate? Timing is very important when breeding by AI. Without proper timing AI is virtually useless. To determine when the timing is right we must know when the female ovulates. We can determine this by doing a Progesterone Test. This requires a blood sample. In our kennel Lonnie does the blood draw, he quite good at it. After the blood is drawn we must spin in a centrifuge, then perform the actual test using the blood serum from our sample. The results of the test tell us the Progesterone level in the female, when the Progesterone reaches a certain level we know she has ovulated. After ovulation the eggs need about 48 hours to mature, that is the perfect time to AI. We AI the female twice, once the after ovulation and then again 2 days later, we have excellent resulting litters. We do not “hit” them all, but we have an excellent record in the high 90% range of resulting pregnancies. A wonderful asset to Progesterone testing is that we can narrow the whelp date down to a 2 day window, this allows us to generally schedule our c-sections, takes the guess work out of know when the time is right.Super Troopers is one of my all-time favorite movies. As hard as this is to believe, one of my favorite scenes is cat-related. And involves Jim Gaffigan. I love him. even though he loves bacon. Read on.
Mac: All right, how about “Cat Game?”
Foster: Cat Game? What’s the record?
Mac: Thorny did six, but I think you can do ten.
Foster: Ten? Starting right ‘meow?’
[Mac laughs – they walk up to the car, and Foster taps on the driver side]
Larry Johnson: Sorry about the…
Foster: All right meow. (1) Hand over your license and registration.
[the man hands him his license]
Foster: Your registration? Hurry up meow. (2)
[Mac ticks off two fingers]
Larry Johnson: Sorry.
[the man laughs a little]
Foster: Is there something funny here boy?
Larry Johnson: Oh, no.
Foster: Then why you laughing, Mister… Larry Johnson?
[pause]
Foster: All right meow, (3) where were we?
Larry Johnson: Excuse me, are you saying meow?
Foster: Am I saying meow?
[Mac puts his hands up for the fourth one, but makes an “eehhh” facial expression, as he is considering the last one]
Larry Johnson: I thought…
Foster: Don’t think boy. Meow, (4) do you know how fast you were going?
[man laughs]
Foster: Meow. (5) What is so damn funny?
Larry Johnson: I could have sworn you said meow.
Foster: Do I look like a cat to you, boy? Am I jumpin’ around all nimbly bimbly from tree to tree?
[Mac is gut-busting laughing]
Foster: Am I drinking milk from a saucer?
[feigned anger]
Foster: Do you see me eating mice?
Foster: [Mac and the man are laughing their heads off now] You stop laughing right meow! (6)
Larry Johnson: [the man stops and swallows hard] Yes sir.
Foster: Meow, (7) I’m gonna have to give you a ticket on this one. No buts meow. (8) It’s the law.
[rips off the ticket and hands it to the man]
Foster: Not so funny meow, (9) is it?
Foster: [Foster gets up to leave, but Mac shakes his hands at him, indicating only nine meows] Meow! (10)
I am attempting a blog challenge (please click here to learn more and read her blog, it’s awesome) from my friend Tabi, who has been doing this much longer than me and has a lovely blog about her human children and being a mom. She actually makes it sound fun! Obviously our blogs have tons in common, with me writing about my dedication to my own children. Except I doubt that “stay-at-home-kitty-mommy” would fly as a full-time job. There’s a lot of cleaning involved with my furballs but they sleep most of the day.
Anyway, to tie these things both together in a super clever and maaaaaybe WAY out there way, I am doing “what’s the word june” day #1 in style.
In honor of Foster’s “meow” #10:
SMITTEN.
Yeah, that’s right. I just did that. Booyah!
AdvertisementsSenate defense appropriators set aside billions for Navy coffers in its version of the Pentagon’s Fiscal Year 2015 spending plan, giving service leaders the green light to move ahead on key maritime and aviation priorities.
Lawmakers cordoned off $849 million to allow the Navy to begin refueling and modernization efforts on the USS George Washington aircraft carrier (CVN-73).
Another $1.4 billion was set aside by defense appropriators for procurement of 12 EA-18 Growler, the Navy’s premiere electronic warfare aircraft, in FY 2015. Of that Growler funding, $100 million will go specifically toward keeping the current fighter production line going, according to a committee statement issued Tuesday.
Earlier this year, House defense lawmakers elected to include 12 Growlers out of the 22 the Navy requested in its mark of the bill at $975 million.
Senate authorizers also set side $68.5 million to preserve the Growler line in their draft of the defense bill, including language to allow the Navy to spend up to $75 million to preserve the Growler line, should Senate appropriations bill green light that amount.
Growlers are integral to the service’s emerging Naval Integrated Fire Control-Counter Air (NIFC-CA) which blend sensors and weapons into a new construct for fighting a carrier strike group (CSG).
On the shipbuilding side, subpanel members also cordoned off $80 million for the Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) program, to finance “long-lead parts to purchase the final ship of the block buy next year” according to the lawmakers’ statement.
The Navy funds were part of the subcommittee’s overall $549.3 billion defense spending bill approved on Tuesday. The draft bill includes roughly $490 billion for the Pentagon’s base budget and another $59.7 in war funds for Afghanistan and other ongoing U.S. military operations.
The subpanel’s total budget figures fall in line with the White House’s initial $550.7 billion request for defense spending, sent to Congress in February.
The full Senate appropriations panel is expected to take up the subcommittee mark, which $22 billion more than the FY’14 defense spending package, on Thursday.
The Navy and Pentagon had proposed forgoing the refueling and complex overhaul (RCOH) work on the George Washington, opting to mothball the venerable carrier and cut the service’s carrier strike group down to 10.
But the move met stiff resistance on both sides of Capitol Hill, with House defense lawmakers opting to fund the RCOH work in their version of DOD’s spending plan.
Backers of the George Washington modernization argued nixing the ship from the fleet would violate federal law requiring an 11 carrier strike groups.
While the final version of the FY’15 defense spending plan has yet to make it to President Obama’s desk, senior Navy leaders are already committing to the RCOH plan.
“We are today making every effort to replan near $7 billion required across the [Future Years Defense Plan] to refuel the carrier plus maintain its airwing, manpower and support,” Sean Stackley, Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Research, Development & Acquisition (RDA), told the House Armed Services Subcommittee on Seapower and Projection Forces last Thursday.
However, Senate appropriators remained mum on the fate of the 11 Ticonderoga-class destroyers and three Whidbey Island-class landing dock ships Navy leaders are looking to lay up.
Virginia Republican Rep. Randy Forbes has led the charge on the House Armed Services panel to keep all 22 ships in service earlier this year. Navy leaders claim budget cuts under sequestration prompted the sea service to push for the ships’ elimination from the fleet.
However, House defense appropriators put aside $165 billion for operations and maintenance, including funds to preserve the 14 ships. House appropriators also elected to fund two of the so-called “phased modernizations” for the Ticonderogas at the time.
The full Senate appropriations committee will likely weigh in on the Navy destroyers and amphibious ships when they take up the FY 2015 defense spending plan, a subcommittee source told USNI News on Wednesday.Roiling the Waters
Although officials on both sides of the Pacific are publicly loath to add fuel to the fire, it is increasingly clear that China’s recent regional provocations are the result of more than just knee-jerk reactions or bureaucratic malfunctions over long-forgotten borders or arcane historical ownership. Beijing’s far-reaching claims in the East and South China seas — and coercive efforts to intimidate neighbors — have unsettled countries from Vietnam to the Philippines to Japan because they amount to an expansionist strategy, with profound implications for U.S. power and regional security.
China’s latest act of revisionism, in late November, was to declare an air defense identification zone (ADIZ) across large swaths of the East China Sea, including over the disputed Senkaku Islands (called the Diaoyu by the Chinese). America’s response was twofold: The White House indicated that it would not officially honor the ADIZ designation (a message delivered by sending unarmed B-52 bombers through the zone on what the Pentagon called a routine and long-planned training mission), but it initially encouraged commercial airliners to comply with Beijing’s request to identify themselves to Chinese air traffic control. Meanwhile, it dispatched high-level officials to calm the waters: When Vice President Joe Biden met with Chinese leaders in early December, his mission, according to one senior administration official, was to push for "crisis management mechanisms and confidence-building measures to lower tensions and reduce risk of escalation or miscalculation."
This effort to play the role of regional peacemaker echoes the Obama administration’s approach in 2012 during the Scarborough Shoal standoff between China and the Philippines, as well as during the row between Tokyo and Beijing after Japan nationalized the Senkaku Islands. But if China’s ends haven’t changed, its means have — in the past years, Beijing has stepped up efforts to achieve its long-held territorial aims. As a former Chinese ambassador told us in December, her country’s position in the world is like that of "a new student that jumped many grades." Maybe so, but Beijing’s behavior since 2009 is more akin to that of a brash adolescent both unaware and blithe to the potential consequences of adventurous behavior.
U.S. officials have been careful to avoid provoking a China that appears increasingly willing to flex its newfound military muscle. Perhaps that’s why Biden invoked his father’s advice in warning on the eve of his Beijing visit that "the only conflict that is worse than one that is intended is one that is unintended." But an overemphasis on stability can be dangerous. While preventing inadvertent war in Asia is obviously a worthy goal, it is just as important to discourage China from believing that it can employ economic, military, and diplomatic coercion to settle international disagreements without triggering a serious response. Making the risk of escalation too low will at some point start running counter to U.S. interests.
Why? Because China is taking advantage of Washington’s risk aversion by rocking the boat, seeing what it can extract in the process, and letting the United States worry about righting it. Beijing’s playbook of tailored coercion relies in part on China’s confidence that it can weather ephemeral international outrage while Washington takes responsibility for ensuring the situation doesn’t get out of control. This means that reducing the likelihood of escalation through high-level strategic dialogues and military-to-military hotlines, however important, is in and of itself insufficient to curb Chinese assertiveness.
History has demonstrated the perils of focusing too much on stability at the expense of deterrence. The Cuban missile crisis, the modern world’s closest brush with the apocalypse, was precipitated by Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev’s perception that the United States, especially President John F. Kennedy, was overly concerned about stability and cooling tensions between the superpowers. Khrushchev’s sense that America could be pushed was formed by Kennedy’s cautious reactions to assertive Soviet moves toward Berlin, as well as Khrushchev’s measure of Kennedy at the 1961 Vienna superpower summit as "weak" and accommodating.
Over the following year and a half, Khrushchev and the Soviet Union sought to exploit what they perceived to be shaky American resolve, pressing in Berlin, where East Germany built a wall closing off the free part of the city, and secretly deploying nuclear-armed missiles to Cuba. Only through a demonstrated willingness on the part of Kennedy to go to the nuclear brink — with U.S. nuclear forces on high alert and U.S. naval forces prepared to forcibly halt Soviet ships attempting to run the blockade (accompanied by a U.S. concession on missile deployments in Turkey) — was the United States able to get Moscow to back down. Needless to say, restraint and a willingness to negotiate were elemental to a peaceful resolution of the crisis, but only in the context of a major mobilization of U.S. forces against Cuba, the elevation of the U.S. alert level to Defcon 2 (one step short of nuclear war), and chilling threats designed to convince the Soviets that conciliation was the only viable move.
OF COURSE, CHINA IS NOT THE SOVIET UNION. And 2014 is not 1962. The point is simply that a country with the power of the USSR or China, unsatisfied with features of the existing order, motivated to do something to change it, and skeptical of the resolve of the United States, could well pursue a policy of coercion and brinkmanship, even under the shadow of nuclear weapons. As historian Francis Gavin has argued, the whole history of the Cold War shows that countries like China — and, at times, the United States — can bluff, coerce, and threaten their way to geopolitical gain.
The worst way to deal with such a power is to leave it with the impression that these approaches work. Just as the United States would have been far better off if Kennedy, at the Vienna summit, had squelched Khrushchev’s doubts about his resolve to defend Berlin, it will be far better if the leadership in Beijing has the clear sense that the United States will meet each challenge to its and its allies’ interests resolutely.
Taking a cue from history, the United States needs to inject a healthy degree of risk into Beijing’s calculus, even as it searches for ways to cooperate with China. This does not mean abandoning engagement or trying to contain China, let alone fomenting conflict. But it does mean communicating that Beijing has less ability to control escalation than it seems to think. China must understand that attempts to roil the waters could result in precisely the kinds of costs and conflicts it seeks to avoid.
To make this work, the United States should pursue policies that actually elevate the risks — political, economic, or otherwise — to Beijing of acting assertively. On the high seas, the focal point for the region’s territorial disputes, China has bullied its neighbors by relying on non-military vessels. China is using its rapidly expanding coast guard to assert its expansive sovereignty claims by harassing non-Chinese fishermen, oil companies, and military vessels that pass through contested waters in the East and South China seas. This has the benefit of exploiting China’s dominant numerical advantage while keeping the U.S. Navy on the sidelines.
Washington should blur the false distinction between non-military and military ships by stating that it will respond to physical coercion and the use of force as deemed appropriate — regardless of whether the perpetrator is a white- or gray-hulled ship. Exercises that practice U.S. naval operations against aggressive non-military vessels would be a good place to start. So would calling upon China to end its illegal occupation of the disputed Scarborough Shoal off the Philippine coast, while contesting Chinese administration there by sending the U.S. Navy through the area to assert its right to freedom of navigation.
The Chinese PLA Navy, for its part, hasn’t been shy to test the waters. In early December, the U.S. Pacific Fleet revealed that the guided-missile cruiser USS Cowpens, while shadowing China’s new aircraft carrier on a routine mission in international seas, was forced to take evasive action when a PLA Navy warship attached to the carrier group approached on a collision course, literally forcing the cruiser into a game of chicken. "The Chinese knew what they were doing," a military official told CNN.
Beyond the sea, the United States must demonstrate a willingness to push back militarily when China attempts to coerce America’s allies and partners. To do this, the U.S. military needs capabilities and plans that not only prepare it for major war, but that also offer plausible, concrete options for responding to Chinese attempts to exploit America’s perceived aversion to instability. Leaders throughout Asia will be watching. Too much caution, especially if China is clearly the initiator, may be read as U.S. weakness, thereby perpetuating rather than diminishing China’s incentives toward adventurism.
The United States can further raise the stakes by deepening its military ties with Japan |
to increase aircraft performance in hot and high conditions include:
Reduce aircraft weight. Weight can be reduced by carrying only enough fuel to reach the (lower-altitude) destination rather than filling the tanks completely. In some cases, unnecessary equipment can be removed from the aircraft. In many cases, however, the only practical way to adequately reduce aircraft weight is to depart with a smaller passenger, cargo, or weapons load. Consequently, hot and high conditions at the originating airport may prevent a commercial aircraft from operating with a load large enough to be profitable, or may constrain the firepower that a combat aircraft can bring to bear when conducting a long-range airstrike.
Increase engine power. More powerful engines can improve an airplane's acceleration and reduce its takeoff run. More powerful engines are generally larger and heavier and use more fuel during cruise, however, increasing the fuel load needed to reach the same destination. The added weight of the fuel and engines may negate the potential performance gain, and the added cost of the extra fuel may constrain the profitability of a commercial aircraft. On the other hand, replacing an older, less efficient engine with a newer engine of more advanced design can increase both power output and efficiency while sometimes even decreasing weight. In this situation, the only real disadvantage is the cost of the upgrade.
Utilize assisted take off devices, such as rockets, to increase lift and acceleration.
Inject distilled water during takeoff in the engine (compressor or combustor). The primary purpose of water injection into jet engines is to increase the mass being accelerated, thereby increasing the force created by the engine. A secondary purpose is to cool the engine so that higher power settings may be used without causing an engine overheat.
Jet or rocket assisted take off [ edit ]
Auxiliary rockets and/or jet engines can help a fully loaded aircraft to take off within the length of the runway. The rockets are usually one-time units that are jettisoned after takeoff. This practice was common in the 1950s and 60s, when the lower levels of thrust from military turbojets was inadequate for takeoff from shorter runways or with very heavy payloads. It is now seldom used.
Auxiliary jets and rockets have rarely been used on civil aircraft due to the risk of aircraft damage and loss of control if something were to go wrong during their use. Boeing did, however, produce a version of its popular Boeing 727 with JATO primarily for "hot and high" operations out of Mexico City Airport (MMMX) and La Paz, Bolivia. The boosters were located adjacent to the main landing gear at the wing root on each side of the aircraft.[2]
Specialized aircraft [ edit ]
Several manufacturers of early jet airliners offered variants optimized for hot and high operations. Such aircraft generally offered the largest wings and/or the most powerful engines in the model lineup coupled with a small fuselage to reduce weight. Some such aircraft include:
The marketing failure of these airplanes demonstrated that airlines were generally unwilling to accept reduced efficiency at cruise and smaller ultimate load-carrying capacity in return for a slight performance gain at particular airports. Rather than accepting these drawbacks, it was easier for airlines to demand the construction of longer runways, operate with smaller loads as conditions dictated, or simply drop the unprofitable destinations.
Furthermore, as the second generation of jet airliners began to appear in the 1970s, some aircraft were designed to eliminate the need for a special "hot and high" variant – for instance, the Airbus A300 can perform a 15/0 takeoff, where the leading edge slats are adjusted to 15 degrees and the flaps kept retracted. This takeoff technique is only used at hot and high airports, for it enables a higher climb limit weight and improves second segment climb performance.
Most jetliner manufacturers have dropped the "hot and high" variants from their model lineups.
Other uses [ edit ]
Less formally, hot and high can also describe a botched landing approach, where a fixed-wing aircraft is too fast (hot) and too high above the glidepath: since the only way to slow the rate of descent is to increase speed, and the aircraft is already too fast, it is unlikely that the approach can be successfully carried to a safe landing.
Hot and high airports [ edit ]
Notable examples of hot and high airports include:[citation needed]THIS IS A PATTERN - NOT FINISHED PRODUCT!
Halloween Witch Cross Stitch Pattern PDF
Create a vintage inspired Halloween decor piece with this beginner-level witch cross stitch pattern. Phrase reads "Double, Double, Toil and Trouble, Fire Burn and Cauldron Bubble" (Shakespeare). The witch is inspired by the Harry Potter Leaky Cauldron sign.
Skill level: Beginner
Suggested Fabric: 14 ct. aida (shown: Sand)
Finished Design Size on 14 ct. aida: 7.14"w x 6.07"h
Grid Size: 140w x 112h
Required Colors: 1 (shown: DMC 3371)
The pattern is an easy to follow B/W block pattern. This listing is neither a completed cross-stitching nor a kit. Materials are not included in this listing. The PDF pattern is delivered electronically via email. In order to open these files you will need Adobe Reader, which can be downloaded here for free: http://get.adobe.com/reader.
The digital file will be delivered via email INSTANTLY with cleared payment. The pattern will be sent to the email on file with Etsy, if you would like it to be sent to a different email, please specify it in the 'Note to Seller' box during checkout.
A printed file is not available for this pattern
Lawrence Made Patterns are for personal use only. Do not copy. All PDF patterns are copyright protected and may not be redistributed, reproduced, or shared in any manner. Finished cross-stitching (s) from the chart may be sold as long as you provide credit with an active link to: https://www.lawrencemadeco.comGet the biggest daily stories by email Subscribe Thank you for subscribing We have more newsletters Show me See our privacy notice Could not subscribe, try again later Invalid Email
PUBLISHED AUGUST 14
An British ISIS recruiter linked to several terror plots has reportedly been spotted in Birmingham with two suspected jihadis.
Sally Jones - married to Birmingham terror suspect Junaid Hussain - is feared to be planning an atrocity after slipping back into the country.
Special Branch officers are said to be on full alert after the sighting of the fanatic, who has been dubbed ‘Mrs Terror’ after arriving in Syria in 2013 to fight for the extremist group.
A source said: “This is worrying but Special Branch officers are working on this to track her down. Officers are in place at various airports to keep an eye out for her.
“There is intelligence that she was last seen in Birmingham with two individuals, aged 18 and 22.
“Detectives are also keeping an eye on shopping centres and large events.”
Scotland Yard refused to comment on the reported sighting of the mother-of-two.
She is married to Hussain, 21, who urged undercover reporters posing as prospective recruits to carry out attacks in Britain and sent them bomb-making guidebooks.
Jones also revealed in the online sting that she had recruited a female terrorist who is in Glasgow and is ready to launch a devastating attack at tomorrow’s VJ commemorations.
Hussain, originally from Kings Heath, is reported to be running the ISIS recruitment arm in the terror group’s stronghold of Raqqa in Syria.
Jones, a former punk singer, of Chatham in Kent, was also thought to be there.
Police Scotland said it was working with Met police after the reports of “potential terrorist activity”, adding the threat level in the UK remains at severe, meaning an attack is highly likely.
The Met’s Specialist Operations unit said it “remained alert to terrorist threats”.
It has also been reported that ISIS is plotting to blow up the Queen at the VJ commemorations, triggering an urgent review of security arrangements for the events.
A terror chief has claimed four or five British recruits who trained in Syria have returned here to launch strikes.
Have you got our free app? Download it to keep up to date with all the latest news, sport and what's on stories. On iOS? download here or for Android click hereDuring his commencement address at the Coast Guard Academy on Wednesday, President Donald Trump advised graduates to "fight, fight, fight" in the face of adversity.
"Over the course of your life, you will find that things are not always fair. You will find that things happen to you that you do not deserve and that are not always warranted," Trump said. "But you have to put your head down and fight, fight fight."
He told graduates to never give up, and things will work out in the end.
"Look at the way I've been treated lately, especially by the media," Trump said. "No politician in history - and I say this with great surety - has been treated worse or more unfairly."
He said you simply can't let the critics and naysayers get you down or get in the way of your dreams.
"Adversity makes you stronger," Trump said. "Don't give in. Don't back down. And never stop doing what you know is right."
He added that nothing worth doing ever comes easy, and the more righteous the fight, the stronger the opposition will be.
On "Outnumbered" today, Sandra Smith said Trump's frustration with the media is understandable because reports about President Donald Trump sharing classified intelligence with Russian diplomats and asking then-FBI Director James Comey to shut down the federal investigation into former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn have been covered as fact before being proven.
"Everyone is going to such extremes right now, jumping the gun to such an extent that even if there is something there, it will hurt the main point of what's happening," Meghan McCain said.
She said all the anti-Trump media coverage just unites and fires up his supporters.
"If there is something there - which we don't know yet, we don't know - we need to let the legal process play itself out and stop getting so hysterical on national television," McCain said.
Watch more above.
Hannity: '5 Powerful Forces Aligning Against President Trump'
WATCH: Don Jr. Shuts Down 'Tax Returns' Heckler
Playboy Model Who Snapchatted Nude Pic of Woman in Gym Shower Will Face Trial
SEE IT: Shoplifter Falls Flat on Her Face Running Out of WalmartThis year, for the first time, the Dominican Republic stands to crack 1m cruise passengers, spread among several ports—Amber Cove at Puerto Plata, La Romana/Catalina Island, Samaná, Cap Cana and the nation's capital, Santo Domingo.
While Amber Cove is fueling the big growth and Cap Cana, new on the scene, is sparking interest, Santo Domingo has nearly doubled its passenger count in three years, from about 80,000 in the 2014/15 season to more than 150,000 projected in the current 2017/18 season.
'We're getting calls from many different lines. They're giving Santo Domingo a second look after all the investments in the Colonial City,' said Jaime Castillo, executive director of Sansoucí Ports. The company operates the Don Diego and Sansoucí terminals adjacent to the Colonial City, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Last season, for example, Carnival Cruise Line came back for the first time in many years, with visits by Carnival Splendor and Carnival Conquest.
These were part of 'Carnival Journeys,' longer cruises that go to places outside the regular Fun Ship routes. Carnival doesn't have many Santo Domingo calls, but 'when people go, it's highly rated,' according to the line's Terry Thornton, SVP port operations, guest care and Carnival international. 'It's a good experience. There's a great diversity of shore excursion opportunities. Also, if people want to explore on their own, there are great restaurants and shopping. The nightlife is great.'
This season TUI Cruises' newest ship, Mein Schiff 6, will visit, and Holland America Line is returning after a gap, with Prinsendam. Marella Cruises' Celebration and Viking Ocean Cruises' Viking Sea recently called, and Oceania Cruises' Insignia plans an overnight stay on Dec. 30 as part of a Cuba voyage.
Pullmantur has been making partial turnarounds for several years. This year Zenith is operating full turnarounds from Sansoucí terminal, part of a two-week butterfly program with two different seven-night itineraries.
Sansoucí Ports works with the airport to expedite ground handling, and the cruise terminal offers 18 check-in counters and provisioning capabilities for 25 containers at the same time. Castillo said a third of the Pullmantur passengers come from Spain, a third from Latin America and the rest are from the DR.
Ships on transit calls typically dock at Don Diego, alongside the walled Colonial City, for gorgeous views over the Alcázar de Colón (the palace of Viceroy Don Diego de Colón, son of Christopher Columbus). Ships docking at Sansoucí terminal on the other side of the river get shuttles into the Colonial City, or it's a 15-minute walk.
According to the UNESCO inscription, Santo Domingo, founded in 1498, became the site of the first cathedral, hospital, customs house and university in the Americas. It was laid out on a grid pattern that became the model for almost all town planners in the New World.
It was the first permanent establishment of the New World and capital of the West Indies, 'the place of departure for the spread of European culture and the conquest of the continent.' From there 'conquerors such as Ponce de León, Juan de Esquivel, Herman Cortés, Vasco Núñez de Balboa, Alonso de Ojeda and many others departed in search of new lands.'
In recent years a $30m Inter-American Development Bank loan served as the seed capital for improvements and beautification to make the Colonial City more visitor-friendly. Works include widening sidewalks, putting cables underground, making facilities more accessible and reducing traffic. According to Castillo, this attracted $100m in private investments, and the IDB is going to expand the program by putting in another $100m to reach more areas.
At the same time, airlift to Las Américas International Airport has increased, and new roadworks between Santo Domingo and Punta Cana and Santo Domingo and Samaná have shaved hours from transit times, making a wider range of destinations more accessible overland. Today the drive between the capital and Punta Cana takes two hours.
'All of this is good for the Colonial City,' Castillo said. Not only are cruise calls up, but tourists from Punta Cana are able to visit.
Santo Domingo is a river port and Sansoucí owns its own dredging equipment to meet ships' requirements. Updated bathymetric charts are posted at Sansouci.com.do. This year, instead of 10 meters, a depth of 10.5 meters is being maintained, and Castillo noted 'we're looking to improve next year as well.'
The largest vessels calling currently are close to 300 meters in length, and Sansoucí will look to expand for ships close to 320 meters.
The European-US mix is shifting, with the US lines rising to about 40% now. Though Santo Domingo's strongest assets are culture and history,'since [attracting] more American lines, we have to make the experience as fun as possible for those passengers looking for fun and adventure,' Castillo said.
Some initiatives include costumed characters to welcome passengers and live music and dancing in the parks and plazas of the Colonial City. There are nature tours, a dozen golf courses and, within a 40-minute drive, beaches. A wine tour—rare in the Caribbean—is within a two-hour drive or, much faster, by helicopter.
Tours can be customized. Some luxury lines have offered painting classes with a famous Dominican painter and cooking classes with a noted Dominican chef. Sansoucí works with tour operators and has its own destination services division to help tailor programs.
Castillo added that security is in place, with a tourism police force that's been established for years and special attention when ships are in port.
The latest Business Research & Economic Advisors study for the Florida-Caribbean Cruise Association found 80% of cruiser were visiting the Dominican Republic for the first time.
'We have to be sure their first impression is good,' Castillo said.
He's not ready to share numbers for 2018/19 but said the DR overall is well positioned for cruising: 'The country is in a good moment. Most ports, if not all, are growing.'A private company backed by a controversial U.S. businessman has unilaterally conducted the world's most significant geoengineering project to date. Russ George, in conjunction with a First Nations village on Haida Gwaii, has dumped around 100 tonnes of iron sulphate into the Pacific Ocean in a technique known as ocean fertilization. The experiment, which is in violation of two United Nations moratoria, has outraged environmental, legal, and civic groups.
The iron sulphate was dumped into the Pacific back in July, but recent satellite images are now confirming its effects — an artificial plankton bloom that's 10,000 square kilometers (3,861 square miles) in size. The intention of the project is for the plankton to absorb carbon dioxide and then sink to the bottom of the ocean. George is hoping to cash in on lucrative carbon credits.
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To make the project happen, George convinced the local council of an indigenous village to establish the Haida Salmon Restoration Corporation. He told them that the project would restore salmon populations, leading the First Nations people to channel more than $1m of its own money into the project.
Critics say it is a "blatant violation" of United Nations rules, and the matter is currently under investigation by Environment Canada. Experts contend that the project violates the UN's convention on biological diversity (CBD) and London convention on the dumping of wastes at sea, which both prohibit for-profit ocean fertilisation activities. According to the Guardian, the news publication that broke the story, George claims that the two moratoria are a "mythology" and do not apply to his project. The Guardian reports:
George is the former chief executive of Planktos Inc, whose previous failed efforts to conduct large-scale commercial dumps near the Galapagos and Canary Islands led to his vessels being barred from ports by the Spanish and Ecuadorean governments. The US Environmental Protection Agency warned him that flying a US flag for his Galapagos project would violate US laws, and his activities are credited in part to the passing of international moratoria at the United Nations limiting ocean fertilisation experiments Scientists are debating whether iron fertilisation can lock carbon into the deep ocean over the long term, and have raised concerns that it can irreparably harm ocean ecosystems, produce toxic tides and lifeless waters, and worsen ocean acidification and global warming. "It is difficult if not impossible to detect and describe important effects that we know might occur months or years later," said John Cullen, an oceanographer at Dalhousie University. "Some possible effects, such as deep-water oxygen depletion and alteration of distant food webs, should rule out ocean manipulation. History is full of examples of ecological manipulations that backfired." George says his team of unidentified scientists has been monitoring the results of the biggest ever geoengineering experiment with equipment loaned from US agencies like NASA and the National Ocean and Atmospheric Administration. He told the Guardian that it is the "most substantial ocean restoration project in history," and has collected a "greater density and depth of scientific data than ever before". "We've gathered data targeting all the possible fears that have been raised [about ocean fertilisation]," George said. "And the news is good news, all around, for the planet."
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UN officials will be meeting in Hyderabad, India, later this week to discuss the issue, including possible upgrades to enforcement policies.
And as Silvia Ribeiro of the watchdog ETC Group has noted, "If rogue geoengineer Russ George really has misled this indigenous community, and dumped iron into their waters, we hope to see swift legal response to his behavior and strong action taken to the heights of the Canadian and US governments." Read more.
Top image via NASA. Inset image: Yellow and brown colours show relatively high concentrations of chlorophyll in August 2012, after iron sulphate was dumped into the Pacific Ocean as part of the geoengineering scheme. Photograph: Giovanni/Goddard Earth Sciences Data and Information Services Center/NASA.A publication has revealed in a Nexus 5 one-week-of-use review that the handset may soon get new Google Now features, with an update pegged for November 13.
According to Wired, more smart Google Now features are coming soon, although Google is yet to officially announce them.
Apparently Google Now will get even smarter than it currently is, with the voice-based assistant getting some sort of answering back features. Furthermore, Google Now will be able to search apps and launch them to perform tasks and show more Google Now cards based on the user’s location:
[quote qtext=”But the stuff Google says is coming November 13 is the real gravy, and it’s a shame it isn’t already ladled on. One of those things is the ability to ask you questions — so you might say “text Jennifer” and it will reply “which Jennifer,” and then ask you to dictate the message. It’s also going to get the ability to search inside applications, and launch them to complete tasks for you. So, you might search for a restaurant, and an option in the results shows up for OpenTable, which you’ll be able to fire up and make a reservation. It’s also going to use location cues to drop cards into Google Now, even more so than it does currently. At Yellowstone it will show you geyser times, for example. Sadly, none of this stuff was lit up yet, so I wasn’t able to test it. I’m not dinging the phone for that (and it’s not getting any extra credit), but given how interesting these features are, it’s kind of crazy the phone launched without them.” qperson=”Mathew Honan” qsource=”Wired” qposition=”center”]
As we have recently learned, the Nexus 5 is more about Google Search services (Google Now included) than any other Nexus before it, not that it’s a bad thing, especially for Android users looking forward to such an Android experience. However, some of those Google Search feature – essentially the new launcher – will be a Nexus 5 exclusive for now, at least officially, so it’ll be interesting to see whether these new Google Now features will be available for everyone else or not.
However, we’re certainly not surprised to hear that Google Now is getting smarter. We’ll be waiting to see Google’s announcement next week to tell you more details about this apparently imminent Google Now update.
Wired has also learned that the Nexus 5 will get a camera update that will fix existing issues with it – check out these posts for camera comparisons with the Nexus 4 and the iPhone 5S.Paul Lambert is ready to drastically reshape his Aston Villa squad this summer as he battles against growing unrest from supporters.
Lambert will clear out a number of his transfer failures and introduce a new philosophy in an attempt to avoid a third successive relegation battle next season, with the backing of chairman Randy Lerner.
Aleksandar Tonev, Nicklas Helenius, Antonio Luna, Yacouba Sylla and Jordan Bowery are all likely casualties in a clear acknowledgement that Lambert’s previous policy of buying young and hungry players at cheap prices has not worked.
Christian Benteke has proven a huge success after signing for around £8 million from Genk two years ago and Lambert will hope to bring in quality signings for similar fees, focusing less on simply bulking up the squad.
The 44-year-old is facing increasing criticism from supporters after another bitterly disappointing campaign, with Villa’s chief executive Paul Faulkner issuing an unprecedented plea for unity ahead of the crucial game against Southampton on Saturday.
Lambert’s position remains secure, with negotiations over a new contract postponed until the end of the season, but patience is running out, the clearest signs yet of mutiny from a frustrated fan base emerging with Saturday’s defeat at Crystal Palace.
Lerner, the club’s American owner, has been the main focal point of anger with accusations that he has lacked ambition after significantly stripping back investment. However, Villa’s results and performances, plus Lambert’s tactics and signings, are coming under greater scrutiny this season.
Villa fans have endured 10 home defeats in the Premier League this season and a humiliating FA Cup exit to Sheffield United, while the 1-0 defeat at Selhurst Park leaves the club only four points above the relegation zone.
Villa’s move to start discussions with Lambert over a new deal, revealed by the Telegraph in February, has also been an important topic of debate. Villa remain fully behind Lambert, however, and are reluctant to avoid any further upheaval by changing managers.
Despite their lingering fears of relegation, Lambert is already planning for next season and will significantly adjust his transfer policy to recover from two years of mediocrity.
When he was appointed in June 2012 he was under instructions to lower a bloated wage bill and has spent almost £40 million in four transfer windows on 15 players.
If Villa avoid relegation, his funds this summer will be boosted by a minimum £63 million from the new television deal, while the club will look to offload their highly-paid players Darren Bent, Shay Given and Alan Hutton permanently.
Lambert is also keen to retain the core members of his squad and will offer new contracts to Fabian Delph and Ron Vlaar.
A defeat by Southampton on Saturday, however, will only add to the growing discontent in the stands.
Faulkner admitted in a statement on Monday: “We are hurting. Fans are hurting, players and the manager are hurting. The frustration is shared by everyone who loves Aston Villa.
“Now more than ever it’s time for us all to pull together – fans, players, the manager, everyone at the club. Our immediate focus and combined efforts need to be concentrated on our game against Southampton this weekend and on our remaining games this season.
“We need to channel our energies into creating a positive atmosphere and getting the result we need on Saturday at Villa Park and in the games that follow.
“We know we can handle adversity. What we need now is for everyone to stick behind the team and continue to show the great support that is a hallmark of our club.”GLOBAL ORGANIC TEXTILE STANDARD Ensures that the raw materials, manufacturing and distribution of Under the Canopy products are free from harmful toxic substances such as heavy metals, GMOs toxins and carcinogens. Learn More
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FSC As part of a pledge to the organization Canopy, Under the Canopy requires that all cellulosic fibers and woodbased products be made from ecooptimized tree pulp as certified by the Forest Stewardship Council. Learn More
CRUELTY FREE Under the Canopy requires a cruelty free certification in personal care and cosmetic products to guarantee that no animal testing is performed in the making of that product. Learn MoreEven at eight years old, Tracey Wilson had no doubt in her mind that she was a girl. But at that time, she was still known as Trey and the idea of talking to her parents about her gender identity was worrisome.
"I didn't go full-out at first because I thought it might scare them," she said. "So I told them I wasn't a boy and I wasn't a girl. I wanted to go easy on them."
But it turned out Michelle and Garfield Wilson had prepared themselves for that moment, having noticed their child's gender non-conforming behaviour years earlier. Despite initially having disagreed on how to proceed, the two embraced Tracey wholly.
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"Right then and there, my mom took me to the store and I got my first girl shirt, I got my first tights, I got my first necklace, my first headband," Tracey recalled in an interview on Wednesday.
Now an articulate 12-year-old who speaks eloquently on trans issues, Tracey credits her parents' unwavering support for helping her through her transition. This kind of support is highlighted in a new, national study out of the University of British Columbia as being one of the chief contributors to positive mental health and well-being in trans youth.
Those who had supportive adults both inside and outside the family were four times more likely to report good or excellent mental health and were four times less likely to have considered suicide, the study found. As well, those with a supportive adult in the family are much less likely to self-harm.
The report, called Being Safe, Being Me, drew from the responses of 923 trans youths between the ages of 14 and 25, from every province and territory except Yukon and Nunavut. It is believed to be the largest and most comprehensive survey of its kind on trans-youth health in Canada.
Ms. Wilson, Tracey's mother, said she is grateful for the report, which also underscores the risks that trans youth face with respect to sexual harassment, discrimination and exposure to violence. It found that 70 per cent of respondents had experienced sexual harassment, more than one-third had been physically threatened or injured in the past year and nearly half of older youths reported various types of cyberbullying.
Two-thirds of respondents reported discrimination because of their gender identity and about half due to their physical appearance.
"It reiterates to me … the risk that trans youth face," Ms. Wilson said. "This is a really real issue and it needs to be addressed and taken seriously."
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Elizabeth Saewyc, a UBC nursing professor and the study's principal investigator, said that while the high levels of reported harassment and discrimination are "sobering," it is reassuring to see the impact of protective factors such as family supports and connectedness to schools.
"Those who had someone in the family they could turn to did much better, even if they were experiencing violence elsewhere; those who felt teachers cared about them were twice as likely to report good or excellent mental health," Prof. Saewyc said. "That really suggests to me that we do know the things we can do to help improve their health."
(Tracey made headlines last year when she persuaded the Archdiocese of Vancouver to challenge the teachings of the church and accommodate elementary students' gender expression, supporting her right, for example, not to use the boys' bathroom. That made it the first Catholic school district in Canada to develop such a policy.)
Morgane Oger, chair of the Trans Alliance Society and a spokeswoman for the B.C. Safer Schools Coalition, said the study paints a clearer picture of the trans landscape today than smaller and dated surveys of years past.
"What's great about this is, as we all know, the formative years are when you're young, so these [respondents] reflect more recent formative years," Ms. Oger said. "It's a better snapshot of what's going on now and what's coming down the pipeline, lets say, in the next five years. The youth are more indicative of a trans-positive society that's accustomed to LGBTQ people around them."
Catherine Jenkins, treasurer at PFLAG Vancouver, an LGBTQ support group, said it was good to see a comprehensive Canadian study on trans youth bolstered with numbers.
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"It's great that the trans community has these statistics and has these numbers for themselves to … go to their families and tell them, 'Look, if you don't want to deal with this then this is what could happen,'" she said.SHARE
The key to Georgia Southern's quest for their first NCAA Tournament bid since 1992 is not high-flying, high-scoring sophomore guard Ike Smith. It's not Smith's backcourt running mates Tookie Brown or Mike Hughes. It's not lethal three-point shooter Jake Allsmiller or junior big man B.J. Gladdens. Nor is it fourth-year head coach Mark Byington.
It's James Holder.
RELATED: Georgia Southern Could End Tourney Drought this Season
The 6-foot-1, 170-pound senior guard has been one of the most efficient players in the Sun Belt over the last two seasons, averaging 0.56 points per minute and committing an impressive zero turnovers in the Eagles' last 47 games. And he's also a man of the people, creating electrifying highlight reels to showcase his talent.
In case you didn't get enough James Holder highlights in the reel above, there's a Part Two. How could there not be?New group hopes to inspire dialogue, support between genders
For any man who feels that strike of pain when he learns about a sexual assault against a woman, or bristles at a derogatory joke, there’s a new group for you.
“Men and Feminism,” a new collective starting at Camas Books on May 4, has a mission to speak to the unspoken and give men a new voice when it comes to supporting their female counterparts.
The group has been in the works for over a year thanks to Comrade Black, local spoken word artist and member of the Camas Collective and Victoria Anarchist Bookfair Collective. Yet the recent group sexual assault against a woman on Cedar Hill Crossroads became the pivot point where Black said it’s finally time to get things done.
“The idea started with some articles I read by feminist thinkers like bell hooks and Andrea Dworkin, that kept saying that there was no group of men teaching other men about feminism, and that they wanted men to be allies, to be part of the movement,” says Black. “In the end, I am doing this simply because no one else is and I think it needs to be done.”
Black says that he struggled with ideas around how to start a group that could be feminist-oriented while targeting men, and kept thinking “I don’t know enough, or I need to read more.” But with the help from some of his friends at the Victoria Women’s Sexual Assault Centre, and with the admittance that the need outweighs “getting it perfect,” Black decided to give it a go.
“I am not organizing this because I have somehow moved beyond sexism — I haven’t — but I am committed to trying to unlearn sexism,” he says. “It is a difficult process since so much of this is learned right from the time we are small children … challenging patriarchal thinking is an active process that means making yourself committed to being open and vulnerable, and being called on it when you fuck up.”
Black says he’s seen terrible acts of injustice against women, the most recent being police and media alerting women to dress and act with caution in order to avoid getting raped.
With any luck, he hopes to see the group work to educate men on the significance they can play in this thought process, as well as demystify feminism — and misconceptions around it — on a whole.
“For someone new to all this, it can be really difficult to know where to begin. A lot of feminist writing is super academic, often very bias and not written for men. Much of it uses very difficult language, especially discipline-specific terms like heteronormative,” says Black. “Many men don’t know where to begin because there is not really any place for them to learn. In universities, feminism is taught as women’s studies, which many men don’t think they are allowed to take, or are going to be welcomed to. We need to create positive and welcoming spaces for men to also take part in learning about sexism if we ever hope to create a world free of it.”
Black emphasizes that feminism is about ending the systems that create inequality, not about making women more powerful than men.
“Pretending people are equal when they are not simply reinforces that inequality and perpetuates the systems that create it,” Black says. “We can not have true equality in a society based on coercion, violence, capitalism and colonialism. In the end I think the most effective thing I can do is teach people that they have a responsibility to not allow sexism in their community, and that it is irresponsible to not stop it when you can.” M
“Men and Feminism” will have ongoing monthly meetings on the first Wednesday of every month, 7pm at Camas Books (2590 Quadra). The group is free, though attendees must come with a willingness to learn.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.
Fatah and other Palestinian factions on Tuesday condemned a meeting that took place in Ramallah earlier this week between PLO representatives and Israeli politicians.
The Israeli delegation to the meeting – which was organized by the Geneva Initiative group – included members of the Likud and Shas, rabbis, political consultants and municipal council members.
During their visit to Ramallah, the Israelis met with PLO Secretary-General Yasser Abed Rabbo, top Fatah official Nabil Sha’ath, PLO Executive Committee member Mohamed Masri, and Ashraf al-Ajrami, a former minister for prisoner affairs in the Palestinian Authority.Abed Rabbo is also the head of the Palestinian branch of the Geneva Initiative.The meeting took place in spite of an ongoing campaign by Palestinians to combat any form of “normalization” with Israel. In recent months, the anti-normalization campaign condemned similar meetings between Israelis and Palestinians.The campaign led to the cancellation of several Israeli- Palestinian events that were supposed to take place under the auspices of various European and American organizations.The Fatah-controlled Palestinian Journalists Syndicate in the West Bank has joined the anti-normalization campaign by demanding that its members refrain from meeting Israeli colleagues.Referring to the most recent meeting in Ramallah, Fatah said: “We condemn normalization and those behind it. Such meetings are void of political content and a waste of time. They are unjustified, nationally and politically.”The faction said in a leaflet that such meetings were in violation of PA President Mahmoud Abbas’s position to halt meetings with the Israeli government.According to Fatah, the Ramallah meeting “ignored the feelings of our people and the living memory among our people – that these Zionists are the staunchest enemies of our rights.”The Fatah statement concluded, “While we strongly condemn such meetings and categorically reject them, we call upon our leadership to form a commission of inquiry to hold accountable those responsible.”Hamas also condemned the encounter in Ramallah as a “form of normalization” with Israel.H |
uses'menu' for clutch pass to Cook
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RECEIVERS (4 ½)
There’s a major reason why the offense sputtered in the Game 5 loss to the Cowboys. Jared Cook was out with an ankle injury. Obviously, Jordy Nelson (ribs) was missed in this game, but probably not to the extent that Cook would have been. Cook (played 51 of the 67 offensive snaps, including 23 with his hand down) is a unique player on this roster. The 36-yard reception to set up the winning field goal would have been difficult for a WR, let alone a TE. His hands, his sideline awareness and his ability to read a coverage coming all the way across the field were just outstanding. He made two other tough catches. He ran right by CB Morris Claiborne for 26 yards, and was open deep against CB Brandon Carr but the pass was overthrown. He isn’t a fabulous athlete and is a little stiff, but his hands are consistent, he can still run and he’s a willing if not always effective blocker. Cook led in targets with 11 followed by Davante Adams (60) with 10 and Randall Cobb (62) with eight. Adams is hard for any CB to handle on split end-slants against press coverage. When Adams moved inside in a trips formation, FS Byron Jones came down to cover him. Jones had outside leverage but Adams beat him outside anyway with his fast feet for 32. Cobb outplayed nickel back Orlando Scandrick, an old adversary. He also showed tremendous toe-tapping ability on the first play of the third quarter. What endears Cobb to scouts is the fact he gets north-south after the catch without messing around. Geronimo Allison (51) is still a little soft and can be ridden off routes. However, he’s aggressive after the catch and even on crack-back blocks. He’s a consistent catcher, too. When Richard Rodgers (25, 12 in a three-point stance) went one-on-one against WLB Sean Lee, the 34-yard TD was his longest gain since the Hail Mary in Detroit last season. Rodgers surprisingly had Lee beat by several steps but then came back to make a tough catch falling into the end zone as the pass was underthrown … maybe intentionally.
OFFENSIVE LINE (4 ½)
David Irving, perhaps the most talented member of the Cowboys’ eight-man rotation in the D-line, also played the most snaps (45). With his height, long arms and speed, he had been disrupting foes in the last six weeks. Against the Packers’ veterans, he made one tackle and didn’t have a pressure. When Irving played DE, Bryan Bulaga handled him. When he worked inside, T.J. Lang and Corey Linsley were in total control. Rod Marinelli’s group plays as hard as any in the NFL, but hustle can’t make up for pedestrian talent against a pass-blocking unit like the Packers. All three sacks were by defensive backs on five-man pressures. In all, Marinelli rushed five on 36 percent of dropbacks (he never rushed six). Even after returning from a second-quarter knee injury, David Bakhtiari owned DEs DeMarcus Lawrence and Benson Mayowa. DE Tyrone Crawford, a solid vet, didn’t come close to solving Bulaga. Lang blocked authoritatively on the second level, and on Aaron Ripkowski’s 20-yard run he pulled and took out Lee. Linsley’s pull on MLB Anthony Hitchens for a 15-yard gain was reminiscent of how Cowboys C Mark Stepnoski worked in space in the 1990s. As the game went on Linsley’s shotgun snaps started floating back. On Ty Montgomery’s 3-yard TD run, Lane Taylor combo-blocked off DT Terrell McClain and onto Lee. Fortunately for the Packers, Jason Spriggs had to play just six snaps (three at LT, three at TE). That was time enough for the rookie to miss Lawrence on a run for minus-5 and miss Lee for a hurry on a stunt. He has a ton of work to do before 2017 training camp.
QUARTERBACKS (4 ½)
Based on the first three series, it looked as if Aaron Rodgers had a snitch in Marinelli’s staff meeting room all week. Everything worked: the quick game, the play-action game, the deep game, the check-down game, the blitz-beater game and the extend game. When Mayowa took his good sweet time subbing out on third and 5, Rodgers had the ball snapped to gain the penalty that sustained the opening TD drive. When Irving jumped offside, Rodgers was able to complete just his second pass of the season on a “free” play (the TD to Richard Rodgers). He seemed so calm. His accuracy in the first half was good, not great. He probably missed not having Nelson around as his default receiver. Rodgers had a chance to do away with Dallas late in the third quarter but threw a bad ball inside rather than outside to Adams and FS Jeff Heath intercepted to initiate the Cowboys’ comeback. Dallas didn’t register a single pressure until the five-minute mark of the second quarter. When Marinelli began sending an extra rusher, Rodgers was responsible for 1 ½ of the three sacks and one of the two knockdowns. He was hit much harder than in most games. Probably the most jarring contact was the blind-side shot by Heath for a sack with 18 seconds left and the score tied. Some quarterbacks fumble from that hit. Not only didn’t Rodgers fumble, it took no more than a second for him to look at referee Tony Corrente and call a timeout. On the next play, he extended right and threw a perfect 20-yard pass to Cook that Jones made a stellar play to break up. On the next play, one that will be remembered for years, he rolled by design to the left, spotted Cook running through the zone and, throwing across his torso, delivered a somewhat wobbly pass on the dime for 36 yards. Rodgers hasn’t experienced the thrill and satisfaction of many game-winning drives in his illustrious career. If the situation occurs in Atlanta or perhaps Houston, he’ll be ready.
RUNNING BACKS (3 ½)
Mike McCarthy used an empty backfield 11 times, tying his highest total in the last 10 games. The result was 52 snaps for Ty Montgomery, 21 for Ripkowski and four for Christine Michael. Montgomery thrived, rushing 11 times for 47 yards against a reduced box and adding 34 yards in six receptions. When Lang blocked SS Barry Church, Montgomery made a great cut through trash for a gain of 15. On another rush he ran over Church, a certified tough guy. He vaulted into the end zone with authority, too. When the inside was plugged up, he showed speed to turn the corner and gain a couple yards. Church made amends, however, by running over Montgomery for a sack and beating him for a pressure. With seasoning, Montgomery might have picked up Heath on his last-minute knockdown. Ripkowski isn’t John Kuhn yet in protection, either. But he is tough. Michael undercut Rodgers on one of his one-step throws. That’s not the recommended path for further playing time.
DEFENSIVE LINE (3)
From a personnel standpoint, the best development was the performance of DT Kenny Clark. Considering the opposition, the Packers have to be ebullient about his showing, at least as a pass rusher. The D-line rotation consisted of Mike Daniels (played 43 of the 69 defensive snaps), Letroy Guion (27), Dean Lowry (21) and Clark (26). The only pressures were the two by Clark. He bulled All-Pro RG Zack Martin into Dak Prescott, forcing a third-down incompletion and subsequent FG. He also successfully bull-rushed LG Ronald Leary and C Travis Frederick. These were two-armed chest jams accompanied by leverage and lower-body strength. The Packers’ only tackle for loss came on a screen to Ezekiel Elliott in which Clark recognized it instantly, wouldn’t be faked and made the tackle in space. On Nick Perry’s sack, it was hustle and spatial awareness by Clark that prevented Prescott from escaping toward the sideline. Elliott made some of his 125 yards bouncing outside. Some also came straight through the A gaps. Everyone got obliterated more than once. Most damaging were the times blockers occupied Guion and Clark one-on-one freeing another to cover up one of the ILBs. After playing three D-linemen 28 times in the first meeting Dom Capers did that just five times Sunday.
McGINN: Crosby keeps Packers alive, kicking
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D'AMATO: Dagger through the heart of Texas
LINEBACKERS (2 ½)
Though healthy, Blake Martinez played merely one snap from scrimmage compared to 67 for Joe Thomas and 53 for Jake Ryan. Thomas has back problems but it didn’t stop him from a respectable performance. He’s not a take-on guy. FB Keith Smith, a violent lead blocker, flattened Thomas twice. Martin rag-dolled him once. He’s small and will get bounced. At the same time, Thomas keeps running to the ball and, when he gets there, the hits can be explosive. In coverage, he kept TE Jason Witten from scoring a 15-yard TD with two excellent plays in coverage (one in man, one in zone) late in the first half. It was Ryan’s play to make on Prescott’s QB draw for 2 points that tied the score. Ryan usually shoots his gun but in this case he hesitated and was lost. Clearly, the Packers need better performance at the position. The battle between beat-up perennial Pro Bowlers Clay Matthews (49) and LT Tyron Smith was no contest. Of Matthews’ 28 non-stunt rushes, he was one-on-one with Smith on 25. His two pressures came on a stunt against Leary and a “rover” rush around RT Doug Free. Julius Peppers (45 snaps, including 30 at OLB) continued to start over Perry (37). Peppers had a quiet day whereas Perry came through with a critical batted ball on the Cowboys’ last snap, the sack and a knockdown inside against Free. Perry’s sack actually was set up on a flush by Datone Jones (31, including 23 at OLB) on an inside move against Free. For the first time in his 15 “healthy” games Kyler Fackrell wasn’t used from scrimmage.
DEFENSIVE BACKS (1)
Easily the best of the cornerbacks was nickel back Micah Hyde (69). His interception was phenomenal, even better than his textbook pick at the front pylon at Ford Field. He trusted his film study and his keen instincts, communicated with LaDarius Gunter and jumped Prescott’s dump-off. Witten came across the formation to pick up Hyde’s slot blitz expecting another timid DB that would give himself up. Instead, Hyde adjusted to a blocker outweighing him by 65 pounds and won inside in 2.9 seconds. Hyde has enjoyed better days playing the run but also deflected a pass to speedy Brice Butler 28 yards downfield. Ha Ha Clinton-Dix (69) isn’t finishing the season strong. He had Elliott dead to rights in front of the Packers’ bench and missed. He’s just not getting much done. Morgan Burnett suffered a basketball-type thigh injury in his seventh snap before limping around for nine more and giving way to Kentrell Brice (52). Brice was erratic, which might be expected but can’t be accepted this time of year. He cut down Elliott twice in the clear with sharp low tackles, and demolished slot Cole Beasley after a catch. At the same time, he waited for a wayward long pass instead of attacking the ball and dropped the pick. He also left himself too vulnerable to punishment in front of pulling linemen, covered down on the slot for the blitzing Hyde and gave up a too-easy 19-yard pass to Terrance Williams and lost containment once. Gunter (69) shadowed Dez Bryant for the most part, which was an impossible assignment from the jump. Gunter is physical and good with his hands, but not to such an extent where he could stop a rare talent such as Bryant. When Bryant did release cleanly, Gunter’s marginal catch-up speed led to the 40-yard TD. The tipoff that Gunter is playing hurt was his poor tackling. On the other side, Damarious Randall (67) was awful. Maybe he’s hurt; on Saturday, he was added to the injury report (foot). He was late lining up at times, wasn’t in proper football position and offering little or no challenge to receivers. His run support was non-existent. Even Witten was doing whatever he wanted to Randall. The Packers can be expected to do everything possible so Quinten Rollins starts at LC.
KICKERS (5)
Mason Crosby had to kick the decisive 51-yard FG as time expired twice after coach Jason Garrett attempted to freeze him with his final timeout. The second boot wasn’t quite as true but fit just inside the left upright by a few feet. Ten minutes or so earlier, he drilled the third-longest FG in playoff history (56). That extends his postseason record to 23 straight. All six of his kickoffs were touchbacks; the averages were 73.8 yards and 4.0 seconds of hang time. Jacob Schum’s three-punt averages were 54.7 (gross), 45.3 (net) and 4.62.
SPECIAL TEAMS (3)
Michael is an accident waiting to happen on kickoff returns. Intelligence and stability are important qualities in that position. Michael muffed a catch Sunday, panicked and got out only to the 6. In previous games he has caught kickoffs above his head. It would be somewhat surprising if he plays again for the Packers. Something’s missing.
STARS OF THE GAME: 1. Mason Crosby; 2. Aaron Rodgers; 3. Jared Cook.
OVERALL RATING: 4.5 footballsIt’s Summer!! The time of year when the sun comes out to play and we can enjoy late nights, early mornings and lots of fun. And of course, for us gamers what it really means is a lot more time to play games, so what better time to introduce the PlayStation Store Summer Sale?
This year, PlayStation Store brings you some outstanding offers on over 50 titles. Starting on the 1st August, the PlayStation Store Summer Sale (or Winter Sale for all our readers shivering away over in Australia and New Zealand) runs all the way to 5th September 2012. With full Blu-ray games, PlayStation Network titles, PS3 add-ons, PS one Classics, PSP games, minis and movies included, there’s bound to be something here to tickle your fancy.
The deals include big savings on the likes of LA Noire Complete Edition (was €39.99/£31.99, now €23.99/£19.69, with an additional 15% off for Plus members) and Midnight Club: Los Angeles Complete Edition (was €24.99/£19.99, now €17.99/£13.99, with an additional 25% off for Plus members), but keep your eyes on the PlayStation Store for full details on what’s on offer.
But that’s not all!
As well as having loads of awesome content on offer throughout August, we will also be offering seven Summer savings. These deals will each be on offer for four days only, with a new deal replacing it. The dates to remember:
Deal 1 – 1-4 August
Deal 2 – 5-8 August
Deal 3 – 9-12 August
Deal 4 – 13-16 August
Deal 5 – 17-20 August
Deal 6 – 21-24 August
Deal 7 – 25-28 August
We’ll be kicking off these savings with FIFA 12 at €29.99/£23.99 (was €69.99/£54.99), while PlayStation Plus members will also get FIFA EURO 2012 DLC with their purchase of FIFA 12.[image-36]
NASA is inviting people around the globe to step outside during Earth Science Week, Oct. 12-18, observe the sky and share their observations as citizen scientists.
NASA’s #SkyScience activity is part of an annual educational event organized by the American Geosciences Institute to encourage the public to engage in Earth sciences. Citizen scientists can participate in this global Earth science data collection event by observing, photographing and reporting on clouds over their location as a NASA satellite passes over. Reports and photos will be compared to data collected by NASA Earth-observing instruments as a way to assess the satellite measurements.
Using the hashtag #SkyScience, participants are encouraged to post their cloud and sky photos and observation experiences to Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, Google+ and Flickr. Throughout the week, NASA will share some of the most interesting photos on the agency’s social media accounts.
In addition to #SkyScience, NASA has been engaging students in cloud observation for years through the agency’s Students’ Cloud Observations On-Line (S’COOL) Project.
“#SkyScience is another opportunity to get lots of reports in a short period of time and enable additional statistical analysis,” said S’COOL project lead Lin Chambers of NASA’s Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia.
To learn how to get involved in the #SkyScience activity, visit:
http://go.nasa.gov/skysci
For information about NASA's Earth science activities in 2014, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/earthrightnow
-end-When I placed a few calls to contacts in the Japanese–Canadian community to inquire about shochu recently, I was greeted with the same question each time: Was I sure I didn't want to talk about sake instead? Fair enough. Sake is Japan's most famous beverage export, sushi's booze buddy. While I do love the fermented rice brew, especially top-quality cold stuff, I must confess an equal passion for shochu, sake's distilled, higher-strength cousin.
If you've had the privilege of dining in one of Japan's ubiquitous pubs, known as izakayas, you'll know what I'm talking about. Variously distilled from rice, barley, sweet potato, buckwheat, molasses and even chestnuts, shochu, which is typically bottled at 25-per-cent alcohol, is a staple of the casual, small-plate grazing scene. It's also a pillar of Japan's cocktail culture, where the so-called Asian vodka enjoys wider popularity than any other spirit in mixed drinks. "Instead of vodka, this is what's the standard in Japan," says Shotaro Ozawa of Ozawa Canada Inc., a Toronto-based importer of several brands, including the fine Yokaichi Mugi. The same is true in Korea, where a similar national drink, called soju, is reputed to have come first.
With annual consumption hovering around 950 million litres in Japan, shochu outsells wine by a factor of more than three, the Japan External Trade Organization reports. As for sake, even it was humbled in 2003, when shochu overtook it in popularity, figures from Japan's finance ministry show. Although the white spirit remains obscure and hard to find here, I was heartened to learn that shochu distilling has finally taken root in Canada. 66 Gilead, an excellent new craft-spirits producer in Ontario's Prince Edward County, just released White Dragon, the first homegrown shochu. And it's a splendid product, distilled from a combination of barley and rice. Imagine the cereal-like underpinning of a single-malt Scotch fused with the delicate sweetness of fine, cold sake, yet with a milder alcoholic bite than 40-per cent– alcohol whisky. Alternatively, think of it as sumo-strength sake, sturdy enough to carry its subtle grain flavours into battle against vibrant Asian fare.
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As with barrel-aged whisky, White Dragon delivers a hint of toastiness, though not from time spent in charred oak. "I love Korean food," says Sophia Pantazi, the Toronto doctor who owns 66 Gilead with her physician husband, Peter Stroz. "I just love toasted sesame seeds, so I decided to add some to the mix."
It's an unconventional recipe, but shochu offers distillers more creative latitude than other, more tightly governed spirits. Unlike vodka, which must be colourless, it can even be left to mature, mellow and develop a coppery hue in barrel. Since there are no veteran shochu distillers in North America to offer tutelage and no manuals for guidance, Pantazi hit the sake books instead. The fermentation process is essentially the same, one reason many Japanese sake breweries have branched out into shochu. Pantazi even used authentic koji mould, the rice-derived enzyme used to break down starches into sugar for fermentation. "Shochu," she says, "is basically a distilled sake."
White Dragon isn't, however, the only shochu from North America. Seattle's Sodo Spirits Distillery, which entered the market with its first shochu in late 2011, a year ahead of 66 Gilead, has made infusions its specialty. Coowner K.C. Sheehan places a variety of fresh ingredients directly into the pot still to make four flavoured styles: rosemary, ginger, mint and chili pepper. "We wanted something that would work nicely in a cocktail," he says. "Many craft specialty bars are looking for special spirits to mix with." In a burst of Eastmeets– West inspiration, he even swapped rye whisky with chili shochu to create a mildly spicy Manhattan.
At Hapa Izakaya in Vancouver, regional bar manager Chris Ireland features two signature shochu cocktails, including the Tokyo Iced Tea, a long drink that includes simple syrup, fresh lemon juice and cold oolong tea. "Some people expect a vodka burn, but it doesn't have that," he says.
Tea happens to be a popular shochu mixer in Japan, too; many Japanese also swear by plain hot water, in a 50-50 blend. The result is akin to warm sake, with the aromatic nuances gaining heady lift from the rising vapours.
For quality-minded shochu producers, there is, though, one self-imposed restriction. The finest shochus are distilled just once, preferably in a pot still. Single distillation, a departure from twice-distilled Scotch and multiple-distilled vodka, preserves more of the base ingredient's flavours. Pot stills also help amplify them. The growing singledistilled category, known as honkaku, helped drive the resurgence in Japan, where shochu had long been dismissed by younger drinkers as the unhip sip of an older generation.
Quality, it bears saying, is another dividing line between shochu and soju, the latter often made from an inexpensive neutral grain spirit (a.k.a. flavourless alcohol) and spiked with sugar and citric acid to mask the burn. Good shochu, available in limited quantities in Canada, costs about $30, while something like sweet, medicinal Charm Soju runs at about $5.50 for a half bottle. I can, of course, appreciate the appeal of mass-produced soju with Korean fare centred around pickled kimchi. But it's no White Dragon.Fonterra has dramatically reduced its forecast milk payout - to $3.85 per kilogram of milk solids, down from $5.25.
Photo: 123RF
The co-operative said there was still significant imbalance in the global dairy market, which showed weak demand and too much supply.
The cut will have a massive effect on dairy farmers, and Richard Jones - a Fonterra sharemilker in Southland - said a $3.85 payout meant he was working for nothing.
"It means working to make a loss this year. There's not a lot of fun in knowing that you're going to slog your guts out, work harder than ever before for a whole year, and know that you're not going to make any money - and your staff are getting better paid than you are."
He estimated he would make at least a loss of $250,000 on his sharemilking business.
Announcing the payout today, Fonterra chairperson John Wilson admitted it would be a tough season for farmers.
He said, while current prices were unsustainably low, the co-operative had confidence that prices would recover over the course of the season.
"We are in a difficult position right now with global dairy prices - they are clearly totally unsustainable," he told a phone conference this afternoon.
"We are seeing farmers increasingly globally grappling with these lower prices, and we certainly do expect that dairy prices will start moving upwards before too long."
Photo: RNZ / Kim Baker Wilson
The dairy giant's group director of corporate affairs, Miles Hurrell, told Checkpoint there was always a probability that the payout figure will go up.
He said, just like any forecast, the chances of it at the start of the season ending on exactly that number in 12 months time was very remote but it was their best estimate of where they saw things going in the market over that period.
Mr Wilson also announced support for farmers of an additional 50 cents per shared-up kilogram of milk solids.
He said this was effectively an interest-free loan, to be repaid when farmgate milk prices were higher, and was an acknowledgement of a unique and difficult situation.
Fonterra to review spending
Fonterra chief executive Theo Spierings said, in light of today's cut to the forecast milk payout, the co-operative has reviewed its capital expenditure for the next two years.
He said they were now aiming to spend $500-$600 million less for the 2016 financial year.
Earlier this week, global dairy trade prices plummeted to their lowest level in seven years. It was the 10th consecutive fall and means prices overall are at their lowest in 13 years.
Late last month, Westland Milk Products also lowered its forecast milk payout for the 2015/16 season - to a range of $4.60 to $5 a kilo of milk solids.
The country's second largest processor, Open Country Dairy, has also revised its price down, to below $4.Another week, another AT&T Goal of the Week nomination for David Villa and Sebastian Giovinco.
The pair of MLS All-Stars were at it again over the weekend, with Villa notching a brace in New York City FC’s thrilling 5-3 win against Orlando City SC and Giovinco tallying his 13th goal of the year in Toronto FC’s comeback 3-3 draw at Columbus Crew SC.
While Villa and Giovinco have been regular AT&T Goal of the Week nominees this year, they’re both still looking for their first honors. Villa is nominated for his first goal against Orlando, while Giovinco is in the running for his stunning volley that began TFC’s comeback in Ohio.
They’re joined by a third All-Star, Sporting Kansas City’s Benny Feilhaber, who’s in the field for his long-range strike in Sporting Kansas City’s 2-1 loss at Real Salt Lake. Orlando rookie Cyle Larin – who bagged a hat trick in the loss to NYCFC – is nominated for his third tally, while Houston’s Leonel Miranda’s chipped finish in the Dynamo’s 3-0 win against the LA Galaxy rounds out the group.
Which goal deserves the top spot? Vote now – the winner will be announced on Friday.
Voting runs until 11:59 pm PT on Thursdays. For complete coverage of the AT&T MLS Goal of the Week – including an archive of all of this season’s nominees and winners – click here.Meanwhile, Ontario’s budget slight-of-hand is raising questions across the country.
“Listen, if Ontario can legislate an asset in this case, and everybody thinks that’s okay, then you can bet your booties Quebec will be right on the train following them and so will British Columbia,” said Tim Besuchamp, the former director of the Public Sector Accounting Board (PSAB) of Canada. “Anybody who’s got a deficit – they’ll just make it go away by creating an asset.”
If Ontario’s method of accounting for expenses spreads, taxpayers might never know if their government is truly in the red or black or even how big a debt has been run up, said Beauchamp, who’s spent 27 years helping develop clear and open accounting standards so citizens can see what their governments are doing.
“And so the bottom line, everything balanced to zero,” he said. “And that’s just not the way it is.”
For their part, Ontario Energy Minister Glenn Thibeault said the government wanted to make sure the borrowing costs for the Fair Hydro Plan were borne by hydro customers, not taxpayers.
Rate-regulated accounting is commonly used in the energy sector, he said, and cast doubt on the auditor’s projection of $4 billion in extra borrowing costs.
Colin Nekolaichuk, a spokesperson for Thibeault, said in an email that “It was essential that we get the structure right (of the Fair Hydro Plan) while delivering the meaningful relief Ontario families needed,”
Beauchamp acted as a consultant for Lysyk but said she only asked him what he thought of the accounting plan, not to confirm her opinion.
Lysyk also canvassed Auditors General across Canada, and everyone agreed that Ontario was going down the wrong path, he said.
“If they get that through to the province’s financial statements, then every province, every municipality in Canada, will take advantage of it,” Beauchamp said. “It will destroy what the Public Sector Accounting Board has worked for ever since it started.”
Public accounting standards, in the U.S. as well as Canada, mandate that governments not treat taxes yet to be levied as an asset, he said.
He dismissed the position of the Ontario government, that this is at its heart an accounting dispute.
“(This) is going to bleed through the whole public sector in Canada,” Beauchamp said. “It sets a precedent...It’s not two accountants sitting in a boxing ring having it out with each other.”
Read more from The Observer hereBloomberg via Getty Images Betsy DeVos commented on her recent visit to Jefferson Academy in Washington, D.C.
A Washington, D.C. public school is firing back after U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos criticized its teachers for having a “receive mode” attitude.
In an interview with the conservative news site, Townhall, published on Feb. 16, DeVos expressed her belief that public school teachers are “limited by the top-down, one size fits all approaches, either at the school level, the district level, the state level, or in all too many cases, the federal decree.”
DeVos then referenced Jefferson Academy, which she visited on Feb. 10. She stated:
“I visited a school on Friday and met with some wonderful, genuine, sincere teachers who pour their heart and soul into their classrooms and their students and our conversation was not long enough to draw out of them what is limiting them from being even more success from what they are currently. But I can tell the attitude is more of a ‘receive mode.’ They’re waiting to be told what they have to do, and that’s not going to bring success to an individual child. You have to have teachers who are empowered to facilitate great teaching.”
Protesters initially blocked the Education Secretary from entering Jefferson Academy on that day, but she ultimately made it inside and visited several classrooms. At the end of her visit, she told reporters that the school was “awesome.”
“It was really wonderful to visit this school, and I look forward to many visits of many great public schools, both in D.C. and around the country,” DeVos stated.
Needless to say, school officials were taken aback by Devos’ later comments about its teachers.
The Jefferson Academy Twitter account unleashed a tweetstorm, starting by saying they were about to take Devos “to school.” The series of 11 tweets praised the teachers DeVos met during her visit and touted their individualized approaches to teaching students.
This is what Sec. DeVos said about our teachers after her visit. Needless to say, we're about to take her to school... @dcpublicschools pic.twitter.com/Wcx1YyqDHL — Jefferson Academy (@JATrojans) February 18, 2017
First, the secretary visited the classroom of Ashley Shepherd and Britany Locher, a dynamic co-teaching team that differentiates for the... — Jefferson Academy (@JATrojans) February 18, 2017
needs of students ranging from a first grade level to an eighth grade level in reading. They build amazing relationships with students and.. — Jefferson Academy (@JATrojans) February 18, 2017
maintain a positive classroom environment focused on rigorous content, humor, and love. They aren't waiting to be told what to do. — Jefferson Academy (@JATrojans) February 18, 2017
Then she saw Latisha Trent in action. Ms. Trent has been at Jefferson for 3 years, and each year her students grow MULTIPLE grade levels... — Jefferson Academy (@JATrojans) February 18, 2017
in Math. EVERY student realizes his or her maximum potential in Ms. Trent's room. She isn't waiting to be told what to do. — Jefferson Academy (@JATrojans) February 18, 2017
Then the Sec. met Band teacher Jessica Harris, who has built our Music program from the ground up. Ms. Harris pours her heart into her work. — Jefferson Academy (@JATrojans) February 18, 2017
Ms. Harris is patient, kind, relentless, and reflective. She is everything you want in a teacher. She isn't waiting to be told what to do. — Jefferson Academy (@JATrojans) February 18, 2017
Morgan Markbreiter was there as well. Ms. MB has unleashed the passion of countless students through her Video Game Design course. MB also.. — Jefferson Academy (@JATrojans) February 18, 2017
runs our INCREDIBLE after-school program, which provides FREE tutoring and enrichment to our kids. She isn't waiting to be told what to do. — Jefferson Academy (@JATrojans) February 18, 2017
JA teachers are not in a "receive mode." Unless you mean we "receive" students at a 2nd grade level and move them to an 8th grade level. — Jefferson Academy (@JATrojans) February 18, 2017
”JA teachers are not in a ‘receive mode.’ Unless you mean we ‘receive’ students at a 2nd grade level and move them to an 8th grade level,” the last tweet reads.
Parents, educators and local officials also defended the school and criticized the Education Secretary for mischaracterizing its teachers to make a political point about federal education programs.
DeVos tries to use Jefferson MS as political photo-op; then trashes our Ward6 teachers after? She should be ashamed! https://t.co/HNzNbMcr6s — Charles Allen (@charlesallen) February 18, 2017
We should all want our children taught by incredible @dcpublicschools teachers like those @JATrojans. @BetsyDeVosED https://t.co/hoYuDUNWHh — A Smith (@ahnnakim) February 18, 2017
Perhaps you should go into receive mode, @BetsyDeVos, and learn a thing or two from the educators at @JATrojans and across America. — Sizzlene (@Sizzlene) February 18, 2017
Whenever I need to see a committed staff and great instruction and see true transformation, I visit @JATrojans. You should too. — Jacqueline Greer (@JacquelineinEd) February 18, 2017
DeVos, who has been criticized for her lack of professional experience in public education, responded to Jefferson Academy’s tweets.
“Your teachers are awesome! They deserve MORE freedom to innovate and help students,” she tweeted.
The Education Secretary then reiterated the statements she made during her interview about government programs aimed at improving education. “Great teachers deserve freedom and flexibility, not to constantly be on the receiving end of government dictates,” she wrote.
.@JATrojans Your teachers are awesome! They deserve MORE freedom to innovate and help students. — Betsy DeVos (@BetsyDeVosED) February 18, 2017
.@JATrojans Great teachers deserve freedom and flexibility, not to constantly be on the receiving end of government dictates. — Betsy DeVos (@BetsyDeVosED) February 18, 2017
Ultimately, Jefferson Academy is moving forward with its mission to help students in the D.C. area. The school is using its time in the spotlight to share job listings and promote some teachers’ projects that need funding.
Our AMAZING teachers have projects that need funding. If you're in a giving spirit, they're in "receive mode." :) https://t.co/D5Ta7U6DuZ — Jefferson Academy (@JATrojans) February 19, 2017A bombshell report by The Washington Free Beacon has revealed that President Obama’s State Department was aware of the fact that Iran had hacked their emails and social media accounts during the same week that U.S. officials actively negotiated key elements of the nuclear deal with Iranian counterparts. The attack allegedly occurred on September 25 and may have granted the Iranians leverage during negotiations.
“The attack took place within days of the deal overcoming opposition in Congress in late September that year. That same week, Iranian officials and negotiators for the United States and other world powers were beginning the process of hashing out a series of agreements allowing Tehran to meet previously determined implementation deadlines,” explains The Free Beacon.
At the time, the U.S. was hammering out details of the deal that were only disclosed to Congress, including provisions that allowed Iran to operate around prohibitions and continue bolstering its conventional military capabilities.
While the reality of Iran’s well-timed cyber attack was evident to some in the State Department, we don’t know for sure if U.S. officials negotiating with Iran were made aware of the attack. Further, we don’t know if Iranian hackers managed to gain access to the online material of the American negotiating.
We do know, however, that the State Department was deeply concerned about the cyber attack.
“At least four State Department officials in the Bureau of Near East Affairs and a senior State Department adviser on digital media and cyber-security were involved in trying to contain the hack, according to an email dated September 24, 2015, and multiple interviews with sources familiar with the attack,” adds The Free Beacon.
And in spite of (or perhaps because of) all the PR work the Obama administration did to advance the highly-flawed nuclear deal with Iran, the administration never disclosed that the attack had occurred.
“The Obama administration kept quiet about the cyber |
itory impact. All this implies that subcortical GABA inputs to NAc may achieve a greater potency of disinhibition of downstream targets to alter hedonic impact than glutamate inputs from predominantly cortical-related sources. Finally, we note that muscimol microinjection produced “antiplumes” or areas of Fos suppression, whereas DNQX produced robust pure plumes of elevated Fos expression, consistent with our previous observations [2], [26]. These considerations suggest an additional qualitative difference between glutamatergic versus GABAergic hyperpolarizations, beyond a simple intensity difference, which may also contribute to differing modulation of hedonic reactions to sensory pleasure or displeasure. As a caveat, it may be important to note that our conclusion that glutamate disruption fails to penetrate core ‘liking’ reactions to sensory pleasure is specific to ionotropic glutamate signals, and in particular to those requiring AMPA receptor activation. Blockade of AMPA receptors may be expected to disrupt ionotropic fast excitatory signals to medium spiny neurons in medial shell. This conclusion about fast-acting ionotropic receptors may need to be distinguished from metabotropic glutamate receptors that play a slower and broader modulatory role for neuronal function, and which could conceivably alter hedonic ‘liking’ more effectively than AMPA blockade, either directly by altering medium spiny neurons with metabotropic receptors or via presynaptic modulation of GABA release, which could in turn alter hedonic impact [43], [44]. Thus, we conclude that ionotropic AMPA glutamate disruptions in NAc shell do not modulate hedonic pleasure, but consider the hedonic role of metabotropic glutamate receptors to remain an open empirical question.
Limits to top-down control? An overall interpretation of our results may be that top-down corticolimbic inputs using glutamate signals from prefrontal cortex regions, such as infralimbic cortex (homologous in rats to ventral anterior cingulate cortex in humans), orbitofrontal or prelimbic cortex, or from hippocampus subiculum, basolateral amygdala, or paraventricular thalamus, all are limited in their ability to control hedonic emotional processes generated by NAc neurons, compared to bottom-up or subcortical inputs to the same NAc sites that primarily use GABA signals. Specifically, corticolimbic glutamate circuits appear to control the generation in medial shell of motivation components (incentive salience versus fearful salience), but not the generation of hedonic affective states (pleasure ‘liking’ versus displeasure ‘disliking’). This may restrict the capacity of top-down corticolimbic circuits to regulate subcortically generated emotion. Of course, another caveat is that our studies were conducted in rats, whereas primates and especially humans have larger prefrontal cortex and thus more dense glutamate projections to NAc. However, our results are still likely to apply to humans unless the quantitative species difference in top-down influence actually creates a qualitative expansion of control to include NAc-generated hedonics. We conclude that the influence exerted by top-down controls over NAc may be limited to motivational states, and may leave core hedonic reactions to affective events relatively untouched. This feature might also conceivably set limits on the range of emotional processes that can be effectively adjusted by cognitive therapies that recruit top-down circuits [45], [46], [47], [48], [49], [50], [51], [52]. As caveat to our general distinction between cortical glutamate versus subcortical GABA sources, it is important to note one significant subcortical source of glutamate signals in NAc: co-release of glutamate by mesolimbic dopamine neurons [53]. Glutamate released by mesolimbic dopamine neurons can produce fast postsynaptic potentials in NAc that is blocked by DNQX, implicating ionotropic AMPA receptors [53]. It may be noteworthy that dopamine in NAc, like glutamate AMPA disruption, fails to enhance ‘liking’ reactions to sensory pleasure even when it elevates ‘wanting’, suggesting a functional similarity between ionotropic glutamate and dopamine actions in NAc [54], [55]. Also, endogenous dopamine is required for local AMPA glutamate blockade by DNQX to generate either motivated fear or feeding behaviors, again suggesting a synergistic interaction for dopamine-glutamate motivation effects in medial shell. In contrast to glutamate disruption from any source, both motivation and hedonic impact are robustly generated together by GABAergic inhibition of neurons in medial shell, produced by inputs from neighboring medial spiny neurons and other intrinsic NAc neurons, or from GABAergic inputs from other subcortical structures [1], [56]. The ability of GABAergic inhibition to modulate hedonics is consistent with previous work on NAc generation of ‘liking’ and ‘disliking’, and also with related hedonic generation by the ventral pallidum, a major source of GABAergic input and output from NAc [23], [57], [58], [59].Guest Post by Willis Eschenbach
The CERES dataset is satellite data that is based on radiation measurements made from low earth orbit. The CERES data has two parts. The first part is observational data, measurements of downwelling and upwelling solar radiation and of upwelling longwave radiation. It is usually referred as the CERES “top-of-atmosphere” data. The official name is “CERES EBAF-TOA”, and it is available here.
However, the second part of the CERES is not top-of-atmosphere observations from the satellite. Instead, it is calculated surface data based on the CERES TOA observations along with other satellite observations. It’s called the “CERES EBAF-Surface” dataset, and is available from the same location.
As a result, I’ve always been concerned about the accuracy of the CERES surface data. After all, it’s just calculations, it’s not actual observations. So I got to thinking that I could “ground-truth” the CERES surface observations by using the TAO buoy data. It’s not a comprehensive test by any means, but the TAO buoys cover a region of great interest to me, the tropical Pacific. The TAO buoy data is available here.
I started out by seeing how well the CERES surface longwave radiation data agreed with the TAO sea surface temperature (SST) data. Now, the CERES dataset doesn’t have SST data, but we can convert the CERES surface radiation data into temperature by using the Stefan-Boltzmann relationship. First I looked at a string of TAO buoys that run along the Equator. I used the location of each TAO buoy, and compared it with the CERES surface calculated result for that location. Figure 1 shows that comparison for the eight TAO buoys along the Equator which have SST data.
Figure 1. Sea surface temperatures (SST) from the TAO buoys (red) and from the CERES surface data calculations (blue).
I was pleasantly surprised by this result. The greatest bias is ± two tenths of a degree, and the correlation is very high, 0.97 to 0.99.
Having looked at an east-west line of buoys, I then looked at a north-south line of buoys. These are all at 165°E, in the warmest area in the Pacific.
Figure 2. Sea surface temperatures (SST) from the TAO buoys (red) and from the CERES surface data calculations (blue).
Again the correlations are good, although there is one of the seven down at a correlation of 0.92. And the bias is slightly larger, -0.3 to -0.4°C. In this region all of the CERES data is slightly below the TAO buoy data.
Overall, however, if the bias errors are only on the order of a few tenths of a degree and the correlation is on the order of 0.97 or better, I’m more than happy to say that the sea surface temperature is extremely well represented by the CERES surface calculations.
However, that’s the easiest of the variables. Next I looked at something much harder to estimate—the available solar radiation at the surface after atmospheric reflection, absorption, and scattering. Figure 3 shows the available solar measurements from buoys along the Equator.
Figure 3. Available surface downwelling solar after atmospheric reflection, absorption, and scattering from the TAO buoys (red) and from the CERES surface data calculations (blue).
This one surprised me quite a bit. I wouldn’t have guessed that the satellite calculations would come this close. Not only do they get the annual cycles right, but they also get the occasional departures from the annual cycles. Yes, the correlation of some of them is lower, but they still do a good job. And the bias in all cases is less than 2%, a respectable showing.
I then looked at the same group of north-south buoys I’d used above. Here are those results.
Figure 4. Available surface downwelling solar after atmospheric reflection, absorption, and scattering from the TAO buoys (red) and from the CERES surface data calculations (blue).
Again, a very good showing, with correlations from 0.87 to 0.97, and bias of less than 2%.
There is one more overlapping dataset between CERES and TAO, that of downwelling longwave radiation (DLR). Unfortunately, there are only five TAO buoys with DLR data, and one record is very short … but we use what we have. Here is that group of buoys.
Figure 5. Downwelling longwave radiation (DLR) from the TAO buoys (red) and from the CERES surface data calculations (blue).
Of all of the results, I was most surprised by this one. I would say that this one would be the hardest to calculate from the satellite data. But despite that, if we set aside the very short (5-month) dataset in the first panel of Figure 5, the other four have good correlations (0.82 to 0.97), and the three longer datasets (panels 2, 3, and 4) have a bias of well under 1%.
Conclusions? Well, as I said, this is far from a comprehensive test … but I am greatly encouraged nonetheless. The CERES surface dataset, despite being calculated rather than observed, is a very good match to the TAO buoy data in all available respects. Makes me feel much better about using it.
My regards to you all,
w.
PS-If you disagree with someone please have the courtesy to quote the exact words you disagree with. This lets all of us understand the exact nature of what you think is incorrect.
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RedditLiddy Dole deserves to lose for so many reasons. But, in the end, Dole really did herself in with that “godless” ad she ran against Kay Hagan. Public Policy Polling’s blog, (PPP is based in North Carolina) had this analysis:
It is pretty clear to me based on our polling this weekend that Kay Hagan will be headed to the US Senate unless something very bizarre happens in the next 72 hours. While numbers in the races for President and Governor are basically unchanged from last week there has been clear movement away from Elizabeth Dole, a sign that her ‘Godless Americans’ ad is blowing up in her face. Dole has run one of the worst campaigns imaginable.
Dole is getting what she deserves.
If you live in North Carolina, pile on. Crush Liddy while you’re defeating McCain. You’re doing a favor for the rest of America.
And, one more time, here’s the response ad from Kay Hagan, who will be North Carolina’s next Senator:
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9eZBVYL8mOI]Here's an incomplete list of things Ronald Reagan was good at screwing: the poor, the homeless. And here's a list of things he was bad at screwing: virgins 19 years his junior. Yep—according to actress Piper Laurie, Reagan was as bad a lover as he was a president.
Laurie met Reagan in 1950 on the set of Louisa, in which he was playing (gulp) her father. She was 18; he was 39, between marriages, and, apparently, a gentleman—he asked her mother for permission to take her out on date.
[H]e took her to his home where he made hamburgers for them both. Things went downhill from there and when they moved into the bedroom where Reagan turned into a'show-off' who had sex 'without grace'. Laurie, 79, writes: 'He made sure I was aware of the length of time he had been "ardent". It was 40 minutes.' Laurie adds that when she complained she was not satisfied, she got rather short shrift indeed. Reagan told her: 'There's something wrong with you. You should have had many orgasms by now—after all this time. You've got to see a doctor.' On top of that, the man who went on to become Leader of the Free World also disclosed the amount he had paid for the condom, in a crass attempt to prove his point.
After their dalliance, Reagan went on to dismantle as president the New Deal and Great Society programs that turned America in a superpower, while Laurie received an Emmy Golden Globe for her performance as Catherine Martell in Twin Peaks. So we know who won that relationship!
[Daily Mail, images via AP]Iv'e been with Boost for years, and I've had other phones on their plan that worked quite well (despite the spotty coverage areas). Three weeks ago I purchased this new Moto E at my local Best Buy. I enjoyed the new features and the faster (for Boost) internet speeds. Most of my communication is by text and email, but after a few days and several phone calls, I noticed that numerous people were telling me that I was "breaking up" and "going in and out". They also described the sound as garbled and muffled. Sometimes they couldn't hear me at all and simply hung up. Note: I do not have a cover on this phone. It was never dropped or gotten wet. I'm not holding my hand over the mic. There seems to be no rhyme or reason for the lousy transmission and lack of clarity. It doesn't matter where I am, who I'm talking to, what distance I am from the recipient caller or what the atmospheric condition is. As far as the sound quality that I'm getting from others, I find it to be somewhat cheap and "boxy". I've had $30 Net 10 flip phones in the past that blew this thing away in terms of call clarity. I'm not claiming that all new Boost Moto E's are problematic, but my personal experience with this particular item has been extremely disappointing. Hopefully Best Buy will allow an exchange for a different model. After all, what if you had to make a 9-1-1 call and the operator couldn't hear you? Not worth the risk, in my book. This phone is either going back to Best Buy or into the trash.
Read moreIf you're going to get pulled over and charged with a DWI, being dressed as Buddy the Elf certainly doesn't help your case in any way. That's what happened to one Lafayette man this week. His name is Brandon Touchet, 34, and it's gonna be tough to live this one down.
Now, it's funny and all, but Touchet blew a 0.124 on the Breathalyzer after getting pulled over on Kaliste Saloom Road at 3 a.m. on Sunday, according to court documents. Touchet was doing 60 in a 40 -- decided NOT elf-like. The story has gone nationwide now, already having popped up on the Smoking Gun.
He bonded out on a $1,500 bond, quite possibly to get back to the North Pole to finish making toys for next week.
[via 97.3 The Dawg )News A Chinese (traditional) manual for Mitaka version 1.4.3a has been released. (Mitaka version 1.4.3a is currently released with only Japanese manual in the Japanese website.) Version 1.4.1a and its VR version Mitaka for VR v1.4.1a were released.
In these versions, several bugs were fixed. (Check out the revision history for details.) September 1, 2017 Version 1.4.1 with English manual was released.
In this version, nine languages are now available!: English, Japanese (with and without pronunciation guides), Spanish, French, Indonesian, Italian, Portuguese, Thai, and Chinese (simplified and traditional Chinese characters). In addition, 3D models and their orbital data were updated with improvement of their appearances and rendering performance considerably, especially for NASA’s Cassini spacecraft. You can observe the “Cassini’s Grand Finale” by selecting the newly added preset menu. The appearances of Saturn’s rings and the Moon are improved by incorporating visualization methods based on physics models for light scattering. At the same time, a virtual reality version (Mitaka for VR) was also released. Enjoy the new version of Mitaka!
March 17, 2015 The 4D2U Dome Theater at NAOJ, Mitaka Campus has been renewed.
As of April 2015, we will resume live shows with the renewed dome theater system. Enjoy Mitaka and movie contents with highly improved images.
Please see here (Japanese page) for details. December 16, 2014 There have been over 800,000 downloads of Mitaka.
Past news
What is Mitaka?
Mitaka is software for visualizing the known Universe with up-to-date observational data and theoretical models, developed by the Four-Dimensional Digital Universe (4D2U) project of the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan (NAOJ). Mitaka users can seamlessly navigate through space, from the Earth to the edges of the known Universe.
Mitaka was originally developed for 3D visualizations on multiple screens at the 4D2U theater in NAOJ's Mitaka headquarters. However, it can also be used on a single Windows PC.
4D2U has been supported by the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan (NAOJ) and other collaborating organizations including, Research and Development for Applying Advanced Computational Science and Technology (ACT-JST) ["Establishment and Application of Four-Dimensional Digital Space Data (led by Norio Kaifu, 2001 to 2004)"], as well as the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology [Effective Promotion Program for Industry-Academia-Government Collaborative Research supported by Special Coordination Funds for Promoting Science and Technology – "Establishment of Distribution System for Four-Dimensional Digital Video of the Universe (led by Shoken Miyama, 2004 to 2007)"].
Now, Mitaka is being developed by the developer.
System Requirements
OS Windows 10/8.1/8/7/Vista/XP (*) CPU Pentium4 1.8 GHz or better Available RAM 512 MB or more Graphics Card GeForce 3 or better Display Resolution 1024x768 pixels or more Hard Disk Space 300 MB or more
*) To use the software with Windows XP, select mitaka_VC.exe as the executed file.
The above configuration is recommended when not using topographic data. More memory and hard drive space will be required to accommodate the data if you use topographic data.
It is possible to run the program on slower computers by carefully modifying default settings to reduce the texture resolution, for example.
OS Windows 7 Professional CPU Intel Xeon E5-1650v2 3.5 GHz RAM 16 GB Graphics Card NVIDIA Quadro K5000 Display Resolution 1920x1200 pixels
We have not tested other configurations. Please understand that we are not qualified to offer hardware recommendations. Some systems that meet the guidelines above may still have problems running the software.
Disclaimers
We provide Mitaka for no charge and without any warranty.
You may use it for your personal enjoyment at your own risk.
This version does not include the topographic data and illustrations for the constellations. The topographic data can be downloaded separately from the links below. The illustrations for the constellations will be released later.
Download
Download the software using the following links.
Please read the "Terms and Conditions of Use" here before using the software.
The Latest Version
* Mitaka Version 1.4.1a (September 8, 2017 Released)
(ZIP File; 134,936,588 Bytes (approx. 128MB) ) (History)
Topographic data can be downloaded separately from the links below.
Older versions can be downloaded from here.
The Latest Version (with Japanese manual only)
・Mitaka version 1.5.1 (with high-resolution Milky Way data and without topographic data) (January 24, 2019 Release)
(ZIP File; 1,186,649,599 Bytes (approx. 1.10 GB) )
Topographic data can be downloaded separately from the links below.
・Mitaka version 1.5.1 (with topographic data for Earth, the Moon, Mars, and Mercury) (January 24, 2019 Release)
(ZIP File; 591,093,476 Bytes (approx. 563 MB) )
The topographic data for the Moon included in this version is a normal resolution version. If you want to use the high-resolution version, please download it from the links below. High-resolution Milky Way data can be downloaded separately.
・Mitaka Version 1.5.1 (without topographic data) (January 24, 2019 Release)
(ZIP File; 221,227,247 Bytes (approx. 210 MB) )
Topographic data and high-resolution Milky Way data can be downloaded separately from the links below.
Manuals in Various Languages
* Chinese (Traditional) Manual for Version 1.4.3a (June 27, 2018 Released)
(PDF File; 11.3MB)
Topographic Data
Caution: The file sizes are large.
Depending on the available memory, it may not be possible to use all the topographic data at the same time.
* Topographic Data for the Earth
(ZIP File; 33,385,825 Bytes (approx. 32 MB) )
* Topographic Data for the Moon
(ZIP File; 161,797,846 Bytes (approx. 154 MB) )
* Topographic Data for the Moon (high-resolution version)
(ZIP File; 594,305,291 Bytes (approx. 566 MB) )
* Topographic Data for Mars
(ZIP File; 130,911,334 Bytes (approx. 124 MB) )
How to Use the topographic data:
First, unzip the downloaded file. Then, copy the file "earth_topo.dat", "moon_topo.dat", or "mars_topo.dat", which are generated by unzipping the downloaded file, into the "data" folder in the Mitaka folder. You will be able to view the topography of the Earth, the Moon, or Mars the next time you launch Mitaka.
Mitaka for VR
This version is compatible with a head-mounted display (HMD) for virtual reality (VR). You can experience Mitaka version 1.4.1a in VR.
It supports Oculus Rift (CV1) and HTC Vive. The corresponding Oculus runtime version is 1.16.0 or later, and OpenVR version is 1.0.9 or later. Operation can be done with Oculus Touch or Vive controller (it can also be operated with game controller).
The Mitaka for VR works by adding a software to the regular version of Mitaka. Install the regular version of Mitaka, version 1.4.1a, and make it ready to use. Then, download the zip file for Mitaka for VR and copy the extracted folder with all files into the Mitaka folder. Keep the folder structure when copying the VR folder. For more details on its operation, please see the Readme_VR_E.txt file in the archive.
PLEASE DO NOT USE THE VR VERSION FOR CHILDREN UNDER 13 YEARS OF AGE. VR experiences for young children may be harmful to their eyes and brains, please refrain from using it.
It may not work depending on the environment.
Please use it at your own risk of use.
* Mitaka for VR Version 1.4.1a (September 8, 2017 Released)
(ZIP File; 3,072,874 Bytes (approx. 2.92 MB) )
Software Development
Tsunehiko Kato (member of the NAOJ 4D2U Group) designed and developed the Mitaka software, including its algorithms for image rendering, data processing, and its Japanese manual. Sorahiko Nukatani (cooperative engineer from RIKEN) worked on the aesthetic design, including title design and color tables.
Feedback
Please send us feedback (in English or Japanese) at 4d2u-web_at_cfca.nao.ac.jp
Please replace _at_ with @.In May, President Obama admitted for the first time US drones have caused civilian casualties in the covert drone war (Image: Peter Souza/White House).
Bureau data suggests the CIA is killing fewer people in each strike in Pakistan.
Lack of official transparency means it remains unclear who is carrying out strikes in Yemen.
No reports of US operations in Somalia but al Shabaab continues to launch attacks.
Pakistan
June 2013 actions
Total CIA strikes in June: 1
Total killed in US strikes in June: 7-9, of whom 0 were reportedly civilians
All actions 2004 – June 30 2013
Total Obama strikes: 318
Total US strikes since 2004: 370
Total reported killed: 2,548-3,549
Civilians reported killed: 411-890
Children reported killed: 168-197
Total reported injured: 1,177-1,480
For the Bureau’s full Pakistan databases click here.
A single CIA drone strike hit Pakistan in June. The attack, on June 7, killed seven including Mutaqi (aka Bahadar Khan), described by some sources as a ‘key Pakistan Taliban commander’.
The attack came two days after new prime minister Nawaz Sharif used his inaugural address to demand an end to US drone strikes. After the attack, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs summoned deputy US ambassador Richard Hoagland to protest.
Tensions in the region continue to grow after the killing of Pakistan Taliban (TTP) deputy leader Wali Ur Rehman in a drone attack in May hardened the stance of the militant group. Rehman’s death dashed hopes of peace talks between the militant group and Pakistan authorities in Islamabad. The TTP has since claimed that a spate of bloody attacks were in retaliation for Rehman’s death, including the murder of ten climbers and their guide in the mountainous north of the country.
While peace negotiations have faltered in Pakistan, across the border the US is trying to negotiate peace talks with the Afghan Taliban. The militant group opened its political office in Qatar – a move that provoked a visceral response from the Afghan government.
Six-monthly trends
Much has been written about the steep decline in the number of US drone strikes in Pakistan: strikes are now at their lowest level since early 2008. The number of reported civilian deaths is also at an all-time low, a trend first high-lighted by the Bureau in 2012.
The average number of people being killed in each drone strike has fallen sharply too, an analysis of the Bureau’s data shows. An average of four people now die in each attack – just a third of the rate in the first six months of 2010.
Research by the Bureau and others indicates that some of the highest casualties in the US drone war occur when the CIA carries out ‘signature strikes’ – attacks on groups of men judged to be behaving in a suspicious manner.
The rate CIA drones kill people per strike has continued to fall since the first half of 2009.
The smaller death tolls seen in recent months suggest the CIA may be limiting its use of the controversial tactic.
The Bureau showed its analysis in the graph above to law professor Rosa Brooks who recently testified before a Senate committee on the constitutional and counterterrorism implications of the US drone wars. She said the White House’s use of drones has come under pressure and the drop in the casualty rate is ‘almost certainly an effort to respond to the criticisms’. However, she added, this is ‘the optimistic theory’. ‘The less optimistic theory would simply be they have started running out of targets.’
The first half of 2013 began with a flurry of strikes in January before the CIA scaled back operations. This coincided with a move by the White House to more transparency about the drone programme. In February new CIA director John Brennan discussed the Agency’s targeted killing programme with the US Senate during his confirmation hearing. And in May President Obama for the first time acknowledged US drone strikes have killed civilians, in a major foreign policy speech.
The past six months have been bookended with the death of two significant militant leaders. Maulvi Nazir, one of the most senior commanders of the so-called ‘Good Taliban’, was killed in January. And Wali Ur Rehman, deputy leader of the Pakistan Taliban (TTP) was killed in May.
In February a leak to NBC provided a summary of the secret legal justification that allows the US to kill its own citizens in drone strikes. In April another leak to the McClatchy news agency was reported as showing the that US is not clear who it has been killing in Pakistan. According to the leaked secret documents many killed by drones were merely classified as ‘unknown‘.
Yemen
June 2013 actions
Confirmed US drone strikes: 0
Further reported/possible US strike events: 2
Total reported killed in US operations: 0-15
Civilians reported killed in US strikes: 0-1
All actions 2002 – June 30 2013*
Confirmed US drone strikes: 46-56
Total reported killed: 240-349
Civilians reported killed: 14-49
Children reported killed: 2
Reported injured: 62-144 Possible extra US drone strikes: 80-99
Total reported killed: 284-454
Civilians reported killed: 25-50
Children reported killed: 9-11
Reported injured: 78-101 All other US covert operations: 12-77
Total reported killed: 148-377
Civilians reported killed: 60-88
Children reported killed: 25-26
Reported injured: 22-111
Click here for the full Yemen data.
A 10-year-old boy reportedly died in a suspected US drone strike in June, alongside up to six alleged al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) militants. The boy, Abdulaziz, was the younger brother of alleged AQAP commander Hassan al-Saleh Huraydan – described as a key figure in enabling the movement of money and fighters from Saudi Arabia to Yemen. They were killed, reportedly along with Saudi nationals, in a vehicle as they travelled through the northern province of al Jawf on June 9.
The strike was the second of the month. The first hit Abyan province on June 1, killing alleged senior AQAP militant Awadh Ali Lakra and a second alleged militant, Lawar.
There was strong evidence to suggest both were drone strikes. Yemen Air Force commander Rashid al Janad said he was ‘unaware of any air strikes that have been launched’ by Yemeni planes. And June’s second attack targeted a moving vehicle which is potentially beyond the Yemen Air Force’s capability. However the Bureau could not confirm US involvement – or the use of drones – in either.
Six-monthly trends
The covert drone war has been openly discussed by senior figures in the US administration. So too has President Obama’s wish to become more transparent about the drone programme – an effort to ‘push back against a lot of these allegations that are not true‘. And Brennan hinted at giving the Pentagon control of drone strikes outside Pakistan during his Senate hearing. Some suggest this would make the programme more transparent because unlike CIA strikes, Pentagon drone strikes can be publicly acknowledged by the government.
Moving the programme to military control is not a guarantee of more transparency. Earlier this year the US military significantly reduced its openness about its use of drones in Afghanistan, reversing an earlier decision to regularly publish data about the use of drones. It had originally agreed to declassify the data following months of discussions with the Bureau, but reclassified the data, claiming attention had ‘disproportionately focused’ on drones.
In Yemen the Pentagon has also run a targeted killing programme for four years or more, and does not publish details of these operations.
So far this year the Bureau has recorded four confirmed US strikes on Yemen. However it is not clear who carried out up to 12 other reported strikes. In the first half of 2012 this pattern was more pronounced – the Bureau recorded at least 21 confirmed US drone strikes, but cannot confirm US involvement in 42 more reported attacks.
US involvement cannot be confirmed in the majority of reported drone strikes.
The Yemen government has claimed its airforce carried out many of the ‘other’ attacks. But the Yemen Air Force is incapable of flying missions at night, let alone carrying out precision strikes such as many of those reported in Yemen.
At least 183 people died in these unconfirmed drone attacks in the first half of 2012 – more than double the dead from confirmed US operations. And at least 28 people have died in possible drone strikes so far in 2013, double those killed in confirmed US attacks.
Journalists have struggled at times to investigate reported drone strikes, particularly in 2012 when neither government nor AQAP forces would allow journalists into areas under al Qaeda’s control. Retrospective investigations have uncovered evidence of US involvement in strikes, and discovered previously unreported civilian casualties.
This year investigators from human rights charities HOOD and al Karama and, independently, journalists from a Swedish radio programme visited the site of a January strike. They found fragments of Hellfire missiles, confirming it was a US attack. And they discovered the Yemeni government had acknowledged the deaths of two civilians in the strike, a university student and a teacher. This is despite anonymous government sources previously naming all the dead as al Qaeda militants.
More than half of this year’s reported strikes took place in January, before an 85-day pause while Yemen’s numerous tribes convened for the start of reconciliation talks in the capital. As this conference continued the drones returned in April killing at least four people in Wessab. A week later journalist and activist Farea al Muslimi, who was born in Wessab, testified before the US Congress about the effect of drones on Yemen and its people.
* All but one of these actions have taken place during Obama’s presidency. Reports of incidents in Yemen often conflate individual strikes. The range in the total strikes and total drone strikes we have recorded reflects this.
Somalia
June 2013 actions
Total reported US operations: 0
All actions 2007 – June 30 2013
US drone strikes: 3-9
Total reported killed: 7-27
Civilians reported killed: 0-15
Children reported killed: 0
Reported injured: 2-24 All other US covert operations: 7-14
Total reported killed: 47-143
Civilians reported killed: 7-42
Children reported killed: 1-3
Reported injured: 12-20
Click here for the Bureau’s full data on Somalia.
Once again there were no US drone strikes reported in Somalia in June – the tenth consecutive month with no reported US operations in the country. However al Shabaab continues to threaten Somali security. The militant group once again successfully penetrated the heightened security area around Mogadishu airport to attack the UN Development Programme offices on June 19. As many as 22 people were killed in the assault and ensuing 90-minute gun battle.
Al Shabaab militants were driven from Kismayo late last year by a combination of Kenyan soldiers and local militia. Yet the government in Mogadishu has failed to exert sufficient influence on the southern port, and fighting between competing clans and militia on June 7 and 8 left 31 civilians dead and 38 injured, according to the World Health Organisation. At least seven were killed in further clashes on June 26 and 27.
It emerged that the US operates its drones over Somalia using a satellite relay station in Ramstein, Germany.
Another drone reportedly crashed in Somalia, this time in the north of the country in the autonomous region of Puntland. It is unclear who the drone belonged to, in contrast with an earlier incident in May when the Pentagon unusually claimed a crashed surveillance drone as its own.
Six-monthly trends
The Bureau has not recorded a single US drone attack or other covert operation in Somalia in the first half of 2013. Whether this is due to poor reporting from the region or an absence of attacks is unclear.
This is in contrast to 2012 when there were a number of reports of US drone strikes in the African country including two that killed British citizens. This was reported on in a major Bureau investigation published by the Independent in February which revealed that two former British citizens died in US drone strikes in Somalia in 2012 after having their British citizenships removed. Bilal al Berjawi was killed by a drone in January 2012, with his childhood friend and fellow alleged militant Mohammed Sakr dying in a US drone strike the following month.
Both were UK citizens until Home Secretary Theresa May signed an order in 2010 removing their UK nationality while they were out of the country. May has the power to remove someone’s citizenship on national security grounds. Only individuals with dual nationality can be deprived of their British citizenship. But being born in the UK is not a protection. The Bureau has identified five dual nations who were born in the UK who have been deprived of their British nationality – including Mohamed Sakr.
Sakr’s lawyer Saghir Hussain told the Bureau there appeared to be a link between the deprivation of citizenship and subsequent US action. Leading immigration lawyer Ian McDonald QC said that stripping people of their citizenship ‘means that the British government can completely wash their hands if the security services give information to the Americans who use their drones to track someone and kill them’.
Follow Chris Woods and Jack Serle on Twitter.
To sign up for monthly updates from the Bureau’s Covert War project click here.Click on MORE to see style details.
Hair: Analog Dog – Ashbury –Oatmeal /You can find a few free hairs |
in 1972 for refusing to answer questions at the Pentagon Papers inquiry. He is also an obsessive cook, so I am afraid our conversation suffered from very regular and thoroughly enjoyable digressions into sub-relevant areas, like the methods for perfecting grilled octopus. After our meeting, he remembered with alarm that he had completely forgotten to alert me to the fact that the Shake Shack served incredible salted caramel milkshakes on Tuesdays. He mailed me a link to the Shake Shack's instore webcam, so I could check on the length of the queue before my visit. You could say that Professor Popkin is an attention-to-details man.
And he reminded me of some important historical detail.
When Edmund Burke made his famous 1774 "Speech To The Electors Of Bristol", he cemented the concept of representative democracy; the idea that people are better off when their representatives do as they judge best, and not always as their constituents would have them do.
At that time, the Burkean proposition was an easier one to execute. For a start, it was a criminal offence back then even to report parliamentary speeches or goings-on. William Pulteney, leader of the Tory Opposition, had explained these arrangements thus:
"To print or publish the speeches of gentlemen in this House, even though they were not misrepresented, looks very much like making them accountable without doors for what they say within".
Parliamentary sketchwriters got around this difficulty with a devious innovation. When the young Samuel Johnson was eking out a living writing for The Gentleman's Magazine in the late 1730s, he had a spy relay to him the outline of the debates in the House of Commons. Changing the names but keeping the characters clearly recognisable, he wrote them up in his column: "Debates In The Senate Of Lilliput". The magazine stacked on circulation as readers cottoned on, and gathered around this breach of the walls cocooning the democratic process.
The American founding fathers operated on the assumption that politicians and politicians alone would decide what would be reported to the American people. James Madison believed there should be no congressional record.
As Popkin told me:
"The history of new media is an unbroken string of boundaries breached and standards challenged. When reporters started to report congressional speeches, legislators first tried to stop them, and when that failed, they developed the official congressional record containing the corrected remarks they had intended to give. President John Quincy Adams thought 'hired reporters' (he compared them to spies) had no right to impinge on the right of the leaders to decide what and when to report to the citizenry."
What I am trying to get across here is that Western democracy is an evolution of information control. At the beginning, politicians controlled everything. Then the media arrived as agents for the general population. Now, communications technology is allowing motivated individuals to do the job themselves.
In Australia, our democratic system of course post-dates a lot of these wrangles, and we have always operated on the understanding that a free press will report on parliament.
But the status quo of the politico-media complex which has comfortably characterised political debate in Australia for as long as anyone in this room can remember has changed radically in the last 10 years. In the last five, even.
Political journalists no longer have a comprehensive monopoly over the gathering of political information; anyone can watch press conferences. Anyone can watch Parliament. Anyone can read press releases. Anyone can read budgets, legislation, Senate reports, inquiry submissions, party platforms. Anyone can listen in online to an interview that a politician gives in Brisbane or Launceston.
And on the distribution end, our infrastructure advantages are starting to be less advantageous. The prize invention of Johannes Gutenberg, which 550 years ago unfurled an extraordinary promise of democratisation, is these days now just starting to look like a teeny bit more trouble than it's worth.
I used to file my copy for the Sydney Morning Herald at about 7pm, whereupon it would be checked and usually de-idioted by that newspaper's excellent subs, then whizzed off to Fairfax's squillion-dollar operation at Chullora. Here, the copy was immortalised, printed in a soy and oil-based pigment on very thin sheets of mushed up saw-mill offcuts and forest thinnings. Then my copy would be bundled up in vast sheafs with everything else, popped into trucks, trundled off to newsagencies and airports, and thence taken to doorsteps, coffee shops, delis, or to lie about in great piles at the Qantas Club. The earlybird reader gets, perhaps at seven-ish in the morning, the very latest news available 12 hours earlier.
These days, I just write my copy and email it to my editor, who pops it online straight away. Maybe I tweet a link to 40,000 people on Twitter. If any of those people read the article and think it's any good, maybe they re-Tweet the link to their followers. And straight away, you know what your audience thinks of your work. Each reader judges whether this one article warrants a larger audience.
Hundreds of retweets means that readers thought it worth recommending; that the article, in other words, was of sufficient interest to them to take the significant personal risk of troubling their own friends with it.
When I tweet a link to an article, it is like auditioning my content to a huge gathering of editors, large and small; I'm asking them to read it. I'm asking them to republish it to their readers. I'm also asking them for their opinion. And I get it, in spades. Working online has made me more reflective, more accountable, and much, much better-informed than I was in print. And that's not because my contacts in politics have improved. It's because I learn more from my audience than ever before. Deregulation of the old model can have profound benefits.
And it can cough up some remarkable moments. Several weeks ago, I was giving a speech in Sydney about communication skills in modern politics. I talked about the class of politicians I call the Manglers; joyful and heedless malapropists whose energetic tussles with the English language keep us all enthralled. I invoked the great Prescott, British deputy prime minister under Blair, and his reported remark, on arrival home after one trip abroad, that it was "great to be back on terra cotta".
There was a lady in the audience live-Tweeting my remarks. After I sat down, she came to show me a reply she had just had from Prescott himself, asking her to tell me that the "terra cotta" remark was an urban myth.
"Just corrected an Aussie journo giving a speech in Sydney. I love Twitter!" Prescott told his followers. I was heartbroken over the loss of the "terra cotta" story. But, like Prezza, I love Twitter too.
That old passive audience, which used to be at the receiving end, silently, of whatever survived through the selection process enforced - in the case of political news - by politicians and journalists, is a thing of the past. Now it's an active audience. They don't just read what we write. They critique it. They select it. And they are responsible, in no small way, by maximising or minimising the readership of any given item by Tweeting a link, by "liking" it on Facebook, and so on. In the case of the Reddit website, they literally vote a story on to the front page.
And so content is evaluated. Not outlet by outlet, as it used to be, where audiences developed general impressions of which TV networks or radio stations best appealed to their tastes, by and large, but item by item.
Item by item. Individual news stories do not now enjoy the protection simply of being judged by a single editor to be worthy of inclusion in the list of "newsworthy things that happened today". More and more, readers themselves decide what is newsworthy - the monopoly on deciding what constitutes news is no longer held either by editors, or by politicians. And of course, now that individual stories are left to succeed or fail on their own terms, their authors - like protective mother turtles - try to give them the best possible chance by making them as eye catching and easy to read as possible.
And so stories about thrilling crimes, or the broken-hearted ex-girlfriends of footballers, or action-packed accounts of political confrontations, tend to dominate in the most-read lists.
The proliferation of new ways in which to consume news has led, naturally, to the fracturing of old audiences. Genuine news junkies have no need to watch the evening news anymore, as they've been trawling news websites all day and already have more detail than a two-minute bulletin is likely to cough up. They know genuine scoops will spread through the system smartly enough. So, shorn of these more demanding viewers, the network packages news as entertainment, because that's what tends to grab the attention of those who are not tuning in studiously to eat their veggies, civic-discourse-wise.
This is what tends to be called dumbing down, or the coarsening of political debate. Another way to describe it, I suppose, would be "democracy". And isn't that one of democracy's most annoying elements? People with whose assessments one disagrees getting a vote anyway? The opinions of the lazy and ill-informed having just as much sway as the engaged and industrious?
It's easy to draw the conclusion - almost irresistible, really - that political discourse is getting stupider. But for a number of reasons, we should be cautious about doing so.
First, I'm not sure there is any convincing evidence that the actual proportion of people who are diligent about informing themselves on public policy issues has actually changed much. The naked eye tells you - and certainly, Lindsay Tanner adduces much evidence to support this impression in his book - that the amount of lightweight political coverage has increased. But the amount of political coverage has itself increased so extraordinarily over a short period of time that one should be wary of leaping to conclusions. Access to in-depth journalism has never been better, whether it's thanks to new online entrants in specialist areas or better access - thanks to podcasting, and the abolition of geographical boundaries online - to content producers working in states and countries in which the reader does not live, or broadcasting in inconvenient time frames.
Without wanting to toot the ABC's trumpet excessively, I am constantly surprised and excited by the work my own colleagues produce, and the extent to which the internet makes it easier to find and absorb. Whether it's Fran Kelly's interviews, which you can go back and catch online if you missed them, or Marius Benson's relentless attentiveness on NewsRadio, or Stephen Long's innovative economics reporting, or Mark Colvin's utterly engaging snippets and links on Twitter, or the battalions of new perspectives every day on The Drum, there is depth to be found everywhere.
Think tanks like the Lowy Institute, with its excellent Interpreter blog, or the IPA, or the CPD, or indeed my host tonight - the Sydney Institute - now function as publishers. So do universities, through sites like The Conversation. Individual bloggers, like Grogs Gamut, lend a valuable fresh perspective to political matters. And new websites with strong readerships by area of interest, like Mama Mia, interpret politics in a way that appeals to their readers. There are organising websites helping us to track all this stuff - it's a funny old morning in my household when I don't visit Breakfast Politics, which provides not only a daily digest of political news but an invaluable archive and reference.
If you are a foreign policy wonk, you might well complain that your area of interest doesn't warrant enough serious column space in various of the daily newspapers in Australia. But can you really argue that you have less to read now than you did 10 years ago?
I think one should be careful, too, with the assumption that the mass audience of yesteryear was necessarily a more engaged one in the field of politics. Was there ever a merry band of Herald Sun readers, eagerly drinking in page-long treatments of superannuation reform? Or has this reader revolution simply made clearer to us what was the truth all along - that lots of people always bought the paper for the sport and the telly, and not much else?
Thirdly, I think we should be very careful indeed about assuming that there is only one correct way to learn about politics, and that is to sit down with a cup of coffee, a madeleine and the Australian Financial Review.
Matthew Baum, an academic at the JFK School of Government with whom I met in Boston, demonstrated in his fascinating book Soft News Goes To War that the spread of political discussion from straight broadsheet newspapers to magazine-style formats, and celebrity-occupied chat shows, doesn't necessarily mean the end of serious engagement. He charted the degree of public attentiveness to the 1978 Camp David Accords between Israel and the PLO, the 1993 Oslo Accords between Israel and the PLO, and the 1995 Dayton Peace Accords between Bosnian Serbs and Muslims. Though more network TV stories appeared about Camp David - historically, the most significant of the three - Baum found that Americans were more engaged with Dayton and Oslo. Why? Perhaps because Norman Schwarzkopf had done a high-profile interview about Oslo with Regis Philbin and Kathie Lee Gifford. Or because Saturday Night Live ran a satirical series poking fun at the Dayton Accord.
Soft news treatment of politics rarely satisfies purists or practitioners. But it often suits consumers, who have no patience for prescriptive ideas about how they should best learn about politics.
After Walter Cronkite's death in 2008, Time Magazine asked online readers who they felt was "America's most trusted newscaster". Forty-four per cent of respondents selected Jon Stewart, the late-night Comedy Channel host of The Daily Show. Stewart doesn't even claim to be a journalist, but his lancing analysis is cultishly popular on the left, just as Fox News commands the right.
I suspect this technological revolution doesn't change audiences, so much as identify and stratify them. And give each of those audiences far greater access to the sorts of things they like than they ever had before.
If this all sounds a bit Pollyannaish, maybe it's because I'm an optimist. Maybe it's because in the end there is not much sense in arguing over something that is - thanks to the evolution of technology - singularly beyond all of our control. The market is evolving to empower the consumer - the reader, the voter. The old gatekeepers are losing control, and arguing against this progression is as pointless as arguing against the sunrise.
Politicians yearn for the old ideal of a passive mass audience because it made life easier. Media proprietors yearn for those good old days too, because the same vain illusion under which politicians always lived (the firm and, I suspect, erroneous sense of confidence that 100 per cent of Sydney Morning Herald readers have just read and admired the faithful news account of your excellent micro-economic reform proposals) could be spread to advertisers, who went to bed at night just as restfully assured that readers were feasting on their double-page spread on winter warmers.
But mass audiences are not realistic any more. How could they be? In the new environment, it is a bit insulting to think they ever will be again. In a world full of people who are so different, why would there be a single mass audience for any given kind of news, now that the artificial barriers that once dictated one have dissolved?
This is how audience fragmentation works. As viewers and readers learn how to find the stuff they like, the old gatekeepers, whose job it used to be to decide what people would or should like, are increasingly redundant. That's why all this hurts so much. Redundancy always does.
But, as we've always glibly assured previous victims of the open market, retraining is always an option.
In the media's case, it means learning how to work with smaller audiences more productively. And this isn't as sad as it sounds, beancounters. Small audiences can be immensely profitable, if you know a lot about them.
The new model is perhaps not all that different from the old one. An element of up-front payment, and an element of hustle. In the old model, you paid a small price for the newspaper itself, and you exposed yourself in good humour to the implicit risk that you might feel more like buying a fridge by the end of reading the thing. That was the hustle; your partial attention was rented to advertisers, and sometimes it worked, and most of the time it didn't, but those were the odds and advertisers took them.
These days, the upfront payment is a work in progress. The hustle, though, is a new model. Rather than surrendering your partial attention as part of the trade, you are more likely, from now on, to be offering something much more valuable. Information. Perhaps you'll give your postcode. Or your age. Or your email address. Perhaps, your use of a news website in and of itself will leave a trail of golden identity crumbs. Are you unusually interested in articles about cars? Do you pounce on articles about housing prices? Or perhaps - most profitable of all - you might let on that you are expecting a baby, or renovating your bathroom.
These identity crumbs are the key to your profitability as a reader in the new model, I suspect. Pitching an ad at a thousand people whom you know are likely to be in the market for a stroller might be more valuable, to Mr Bugaboo, than an ad in a paper read by 200,000. You still pay. You just pay in different ways.
The United States experienced a much more savage media sector downturn than we did, in the closing years of this century's first decade. And yet, everywhere I travelled in the US, there were ambitious new startups learning to serve smaller audiences better. The Voice of San Diego, one of dozens of hyperlocal news sites, which experiments with handing reporters over to answer questions posed by its readership. ProPublica, a Pulitzer-winning investigative unit funded by philanthropists (handy!) which distributes its work to other news organisations at no charge. There are entrepreneurial sites devoted to long-form journalism, like The Atavist. There are open-government lobby groups, like The Sunlight Foundation, who crowd-source valuable work on scrutiny of government. There is not enough time to run through everything I visited. But if you are prepared to step outside orthodox media formats, there is a lot going on.
For politicians, though, the urgency is in the here and now, and the potential to communicate difficult arguments to a large audience. The most legitimate concern about today's fractured media marketplace is that we no longer have a town square. A place where we're all on the same page. A moment - outside grand finals, or landmark episodes of Masterchef - at which a large chunk of Australians are all thinking about the same thing.
This is a fabulously complicated problem, to which I think the only sensible answer is consistency, and hard work. At times, I think politicians get spooked by this freewheeling Babel of media with which they tangle each day. They are worried about getting a run in the media, to the extent that getting a run becomes the aim in itself. This is a phenomenon about which Lindsay Tanner writes convincingly, and chillingly.
Tony Blair called the media a "feral beast" in his vivid speech on leaving office in 2007. And fear of the beast is a common response among politicians forced to tangle with its ever-multiplying tentacles. Urge to conquer the beast, or sate its appetite, is another. I think the Rudd Government's constant, almost manic efforts to conquer the beast with constant activity, constant announcements, were ultimately quixotic.
Political journalism of 50 years ago, in which a prime minister might have got round the whole country just by asking eight favoured journos round for a fireside chat, is no more, and will never return. Politicians will go mad if they think they can satisfy demand in the same way these days. They still crave control of the message, some sense that they are prevailing against the beast. And I say to them, on this front: Abandon ship! You cannot control this, not any more. Use the energy for something else instead, like finding ideas you can stick to. Authenticity is a quality people will recognise no matter what medium conveys it.
I'm out of time. More than out of time. This is a subject worthy of much longer discussion. But I thank the Sydney Institute for allowing me what is - by modern standards - a generous chunk of its supporters' attention. I thank the ABC, the most adventurous media organisation in Australia, for allowing me to pursue these questions. I thank the Australian politicians who persist, with hard work and pure hearts, despite all the obstacles evolution presents. And above all, I thank Eisenhower Fellowships for giving one journalist the precious gift of time.
This is an edited version of a speech given last night at the Sydney Institute.
Annabel Crabb is the ABC's chief online political writer.
Topics: journalism, print-media, internet-culture, information-and-communication, government-and-politics, media
First postedConfronted with the ENCODE results that attribute “function” to at least 80% of the genome, some Darwinist bloggers and critics of intelligent design have established a defensive perimeter around the precious idea of Junk DNA. It truly is that critically important to them. Their favored critique of ENCODE — call it the case for Junk DNA 2.0 — is that ENCODE’s definition of functionality is wrong. “Well, maybe it’s technically functional,” they say, “but it really isn’t.”
In logical terms, ENCODE reasons as follows: (1) If X is biochemically active, then it has “function.”
(2) Noncoding regions a, b, c, and d are biochemically active.
(Conclusion) Therefore, regions a, b, c, and d have a “function.” In other words, ENCODE defines function in terms of biochemical activity; assuming transcription into RNA is a biochemical function, then 80% of our DNA is functional. As the Washington Post put it, “‘Junk DNA’ Concept Debunked by New Analysis of Human Genome” (September 5). Exactly right.
Of course, as the critics of ENCODE point out, it’s possible that not all biochemical activity is a sign of function in a living cell. But the critics’ unstated assumption seems to be: (1a) If region or component X has a function, then it is biochemical. Now (1a) obviously doesn’t follow from anything in the first argument. To argue that it follows from (1) would be affirming the consequent, a first-order logic error. (1a) is logically independent of the first argument. The emphasis on biochemical function actually grows out of the Central Dogma (“DNA makes RNA makes protein makes us”), which in turn grows out of the neo-Darwinian need for DNA mutations to provide the raw materials for evolution.
Not only is (1a) independent of the logic of the ENCODE argument, but it is also false.
As Jonathan Wells documented in Chapter 7 of The Myth of Junk DNA, we already know of several non-biochemical functions of non-protein-coding DNA: providing a structural basis for centromeres (which in living cells are not just functional, but absolutely essential); providing spacers to regulate the timing of protein production; and focusing light in rod cells in the retinas of nocturnal mammals.
By analogy, iron has lots of functions. As ferric oxide, it can record digital information on a magnetic tape. As steel, it can support buildings and bridges. The latter is no less functional than the former.
So if anything, ENCODE uses too narrow a definition of function — by limiting it to “biochemical” function. For this reason, the functionality reported by ENCODE surely underestimates the total.
In the end, will our DNA turn out to be 80% functional, or 70% functional, or 90% functional? Committed anti-ID people like Larry Moran (University of Toronto) and Dennis Venema (BioLogos) will always define “function” to minimize the number. There’s not much point in squabbling with them about it. But whatever the number is now, we have every reason to expect the discovery of more and more genuine function in DNA, under any reasonable person’s definition.
The Darwinist bloggers are defending a ragged flag on a rapidly shrinking ice floe, insisting that the vast ocean around them is nothing to worry about. But if trends continue, as ENCODE gives us excellent reason to expect they will, then before long those defenders of junk DNA will be planting their flag in open water.
Happy sailing, gentlemen.Photo: Getty Images
A 73-year-old man with dementia fatally shot by police had a crucifix — not a gun, as officers were led to believe, Bakersfield police said Wednesday.
A coroner found the plastic crucifix on Francisco Serna well after an officer fatally shot him near his home just after midnight Monday, Sgt. Gary Carruesco said.
It's unclear if a 911 caller who had reported a man with a gun may have mistaken the crucifix for a weapon, as Serna's family speculated.
Officer Reagan Selman fired at Serna seven times after the grandfather refused repeated commands to take his hand out of his pocket and stop walking toward police, incoming Bakersfield police Chief Lyle Martin said Tuesday.
In addition to the 911 caller, Martin said two people who had encountered Serna hours before the shooting thought he was armed.
Serna's family is calling his death murder. They say they want an independent investigation into the shooting and for the U.S. Justice Department to look into whether police violated Serna's civil rights.
"It's difficult to accept that our dad's life ended so brutally, abruptly and with such excessive violence," according to a family statement. "Our dad was treated like a criminal, and we feel like he was left to die alone without his family by his side."
Officer Selman, who had been on the force about 16 months, was placed on administrative leave.
Martin said it was an extremely difficult set of circumstances for an officer fearing a man with a gun. The police chief expressed his condolences.
"It's tragic when a family loses a family member at any time, but when you lose a father, a grandfather, during the holiday season, that makes it that much worse," Martin said.
The shooting came roughly 30 seconds after a woman who had encountered Serna pointed him out to police as he walked out of his house across the street and toward them, Martin said.
Serna's son, Rogelio Serna, posted on Facebook that his father had dementia and would go on small walks when he had trouble sleeping.
"Last night he took his last walk," he wrote.Well known and widely respected privacy expert and advocate Simon Davies has announced the creation of a new global initiative that’s aimed at supporting the world-wide fight against unlawful and excessive government surveillance.
The launch of the initiative – dubbed Code Red – is planned for late January 2015. Its “steering group” includes MI5 whistleblower Annie Machon, Wikileaks’ and the Tor Project’s Jacob Appelbaum, crypto expert Bruce Schneier, public-key cryptography pioneer Whitfield Diffie, EFF’s International Rights Director Katitza Rodriguez, OpenMedia’s David Christopher and many other activists, legal experts, technical specialists, and whistleblowers from around the world.
Code Red will concentrate on supporting and giving advice to human rights and privacy groups around the world, but will also “seek to establish a protection network for rights defenders who are increasingly exposed to aggressive personal retribution by state authorities.”
The initiative will also support new projects aimed at creating effective, and “more tactically aggressive” countermeasures against surveillance.
Code Red aims to be a sort of a clearinghouse of information and resources needed for the aforementioned groups, and wants to “help build networks and create links between diverse elements of the reform movement – law, policy, technology and direct action – many of which are currently handicapped by limited communication and liaison,” as well as “catalogue and disseminate a wide spectrum of detailed legal, technical and strategic material for the benefit of the networks.”
“The project is now looking for supporters from various disciplines in policy, law, technology, campaigning and administration to join the initiative,” it has been announced, and consultations about the ultimate scope and definite direction the project will take are ongoing.BRADENTON, Fla. -- Pitcher Wandy Rodriguez contributed a two-run homer and RBI single as the Pittsburgh Pirates got 29 hits Tuesday and routed the Toronto Blue Jays 22-5.
Starling Marte and Jose Tabata each homered and drove in four runs. Marte got five hits and Tabata had four. The Pirates finished with nine extra-base hits.
In his first at-bat of the spring, Rodriguez hit a full-count fastball from J.A. Happ into the Pirates' bullpen in right field.
"It's a 3-2 count and I knew the fastball was coming," Rodriguez said with a laugh. "I made good contract and the wind helped me, too. I don't have a lot of power."
Rodriguez added his single in an eight-run fourth inning.
Rodriguez made his final start of spring training, working 4 2-3 innings and allowing three runs on six hits and four walks.
Matt Tuiasosopo hit a solo home run for Toronto.
Happ did not help his bid to claim a job in Toronto's rotation. He faced 20 batters in three-plus innings and allowed seven runs and 12 hits.
"I was throwing a lot of strikes on a tough-conditions day," Happ said. "They were putting the ball in play. I feel good about throwing the ball in the zone, but this is one start that I've just got to try to get over."
With a 20.57 ERA after five outings, Happ might not beat out Dustin McGowan for the final open spot in the starting rotation. Happ, however, said he came to camp believing the job was his and doesn't believe it's in jeopardy.
"I don't know who's all saying things have changed," he said. "I guess I'm not part of those conversations. I haven't had one with anybody who's telling me things are changing. It's you (media) guys saying that. I take positives and move forward, and I plan on getting better."
Happ has been bothered by a sore back, but said he feels fine now. Would he be willing to pitch in relief if he doesn't crack the rotation?
"I'm not thinking about that," he said. "I'll answer that question if one of the bosses decides he needs to ask me that. We'll deal with that then."
McGowan pitched in a minor league game and allowed three hits in four innings. He likely will start another minor league game Sunday.
As the No. 3 starter in the rotation, Rodriguez is scheduled to make his season debut April 4 against the St. Louis Cardinals at PNC Park. Last year, he made only 12 starts due to chronic forearm pain and went 6-4 with a 3.59 ERA. He will be a free agent after this season.
"I feel very happy because when I started spring training, I was thinking a lot about my arm," Rodriguez said. "Every time I throw, I feel good."
Notebook
Pirates left-hander Francisco Liriano (groin) will throw off a mound Wednesday in a simulated game. If the injury has not improved and he must start the season on the disabled list, right-hander Brandon Cumpton is a possible replacement. Cumpton replaced Edinson Volquez as the scheduled starter Wednesday against Minnesota. Volquez instead will throw two or three innings in a simulated game....Pirates first baseman Andrew Lambo was optioned to Triple-A Indianapolis, which means non-roster invitee Travis Ishikawa likely will begin the season as the Pirates' backup first baseman.... Tuiasosopo continued his six-day audition for a backup outfielder job after being claimed off waivers from Arizona. He went 1 for 4 and is 2 for 7 in two games with Toronto.... Pirates outfielder Jaff Decker and reliever Jared Hughes were optioned to Triple-A Indianapolis. Pitchers Adam Wilk, Jay Jackson, Zack Thornton and Daniel Schlereth; outfielder Chris Dickerson; catcher Omir Santos; and infielders Robert Andino and Michael Martinez were reassigned to minor league camp.... The Pirates acquired right-hander Vance Worley from the Twins for cash considerations and assigned him to minor league camp. The 26-year-old Worley made his big league debut in 2010 with the Philadelphia Phillies. Last season, he went 1-5 with a 7.10 ERA in 10 starts with the Twins.Coalition of wildlife groups write to US Bureau of Land Management asking them to remove Cliven Bundy’s cattle from federal land in Nevada
Another Bundy standoff possible as groups call for US to seize livestock
Environmental groups have called on the government to round up Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy’s cattle with a mass seizure of livestock that some fear could lead to a tense standoff between armed militia groups and federal authorities.
A coalition of wildlife organizations wrote to the US Bureau of Land Management (BLM) on Monday urging the agency to remove Bundy’s cattle in the Gold Butte area of Nevada, where the 70-year-old has for years allowed his cows to graze freely on public lands in defiance of federal land-use restrictions.
The advocates’ demands come three months after federal officials arrested Bundy, eventually charging him and 18 other activists for their roles in a high-profile conflict at the family’s ranch in Bunkerville, about 80 miles north-east of Las Vegas.
For decades, Bundy refused to pay grazing fees to the federal government, arguing that the BLM had no right regulating land activity in the west. An ensuing court battle dragged on for years until the authorities showed up to his ranch in April 2014 with the intention of seizing his cows, which the government classified as an illegal trespass on public lands.
But hundreds of supporters, some heavily armed, showed up to defend Bundy’s cattle, forcing the government to stand down for fear of violence – a retreat that galvanized anti-government groups across the west.
After Cliven’s sons Ammon and Ryan staged a similar standoff on federal lands in Oregon in January, federal prosecutors aggressively targeted the Bundy family and their followers.
Now, Cliven and four of his sons who participated in the 2014 standoff are in jail awaiting trial on serious federal felony charges that could force them to spend decades behind bars.
Although the Bundy men are locked up, the cattle are still grazing without restrictions in an area that the government and environmentalists say is critical habitat for the Mojave desert tortoise, a threatened species.
“The BLM must not wait to act to protect the desert tortoise,” nine environmental and wildlife groups wrote in their letter, which cited a recent study showing how livestock grazing causes severe declines in tortoise populations. “The cattle should be rounded up and removed from these public lands no later than summer 2016.”
BLM, however, currently has no seizure plan for the livestock, agency spokesman Jeff Krauss said in an email. “Mr Bundy’s cattle continue to be in trespass. There are no plans for a gather at this time as we continue to cooperate with the Department of Justice on the ongoing legal matter.”
Spokespersons for the US justice department did not respond to requests for comment on Monday.
Angie Bundy, wife of Ryan, one of the jailed activists, said the family would not be surprised if federal authorities showed up again. “I really believe they’ve conveniently put our men in jails so they can come after our land and our resources.”
Cliven’s youngest son, Arden, 18, has taken on many of the responsibilities at the ranch, and other relatives are helping out, according to Angie.
“Arden had to grow up fast,” she said, adding that the ranch is still running smoothly. “The cows should do well this year if people leave them alone.”
In a court motion in February, prosecutors said the ranch had as many as 1,000 cattle straying as far as 50 miles away and further claimed that Cliven had neglected his livestock.
“While Bundy claims he is a cattle rancher, his ranching operation – to the extent it can be called that – is unconventional if not bizarre,” prosecutors wrote. “Rather than manage and control his cattle, he lets them run wild on the public lands with little, if any, human interaction.”
Rob Mrowka, senior scientist with the Center for Biological Diversity, said that in addition to concerns about the tortoise competing with Bundy’s livestock for food, advocates were worried about the welfare of the cows.
Bailey Logue, one of Cliven’s daughters, scoffed at those allegations, saying the family’s cattle were in “great health”.
“Us women know how to ranch just like the guys do … The ranch is in great hands.”
Nevada senator Harry Reid also recently stated that he would like to create a national conservation area by the Bunkerville ranch.
Despite those comments and the calls from environmentalists, Bailey said she expected the family would see even more supporters at the ranch if the government tried to take their cattle a second time.
“We’re not afraid,” Angie added. “If you have a bunch of women and children standing out there and protesting, it’ll probably get more people out.”
Travis Bruner, executive director of Western Watersheds Project, said the BLM needed to remove the cattle to send a message to other land-use activists that it would not tolerate these protests.
“If that doesn’t happen, livestock operators all over the west who graze on public land will feel emboldened to not adhere to laws and regulations.”India will likely ease foreign direct investment (FDI) rules for several sectors, including multi-brand retail and commodity markets, a move aimed at conveying the Narendra Modi-government's intent to walk the talk on economic reforms.As reported in Moneycontrol on Monday, the government may allow limited sale of beauty and personal care products in global giants' food retail outlets as part of plans to ease rules for multinationals to open stores in the country.Inter-ministerial consultations are currently on for writing the new rules to partially open up the non-food sector to transnational deep-discount retailers.Prime Minister Narendra Modi will take a final view on the matter and a decision is expected after the second part of Parliament's Budget session ends in March.Along with the new FDI policy, the government will announce the replacement mechanism for FDI applications after abolition of the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) — the current nodal agency that vets overseas investment applications — a move that will hasten fund flows into the economy.The government will also likely allow banks and mutual funds to invest in commodity markets.The move on allowing multi-brand non-food retail, once implemented, will effectively open up India’s lucrative USD 10 billion home and personal care (HPC) market for foreign deep-discount retailers, bringing them in direct competition with consumer goods companies such as Godrej, Dabur Colgate-Palmolive and yoga guru Baba Ramdev-promoted Patanjali Ayurved |
predominantly Muslim countries from entering the United States. Stephanie Keith/Getty 7/20 jfk-protest-muslim-ban-7 NEW YORK, NY - JANUARY 28: Protestors rally during a demonstration against the new immigration ban issued by President Donald Trump at John F. Kennedy International Airport on January 28, 2017 in New York City. President Trump signed the controversial executive order that halted refugees and residents from predominantly Muslim countries from entering the United States. Stephanie Keith/Getty 8/20 jfk-protest-muslim-ban-8 Protestors rally during a demonstration against the new immigration ban issued by President Donald Trump at John F. Kennedy International Airport on January 28, 2017 in New York City. President Trump signed the controversial executive order that halted refugees and residents from predominantly Muslim countries from entering the United States. Stephanie Keith/Getty 9/20 jfk-protest-muslim-ban-9 Getty Images 10/20 jfk-protest-muslim-ban-10 Getty Images 11/20 jfk-protest-muslim-ban-11 NEW YORK, NY - JANUARY 28: Protestors rally during a demonstration against the Muslim immigration ban at John F. Kennedy International Airport on January 28, 2017 in New York City. President Trump signed the controversial executive order that halted refugees and residents from predominantly Muslim countries from entering the United States. Stephanie Keith/Getty 12/20 jfk-protest-muslim-ban-12 Protestors rally during a demonstration against the Muslim immigration ban at John F. Kennedy International Airport on January 28, 2017 in New York City. President Trump signed the controversial executive order that halted refugees and residents from predominantly Muslim countries from entering the United States. Stephanie Keith/Getty 13/20 jfk-protest-muslim-ban-13 Protestors rally during a demonstration against the Muslim immigration ban at John F. Kennedy International Airport on January 28, 2017 in New York City. President Trump signed the controversial executive order that halted refugees and residents from predominantly Muslim countries from entering the United States. Stephanie Keith/Getty 14/20 jfk-protest-muslim-ban-14 Protestors rally during a demonstration against the Muslim immigration ban at John F. Kennedy International Airport on January 28, 2017 in New York City. President Trump signed the controversial executive order that halted refugees and residents from predominantly Muslim countries from entering the United States. Stephanie Keith/Getty 15/20 jfk-protest-muslim-ban-15 Protestors rally during a demonstration against the Muslim immigration ban at John F. Kennedy International Airport on January 28, 2017 in New York City. President Trump signed the controversial executive order that halted refugees and residents from predominantly Muslim countries from entering the United States. Stephanie Keith/Getty 16/20 jfk-protest-muslim-ban-16 Protestors rally during a demonstration against the Muslim immigration ban at John F. Kennedy International Airport on January 28, 2017 in New York City. President Trump signed the controversial executive order that halted refugees and residents from predominantly Muslim countries from entering the United States. Stephanie Keith/Getty 17/20 jfk-protest-muslim-ban-17 NEW YORK, NY - JANUARY 28: Protestors rally during a protest against the Muslim immigration ban at John F. Kennedy International Airport on January 28, 2017 in New York City. President Trump singed the controversial executive order that halted refugees and residents from predominantly Muslim countries from entering the United States. Stephanie Keith/Getty 18/20 jfk-protest-muslim-ban-18 Protestors rally during a protest against the Muslim immigration ban at John F. Kennedy International Airport on January 28, 2017 in New York City. President Trump singed the controversial executive order that halted refugees and residents from predominantly Muslim countries from entering the United States. Stephanie Keith/Getty 19/20 jfk-protest-muslim-ban-19 Protestors rally during a protest against the Muslim immigration ban at John F. Kennedy International Airport on January 28, 2017 in New York City. President Trump singed the controversial executive order that halted refugees and residents from predominantly Muslim countries from entering the United States. Stephanie Keith/Getty 20/20 jfk-protest-muslim-ban-20 Passengers wait in line to check in at the American Airlines terminal at JFK International Airport August 10, 2006 in the Queens borough of New York City. British authorities arrested 21 people and halted a anallegedly terrorist plot to use liquid explosives concealed in carry-on luggage to blow up airliners traveling between Britain and the U.S. Homeland Security chief Michael Chertoff said that the plot appeared to be directed at U.S. carriers flying out of Heathrow. such as United Airlines, American Airlines, Continental Airlines. Stephen Chernin/Getty 1/20 jfk-protest-muslim-ban-1 Protestors rally during a demonstration against the Muslim immigration ban at John F. Kennedy International Airport on January 28, 2017 in New York City. President Trump signed the controversial executive order that halted refugees and residents from predominantly Muslim countries from entering the United States. Getty 2/20 jfk-protest-muslim-ban-2 Protestors rally during a protest against the Muslim immigration ban at John F. Kennedy International Airport on January 28, 2017 in New York City. President Trump singed the controversial executive order that halted refugees and residents from predominantly Muslim countries from entering the United States. Stephanie Keith/Getty 3/20 jfk-protest-muslim-ban-3 Protestors rally during a protest against the Muslim immigration ban at John F. Kennedy International Airport on January 28, 2017 in New York City. President Trump singed the controversial executive order that halted refugees and residents from predominantly Muslim countries from entering the United States. Stephanie Keith/Getty 4/20 jfk-protest-muslim-ban-4 SAN FRANCISCO, CA - JANUARY 28: Demonstrators hold signs during a rally against a ban on Muslim immigration at San Francisco International Airport on January 28, 2017 in San Francisco, California. President Donald Trump signed an executive order Friday that suspends entry of all refugees for 120 days, indefinitely suspends the entries of all Syrian refugees, as well as barring entries from seven predominantly Muslim countries from entering for 90 days. Stephen Lam/Getty 5/20 jfk-protest-muslim-ban-5 A crowd of protesters gathers outside of the Brooklyn Federal Courthouse as a judge hears a challenge against President Donald Trump's executive ban on immigration from several Muslim countries, on January 28, 2017 in Brooklyn. The judge issued an emergency stay on part of Trump's executive order, ruling that sending refugees stopped at U.S. airports back to their countries would be harmful. Yana Paskova/Getty 6/20 jfk-protest-muslim-ban-6 Protestors rally during a demonstration against the new immigration ban issued by President Donald Trump at John F. Kennedy International Airport on January 28, 2017 in New York City. President Trump signed the controversial executive order that halted refugees and residents from predominantly Muslim countries from entering the United States. Stephanie Keith/Getty 7/20 jfk-protest-muslim-ban-7 NEW YORK, NY - JANUARY 28: Protestors rally during a demonstration against the new immigration ban issued by President Donald Trump at John F. Kennedy International Airport on January 28, 2017 in New York City. President Trump signed the controversial executive order that halted refugees and residents from predominantly Muslim countries from entering the United States. Stephanie Keith/Getty 8/20 jfk-protest-muslim-ban-8 Protestors rally during a demonstration against the new immigration ban issued by President Donald Trump at John F. Kennedy International Airport on January 28, 2017 in New York City. President Trump signed the controversial executive order that halted refugees and residents from predominantly Muslim countries from entering the United States. Stephanie Keith/Getty 9/20 jfk-protest-muslim-ban-9 Getty Images 10/20 jfk-protest-muslim-ban-10 Getty Images 11/20 jfk-protest-muslim-ban-11 NEW YORK, NY - JANUARY 28: Protestors rally during a demonstration against the Muslim immigration ban at John F. Kennedy International Airport on January 28, 2017 in New York City. President Trump signed the controversial executive order that halted refugees and residents from predominantly Muslim countries from entering the United States. Stephanie Keith/Getty 12/20 jfk-protest-muslim-ban-12 Protestors rally during a demonstration against the Muslim immigration ban at John F. Kennedy International Airport on January 28, 2017 in New York City. President Trump signed the controversial executive order that halted refugees and residents from predominantly Muslim countries from entering the United States. Stephanie Keith/Getty 13/20 jfk-protest-muslim-ban-13 Protestors rally during a demonstration against the Muslim immigration ban at John F. Kennedy International Airport on January 28, 2017 in New York City. President Trump signed the controversial executive order that halted refugees and residents from predominantly Muslim countries from entering the United States. Stephanie Keith/Getty 14/20 jfk-protest-muslim-ban-14 Protestors rally during a demonstration against the Muslim immigration ban at John F. Kennedy International Airport on January 28, 2017 in New York City. President Trump signed the controversial executive order that halted refugees and residents from predominantly Muslim countries from entering the United States. Stephanie Keith/Getty 15/20 jfk-protest-muslim-ban-15 Protestors rally during a demonstration against the Muslim immigration ban at John F. Kennedy International Airport on January 28, 2017 in New York City. President Trump signed the controversial executive order that halted refugees and residents from predominantly Muslim countries from entering the United States. Stephanie Keith/Getty 16/20 jfk-protest-muslim-ban-16 Protestors rally during a demonstration against the Muslim immigration ban at John F. Kennedy International Airport on January 28, 2017 in New York City. President Trump signed the controversial executive order that halted refugees and residents from predominantly Muslim countries from entering the United States. Stephanie Keith/Getty 17/20 jfk-protest-muslim-ban-17 NEW YORK, NY - JANUARY 28: Protestors rally during a protest against the Muslim immigration ban at John F. Kennedy International Airport on January 28, 2017 in New York City. President Trump singed the controversial executive order that halted refugees and residents from predominantly Muslim countries from entering the United States. Stephanie Keith/Getty 18/20 jfk-protest-muslim-ban-18 Protestors rally during a protest against the Muslim immigration ban at John F. Kennedy International Airport on January 28, 2017 in New York City. President Trump singed the controversial executive order that halted refugees and residents from predominantly Muslim countries from entering the United States. Stephanie Keith/Getty 19/20 jfk-protest-muslim-ban-19 Protestors rally during a protest against the Muslim immigration ban at John F. Kennedy International Airport on January 28, 2017 in New York City. President Trump singed the controversial executive order that halted refugees and residents from predominantly Muslim countries from entering the United States. Stephanie Keith/Getty 20/20 jfk-protest-muslim-ban-20 Passengers wait in line to check in at the American Airlines terminal at JFK International Airport August 10, 2006 in the Queens borough of New York City. British authorities arrested 21 people and halted a anallegedly terrorist plot to use liquid explosives concealed in carry-on luggage to blow up airliners traveling between Britain and the U.S. Homeland Security chief Michael Chertoff said that the plot appeared to be directed at U.S. carriers flying out of Heathrow. such as United Airlines, American Airlines, Continental Airlines. Stephen Chernin/Getty
Under Obama’s lifeline, these youngsters have studied, gotten jobs and paid taxes. More than 91 per cent are in employment. Putting aside the impact on these young people, many of whose parents escaped desperate situations, a study by the Centre for American Progress suggested losing these dreamers would cost the economy $433bn over the next 10 years.
America is famously a nation of immigrants, immigrants who come in waves – English, Irish, Poles, Italians. They all but destroyed the indigenous Americans who lived here, but established lives for themselves.
In the late 19th Century, many from central Europe made their way to the New World. Among them, in 1885, was Friedrich Trumpf, one of Trump’s grandfathers. Reports suggest he did not speak English, but worked hard to build a life for himself, moved to the west coast, ran restaurants and then returned to New York where married Trump’s grandmother.
It is these waves of immigrants who have constantly turned the wheels of America’s economy. As Trump’s grandfather worked to find his place in the world, so now are people from Afghanistan, Colombia and El Salvador.
So too are the people from Central America, no more so these young people who were encouraged to dream. Most Americans – polls suggest anywhere up to 75 per cent support the dreamers being here – are sympathetic to their cause.
Trump claimed making the decision has troubled him deeply. Earlier this year, he said in relation to the dreamers: “We’re going to show great heart.”
Yet simply for the sake of placating the most extreme instincts of his political base, Trump has turned his back on those he could so easily have helped.
Great heart? Dream on.
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 nowIt’s a match that was always at or near the top of most “dream match” lists. Sting and Undertaker were main event staples for the two biggest wrestling companies in the world when the form was at the peak of its popularity, and had similar supernatural gimmicks. A clash between The Dead Man and The Crow, preferably on the biggest stage possible, was the subject of many a fantasy booking session... especially after Vince McMahon bought WCW.
Though it took a long time for him to join the WWE fold, Sting himself has spoken of his desire for a showdown with Taker. It still comes up, as it did with The Icon in Dubai promoting WWE 2K18.
And based on what the Stinger told Al Arabiya English, video games are the only place we’ll ever see the match - and not because both performers may be retired from in-ring competition:
Al Arabiya: If Taker calls you up tomorrow, do you do the match or do you say no? Sting: [Laughs] He’s not going to call me tomorrow. Al Arabiya: Have you two talked about that match over the years? Is that something that’s ever come up between the two of you? Sting: We’ve had a brief conversation, and I just told him, I said, man, I just always wanted to have that match. It wasn’t necessarily reciprocated so I’m not sure where he stands or if he had any interest at all, to be quite honest. But I did. I don’t mind saying.
Dang, that’s cold, even coming from a dead guy.
But I guess it explains why it never happened, though.Entrepreneur's location floats his boat SMALL BUSINESS
Weissleder and Pico prepare to go back to the mainland. Myles Weissleder uses a floating office, a houseboat anchored off Sausalito, for his technology business. He regularly commutes to the houseboat from a tender with his trusty dog Pico. less Weissleder and Pico prepare to go back to the mainland. Myles Weissleder uses a floating office, a houseboat anchored off Sausalito, for his technology business. He regularly commutes to the houseboat from a... more Photo: Brant Ward, The Chronicle Photo: Brant Ward, The Chronicle Image 1 of / 4 Caption Close Entrepreneur's location floats his boat 1 / 4 Back to Gallery
On a recent morning in Sausalito, media consultant Myles Weissleder pulled up to the Paradise Bay Restaurant, walked out on the dock and got into a blue inflatable dinghy.
He was headed to his new office.
"This is not like taking Muni to work," said Weissleder as he yanked on the outboard pull string to start the motor and pointed the dinghy toward the red-and-white houseboat anchored 500 yards out in Richardson Bay that now serves as his floating office.
The 39-year-old entrepreneur, who works with tech startups and organizes SF New Tech, San Francisco's largest event series for technology lovers, purchased the 1971 houseboat for $2,600 last month when a recent addition to his family made working from home impossible.
Weissleder had been running his company from his small flat in Sausalito since he moved to the Bay Area 10 years ago. Besides organizing the monthly technology events that attract several hundred people, his company Mylermedia has been busy helping launch online projects such as CNN's Anderson Cooper 360 podcast, ReFrameIt.com, Power.com and Greenbydesign.com. Last year, Mylermedia also helped organize the National Presidential Caucus.
While he enjoyed not having a commute and the flexibility of working from home, he decided it was time to establish a real and unique headquarters for his rapidly growing business after having his best quarter yet.
Just as many other small-business owners in this position, he first considered traditional office space.
The recession helped flood the Bay Area office market with space, but prices in areas like Sausalito remained far from affordable. Although Sausalito office prices decreased by 20 to 30 percent in the past eight months, few spaces are available for less than $2.50 a square foot a month, according to Theo Banks of Keegan & Coppin Company Inc., which specializes in commercial real estate in the North Bay.
High price of space
For a one-man operation like Weissleder's, there was another issue.
"There aren't many offices available under 1,000 square feet and they can command a higher price," explained Banks.
San Francisco's office market, which offers more choices, presented its own problems - a long commute and few dog-friendly options for his 90-pound Lab-pit, Pico.
"I love coming into San Francisco when I need to, but I don't find much value in spending time in a car commuting when you could be geared up where you are - all you need is a phone, Internet, time and space," said Weissleder.
Besides, he always wanted to work on the waterfront. Inspired by the first social Internet platform, the Well, which came out of the same Sausalito waters in the 1980s, Weissleder settled on the rusty houseboat that allows for a short commute (provided the motor isn't flooded) along white yachts and a row of sleepy sea lions stretched out on the docks.
"You can't beat this," he said.
Although it features one of the world's best views - Mount Tam to the north and San Francisco's skyline to the south - an old boat floating 500 yards out in the water isn't exactly a reliable spot for client meetings.
Weissleder conceded that he will have to refrain from working at his floating office during bad weather, but said the general rocking just takes getting used to. The bigger issue is that the fixer-upper boat is in desperate need of redecorating, but he hopes to make it more comfortable and modern by changing the windows, bringing in cushions and setting up a whiteboard.
Allowing for creativity
So far, Weissleder's clients have been supportive. Jake Saxbe, founder of Toobla.com, which provides a visual social bookmarking service, said he couldn't wait to have a meeting on the boat.
"No office allows for more creativity," he said. "We've worked with big firms that have offices in buildings, but a guy on a houseboat is more our style. I think that it would be great for our business, too - he mentioned flying a Toobla flag outside the boat."
But not all clients are so easy to please, argued Gary Marshall of the U.S. Small Business Administration's San Francisco office.
"The location of your business definitely affects the perception of your client base," he said. "Before making a decision of where to locate your office, you should think really strongly about how it's going to affect your customers. If you rely on your business to be easily accessible, you need to think about that."
While he hasn't brought any of his clients there yet, Weissleder said his boat-office can only help with marketing his business. After all, his company is most likely the only tech firm actually based in San Francisco Bay.
But Marshall warned other small businesses about using their office location for marketing.
"I think looking at your location as a marketing tool should be one of the last considerations," he said. "If your location works out as a marketing tool, more power to you, but making a decision based on that is questionable."
So far, Weissleder has no regrets.
"I hope it will help me focus more," he said as he waved to a couple of kayakers passing by. "Because if you drill down and get comfortable out here, the sky is the limit."Following instructions from the Petroleum Ministry, oil and gas PSUs will pay at least Rs 200 crore for the Statue of Unity, the 182-metre-tall statue of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel which is being installed at the Sadhu Bet island, 3.5 km south of the Sardar Sarovar Dam at Kevadia in Narmada district of Gujarat. While Oil & Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) and Indian Oil Corp (IOC) will contribute Rs 50 crore each out of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) funds, other profit-making public sector undertakings (PSUs) have been told to pay Rs 25 crore each.
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“Other oil sector PSU, particularly IOC, has already been directed to contribute in tune of Rs 50 crore for this project. Other than ONGC and IOC, other oil sector PSUs are contributing Rs 25 crore. By taking into consideration the total cost of the project, we may consider the proposal for grant of Rs 50 crore,” says the agenda note, approved by Chairman and Managing Director, ratified by the ONGC board in April. A GAIL India official confirmed that instructions were given by the Ministry last March for all oil and gas companies to support the project in “a collaborative mode”.
“It was conveyed at a CSR review meeting. No written order was issued,” the official said. Oil India Ltd, GAIL India Ltd, Bharat Petroleum and Hindustan Petroleum have approved Rs 25 crore each for the project, taking the collective contribution so far to Rs 200 crore. This would take care of nearly a fifth of the planned expenditure of Rs 1,040 crore for the Statue of Unity in financial year 2017-18. When asked about these directions, Secretary, Ministry of Petroleum, K D Tripathi, declined to comment.
ONGC said the project’s admissibility for CSR funds under Schedule VII of the Companies Act was “well covered” under promoting education, health and hygiene especially for tribal populace among others…ensuring environmental sustainability and protection of national heritage, art and culture. The agenda note also cites Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan’s suggestion that ONGC can “reposition its CSR funds to meet Department of Public Enterprises’ directives to spend 33 per cent of CSR budget on Swachh Bharat activities”.
The agenda paper shows that 14 state-run Gujarat companies had extended Rs 104.88 crore as financial support for the project. Among them, top donors include Gujarat Industrial Development Corporation (Rs 17 crore); Gujarat State Financial Services Ltd (Rs 15.88 crore); Gujarat Mineral Development Corporation (Rs 15 crore); Gujarat State Fertilizers and Chemicals Limited and Sardar Sarovar Narmada Nigam Limited (Rs 10 crore each).
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Under construction since October 2014, the statue is envisaged as the world’s tallest when completed. Its contract was awarded to Larsen and Toubro for Rs 2989 crore with a targeted completion date of October 2018. The statue complex is planned to be spread over 20,000 square m of project area and will be surrounded by an artificial lake.Lucca
Human engineer 9
TN Medium Humanoid
Init: +3, Senses: Perception +14
Defense
AC 16, Touch 16, Flat-Footed 16
hp 54
Fort +7 Ref +9 Will +4
Offense
Speed 30ft
Melee Light Hammer +7/+2 (1d6+1)|
Ranged Wondershot +15/+10 (1d8+9)
Statistics
Str 11, Dex 16, Con 13, Int 20, Wis 15, Cha 12
Base Atk +6/+1; CMB +6; CMD +9
Feats Point-Blank Shot, Precise Shot, Weapon Focus (Pistol), Weapon Focus (Hammer), Craft Magic Arms & Armor, Throw Anything, Craft Construct
Skills Appraise +17, Craft (Construct) +17, Craft (Mechanical) +17, Craft (Weapons) +17, Craft (Armor) +17, Disable Device +13, Fly +11, Heal +9, Perception +14, Profession (Engineer) +14, Use Magic Device +14
Languages Common
Gear Wondershot, Ring of Protection, Spectacles of Understanding, Ring Of Fire
Special Qualities
Engineer Deeds Exploding Shot, Infused Shot, Black Powder Bombs
Bomb 5d6
Discoveries Promethean Disciple, Fire Brand, Immolation Bomb
Special Equipment
Wondershot This pistol acts as a +5 Pistol Of Infinite Sky
Ring Of Fire This ring acts as a staff of fire.
Do you like what you see here? If you’re anything like me, you love video game nostalgia. If you’d like to see more, you should check out volume 1 of my Super Retro Sourcebook at RPG Now! It’s got a lot of great conversions from video games from the 1980’s, including Dragon Warrior, Final Fantasy 1, Startropics and many more, all converted for play with the Pathfinder game!
If you want to help me bring more retro video game character’s like Alucard to life, meander over to my Patreon and make a pledge! Your pledge will ensure that I can create even more retro content for Pathfinder, and even help bring further volumes of the Super Retro Sourcebook to life!When I saw this recipe for Cadbury mini egg cookies pop up on my Pinterest feed, I just knew I had to try it. I have a crazy sweet tooth, so anything involving chocolate, baked goods, or sweets is right up my alley. As a longtime Cadbury egg lover and with Easter just up around the corner, I thought I’d share this recipe with all of you.
The original link to the recipe can found here. I ended up using the popular Tollhouse cookie recipe, only to find out this blogger used a very similar one as well. I guess we all have good taste in cookies! I’ll provide visuals and instructions for the sake of blogging, but make sure you check out the links above for the original geniuses who came up with the recipe idea!
[amd-zlrecipe-recipe:8]
Enjoy!
Buddy wishes he could eat human food.
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EmailWe all knew this would happen. It’s been a while since we talked about how cheese, tulips, and murder are The Netherlands’ biggest export product. To counter the jovial, liberal, and straight-to-your-face Dutch attitude that is (mostly) beloved around the world, we had a few among us who were making less than pleasant fame abroad. With murderous expats such as Joran van der Sloot and Tanja Nijmeijer (formerly) butchering their way through South America, the next thing was a not-so modest stream of Dutch jihadists. An estimated 150 of them are believed to be active in the Middle East as part of the IS network. Some of them have already been killed in battle, but now a new low has been reached, as it has been confirmed by the news-outlet Raqqa is Being Slaughtered Silently that IS has executed eight Dutch jihadists.
So what happened?
This conflict has also been dubbed the ‘social media war’ and the Dutch have their fair share of good reporters on the (ambigious and sometimes digital) frontlines of Syria and Iraq, and be sure to follow @arabthomness and @BrendaStoter for the newest shifts at the fronts and insider info. But once again, Harald Doornbos takes the crown with a great 24-tweet translation of the report by the ‘Raqqa is being slaughtered silently’
1/ letterlijke vertaling. > “ISIS fighters with Dutch nationalities were able to form their own group due to their numbers >— Harald Doornbos (@HaraldDoornbos) 29 februari 2016
…and their ability to attract dutch nationals from Moroccan origin until their number reached 75 members. They took the area of Al Furusiyya in Ar-Raqqa as a base. They were almost semi isolated from their surroundings. But they kept following orders of IS-leadership, although there was tension between the Dutch nationals and the Iraqi commanders in IS. Around a month ago, the situation deteriorated when a patrol from Electricity HQ (new security IS-headquarters, reporting to Base11), went to the camp in al-Furusiyya-club, (it is a horse riding club) where the members of the Dutch group live. The patrol arrested one of the (Dutch) members to interrogate him, accusing him of encouraging others to defect. He (the arrested Dutch IS-member) is young in age and was planning to escape IS-territory, according to the reporter of @Raqqa_SL. IS arrested then two others from the Dutch group.
Next day, 1 of the arrested Dutch was killed by Intelligence Unit of IS. He died due to extreme beating he received during interrogation. His Dutch colleagues learned about this. They went to the headquarters which reports to Base 11, located behind the electricity station. A severe argument took place. And there was shooting between the Dutch IS-members and the Iraq IS-commanders at the headquarters. Situation spilled over and became an argument between Dutch nationals &leadership of IS in Raqqa. Specifically with Abu Ahmad al-Iraqi. European IS-members accused the Iraqi IS-leadership of patronizing them and not giving them equal rights similar to Iraqi fighters. Next day, Abu Labeeb al-Amni, deputy of the Wali of Raqqa, went to Al Furusiyya HQ to meet with Dutch nationals & solve the problems. The moment Abu Labeeb al-Amni arrived there, Dutch IS-fighters killed him to avenge their friend, who was earlier beaten to death. Members of the Dutch-unit didn’t want to say who specifically shot Abu Labeeb al-Amni.
IS leadership in Raqqa reported to higher #IS leadership in Iraq about fitna between European Muhajireen &Iraqi IS-commanders in Raqqa. Leadership of #IS issued an order to arrest all members of Dutch unit, to interrogate them and to find out who killed Abu Labeeb. If they don’t say who killed Abu Labeeb, they all will be accused of defection, instigation against IS &charged with corruption. Immediately, Intelligence Unit of IS headed with several cars to HQ Dutch fighters &encircled Furusiyya where European fighters stay. Intelligence Unit of IS tried to enter HQ to arrest the Dutch. Some resisted. Started shooting at them. Some people on both sides injured. Then IS-intelligence unit entered, arrested entire Dutch unit, around 75 members. They were taken to prisons in Maadan and Tabaqa.
24/ “On Friday afternoon 26/2/2016 #IS executed 8Dutch members in Maadan, accused of “instigation”, buried them in mountain in AlJerf area”<— Harald Doornbos (@HaraldDoornbos) 29 februari 2016
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Serious gratitude goes out to the brave people of @Raqqa_SL and of course Harald Doornbos, epic tweet story!
So what to think of this?
So first off, IS is not doing so well. People want to defect, their ranks are talking not-so-covertly about it and they’ve serious difficulty in getting their troops in line.
Second, since there’s a lot of driving going on between camps and prisons it just shows once more how limited the bombing campaign has been so far. One would expect every little tent that could contain any jihadi’s would have been bombed to oblivion by now.
And finally, what will the reaction be like from the Netherlands? Twitter has already seen some sarcastic mourning for these ‘Dutchies’ and you can bet your clog on it (don’t worry, not a real saying in the Netherlands) that Wilders will be cheering the execution in the morning. He cannot be blamed for that, we are after all at war with IS, and these 8 have betrayed this country (and the whole of humanity for that matter). Unlike Jitse Atske, who fought with the good side in this conflict (YPG, the fellas that defended Kobane against IS) and was consequently thanked by the Dutch government with a medal, a violent arrest.
So what now?
Undoubtedly the Raqqa area will get more and more attention since there are now 75 Dutch jihadi’s incarcerated. Will they bombed by Russia or the US? Will they be executed by IS? And will there be widespread cheering after that?
There will probably be a lot of sad families in the town of Delft, The Hague and Utrecht as well, these wicked jihadis are still their family.
Only the future can tell…
[authorbox authorid=”1″ ]
[authorbox authorid=”2″ ]Dann Paquette (left) of Pretty Things Beer & Ale Project raises a toast with one of his representatives, Jim “Bocky” Barnes, at the kickoff to Boston Beer Week in Jamaica Plain.
State regulators are investigating charges made by a Somerville brewer, Dann Paquette, who touched off a firestorm among beer enthusiasts when he accused two popular Boston bars of refusing to carry his company’s products because other brewers or distributors had paid to reserve taps there.
In a series of impassioned, late-night Twitter posts this week, the cofounder of Pretty Things Beer & Ale Project said so-called dirty lines — or reserved tap spaces — were the reason his beer is not served at the Lower Depths Tap Room in Kenmore Square and Bukowski Tavern in the Back Bay.
While his allegations are unproven, Paquette and other beer-industry insiders allege “pay-to-play” schemes are widespread at Boston bars and restaurants, and say the practice limits consumer choices and hurts small breweries trying to make a name for themselves.
Boston is a pay to play town and we're often shut out for draft lines along with many beers you may love. — PrettyBeer (@PrettyBeer) October 14, 2014
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“A great beer culture deserves more than greedy, shifty bar owners and brewers [trying] to fill their pockets,” Paquette wrote on Twitter.
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Gordon Wilcox, whose Wilcox Hospitality Group owns the two bars criticized by Paquette, responded with a blistering open letter, and said they don’t offer Pretty Things beer simply because it is too expensive.
Wilcox did not return a call seeking comment Wednesday, but in his open letter, he angrily denied Paquette’s accusations and said he had never asked him “for a damn thing.”
Can anyone guess why we're not served @bukowskiboston or @LowerDepthsBOS and other from that group? Correct, we won't illegally buy lines — PrettyBeer (@PrettyBeer) October 14, 2014
“Though [the] practice of giving away kegs or other gifts to move product may be common with other companies, I am forced to question your own practices,” Wilcox wrote to Paquette, adding that he “will not serve your inferior product.”
Paquette disputed the accuracy of the prices that Wilcox quoted in the letter.
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His comments got the attention of the state’s Alcoholic Beverages Control Commission.
“Now that this incident has been brought to our attention, we are looking into it,” said Chandra Allard, a spokeswoman for Treasurer Steven Grossman, who oversees the ABCC.
She said if the allegations are found to be true, “we will go forward accordingly.”
@EZembeck @beermetarbender This law is pro-consumer, there is no argument on that. Pay to play increase price, decreases selection. — Notch Brewing Co. (@NotchBrewing) October 14, 2014
State regulators have said the few complaints they receive about pay-to-play practices typically involve spats between competing bars and are difficult to substantiate. The ABCC has not taken any enforcement actions based on similar complaints in at least 18 years, a spokesman said.
After Paquette’s tweets, other brewers quickly took to Twitter and industry online forums to cheer Paquette on. Many repeated longstanding complaints that when their salespeople approach bars, they are told the tap lines are “committed” to other brands willing to pay for access, or provide free kegs. The brewers said they have been reluctant to make their gripes public, for fear of angering establishments they count on to market their beer.
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“I was just fed up that nobody was speaking out,” Paquette said in an interview.
Pretty Things has offices in Somerville but does not have its own brewery, instead renting time at Buzzards Bay Brewing in Westport. The company is well-regarded for its signature Jack D’or saison brew and small-batch beers based on historic styles.
Having access to draft lines at bars and restaurants is vital, according to brewers, who say aficionados usually buy their favorites at package stores, but are willing to try a pint of something new on tap at their trusted local spot.
“If the brewery is a band, I liken draft beer to the radio,” Paquette said. “You won’t buy the record if you don’t hear the single on the radio and get exposed to it. Draft beer is the least profitable part of our business, but it’s where we get the most exposure.”
Craft beer is booming, with the sales volume jumping 17 percent from 2012 to 2013, according to the Brewers Association. But even as more microbreweries and brew pubs open, the overall beer market has slumped slightly, the association found. It is ratcheting up the pressure on brewers |
[ smirk ]
That
Or...
rushing tidal wave of positive
amazing
we stick together.
Bryden, you rock. Your costume rocks. And, speaking as a life-long Trekker, I would be proud to call you my friend. I hope to bump into you at a convention someday, but 'til then: live long and prosper! (And please tell your mom she's awesome, too.)
your turn.
When I first shared the story of Katie, the girl who was teased for her Star Wars water bottle, you Epbot readers blew me away with your immediate and resounding tidal wave of support. It remains one of the most inspiring things to have ever happened on this blog.Well, today is "Wear Star Wars, Share Star Wars" Day - a day Katie and her mom Carrie created for geeks everywhere to wear their scifi or geek t-shirts proudly, and also to donate a geek toy to charity (making it clear that the toy is for either a boy OR a girl). Because this isn't a day just for Star Wars fans; it's for fans oftypes.It's e-mails like this that make me so stinkin' proud to know all of you. I hear pretty often that I help make being a geek girl seem perfectly "normal," as if it's nothing to think twice about or have to defend -However, sadly, there are people out there who still haven't gotten the memo.Look, I'm an optimist. I prefer to dwell on the positive rather than the negative. Stories like Katie's and Bryden'sme, because the next generationis expressing themselves in ways I never did at their age. They know what they love, and they want to share those things., my friends, is AWESOME.Now, could we gripe about the judgmental teacher and insensitive classmates? Sure. We could write long articles about bullying, and decry the cruelty of childhood, etc., etc - and certainly those things have their place.We could drown out the negative with a. We could make Bryden our Hero of the Week. We could share her picture with all the other little girls we know. We could tell our friends about her, and remember her example any time we're tempted to feel embarrassed about the things we love.And most importantly? We can tell Bryden that her costume wasn't "weird," it was. We can show her that she just earned herself her own personal fan club. We can share our own stories of costumes and passions and reassure her that she's not alone,because we geeks - girls and guys alike -Here, I'll start:Ok, guys:Sometimes when you cut through the worldly noise, you bump into the heartwarming tales of humans who aren’t undone by resources but fuelled by the passion. Legends like that of the old man who calls stray dogs as his children in Nainital, the Sardar ji who feeds stray dogs in Chandigarh or the rag picker who looks after hundreds of dogs in Delhi.
Meet Balu, the man who belongs to this rare species.
Balu saved money for ten years to buy a van which he turned into an ambulance for stray dogs.
By training, not a vet, Balu the Pune resident learnt the basics of animal care – dressing wounds, putting up saline and handling injections by hanging out with professionals. Balu’s unique ambulance service takes the hurt and homeless dogs in Pune to the veterinary doctors for treatment.
We at Dog with Blog are sure that James Herriot would have been proud of Balu!
Apart from running this ambulance for stray dogs, Balu also looks after sick cats and dogs in his home, providing them with the first-aid. He also nurses to health dogs with broken bones or such injuries. Balu fosters pups as and when the shelters are at their peak capacity, at any point in time he has around 4-5 dogs with him at his humble abode.
Who says one needs a formal education to be kind?
Keep up the good work, Balu! On behalf of all the Pune dogs, here’s raising a toast to you!
Connect with Dog with Blog on Facebook Twitter G+CINEMATOGRAPHY TECHNIQUE 3.1 Know the script Seems like another ‘no brainer’. But... Far too often camera crews and even DoP’s don’t know the script backwards and forwards. And you can see the same mindset at play in online forums and groups where the focus is skewed so heavily towards gear and technical cinematography techniques versus the art of visual storytelling. Being a cinematographer is as creative as it is technical. Make sure the ideas you bring to the table are grounded in a knowledge of the scripted material. We know debating fancy new camera and gimbals are fun, but the best DP's aren't just gearheads.
DP Gregg Toland innovated and truly “changed the game” with light and shadow on Citizen Kane
A great early example of a DP and Director innovating together and serving the story is Citizen Kane. DP Gregg Toland kept his depth of field, and used light and shadow to direct the eye, creating a more dramatic look. Without a focus on how to serve the story, such innovation would have been rendered meaningless. So? Make notes in your script. Bring up visual suggestions, questions, and ideas. Have conversations about styles to emulate, other film’s this story reminds you of. The better you know the project the better you’ll be able to help serve it.
CINEMATOGRAPHY TECHNIQUE 3.2 Use the right gear for the job Not every shoot will need a fully decked out Alexa package with cinema zooms. Sometimes a shoulder mounted ENG camera is exactly what a project needs. Get familiar with ALL types of cameras and lenses. Not just the big ticket cinema stuff. Being precise about what you need is one of the most important cinematography techniques you'll develop. Because if and when the director asks for something out of the ordinary you’ll need to be ready with not only suggestions, but also the requisite knowledge to implement them. Knowing how to achieve the same end goals will make you favorite of producers as well. Which likely means more jobs.
CINEMATOGRAPHY TECHNIQUE 3.3 Perform camera tests Learn how to do traditional camera tests with a chip chart, color chart, and human models, and then do them once you get your hands on the camera. With proper testing, you can see exactly how the camera reacts before you get on set and determine a lot of lighting and shooting strategies beforehand. As opposed to on set where you’ll have a dozen people waiting for you to get to know the camera. You might have learned to do this in film school. But we’re putting it here because we don’t want anyone to take it for granted. Sometimes certain basics fall by the wayside. This is one you should never let that happen to.
FOR THE BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY, BE SURE TO TEST: Different camera settings (ISO, working stop, LUTs, color spaces, etc) Filters Lighting choices (color temps, diffusion, direction, brightness)
CINEMATOGRAPHY TECHNIQUE 3.4 Make a shot list You’ll want to make a shot list right after a tech scout to determine what lenses you need. A well organized shot list is going to be one of your best tools on set. In StudioBinder, you can create a new shot list. From there you can spin off new shots, group and sort your shots by type. You can even add pictures from your scout directly into the app, which will create a storyboard you can show your director.
How to Create a Shot List
You can also quickly add and organize shots on the go. Many other cinematography techniques are dependent on your ability to understand and utilize tools like this first! As a shot list example, take a look at how lifestyle and adventure filmmaker Matt Komo planned out a 24-hour film production using StudioBinder's shot list feature.
How to Plan Your Shot List
CINEMATOGRAPHY TECHNIQUE 3.5 Location, location, location We mentioned John Ford before, but another thing he helped institute was shooting on location for maximum visual impact.
Ford's cinematic technique: Shoot epic locations like Monument Valley
Ford shot countless westerns in Arizona’s stunning natural landscape of monument valley. He knew the location well, and the towering red rocks helped him frame his shots perfectly. Find good locations. Understand what the light will look like there at different times of the year, or day (more on that later). The better your locations, the better your look with potentially less work from you and your crew.
CINEMATOGRAPHY TECHNIQUE 3.6 Storyboards, moodboards, and never say "fix it in post" Well, you can say it. Sometimes it’s fun to say. Just try not to depend on it. The best cinematography typically comes from your locations and lighting and not with DaVinci Resolve. Post production software will not be listed amongst our cinematography techniques. Plus, whatever you can’t capture naturally on-set, might takes way more time and money to recreate in post. The best way to make sure to get the best look the first time around? Give yourself TIME to create it. That’ll mean planning the shoot carefully, and committing to your game plan on set. If you don’t think you’ll have time, use screenshots from existing films and tv shows and create a storyboard or moodboard in StudioBinder and share it with your team as a previz. If it looks good here, chances are it’ll work for you on set.
A finished shot list in StudioBinder
Remember, you are being hired for your expertise in cinematography techniques. Your producer will love you for saving him thousands. Post fixes are way more expensive than having the Art Department touch up a flaw.
CINEMATOGRAPHY TECHNIQUE 3.7 Check and double-check the call sheet The triple check the call sheet. Why? Because otherwise you could be late. Or in the wrong place. You might get through film school without ever seeing a proper professional call sheet. Does this really belong among other cinematography techniques? Maybe. Maybe not. Do it either way. If that’s the case, look at some now. Check out the call sheet function in StudioBinder and get to know what you’ll be looking at. This is what production will send you EACH day. You’ll want to know where everything important is on it. They will put in important details about the next days shoot. Many of them you will be consulted on. Some of them are just good to know. For example, how long will you have between crew call and first shot? How long will you have to change scenes? What time is the talent arriving? When are they done make-up? How does any of this effect your planning? I don’t know. But you should. And you WILL. Because you’re going to know all about call sheets before you even get one.Parliament's bipartisan human rights committee says changes to the Racial Discrimination Act would not contravene Australia's international obligations, which supporters of change say is an endorsement of their push.
Family First Senator Bob Day has proposed removing the words "insult" and "offend" from section 18C of the act after the federal government's attempt to overhaul the entire part of the law sparked a backlash.
Family First senator Bob Day has proposed removing the words "insult" and "offend" from section 18C of the Racial Discrimination Act. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen
The parliamentary joint committee on human rights, one of Parliament's three powerful scrutiny committees, has found the changes would not breach Australia's human rights obligations.
Prime Minister Tony Abbott said he made one his 'Captain's calls' in deciding to break his election pledge to repeal the section because he needed the support of Muslim communities for tougher counter–terror laws instead.“It’s an important step in the partnership that I know needs to exist between the Crown and Inuit"
By THOMAS ROHNER
Updated Feb. 9, 3:30 p.m. with remarks from Conservative northern affairs critic David Yurdiga
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau touched down in Iqaluit Feb. 9 to meet with Inuit leaders from across Inuit Nunangat and, among other things, to officially launch a new bilateral working group.
“It’s a tremendous pleasure to be here in town to be welcomed by [Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami President] Natan [Obed] and all the leaders around the table,” Trudeau said, flanked on either side by Obed and Nunavut Tunngavik Inc.’s newly elected president Aluki Kotierk.
In January 2016 Obed pitched the idea of a joint political body to the prime minister to help foster a new working relationship between Canadian Inuit and the Crown.
In December, on the first anniversary of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s final report release, Trudeau followed suit, announcing the creation of three such bodies to work on policies and shared priorities with Canada’s three national Indigenous groups—ITK, the Metis National Council and the Assembly of First Nations.
“It’s an important step in the partnership that I know needs to exist between the Crown and Inuit. We have many challenges but many opportunities as well,” Trudeau said Feb. 9.
In a one-minute photo-op before the Feb. 9 morning meeting, Obed introduced the Prime Minister and said little else.
But in December 2016, Obed said, “We are encouraged by the announcement today of distinction-based entities that would create partnerships between our rights holders and the Government of Canada.”
The working policy group will consist of a number of federal ministers, the heads of ITK, NTI, the Inuvialuit Regional Corp., Makivik Corp. and the Nunatsiavut Government. The presidents of the National Inuit Youth Council, Pauktuutit Inuit Women of Canada and the Inuit Circumpolar Council-Canada will also sit on the committee as observers.
Trudeau brought several members of his Cabinet for the Iqaluit meetings including Indigenous and Northern Affairs Minister Carolyn Bennett, Health Minister Jane Philpott, Families, Children and Social Development Minister Jean Yves Duclos and Bennett’s parliamentary secretary, Labrador MP Yvonne Jones.
“We’ve worked toward this moment to be able to create an Arctic policy framework, a relationship moving forward… that’s going to make a huge difference for the North, yes, but for the people of the North,” Trudeau said Feb. 9.
But Tory MP David Yurdiga, Official Opposition Critic for Northern Affairs, issued a statement Feb. 9 questioning the prime minister’s commitment to helping northerners and fostering new relationships.
“Since taking office the Liberal Government has only made life in the North more difficult. His Carbon tax is driving people into poverty and raising the cost of food. His cuts to the territories are making it harder for the territorial government to deliver essential services,” Yurdiga said in a news release.
“We know Trudeau doesn’t actually care about consultation. It was only a month ago that he banned all oil and gas exploration in the Arctic for five years without consulting the people his decision was going to affect.
“Trudeau talked about important first steps. Those steps already exist, and were laid out in the Nunavut Land Claims Agreement. He just needs to start respecting that agreement.”
The signing ceremony to officially create the bilateral policy body with Inuit took place at NTI’s Iqaluit offices at 1:30 p.m. Feb. 9.
That was followed by questions from media—several members of the parliamentary press gallery travelled to Iqaluit from Ottawa with Trudeau Feb. 9, arriving in two separate aircraft.
“We know that working together in a respectful, collaborative and engaged way is the only way to be worthy of the expectations of so many people,” Trudeau said.
Anyone interested in catching a glimpse of the Prime Minister is invited to a tea and bannock public event at Inuksuk High School at 4 p.m. today.
Inuit Crown Partnership Declaration by NunatsiaqNews on ScribdI haven’t done a Knights update for a long time so I thought I would briefly let people know what’s been going on.
Over the last 2-3 months I have been doing the following:
Moving the Knights server to a new VPS (instead of the home server we had previously). This has delivered better ping times and faster website performance for Knights players. Updating the Knights codebase so that it works with the latest Visual Studio version. I also investigated using SFML or SDL2 for graphics, but that work is on hold for now (see previous post for details). Behind the scenes, I have been writing some scripts to help auto-generate the HTML pages for the website. (Previously, I had been manually editing HTML files, which is a pain; now I can just edit “template files” and then use my script to generate the HTML and upload, which is much easier.) This should make it much easier for me to change and update the website in the future.
I have also been thinking recently about updating the game’s website. The design of the front page basically hasn’t changed since the game was first released and it is looking a bit “dated” at this point. I would like to try to improve the style/look of the page and also try to “sell” the game a bit more, highlight what’s good about the game, that sort of thing. Hopefully this will persuade more people to download it 🙂
There are also some bug fixes to do (such as the “dagger bug” reported by KnightRider) which I have not forgotten about.
For those who are interested, I have written a “todo list” for Knights, which looks like this:
Fix gate squishing bug (#194). Fix dagger throwing. Update the website front page. Make the official game server show up as “knightsgame.org.uk” instead of “vps.solarflare.org.uk” (I’ve been wanting to do this for a long time, it will require a new server config option though). Fix the Linux makefile (at the moment it doesn’t quite work right when building the knights server on Linux). I got a code warning from the new Visual Studio (about “incorrect API usage” in one part of my code), I want to investigate what is going on there. There is a bug with LAN broadcasts which I want to fix. I’m planning to write a patch for SFML and send it back to the developers (this relates to something I found while investigating SFML for Knights graphics). I also want to add a “–pidfile” option to the Knights server (this will make it slightly easier to install the server on Linux machines, it is something that came up while setting up the new server).
As you can see there are quite a few small fiddly tasks (which you always get in game development) mixed in with more interesting things like bug fixes and website updates.
As most people know by now I don’t get a great deal of time to work on Knights, but hopefully I should be able to get the first two items on the list (the bug fixes) done in roughly the next two weeks. At that point I’ll do a new release of the game (so players can have the benefit of the bug fixes) and then continue working my way down the list…
I’ll try to do blog updates more frequently as well 🙂
About Knights
Knights is a multiplayer game in which players must run around randomly generated dungeons and solve various quests. For more information please visit http://www.knightsgame.org.uk/Mood dependent behaviour refers to the state of mind when a person can only take action if they feel capable of it, even though they are otherwise completely capable of acting. It might be putting off doing an assignment, it might be procrastinating about preparing a healthy meal, it might be as simple as waiting until the house is empty before emerging from one’s room. It can be hard for a person to understand this if they have never felt so small and miserable before to find such ordinary daily activities so overwhelming. Ridicule or condescension are common reactions when opening up to someone about facing such struggles. Failing to find a compassionate ear results in an unwillingness to attempt to open up again in the future, adding an extra layer of loneliness and despair to the experience. When one is this powerfully affected by one’s mood, it can feel preferable to hide alone or to starve rather than to ever face the terrifying world that lies beyond the front door.
Agoraphobia literally means fear of the city square. The agora was the busiest place in an ancient city. Each day hundreds, or even thousands of people would meet for trade or to discuss politics. In the history of philosophy, the agora of Athens was where one could meet Socrates in his quest to teach virtue to anyone willing to listen. However, how many people couldn’t hear Socrates’ words because being out in public and exposed to others was too challenging an experience for them? This is part of the tragedy of agoraphobia, one is frightened into abandoning living a full and wholesome life. Often the quest for security and safety comes at the cost of a life half lived.
Agoraphobia is actually something I have personally suffered from and had to work my way through. When I was 19, I was in the city with some friends when a gang of thugs decided they did not like us standing around where we were, even though it was a public place. So they surrounded us and proceeded to attack us with bats. We were hopelessly outnumbered, so we did the only rational thing and attempted to run away. A guy who was with us was wearing glasses and when he dropped them as we were making a run for it, he foolishly decided to turn back to pick up his glasses. I turned around to see him set upon by eight men who pushed him to the ground and started beating him with their bats. I yelled at them to stop, but another thug grabbed me and tried to knee me in the crotch. He narrowly missed hitting me in my most vulnerable spot, but all the same, I had the presence of mind to fake as though I had been hurt badly, then made my escape when he wasn’t expecting me to because he thought I was in too much pain. Rather, it seemed that with so much attention focused on beating the man with the glasses, I was ignored long enough to make my escape.
After this happened, I was changed by this experience. I had difficulty sleeping, experienced nightmares, and at first started avoiding going into town or busy places, but soon just avoided even going outside my room. This behaviour led to me developing a fear of leaving my room must less my house. I would have these episodes of rages that would come over me when I was alone, reliving what happened, but this time pretending that it worked out differently and that we beat up the thugs attacking us. I was too young and inexperienced to understand what was happening to me emotionally at the time, it was a confusing and difficult episode. One of the hardest experiences for me was making a train journey. As soon as the doors of the train closed, I felt trapped and terrified. All I could think about was that I needed to get off that train and away from all those people in the same space as me. It did not help that I had also witnessed someone getting bashed by a stranger on the train once, which reinforced my fear of feeling unsafe while trapped in a train carriage. Sometimes I would get off the train and walk down to the next station to try to calm my nerves enough to catch the next train so I could eventually complete my journey. Curiously, one of the ways I chose to deal with what happened to me was to only go outside at night time when there were fewer people around. In a complete reverse to how many people typically feel, I felt safer the fewer people there were around me and least safe around crowds.
It took me a long time to process my experience, fortunately my work and studies required me to be involved and getting out and about amongst other people I was motivated enough to gradually overcome my fears and be desensitised to them. For years afterwards though, I would sometimes feel these irrational panic attacks in crowded places and I needed to lock myself up in the toilets for a few minutes until I was sufficiently calm again to resume my work. It has been many years now since I felt that vulnerable and anxious, and these days, I’m pretty much my old self; I hardly ever think about the incident that happened to me when I was 19, but all the same, it took a lot longer for me to recover from the experience than it could have taken me if I had had access to good moral support. I saw several therapists over this time and, in retrospect, I am appalled at how poor the quality of care was. I cannot actually point to any of them and say that they helped me to better process what happened to me. It was difficult for me to even talk about it because I felt so ashamed to be a man while feeling so weak. Dealing with perceived self weakness has its particular challenges for men, as the therapists I did see were all female it is entirely possible they struggled to understand this. When I did talk about it, I got a lot of condescending comments like, “why the hell were you even hanging out with that crowd in that part of town?” which came across as blaming me for being attacked and witnessing such a brutal attack. (By the way, the man who was badly beaten was okay in the end. His glasses were smashed, but a paramedic looked over him afterwards. He was badly bruised, but able to stand and walk home, however, I have no idea what his emotional scars might have been.)
My experience of agoraphobia was based on a fear for my safety. If you’ve ever been attacked, mugged, overpowered, or raped, then you can probably understand how difficult it can be to feel safe going outside again after discovering just how vulnerable you can be if someone means you real harm. I’m unlikely to ever forget the image of that man being beaten by eight people in the street. It will always be easy to recall the moment with chilling fidelity, though at least now I don’t feel uncomfortable recalling the episode like I once did. However, other people experience agoraphobia in different ways. For instance, instead of being fearful of physical safety, it can be fear of emotional safety.
Imagine being ridiculed and humiliated by everyone in your school, family gathering, or workplace. Perhaps your friends, teachers, parents, or boss joined in on the ridicule. Although one might still feel physically safe in that environment with those people, one nonetheless feels an intense fear of ever being put in a situation where one might experience such a harrowing emotional assault.
Agoraphobia is a serious problem because it leads to behaviours which affect the rest of one’s life negatively. One’s social circle eventually shrinks, job and career opportunities are lost, loneliness on the brink of despair can easily set in. Perhaps most pernicious of all, it becomes extremely difficult to get help, as one doesn’t feel safe going outside to talk to people who could help, or to even travel to a therapist’s office.
When I was 19, the Internet was nowhere near as fast as it is now, I had to dial in through a phone line and I considered 4KiB/s to be a fast connection. Nowadays, if one suffers from agoraphobia and is afraid of leaving the house to speak to a therapist, one doesn’t have to. For instance, I am available on Skype and often do Skype sessions for other clients overseas or in regional areas. Other therapists are offering these services too. If you are interested in therapy, but find yourself avoiding it because you do not want to leave your house and agoraphobia is getting in your way, please feel welcome to drop me an email and arranging to set up a Skype session. As survivor of agoraphobia, I understand that when that anxiety goes into overdrive, it can become impossible just to get out that door to make an appointment down the street, much less across town. If you need some help with your problems, be kind to yourself, find someone who understands and is willing to listen to you compassionately. Don’t let your life slip by because of agoraphobia.
(NB: I have a policy of not asking for payment in advance. I do this because I believe as a therapist it is important that I am focused on providing value to customers. When people get paid whether they do a good job or not, they tend to do poor quality work as there is no incentive to do a good job. People who get paid only if they provide value first tend to be the most professional, as their financial security relies on them being consistently professional and helpful. If you feel that after a session that you have gotten something valuable out of it, pay me. Otherwise, you can move on and find someone who you feel is better able to meet your needs.)So what’s your list of must-visit terrains of Australia, and which ones have you already conquered?
With the extensive varieties of landscapes, Australia is quite a comprehensive land of beauty that one can enjoy. From the spectacular coastlines, wonderful National Parks or enormous deserts to tracks on hilly ranges, everything welcomes you to explore and enjoy the this sunburnt land of ours.
With the extensive varieties of landscapes, Australia is quite a comprehensive land of beauty
Greater New South Wales
The wondering Broken Hills stretches over 1000km area from the west of Sydney. Throughout the road, you will experience amazing changing landscapes, while you can reach way to the historic Dingo Fence. The pathway takes you to the crossing point at Cameron Corner, the place where New South Wales, Queensland, New South Wales as well South Australia meet.
The Birdsville Track
Being carved in 1860s as a transporting route mainly for moving cattle, the track has become highly popular subsequent to the release of a film/doco called The Back of Beyond. On the track, you can bask in the beauty of isolated homesteads, Natterannie Sandhills, Cooper Creek, Mungerannie wetland and obviously the Simpson Desert.
Gibb River Road
Located on the western part of Australia, Gibb River Road is equipped with multi-coloured gorges, clean cool rock puddles accompanied with waterfalls, savannah grasslands and more. The track takes you towards Kimberley Region where Windjana as well as Bell gorges can make you thrilled with excitement.
Victoria – The Alps
Those who are timid or beginners, this trail may not be suitable for them. This offers you the great opportunity to explore the beauty of Alpine National Park with eye-catching landscapes on mountain tops, panoramic views of high grassy plains along with views of stunning water courses.
Asmania, the Ocean Beach
This is another great 4WD adventure you can experience on the stunning, striking and longest beach in Tasmania. The landscape of Ocean Beach offers a different feeling with its dunes, super speedy tides and huge waves.
North Queensland
Driving towards the tip point of Cape York is an extended, tough as well as exciting voyage that appears to be one of the top celebrated 4WD journeys in Australia.
Binns Track
Located on the northern territory, it is rather the latest 4WD driving exploration, enjoyed greatly by endless wonder. You can make a long trip for about ten days on this pathway, starting from the Simpson Desert sand-dunes through the rocky creeks crossing the wonderful ancient ranges on the track. The journey includes Frew River Loop and Davenport Ranges which are known as the toughest 4WD tracks in this territory.The Navy has nominated a new intelligence officer in an attempt to break a two-year impasse that has left the service's intel boss with less access to secret information than an ensign.
Rear Adm. Elizabeth Train was formally nominated to become the director of naval intelligence on Sept. 17. She would replace Vice Adm. Ted Branch, who has been hamstrung since November 2013 by a slow-burning Justice Department investigation into his ties to port services contractor Glenn Defense Marine Asia and its charismatic former head, "Fat" Leonard Francis.
Over the past two years, Branch has been relegated to administrative duties and leading a campaign to raise awareness of cyber security inside the Navy, without being able to view classified intelligence that would identify precisely what those cyber threats are.
Train's name was floated by the Navy in November, but her nomination was never sent to the Senate. Train, a career intelligence officer, received her commission in 1983 and has led the Office of Naval Intelligence and the National Maritime Intelligence-Integration Office for two years.
Asked to explain the year-long gap, Navy top spokeswoman Rear Adm. Dawn Cutler said in a statement that "Rear Adm. Train's nomination to be the Deputy Chief of Naval Operations for Information Dominance and Director of Naval Intelligence went through the normal vetting process and was announced by the Office of the Secretary of Defense and now awaits confirmation by the Senate."
Justice is looking into whether Branch, and his deputy Rear Adm. Bruce Loveless, took gifts from Francis without reimbursing the value, according to the sources who spoke on background. The allegations stem from Branch's time as the commanding officer of the carrier Nimitz in the mid-2000s.
The scandal that wrapped up the Navy's top intel officer has been among the most high-profile in decades, with active-duty officers criminally charged or fired from their positions in a wide-ranging investigation that could implicate dozens. Francis, known as "Fat Leonard" for his considerable girth, was a fixture of WESTPAC cruises as the head of 7th Fleet's lead husbanding firm, responsible for arranging port services for visiting ships.
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Vice Adm. Ted Branch
Vice Adm. Ted Branch.
Photo Credit: Navy
Francis was known for targeting senior officers and supply officers with gifts, often putting them in an awkward position by sending expensive cigars or bottles of champagne, some officers have said. On one occasion, Francis allegedly offered Cmdr. Mike Misiewicz tickets to a Lady Gaga concert.
In exchange for the gifts, prosecutors say Francis expected information, some of which, like ship's schedules, for example, was classified. He also wanted the rerouting of ships to more lucrative ports where GDMA was better able to overcharge the Navy undetected.
Francis pleaded guilty to the charges in January.
Since then, three admirals, including the former head of the Naval Academy, were censured for taking gifts from Francis. The gifts ranged from expensive ship models to lavish dinners for which the officers underpaid.
The pace of the Justice Department's investigation, which is entering its third year this November, has rankled senior leaders because the investigations have hampered the Navy's ability to move flag officers around.CNN is imposing strict new publishing restrictions for online articles involving Russia after the network deleted a story and then issued a retraction late Friday, according to an internal email obtained by BuzzFeed News.
The email went out at 11:21 a.m. on Saturday from Rich Barbieri, the CNNMoney executive editor, saying "No one should publish any content involving Russia without coming to me and Jason [Farkas]," a CNN vice president.
"This applied to social, video, editorial, and MoneyStream. No exceptions," the email added. "I will lay out a workflow Monday."
The new restrictions also apply to other areas of the network — not just CNNMoney, which wasn't involved with the article that was deleted and retracted.
CNN didn't immediately return a request for comment and a question about what the previous workflow was.
The deleted and retracted story claimed Senate investigators were looking into a Russian investment fund whose chief executive met with a member of President Trump’s transition team.
The now-deleted story was published Thursday and cited a single, unnamed source who claimed that the Senate Intelligence Committee was looking into a "$10-billion Russian investment fund whose chief executive met with a member of President Donald Trump's transition team four days before Trump's inauguration."
A source close to the network, who requested anonymity to discuss the matter, told BuzzFeed News earlier that the story was a "massive, massive fuck up and people will be disciplined." The person said CNN Worldwide President Jeff Zucker and the head of the company's human resources department are "directly involved" in an internal investigation examining how the story was handled.Former Uncharted creative director Amy Hennig has joined Electronic Arts to work on a new installment in the Star Wars series with developer Visceral Games. Studio general manager Steve Papoutsis announced the news today on EA's blog. Hennig will be the game's creative director.
Amy Hennig
"Over the last few weeks, Amy and I have spent a lot of time talking about what her first project would be. There are a lot of different directions we could have gone, but I could sense that what really excited her about this opportunity (because let's face it, we weren't the only ones knocking at her door) was Star Wars," Papoutsis said. "Amy's a huge fan. We happen to be making a Star Wars game. Just thinking about the possibilities made both of us even more excited about having her join the team."
Visceral Games' Star Wars title is rumored to be an open-world game, though EA has yet to provide any details on what form the studio's first title in the sci-fi series will take. EA and Star Wars franchise owner Disney signed a ten-year, multi-title deal last year that makes the Mass Effect publisher the exclusive creator of new Star Wars games. Battlefield developer DICE is currently working on a new Star Wars: Battlefront game.
Hennig got started in games at EA in 1991, when she worked at the company as a game designer/artist. She left EA for Crystal Dynamics in 1995, and worked there for eight years on the Legacy of Kain franchise, among others. Henning left Crystal Dynamics in 2003 and took up the position of creative director at Naughty Dog, where she helped create the Uncharted series as its creative director. She was going to serve as a writer for the new Uncharted game for PlayStation 4, but she left the studio early last month.
It was initially reported that Hennig was "forced out" of Naughty Dog, but the studio would later refute this claim.
Following the announcement today, Hennig explained her move to EA through a series of tweets.
"It might've taken me 23 years, but I'm back--and it's good to be home at EA," she said. "It's a privilege to have the opportunity to contribute to the Star Wars universe, after it's had such a formative influence on my life."
"Two amazing things entered my life in 1977--Star Wars and the Atari 2600," she explained. "This opportunity is the confluence of the two most influential experiences of my youth, and I couldn't be more excited to go on this journey."Who doesn’t love a beautiful watch? They’re |
talk show. But Indian surrogate mothers have never had much control over how their story is told. For one, they do not write academic papers and rarely speak English. In the media, they tend to appear as one-dimensional characters, in one-off interviews. Their experiences are often framed in a binary, in which the women are cast either as winners of a life-changing sum of money or as victims forced by their poverty into “renting their wombs.” Both narratives oversimplify and distort the reality. Sociologists like Amrita Pande argue that this binary deprives these women of their agency, and that paid surrogacy should instead be framed as a form of work, no matter how problematic.
Viewing surrogacy as “work that can be exploitive,” as Pande suggests, rather than inevitable exploitation, makes it possible to imagine reforming rather than banning the practice—and, appealingly, women claiming a voice in that reform. Between 2010 and 2014, I spoke with thirty-three surrogate mothers and egg donors in the outskirts of Mumbai. They described choosing the work, within their limited field of choices, but also having little power over a deal in which they had the most to lose. Their stories did not conform to a popular “win-win” narrative, which concealed surrogacy’s real conditions. Instead of sharing a meaningful connection, the foreign intended parents and surrogate mothers I met knew little more about one another than workers and customers on the far ends of any other global supply chain. The question is whether this divide, which hurt the women, could ever be bridged.
Kalpita bore three children in two surrogate pregnancies, but she has only one photograph to show for it. It hung on the wall of the narrow room she shared with her husband and three teenage daughters. In the photograph, taken in 2009, she stands between two handsome men with Mediterranean complexions, her head just reaching their broad shoulders. She told me the men were brothers. Likely, they were a gay couple; the women I interviewed never acknowledged that their clients might be gay. (Gay sex is illegal in India, and homosexuality is often not a visible part of community life.)
For these men, Kalpita had carried twin boys, for which she was paid 2.75 lakhs, or about $5,700, in 2009. It wasn’t nearly enough money, she said, for such dangerous work, “delivering two babies, putting our life in risk.” She believed 4 lakhs would have been fairer compensation (women who delivered one child were paid 2 lakhs, or 2.5 lakhs with a cesarean section). But Puranik, who arranged the pregnancy, set a fixed rate, and the clients did not speak Hindi or Marathi, the languages Kalpita knows. They’d left no phone number. Kalpita didn’t know where they came from, or where they went. What the sentimental photograph failed to show was that Kalpita could not negotiate or speak for herself, even as her clients stood smiling by her side. “They did not ask us how much we have been given, or what happened,” said Kalpita. “They never asked.”
Speaking to intended parents like Kalpita’s clients, I was often struck by how little they knew about the women who bore their children, or the details of their payment and care. These intended parents shared a powerful and reassuring assumption: that the surrogate mothers were earning a life-changing sum of money.
This narrative of Indian surrogacy as a “win-win” for surrogate and client began with Dr. Nayna Patel, a fertility doctor in the mercantile city of Anand, Gujarat. In 2004, her clinic began offering surrogacy services to Indian couples and then to a couple from Korea, making Patel the pioneer of transnational surrogacy in India.
In her clinic, Patel implanted a local surrogate with a foreign client’s embryos. If a client couldn’t produce her own eggs, the surrogate carried an embryo created with donated eggs, but never her own. By separating eggs from womb, doctors hoped that the surrogate would not bond with the baby. By “unbundling these components of a child,” writes former Harvard economist Debora Spar in The Baby Business, gestational surrogacy doctors had created a new market in the mid-1980s, with the introduction of in vitro fertilization (IVF). Overseas clients came from countries where commercial surrogacy is illegal, like Australia and most of Europe, or expensive. In American states where commercial surrogacy is legal, the process cost between $75,000 and $120,000 in 2015, roughly three to four times what it cost in India. For many foreign couples, adoption was difficult or nearly impossible due to age, sexual orientation, or the availability of babies in their home countries.
From the beginning, Patel welcomed journalists, and her story was told on the Today show, Oprah,CNN, CBS, the Guardian, and ABC, among many other media outlets. By February 2010, when I followed the pilgrim’s trail to the Akanksha Clinic in the low-slung Kaival Hospital, it had already become a journalistic cliché to note the studio portraits of Oprah that hung on the walls like domestic goddesses. In her office, Patel wore her black, silver-threaded hair drawn up. Her bearing was aristocratic. Pleasantries were brief. “I wish you had sent me an e-mail outlining the scope of your research,” she said. She did not want to be interviewed in depth because she was already the subject of two upcoming books and a published hagiography, The Last Ray of Hope: Surrogate Mother—The Reality. On that trip and another, I learned little that was new about Patel, but did see the charisma that helped enshrine her story in media lore.
Oprah Winfrey’s 2007 segment effectively advertised Patel’s clinic and transnational surrogacy in India. In it, reporter Lisa Ling follows a childless American couple, Jennifer and Kendall West, as they visit Patel’s clinic to hire a woman to bear their child. Ling reported that Patel chargedthe couple $12,000 (compared to $80,000 in the United States), of which $5,000 went to the surrogate mother—equaling ten years of her ordinary income—enough to buy a house or fund a child’s education. To top it off, Patel put the money in bank accounts she created in the women’s names to keep it in their control. This was the “win-win” story: two lives changed for the better, and for a bargain. “We were able to come together,” Jennifer West said,“and give each other a life that neither of us could achieve on our own. And I just don’t see what’s wrong with that.”
Of course, Patel’s story invited scrutiny and got it.The New York Times columnist Judith Warner, looking at photographs of pregnant surrogates lined up for medical exams, saw “industrial outsourcing pushed to a nightmarish extreme.” Certain details rankled, like the default cesarean sections, implantation of multiple embryos, and the “surrogacy house” where, for Mother Jones, investigative journalistScott Carney interviewed women who lived in a shared dormitory room, closely monitored and removed from their families for the duration of their pregnancies. In critical stories, the house was called a “baby factory.”
But for those committed to surrogacy, Patel’s story had undeniable appeal. Not only had she devised an unimaginable new way to make children, but she had packaged it into a free-market fairy tale. She took a business deal between wildly unequal parties, made possible through fertility biotechnology, and made it sound not only fair but altruistic. Patel once wrote, “At one end of this world, there is one woman who desperately needs a baby and cannot have her own child. And at the other end, there is a woman who badly wants to help her own family. If these two women want to help each other, why not allow that?”
This story was particularly important for foreign parents because they had very little contact with the woman (or women) they’d hired to create their children. When transnational surrogacy was in operation in India, from 2005 to 2015, foreign surrogacy clients usually flew to India just twice—once to drop off a sperm sample or to create embryos and once to retrieve their child. ICMR guidelines ensured that Indian egg donors remained anonymous at the time of the deal. (By these guidelines, children can learn the identity of egg donors when they reach the age of eighteen.) A couple might have met their surrogate once or twice—briefly in a hospital room or consulate. Conversation took place through a translator. For clients, the “win-win” story not only justified the ordeal of a paid pregnancy, but made it into an act of charity.
Edward and Paul, a New York couple who have three daughters—twins and a singleton born eight days apart from two surrogate mothers in Delhi—told me they chose surrogacy in India in part to help poor women: “In the United States, $25,000 is not going to change the life of the surrogate,” Edward explained. “But an Indian surrogate, you are fundamentally changing the trajectory of her life.”
As the practice of transnational surrogacy spread to India’s major cities, where new practices opened, Patel’s story of the good and fair exchange spread with it, and helped it to spread. By October 2015, her clinic announced the 1,001st baby born to a surrogate mother.
Patel’s work paved the way for a number of surrogacy entrepreneurs, including Doron Mamet, a project manager at a software company, and subject of the Emmy Award-winning documentary Google Baby, which follows Mamet as he launches his medical-tourism business bringing surrogacy clients from Israel to India. Apparently inspired by a gay friend who could not afford surrogacy in the United States (commercial surrogacy is illegal for gay men in Israel), Mamet traveled to India to explore “outsourcing” paid pregnancies. Although Mamet met with Patel, they did not ultimately work together because she did not accept gay clients. Instead, Mamet brought his business south to Mumbai, to the posh Lilivati Hospital, where he worked with IVF specialist Dr. Hrishikesh Pai. At one point in the film, Mamet offers a client the option of having two surrogate mothers impregnated for the price of one—a common strategy for increasing success rates in Indian surrogacy, as is implanting multiple embryos and “reducing” to twins. At a screening of Google Baby in New York, Mamet replied to critical questions with a claim that underlies his business: that everyone has a right to be a parent.
Mamet and his partner had a warm relationship with their surrogate mother in the United States, with whom they once strolled in Central Park. But it seems that kind of intimacy wasn’t possible for his clients in India, from what Mamet told me. “In India, the cultural gap is too big to create a relationship with the surrogate,” he said. Mamet relied on Dr. Meenakshi Puranik to recruit and work with the women, whom he described as shy and uncommunicative.
Puranik, a flat-faced woman with an incurious expression, organized surrogacy care from her clinic in the Mumbai suburb Mulund. Puranik said her role was to solve a surrogate’s problems: “She should be mentally happy during the pregnancy.” Puranik also handled payments. Mamet’s clients paid from $30,000 to $50,000 for surrogacy in India, depending on whether they required an egg donor: “We paid Dr. Puranik 12K,” he wrote in an e-mail, “which was supposed to cover the surrogate compensation as well as all other pregnancy related costs (delivery is excluded).” As to how much surrogate mothers were paid, “I never knew for sure,” Mamet told me, “but I think it was $5,000 or $6,000.”
In 2011, the surrogacy agent Padma showed me a printed list of Puranik’s “surrogate payment mode”—the one in operation when Mamet’s business was in Mumbai. The base rate was 2 lakhs, or a little more than $4,000 then. If you had a cesarean section—and almost every surrogate mother I interviewed did—you were paid an extra 50,000 rupees, or approximately $1,000. If you had a cesarean section andtwins, you received an extra 75,000 rupees. So, in 2011, Puranik paid surrogates at most 2.75 lakhs, or approximately $5,600. But if you stayed in the hospital for a month or more, 3,000 rupees would be docked from your pay and, if you delivered prematurely, another 10,000 rupees. And 50,000 rupees were deducted for the cost of the surrogate’s monthly food and housing, even though these women spent much of their pregnancies at home. This meant that Puranik retained more than half of Mamet’s clients’ “surrogate compensation” fee for supervising surrogate mothers’ recruitment and monitoring—services she partially outsourced to agents like Padma.
“She ate my lot of money,” Kalpita told me of Puranik. “She ate everyone’s money.” Did Kalpita and Sonali, who bore a child for a gay Israeli couple, work for Mamet’s clients? It’s impossible to say for sure, as the women did not get to keep copies of the contracts they signed. Despite the fact that neither Mamet nor his clients could say precisely what surrogate mothers were paid, the text on the company website read: “This process allows them to guarantee the future of their families and children.” The fine print on premature delivery fees went unread, tucked away with other troubling details out of sight.
When Sonali, the young widow in Ulhasnagar, decided to become a surrogate mother, she traveled two hours by train to Lilivati Hospital for sonography, the first stage in assessing a surrogate mother. (She tells the story of what happened next simply, without the names of drugs or procedures, which reflects her limited knowledge about the involved medical process.) At the time, Sonali was still breastfeeding her son, who was one-and-a-half or two years old, and she was told she could not become pregnant while breastfeeding. The doctors gave her some type of medicine to stop her milk. When it stopped, her agent, Padma, took Sonali to Puranik’s clinic for the embryo transfer, in which embryos are placed in the uterus.
At nearly two months, sonography showed that the fetus had no heartbeat, and Puranik told Sonali she would need an operation in a nearby clinic. It was painful. When the procedure was done, Sonali was shown the embryo, which had been placed in a plastic jar. “It was all cut into pieces,” Sonali said. “And they handed it over to me, and seeing that, I got more scared. And the nurse said, ‘Go, take this to Meenakshi Madam,’” as she called Puranik.
The sample had to be shown to the clients. Sonali’s husband, who had accompanied her, carried the jar, and they walked together, terrified, to the clinic. At that point, Sonali had been paid 10,000 rupees, or about $200, the standard fee for an embryo transfer. She felt she deserved 5,000 rupees more, the monthly fee received by surrogates. But Sonali told us that Puranik refused, as was her policy: Women only got the monthly fee when the sonogram showed a heartbeat.
Sonali did not want to try for surrogacy again. But the family needed money, and so she donated her eggs three times that year—for 15,000, then 20,000, then 25,000 rupees, a total of roughly $1,200. Two months later, she agreed to another surrogacy. Until five months in, Sonali worried that the fetus would not survive, but this pregnancy was a success.
Eight days before she was to deliver the baby, the clients visited her in the marble-floored Hiranandani Hospital. “Both were men,” said Sonali. “They were not husband and wife.” She didn’t know what to say to them. They asked her how she was feeling and told the doctor to give her a normal birth, if she could. The doctors treated her well, but in the end, Sonali had a cesarean section that left her trembling with cold. The incision swelled horribly. She never should have done it, her husband would later tell her—so much pain, and what was the use?
Sonali met the clients just once more, in court, where she had gone to give her signature. It was then that she finally met the baby, who was just like them, she said—their hair, nose, and blue eyes. She felt an impulse to keep the baby, even though she had “kept her mind ready” all along to give the baby up. The clients thanked her profusely, then gave her a 7,000 rupee tip. They were immensely happy. Sonali thought, Whoever those people are, at least I have helped somebody.
Sonali couldn’t say what her clients paid for her surrogacy, adding that she and her husband had been given no time to read the contract. (A rare English-speaking surrogate mother, who also worked with Puranik, described a nurse who would not even let her hold the contract.) In the end, Sonali received a check for 2 lakhs. (She had already been paid 50,000 rupees for “monthly maintenance”—her food and housing.) But you cannot buy a house for 2 lakhs in Ulhasnagar. So she and her husband took out a loan of 3 lakhs and, along with most of her payment, bought the house in Ulhasnagar, with its dim kitchen and sunny room, where the whole family slept. A money plant twined in the window.
Within months, her husband was dead. Sonali now sold Tide door-to-door, for which she made 5,500 rupees in a good month. With a loan payment of 100,000 rupees due, Sonali asked to borrow money from Padma, hoping to repay her after a second surrogacy.
Padma, a solid woman with a calm, steady bearing, had also worked as a surrogate mother for Puranik. She’d learned about the work from her sister-in-law, a brash widow, the first of at least five women in their family to try paid pregnancies. When, one night after dinner, Padma proposed that she do a surrogacy, too, her husband warned her: “Those people are cheap. Do not follow them.” Meaning that if his sister was doing the work, there must be something wrong with it. Many people believed that, to become pregnant, a woman had to have sex with a strange man. Hence, surrogate mothers often kept their work secret. But Padma persuaded her husband otherwise, explaining “test-tube babies” and reminding him of their children’s future.
At the time, Padma and her husband were desperate for money. His work trucking bitumen to new road sites was irregular, and Padma had trouble making ends meet by cleaning houses. They had to pay rent and tuition for a pricey English-language school, as Padma considered the free state-run Marathi schools so useless that she once kept her children home for a year rather than send them there. Four years earlier, when her husband was out of work, the family had gone hungry. Padma refused to let that happen again. She also wanted to finally buy a house.
And so, working with Puranik, Padma bore a son for a couple from Bihar. Giving up the baby, she felt sad: “You have kept the child inside of you and given it the same kind of care as your own child.” She tried calling the family on the child’s first birthday, but they had changed their number. For the work, Padma was paid 1.25 lakhs, or about $2,900. “It was not enough money,” she told me.
Still, Padma had learned a useful new English vocabulary: endoscopy, sonography, embryo transfer, egg pickup, ultrasound, patient, client, donor, surrogate. She said that the agent who was supposed to guide her through her pregnancy deserted her, and so she taught herself the business. In 2010, Padma’s husband’s friend referred his wife to her, and then Padma recruited her younger sister as a surrogate.
Padma found a niche as an agent, one that was desperately needed in the byzantine geography of surrogacy. Unlike the practice in Anand, under Nayna Patel’s supervision, the surrogacy practices in Mumbai are diffuse, with each station representing a stage of reproduction. Farthest out from the city center are the fringe cities like Ulhasnagar, home to the women who make a living selling their eggs and renting their wombs. Closer in is Mulund, where agents lead egg donors and surrogates to Puranik’s office for medicine, checkups, and payments. At Grant Road, in the city center, and Bandra, a posh, traffic-choked suburb, IVF doctors like Pai do in vitro fertilization, coaxing eggs from follicles and planting embryos in surrogates’ wombs. In Powai, a gleaming planned suburb as unnatural as Oz, an obstetrician named Dr. Anita Soni delivers babies.
This system is difficult for surrogates to navigate, which is one reason why these practices need agents like Padma—called “caretakers” by the doctors—who shepherd women to their appointments, jotting down the particulars of their care in a mustard-yellow notebook and injecting them with hormones. Other former surrogate mothers, like Sonali, tried recruiting egg donors and surrogates, but not as successfully.
When we met in January 2011, Padma lived in a dingy one-room apartment off a narrow lane. By March of that year, she had moved her family to an airy one-room apartment with a balcony and pink walls, for twice the rent. When I visited Padma and her family in 2014, they were living in a two-room house with a kitchen. That very month, she said, she’d earned 50,000 rupees—roughly ten times Sonali’s monthly salary selling Tide—through her work as an agent. Her daughter, nineteen, was in college and her English was fluent. Padma had bought her a laptop on installment. In addition to her classes, Padma’s daughter was doing some agenting work of her own, sending egg donors to a practice in Kerala.
Padma’s surrogacy did indeed transform her life and the life of her family, but only through her work as an agent. Now, when the women came to see her, they bowed and touched her feet.
Dr. Sukhpreet Patel, an IVF doctor in Mumbai who spoke with obvious passion about her surrogacy practice, said she was troubled by the number of women returning to her clinic for second surrogacies. She considered these repeat pregnancies medically dangerous and, moreover, evidence of the clinic’s failure to transform surrogates’ lives. For that reason, she said she wanted to teach surrogates such skills as embroidery or even financial planning. “I think they come with that hope that we can make their lives better,” she said, “and then I think that becomes our responsibility.”
One reason surrogate mothers had difficulty transforming their lives through this work was that their income was not all their own. In her book Discounted Life: The Price of Global Surrogacy in India, sociologist Sharmila Rudrappa interviewed seventy surrogate mothers and discovered that surrogacy payments evaporated quickly through the extended network of friends and family. “It becomes very difficult for you to say no,” Rudrappa told me, pointing out that this was only natural. “Why would you deny them an operation?”
Absent that elusive, life-changing sum of money, surrogate mothers like Sonali stayed in the business—donating eggs, performing surrogacies. Critics claim they’re coerced into this work, but in Sonali’s case, as in so many others, the question of choice and agency is complicated. Like many women, Sonali describes pursuing surrogacy despite the reluctance of her husband. But after that initial choice, Sonali seems oddly silent in the scenes she described with clients and doctors. Surrogate mothers, often illiterate, move in a deeply entrenched class and social hierarchy. It’s hard to know if Sonali could have protested medical procedures she considered unfair, or if she could freely ask for medical information.
“Every surrogate pregnancy is a high-risk pregnancy,” said Soni, the obstetrician, who also recruited surrogates for six or seven practices in Mumbai’s Hiranandani Hospital. When we last spoke, after the ban on foreign clients, she told me about a textbook chapter she’d coauthored based on 900 surrogate deliveries. The risks were typical, she said, of poor women who had undergone multiple pregnancies, and included hypertension and anemia. With the implantation of multiple embryos, permitted by ICMR guidelines, 42 percent of the surrogates had multiple births, which carry an increased risk of premature labor. Sixty-eight to 70 percent had cesarean sections, which are more dangerous than natural deliveries. And, Soni added, international couples tended to produce babies that were bigger than the women’s own—a claim echoed by the surrogate mothers themselves. Did the risks mean foreign surrogacy should be banned? Not at all, Soni said. To her, it simply meant that surrogate mothers required expert care.
Another surrogate mother agented by Padma, who’d delivered twin girls in Delhi to clients she guessed were from Australia, described her labor as traumatic (afterward, she required a blood transfusion). And yet what she wanted to discuss most was how her clients had disappeared: “I wanted to see the children,” she told me. “But as soon as they were born, those people took them and went away. They should have come to see me—the one who has given them two children.”
In Hiranandani Hospital, Soni kept surrogates and “the biologicals” on separate floors, and whisked babies out of sight after delivery: “You don’t want a bonding of any sort,” she said, explaining that surrogate mothers were at risk of becoming too emotionally attached to the babies they carried. For that reason, the 2010 draft of the surrogacy regulatory bill recommended that the baby be removed from the surrogate directly after the birth. But the surrogate mothers portrayed this separation as harmful.
Researching surrogate motherhood in Israel, medical anthropologist Elly Teman also found that being thanked for their “gift” was crucial for surrogate mothers, who formed more profound bonds with the hiring couples than the babies. According to Teman’s research, when surrogates weren’t thanked, they grieved.
Why did intended parents often have so little contact with surrogate mothers? The couples I met spoke of not wanting to intrude on women’s privacy or of worrying how they’d be seen as gay fathers. Some couples believed that too much communication with a surrogate mother could be dangerous—a surprisingly common idea.
Sukhpreet Patel depicted clients as vulnerable to surrogates’ demands, which is why she discouraged them from meeting surrogates during the pregnancy. “Who’s to say that she won’t blackmail them for something that she wants,” said Patel. She said the surrogate mother knew she was carrying something important for wealthy foreigners, while she herself only made 5,000 rupees a month. For that reason, Patel encouraged couples to meet the surrogate mother only after the delivery, when it was safe to do so. A client at Rotunda, another popular clinic, told me a policy was in place that prevented couples from meeting surrogates due to a case of blackmail. Medical anthropologist Daisy Deomampo, who wrote an ethnography of surrogate mothers in Mumbai, argues that this image of the “deceitful surrogate” helped doctors and parents conceal the power imbalance that made foreign surrogacy possible. For Deomampo, “Transnational surrogacy thrived in India in part because it relied on the fact that surrogate mothers and intended parents rarely, if ever, met face-to-face.”
The surrogate mothers, too, passed along rumors about women who blackmailed foreign clients for more money before giving up their babies. In one rumor, a woman sold the baby she carried herself. There were also rumors that you could get more money in this or that practice—8 lakhs in Bangalore!—and of which doctors were “eating” their money. That the stories could not be shown to be true is perhaps less significant than what they appeared to be for the women: a way to claim some power in a transaction structured to deny them control.
After the babies were released from the hospital, they generally went to a hotel with their intended parents. A lengthy bureaucratic procedure followed, in which parents went to their country’s consulate for a cheek swab to confirm a genetic relationship to the baby, a necessary step for the baby to gain citizenship in the home country. From there, parents waited for the Foreigner Regional Registrational Offices to issue an exit visa, a process of up to eight weeks, after which parents brought their babies home—to Australia, Israel, the United Kingdom, Japan, the United States: homes the women I met in Ulhasnagar would be hard-pressed to imagine, unless they saw them in the movies.
Surrogates, meanwhile, were left with photographs of the babies, if they were lucky, or thank-you notes written in English on hotel stationery, which they could not necessarily read.
In June 2014, I went to visit Edward and Paul in their house in New York, driving up the Palisades Interstate Parkway in glimmering sunlight. After the exit, the road narrowed and tunneled through the lush woods. I drove up a steep private drive, which curved around to an open lawn, a white colonnaded house. In the garden: a bronze fountain of three girls dancing, hands linked, an invisible wind tousling their hair and dresses, circling around an altar made of lotus leaves.
Edward led me down into the playroom, where their three daughters, then three years old, were playing with an assortment of plastic toys. One hid behind a miniature kitchen; another teetered in a pair of purple glitter heels, which her fathers said she insisted on wearing. “We can’t stop her,” Paul said later. When the girls were small, their fathers dressed them up in silk kurtas for church: It was important, they felt, for the girls to have access to their Indian heritage.
Later, as we sat on the porch, Edward showed us a YouTube video of Paul’s recent visit to Delhi, where he had been able to visit with the surrogate mothers in their doctor’s clinic. On the video, the women smile, holding boxes that contain saris and checks for $1,000 each, and peer at photos of the girls.
Edward later told me that the trip had eased his and Paul’s minds because they were able to directly give a gift of money to the women, and show them the girls. He wanted them to know they were grateful. He would, he added, send them money every year if he could, but they likely had no bank accounts, and so there was no way to do so “without corruption.”
Edward also seemed reassured by the fact that both women did second surrogate pregnancies, saying, “I have to assume if they did it again, it wasn’t an awful experience.”
In December 2015, Tabasco, the one Mexican state where commercial surrogacy is legal, banned foreign and gay clients—following in the footsteps of Nepal, Thailand, and India. But the bans did not resolve the ethical questions at the heart of transnational surrogacy or dispel its near gravitational allure.
After I read about the ban in India, I contacted Padma, curious to know what she made of it. She was with her daughter Anu. “The government should remove that ban,” Anu translated for Padma. “The government is not giving any sort of loans to poor people—they are not helping with anything.” She added, “Surrogacy is the source from which these women are earning for the future. Maybe only a little bit, but something.”
Padma’s argument evokes the ethical debate surrounding sweatshops that is so hard to parse, because somehow workers must be both free and protected. Fair-trade models propose a solution by making supply chains transparent—an idea that ought to have worked in a transaction that was as theoretically personal as bearing a child. Anu told me that she planned to create a surrogacy practice to serve Indian couples, where she would teach surrogates financial planning and cut out the middlemen.
When I discussed this “fair-trade surrogacy” idea with Rudrappa, who followed surrogate mothers in Bangalore, she smiled wearily. She told me of one group of women who wanted to start a surrogacy cooperative and deal directly with their clients. “I asked some of the intended parents I’ve gotten close with if they would use a co-op, and they answered no,” Rudrappa told me. “There’s just so much distrust.”
Sonali did not imagine any sweeping reform when it came to surrogacy—just a chance to visit with the intended parents monthly, even if they were foreign or male. “We will feel that they are our clients and they have care for their baby,” said Sonali. “And that they see us.”Obama administration officials say Secretary of State John Kerry will sign the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) “during annual United Nations General Assembly meeting this week.”
As Breitbart News reported in March, the ATT hands the executive branch the power to work with other governments around the world to shut down portions of the U.S. import firearms market. Such shut downs will be possible by seizing on ambiguous terms and phrases within the ATT–like claiming certain classes of guns are “inappropriate” or claiming others endanger “women and children.”
Moreover, because the treaty includes a focus on the movement of “small arms [and] light weapons” across borders, it will require some degree of gun registration if it is to be effective. Without the ability to ascertain the origins of these weapons how will enforcing agents know who is moving them across borders?
The Associated Press reports that “more than 85 countries have signed the treaty, but it will not take effect until 50 nations have ratified it.”
On March 23, Senator James Inhofe (R-OK) introduced an amendment to keep the U.S. from entering into the treaty. Inhofe’s amendment passed by a vote of 53 to 46. (For a list of the 46 Senators who voted “Yes” click HERE.)
However, once the U.S. has officially signed the treaty it can be called up for future Senate votes to accept or reject a resolution of ratification.
Follow AWR Hawkins on Twitter @AWRHawkinsRepublican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks during a campaign rally in Reno, Nev., on Oct. 5, 2016. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
Donald Trump’s dwindling chances of winning the presidential election have led to a lot of speculation about whether this will hurt Republicans running for the House and Senate. Last week, the speculation reached a fever pitch.
Democrats were reported to see a “real shot” at retaking the majority in the House. At Vox, Jeff Stein said that a “Democratic landslide isn’t off the table.”
So what does a “real shot” or “on the table” actually mean? We can put hard numbers on the chances of a House Democratic majority, including in the event of a resounding Hillary Clinton victory.
To do this, we revisited the forecasting model of House elections similar to one that we employed in 2012 and in 2014 as part of The Washington Post’s Election Lab.
The model is a “fundamentals” forecast that captures crucial factors at both the national and district level:
The growth in gross domestic product in the first two quarters of the election year.
. Presidential approval as of June of the election year.
Whether it is a midterm or presidential election.
The party of the president.
Whether there is a Republican incumbent, Democratic incumbent, or no incumbent running.
The presidential vote in the district in the current election (presidential years) or previous election (midterm years).
Whether the candidates have held elective office, coded to capture whether either candidate has an advantage (that is, has had elective office while the opponent has not).
The balance of fundraising between the candidates, based on the most current Federal Election Commission data.
As we’ve noted before, this model has its limitations. It comes with uncertainty, which means the model’s predictions have a margin of error. Moreover, the model doesn’t take account of finer-grained information about the candidates — beyond what their experience in elective office or fundraising numbers can tell us.
The model doesn’t take account of polls, which exist only in a small number of districts (although we did use them in 2014). Polls aren’t magic — sometimes a fundamentals-based prediction is more accurate than polls! — but they are helpful. The model tends to give predictions for individual races that compare well to those of handicappers, but where the two diverge right before Election Day, the handicappers are more often correct because they are accounting for more information.
Nevertheless, modeling House elections this way also has its advantages. It gives us a vote forecast for every district and a specific probability of victory, making it more precise and easier to evaluate after the fact. It tends to be even more accurate in the aggregate than it is for individual races — any misses tend to average out — and it did a good job in 2012 and in 2014.
Above all, combining national and district-level factors together in a single model is very effective at testing the sort of “what if” scenarios that have been popular lately. If you want to know what a big Clinton win means for the House, given the competitive dynamics in individual seats, this is an excellent way to do it.
This model currently predicts that the Democrats will control 204 seats after the 2016 election. That is 16 more than they had after the 2014 election. The margin of error associated with that is plus or minus 8 seats. That forecast implies a very small chance — less than 1 percent — that the Democrats could win the 218 or more seats needed for a majority.
But what about Trump? As Robert Erikson noted, the most recent research finds that presidential candidates do have “coattails” down the ballot. If Hillary Clinton does better, so should Democratic candidates for Congress.
Because our model includes the presidential election result in each district, we can simulate what might happen if Clinton beats Trump in the proverbial landslide. This entails two decisions. First, how big is the landslide? Second, what is the exact size of the coattail effect?
Let’s assume that Clinton’s victory is exactly where the Pollster average is |
these years you’d like to meet/ To go over, everything … ” I croon, badly, by way of an answer. He’s delighted by the synchronicity between lyric and his own objective, and delight will often lead to a dad joke. “Hello,” he sings, very quietly. “Does Adele have a surname?” he asks me. “The only Adele I know is Adele Ferguson.”
As well as cooking up the stunts, Xenophon is constantly on the phone to local journalists. He bulldozes his way into every publication and open microphone in town. It’s shameless and highly effective.
Back in the constituency zone, Xenophon pushes through to facts with a view to constructing timelines: what’s in dispute, what’s already been done and by whom. “I can’t go into bat for you without all the facts. I need an email trail,” he says to one visitor, writing furiously without looking up. Staff are summoned and dismissed with instructions for note taking or follow up. There’s a fair amount of hesitating in doorways in the Xenophon office because instructions can be elliptical or the trajectory can be changeable.
One visitor is the state-based representative of the Pharmacy Guild, who wants Xenophon to write to the health minister, Sussan Ley, about a dispute the sector is having with the government. Given that the guild is among the grandmasters of political lobbying in Canberra I’m curious to see the reception it gets. “We see Nick once we get nowhere with the government,” Nick Panayiaris, the state guild president says. “He’s been a big supporter of community pharmacy.” Xenophon agrees to write to Ley and Panayiaris is sent on his way with a tick in his column. Over in my corner I raise my eyebrows about how easy that was.
Also through the door is a group of businessmen: some local high flyers, including Roger Drake of Drakes Supermarkets, and Alister Haigh of Haigh’s Chocolates. Xenophon anticipates trouble from this group over company tax cuts – but the bugbear today isn’t tax cuts, it’s energy prices, and some skills and training issues. Surging power prices in South Australia, alongside the potential for more blackouts, is a massive issue locally.
Xenophon is well aware of the anger in the business community about power prices but he wants to channel the anger into support from an emissions intensity scheme – the scheme dumped ignominiously by Malcolm Turnbull and his energy minister, Josh Frydenberg, in early December. Xenophon is irritated by the development and dumbfounded that the prime minister has, in essence, abandoned a scheme he formulated in 2009 with Xenophon’s support. He’s intent on drumming up business support for the intensity trading scheme. The evangelism spills over into the meeting with Drake, Haigh and the rest of their group. The businessmen look less than convinced. This all sounds a bit like gobbledygook.
He'll tell me he wants some thoughts on an issue. He likes to take soundings Roger Drake, of Drakes Supermarkets
I grab a word with Drake afterwards on the telephone. Like Leonow, the Adelaide supermarket boss looks like a Liberal party supporter from central casting. He’s the biggest private employer in South Australia. Drakes is the largest independent grocery retail business in the country, with an annual turnover of more than $1bn.
Yet he tells me he votes for the NXT.
Why does he support Xenophon? “He’s approachable. You can get to him,” Drake says. Xenophon will ring him regularly, just to chew the fat, no agenda, just on the hunt for ideas and for feedback. “I’ve never met a politician who will actively ring you,” Drake says. “He’ll tell me he wants some thoughts on an issue. He likes to take soundings.”
Xenophon, he says, has been rock solid on competition issues, consistently against the dominance of the supermarket giants, which resonates with an independent grocer who built a successful business from a three-lane supermarket in Adelaide in the mid-1970s. Perhaps the self-made businessman has an affinity with the self-made politician, trying to carve out a niche in the duopoly of major-party politics.
Bashing Coles and Woolies is easy, feel-good politics. Knocking the Goliaths is almost a national pastime. But, like everything, the policy intricacies of this argument are complex. Politicians find themselves caught uncomfortably between the desire of consumers for low prices, the interests of producers to have fair supply arrangements with powerful buyers, and the desire of small independent businesses to flourish.
Xenophon doesn’t have to balance the nuances, or attempt to walk several sides of the street. He’s chosen a side and he prosecutes it, and his constituency is grateful for the unfettered affirmation.
Facebook Twitter Pinterest Nick Xenophon checks results on a tablet at the post-election party on 2 July in Adelaide. Photograph: Brenton Edwrds/AAP
“I admire that he stands up and speaks out,” Drake says. “We have become so politically correct that people are afraid to say what they think. I don’t agree with everything he says but you’ll get a fair hearing. I think it’s a protest vote, like the Trump thing. We are just not happy with the major parties.”
I note in passing that Xenophon seems to have an awful lot of balls in the air. I wonder, sometimes, where all these balls are going to land, whether some of them will ever land.
Drake chuckles, and swerves diplomatically around the point: “I’d hate to work for him, as his personal assistant. He’s absolutely non-stop.”
‘Major-party politicians don’t speak so rationally’
The rise of the Xenophon phenomenon presents a serious conundrum for the major parties in South Australia. Voters’ expectations are low. In the ANU post-election survey, 74% of the sample believed government could make little difference to household finances. Policies, they thought, made little or no impact.
In that context, a vote for an independent or micro-party candidate doesn’t feel like the risk major-party politicians regularly tell them it is. It feels like a necessary break in the weather. Although SA has a history of hosting centre-right political schisms – the state gave birth to the Australian Democrats – Xenophon and his distinctive brand of politics present particular challenges for the big parties.
The main one is the risk associated with being the major-party gorilla thumping the most popular politician in South Australia. For the government, there’s the added complication of needing his vote in the Senate.
In the federal election campaign, the SA Liberals did not take on Xenophon aggressively. Labor and the local trade union operation did take him on, to some effect. Xenophon thinks the campaign the unions ran against him in the final fortnight of the campaign about penalty rates cost him a couple of points at the ballot box.
Liberal party sources say federal campaign HQ did not develop a Senate campaign for SA in the last election, despite the obvious threat posed by the NXT, which had three credible Senate candidates in the field. “We were caught entirely flat-footed,” says one party insider.
The local organisation was directed to put resources into lower house marginal seats rather than the Senate, a request the senators refused. They sought their own research and ran their own race. But there are some who think the campaign should have been more aggressive. One says: “Labor whacked him much harder, and they got results. Nick really doesn’t like criticism, he’s good at positioning as the victim, at making you the bully.” Another person describes the running dead strategy as a “self-fulfilling strategy for decline”.
Major-party insiders feel the NXT has not yet peaked in SA, and the organisation is professionalising rapidly. There is also considerable frustration that Xenophon is judged by a different standard to parties of government.
They fully comprehend the picture Leonow painted so vividly – that voters are inclined to mark up Xenophon for having a go, and not fixate excessively over whether that results in a concrete win or a loss. This yardstick doesn’t apply to major-party politics. They are judged on results, not on their empathy. Trying to level that playing field can feel like wrestling smoke.
One thing that could disrupt or derail the current growth would be a serious breakdown between Xenophon and members of his parliamentary team. Clearly the parliamentary group are intelligent, bonded and get on well, although it is clear from the first six months in Canberra that the NXT bloc members aren’t always on the same page.
Nick Xenophon will block'retrospective' cuts to paid parental leave Read more
Xenophon signalled clearly that the group might split in response to legislation from the government preventing boat arrivals from ever setting foot inside Australia. Splits erode the bargaining power of the group as a whole, so they are best avoided. But unlike the Hanson bloc, the group have yet to indulge in a bout of public acrimony. Given how many issues make their way through the parliament, it seems inevitable there will be other topics where differences prove impossible to reconcile, and this could present a significant test for Xenophon as leader of the group, particularly as the newcomers build their confidence as parliamentary players.
It’s also pretty obvious during the days I spend with Xenophon in Adelaide that the party is still working out its internal routines. Xenophon will have to learn how to delegate, and the stakeholders used to having ready access to him are going to have to learn to cultivate some new people if the party leader is serious about building a sustainable political movement, rather than having a situation where a group of small moons orbit meekly around one giant planet.
Over lunch I try to engage Xenophon on nuts and bolts issues. He can be candid on occasions yet, when he’s minded to, he can also categorically avoid answering questions. Conversationally, he can be a master of deflection.
I ask him if the NXT possesses the professionalism and the structures to help consolidate its own growth. He tells me causally the group will change the name of the party early next year, taking Nick Xenophon out of the title.
So you are actively transitioning to a post-Xenophon phase? The reaction is typical. He first lobs the light-hearted banter: “Do you know something I don’t know?” I persist. What are you thinking of calling the group, and why would you call it the Nick Xenophon Team in a recent election cycle, do all that branding, and then call it something else? He shakes his head, disinclined to float any working titles. This is clearly a dead end. I move on.
Who are your financial backers? There’s obviously Ian Melrose, I prompt. The Optical Superstore founder is a well-known donor, kicking in $175,000 since the end of 2014. Melrose and Xenophon share some common passions, justice for Timor-Leste being an obvious one; and their worldview overlaps on a number of policy issues: buy Australian, protection for whistleblowers.
Facebook Twitter Pinterest South Australian businessman Ian Melrose. Photograph: Ian Melrose
In 2010 Xenophon declared: “If you give someone $1,000, you support them. If you give someone $100,000, you own them.” These comments came back to bite him when the level of Melrose’s donations exceeded $100,000. Xenophon had to climb down. He said earlier this year the 2010 comments were glib, “perhaps too clever by half”.
Melrose also doesn’t mind a conversational deflection. Separately, I ask him why he funds the NXT. First, the light-hearted banter: “Because he laughs at my jokes.” He gets to the nub in the end. “He’s got intellect, he’s got morals, he wants to make a difference.”
He’s got intellect, he’s got morals, he wants to make a difference Ian Melrose, Optical Superstore founder
Melrose says he supports Xenophon because the major parties have proved incapable of fixing serious problems, such as gambling addiction, or justice for the people of Timor-Leste. The system isn’t broken but it’s ailing, Melrose says, and “people are waking up to that fact”. He thinks helping Xenophon is money invested in worthy causes: “I should be a Liberal person. I’ve worked my arse off and I’ve made it, but I don’t intend to be the richest corpse in the cemetery.”
I pick up the conversation about the NXT’s nuts and bolts operation with Stirling Griff, who joined Xenophon in the Senate after the 2016 election. Griff is the organisational player in the group, a former campaign director.
He runs through their metrics: there are 2,400 volunteers in SA. On polling day the NXT had 1,900 people in the field, which is substantial for a micro-party operation without an institutional base. It also had several hundred people working the pre-poll booths for the Senate outside SA.
The NXT has about 1,500 members. Membership brings in about $40,000. Members are kept up to date with the various NXT activities and legislative achievements, and there are regular events, a bit of afternoon tea, a barbecue. On election night, it hired a cinema to give supporters a place to gather and watch results.
Facebook Twitter Pinterest George Kontopoulos has been a Xenophon supporter right from the start. Photograph: Tony Lewis for the Guardian
The party federally is contemplating a branch structure similar the major parties. Griff confirms Melrose “is our most consistent larger donor”. There are people who give small amounts, and also people around Adelaide prepared to kick in $10,000 at a time – but no one is naming names.
On one of our journeys around the city we call by the business premises of George Kontopoulos, who has been a supporter of Xenophon since the beginning. Kontopoulos says his shop, Omega Foods – a fragrant emporium stocked with condiments and small goods – is a Xenophon hub. Posters go up during campaigns, flyers get handed out, there’s a campaign event. “We create a nice atmosphere,” he says with a twinkle. “It’s good for business.” Why do you support him? “I like his beliefs, I like what he stands for, he says things other people aren’t prepared to say.”
I approach the subject of donations cautiously. This is obviously indelicate. Kontopoulos says he’s a donor “when Nick requires”. Xenophon screws up his nose by way of rebuttal. “Not much,” Xenophon mouths, almost sotto voce. “He can always call on me,” Kontopoulos says, unperturbed.
NXT supporters tend to skew older. Griff says 85% of the supporter base would be over 60, but the voter profile is diversifying. A Lonergan poll of 3,000 South Australians in July indicates that the party was polling more or less evenly across the age groups midyear. Men dominated women by only a couple of percentage points. Then 18 to 34 cohort had support for the NXT at 21%, 35 to 49 at 25%, 50 to 64 at 27%, 65 and older was 22%. This gives the NXT a similar voting profile to the major parties, although the Liberal party dominates in the 65 or over cohort, just as the Greens dominate with young voters.
“This is what’s changed in recent years, attracting people across age groups,” says Griff. “Perhaps that reflects the current disenchantment with the major parties.”
So my search turns to younger people. Matt Welch is 26 and lives in the Adelaide hills. He went to work for BHP as a mining engineer but his real passion is computer coding. He’s now thrown in the mining to try to restart his career in the IT industry.
When he reached voting age, his inclination was to vote Liberal. In the last federal election Welch voted for the NXT candidate in the South Australian lower house seat of Grey, Andrea Broadfoot, who came close to snatching that seat from the Liberals. In the Senate he voted for the Liberal Democratic party.
Facebook Twitter Pinterest Nick Xenophon fan Matt Welch at his home the town of Nairne in the Adelaide hills. Photograph: Tony Lewis for the Guardian
Welch says the major parties to him look like little more than manifestations of institutional influence. One half looks after business, the other half organised labour through the trade union movement. He says the institutional influence creates an inherent conflict of interest for major-party politicians: they get caught between having to toe the line and having to represent their constituents. Too often the constituents lose out.
That’s why voters are looking for alternatives, he says: “No one worries about global warming, refugees, mental health. Independents are more likely to listen to their constituents. In the past I’ve heard independents speak and think very rationally. Major-party politicians don’t speak so rationally because they are always worried about the impact on their party.”
During an early-morning walk in the city, and out of the fringes of the city at Virginia, I meet two more men in their 20s who voted for the NXT in 2016. Their reasoning is more diffuse, and probably more typical of voters who are not massively engaged.
Hung Nguyen, who works in his family’s market garden in Virginia, says he isn’t entirely sure why he voted for Xenophon but it’s a combination of the senator’s visibility in South Australian politics, the fact he’s out and about so often with people, and the name recognition.
You remember that name. It has a positive association. He says friends in his age group helped to influence his decision. He tells me there are some young farmers’ groups in the district that can get a bit political. People talk about politics when they get together, and his peers were mainly of the view Xenophon should be supported.
Foti Likouras runs a cafe in the city, and Xenophon pops in for hot chocolate semi-regularly. He says he voted Xenophon (“in the columns, right”) because he was against the waste dump: “He’s standing up to Jay Weatherill on that.”
For a moment I racked my brain to work out what he was talking about because I’m preoccupied by national issues. Which waste dump? A tip? How is that even a thing? The penny dropped eventually. “The nuclear waste dump you mean? Xenophon is campaigning on that too?”
Likouras looked at me as though I’d just landed from Mars. He nodded. As he revs up the milk frother and keeps an eye over my shoulder for incoming customers, he says the dump might work out fine, but it also might not. “I don’t want to move,” he says. Adelaide is, for him, the perfect city. Hills at one end, beach at the other. A city laid out elegantly on a grid pattern. Lots of passing foot traffic for caffeine and gourmet sandwiches. This is home, and Xenophon gets that: the importance of home.
A young man in a Toll T-shirt had stopped Xenophon on the street near his electorate office the day before. He wanted a handshake with the person he described without any evident irony as “the great man”. After a brief period of showing Xenophon his latest delivery project, and some expressions of mild fandom – “My wife voted for you as well” – I asked him why he admired Xenophon.
He visibly straightened his shoulders. “Because he’s independent, because he stands up for us, and for South Australia.”
Likouras is more laconic but the sentiment is broadly the same. Parochial, local. Loyalty to region and place. “I just like what he’s on about.”
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Another young resident of the Adelaide hills, Rhys Jarratt, 22, also voted NXT in 2016. In 2013, his first election as a voter, he backed the Palmer United party. This time, he voted for Rebekha Sharkie, who snatched the seat of Mayo from the Liberal Jamie Briggs. “Rebekha was very visible, her family’s name was known in the hills, and the policies of the NXT are seen as reasonable in South Australia,” Jarratt says.
Sharkie has cracked the lower house – a significant milestone for the NXT – and she did it convincingly, collecting 54.97% of the two-party-preferred vote.
Jarratt is a tactical voter. He says he lodged a protest vote against Briggs in the 2013 and 2016 elections. “I’m sure [Jamie Briggs is] a lovely person,” Jarratt says, “but he wasn’t seen in the community as a very sincere representative. During the election he wasn’t seen much at all, only when the prime minister came up. Rebekha Sharkie did real campaigning, with town halls and door knocking.”
Jarratt formed the view Sharkie was “the most likely person to represent us”. He says the community looks at major-party politics and sees only tit for tat, opposition for opposition’s sake, and political games in Canberra. It all just looks like pantomime from a distance. “People just feel disenfranchised.”
‘He’s a magnet that draws people’
The Yaris has developed a perceptible rattle in the engine. This is clearly off script, and unwelcome. Xenophon gets me to dial the mechanic while he speaks on hands-free. The call goes through to voicemail. Given Xenophon is gunning the engine up the freeway to Mount Barker, we are both nervous.
The kilometres are clocking up today because we’ve been out to the market gardens in Virginia to speak to residents about water issues. Jordan Brooke-Barnett, from AusVeg, a sharp young farm lobbyist in a cap, tells me the same story I’ve heard throughout this journey. Xenophon is the only politician prepared to go beyond the your-call-has-been-placed-in-a-queue form letter sent from a political office. “Look, we’d written to everyone about this particular issue, and he was the one person who would come out,” he says.
It’s baking hot and a fierce wind is blowing topsoil across the flat plain. It hits our faces like sandpaper as Xenophon cooks up a fledgling back-of-the-envelope action plan with residents and Brooke-Barnett. In the huddle I hear “food bowl of South Australia” to some general acclamation. A young adviser from the office is leaning in and taking detailed notes.
Xenophon has a connection to the area. His father once owned a plot out here and the plan was to plant an olive grove. Xenophon senior then maimed his hand in a terrible accident out on the plot, and Xenophon junior had to sell off the holding. By sheer coincidence we wind up on the Xenophon family plot which is now owned by a Vietnamese family. Xenophon is moved by the turn of events, and keeps scanning the horizon for landmarks, or ghosts of times past.
A couple of hours later I’m in a garage in a suburb of Adelaide, and Xenophon is in a barber’s chair, getting his hair cut by a man with an enormous moustache. Ghosts again feature. “We’ve booked twin gravestones so we can walk together as ghosts, at night,” Xenophon says of his barber, who is actually his best mate, Tullio Nardi.
Nardi chuckles as the cut-throat razor glides expertly down the nape of Xenophon’s neck. Xenophon lives up the road and the two men walk at night and chew the fat. Both want to lose a bit of weight. Their friendship dates back to 1992, when Nardi was a client at the law firm.
They call each other Don. I ask – like the mafia, like the Godfather, you are like a crime family? Now I comprehend Xenophon’s habit of picking up his mobile with a particular caller and shouting: “Don, Don, Don.” Don has been butt dialling over the past 48 hours. This would be Don.
Xenophon immediately dismisses my observation that this is an organised crime reference, declaring it a term of respect in Italian culture. “Yeah, like the Godfather,” Nardi says evenly, stretching the skin, eyes on the razor.
The senator is indulging a brief lull in the barber’s chair in an undisclosed suburban location ahead of a swing by the dry cleaners and then the sprint to Mount Barker. After he breaks free of me, Xenophon has a full day of meetings in Melbourne, and best to look sharp on Collins Street – although sharp can be a matter of interpretation.
Xenophon admires thrift. He asks at one point during our perambulations if I go to the Canberra Outlet Centre. I acknowledge I do. He says proudly he recently tried to get a better price on a $99 suit. “You went to an outlet store, and you bargained over the price?” “I did,” he says. Later in the afternoon, while I’m intent on my mission, he will decamp for a session in Kmart where he’s seen stretch casual shoes for a good price. I tell him they sound completely hideous. He seems pleased with the feedback.
Facebook Twitter Pinterest Rebekha Sharkie, the new member for Mayo, with Nick Xenophon at the post-election party in Adelaide. Photograph: Brenton Edwrds/AAP
The Yaris does make it to Mount Barker so I can drop in on Sharkie’s constituency operation in Mayo. Xenophon speaks of her in glowing terms. Her work ethic, he says, is prodigious. She’s always on the move. I sense he means she works at his hectic pace, that she has the same commitment to 24/7 relentlessness as the party leader.
Sharkie has a group of young people in her conference room when we arrive. The member for Mayo is up at the whiteboard writing down points of feedback. The blinds facing the street are up, people walk and out of the office and mill around outside on the footpath.
The kids are eating pizza and sushi and talking about the issues they care about. The youth worker at the local council, who is sitting in, tells me there’s not been an initiative like this in Mayo before.
The Sharkie office is less frenetic than Xenophon HQ, but the signs of activity are evident. There are boxes of surveys of the electorate that are being put into the system; 5,000 responses have come in. Sharkie is delighted the response rate is that high. At that level, it’s an opinion poll in terms of value. She wants to use the survey results to structure some community forums in the electorate in 2017. The next day she will make her fifth trip to Kangaroo Island since the election.
I was pretty jaded with mainstream politics. He’s a magnet that draws people … to make their community a better place Rebekha Sharkie, NXT member for Mayo
Sharkie’s pathway to the NXT was working in a law firm, before working in political staffing, including for Briggs, the Liberal she went on to unseat. She grew tired of Liberal-party politics and left in 2012 for a stint in the community sector working with youth “which gave me a lot more insight into the complexities of disadvantage”.
She met Xenophon during that period. “Like a lot of people, I was pretty jaded with mainstream politics, and he’s a magnet that draws people with the desire to make their community a better place.” She says the locals are open to alternatives, and are fatigued by the major-party system, which is “not delivering enough diversity of thought. It’s very combative, and it really doesn’t need to be.”
Again what I’m witnessing at the constituency level is not a revolution in practice – Sharkie’s operation would be comparable to any motivated, lower-house marginal-seat parliamentarian.
She’s charismatic, determined and brims with enthusiasm. She’s clearly got the goods, but this is just good, committed activism by people who are clearly well-intentioned, personable and minded to make a difference, and have the flexibility to be able to speak to their communities without having to keep to the talking points.
Sharkie says her ideal parliament would comprise a number of micro-parties that would work together to achieve policy progress. “The Liberal party has pulled to the right. They have really lost the art of being fiscally responsible while not demonising the disadvantaged. “It’s not just unhelpful. It devalues everyone when we do this.”
Her aspiration is pure representative politics, and working with Xenophon allows her to pursue precisely that style of public life. Twenty years ago, she says, she would not have had the life experience to understand this brand of politics was the correct path. The opportunity has opened up at a time when she feels ready to maximise it.
“I’m very mindful that I have 100,000 people with me, and representing them is a great responsibility. I think people in the major parties can lose sight of that.”Does Missaukee County, Michigan, really have a dangerous air pollution problem
The 574-square-mile region, nestled in the northwestern part of the state's lower peninsula, is home to all of 15,000 people. Its economy consists mainly of Christmas tree, dairy and livestock farms, and summer vacationers. The nearest "cities" are Cadillac to the west (population 10,281), and Grayling to the northeast (population 1,863).
Yet new smog rules proposed by the Environmental Protection Agency on Wednesday would treat this little county like Los Angeles, with pollution serious enough to harm its people and require EPA-approved, and potentially very costly, remediation.
Under the proposed regulations — which the Obama administration put off over two election cycles — communities would have to keep their ozone levels below 70 parts per billion, and possibly as low as 60 ppb.
Smog Rule Vs. Rural America
That's down from the 75 ppb limit set in 2008. While that might seem like a small drop, it would push vast numbers of sparsely populated areas of states like Idaho, South Dakota, Maine, New Hampshire, Kansas, Iowa, Oklahoma, Minnesota and West Virginia — where no counties violate today's standard — into the red zone.
Even Colorado's La Plata County — almost half of which is inside the San Juan National Forest — would violate the new standard.
By the EPA's own estimate, 558 counties across all but a handful of states would be deemed smog polluters under its new rules. In 2012, the EPA classified just 231 counties as noncompliant with the existing standard. And except for those in California, all were deemed to have either "marginal" or "moderate" problems.
Results like this are why critics say that the new smog rule would be the most intrusive and expensive regulation imposed on the country, with compliance cost estimates ranging up to $270 billion a year. While the EPA says that it will cost just $15 billion a year by 2025, no one denies that the rule will, if enacted, be sweeping and vastly expensive.
The Supreme Court said Tuesday that it will hear a case to decide if the EPA should have considered the cost of rules on mercury and other toxic emissions.
Hazy Benefits
The EPA says that the smog rule's costs will nevertheless be worth it, because research shows that the current standard can still cause or aggravate asthma and other lung diseases, worsen other health problems and lead to premature deaths.
But there is plenty of disagreement over such health claims.
One filing from various industry groups argues that "available evidence does not support EPA's conclusions regarding long-term ozone-related respiratory effects," and notes that the EPA's own Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee admitted to "key uncertainties and research that need to be addressed.
Backers might dismiss such industry complaints as unreliable or self-serving. But there's a report from Texas' Commission on Environmental Quality that concluded, "There will be little to no public health benefit from lowering the current standard.
"The EPA's own modeling," says Michael Honeycutt, director of the Texas commission's toxicology division, "indicates that lowering ozone concentrations would actually result in more deaths in some cities.
To further muddy the EPA claims, asthma rates have risen even as ozone has steadily declined. From 2003 to 2010, EPA data show that ozone levels nationwide fell 11%. But the number of people suffering asthma attacks climbed 26%, according to the Centers for Disease Control.
In addition, the states with the highest prevalence of adults with asthma are those with little smog — including Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Oregon and Washington. Meanwhile, California, despite chronic smog conditions in its most densely populated areas, ranks 30th.
Another major problem with further lowering the ozone bar is that it would set the limit even closer to background levels in some areas, making compliance difficult if not impossible.
"Virtually any human activity that produced emissions could ultimately be restricted or affected," warns the American Petroleum Institute's director of regulatory and scientific affairs, Howard Feldman.
What's more, it turns out that reducing smog levels will be far more difficult because, scientists now realize, trees are a key and growing ozone contributor since they emit "volatile organic compounds.
Story continuesShare. Releasing Spring 2017. Releasing Spring 2017.
Azure Striker Gunvolt developer Inti Creates has announced the return of Blaster Master with the release of a brand-new game for Nintendo 3DS next year.
This upcoming eShop title, dubbed Blaster Master Zero, was announced during the studio's 20th Anniversary Fan Festa, and will release in Spring 2017.
blaster master zero 10+ IMAGES Fullscreen Image Artboard 3 Copy Artboard 3 ESC 01 OF 11 Strange mutants inhabit this subterranean world. 01 OF 11 Strange mutants inhabit this subterranean world. blaster master zero Download Image Captions ESC
Inti Creates acquired the rights to Sunsoft's 1988 NES classic, and is using the original Blaster Master as a foundation in creating an 8-bit experience that pays homage to the original, while also making use of current technology to optimize the game for modern day.
Blaster Master Zero will feature brand-new bosses and locations, as well as additional sub-weapons and refined gameplay. The story centers around a robotic engineer named Jason Frudnick and his subterranean adventures in his SOPHIA 3rd tank, as he seeks to track down his creature companion Fred.
For more on Blaster Master, find out why the original earned a spot on IGN's list of the top 100 NES games.
Alex Osborn is a freelance writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter and subscribe to his video content on YouTube.The Decline and Fall of the Silver Denarius and The Roman Empire.
As the Roman Empire grew, the silver content in its coinage declined.
Currency debasement is a dead giveaway of an empire set to decline.
‘In the second century of the Christian era, the Empire of Rome comprehended the fairest part of the earth, and the most civilised portion of mankind. The frontiers of that extensive monarchy were guarded by ancient renown and disciplined valour. The gentle but powerful influence of laws and manners had gradually cemented the union of the provinces. Their peaceful inhabitants enjoyed and abused the advantages of wealth and luxury. The image of a free constitution was preserved with decent reverence: the Roman senate appeared to possess the sovereign authority, and devolved on the emperors all the executive powers of government.’ Introduction to the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire by Edward Gibbon
The Decline and Fall of the Silver Denarius and The Roman Empire
Give unto Ceasar that which is silver
The Roman Denarius was used as currency throughout the Roman Republic and Empire. The denarius was initially minted of nearly pure silver and was about the size of a U.S. dime. Towards the end of the Roman empire there was little or no silver at all in the denarius.
During the period of the Roman Republic and early Empire the silver content of the denarius was 95-98%. As the cost of empire grew, the silver content of the denarius shrunk.
The issue for all empires is how to pay for the cost of conquest and maintenance of empire, while keeping the population happy at home. Empires require enormous resources to fund a perpetual warfare/welfare state. For Rome, there were soldiers and fortifications to pay abroad and “bread and circuses” (panem et circenses) to fund at home.
For Rome, the denarius was the currency used to pay for it all.
The silver denarius was introduced in the Roman Republic around 211 B.C. and remained the currency of the Republic and Empire for over 400 years. Silver was the metal of choice in the Roman Republic and Empire with gold coinage used only briefly. During the republican time the silver content of the denarius was well above 90%. (see chart below)
By decree of Cesear Augustus in 15 B.C silver denarius was 95-98% silver
As the Roman Empire grew, its costs grew. There were costs of conquest, administration, military installations, border defense, walls (eg. Hadrian’s wall Vallum Aelium ) building infrastruture (roads, viae and aqueducts, acquducere) as well as the cost of keeping the population well fed and amused at home (building colosseums throughout the Empire, the most famous being the Roman Colosseum (Anfiteatro flaviano), with a seating capacity of 50,000)
Silver Content of the Roman Denarius
As the costs of the Roman Empire grew, the silver content of the denarius declined.
The Costs of Empire
These maps show the increasing size of the Roman Empire and the decreasing silver content of the denarius.
Latter days of the Roman Republic – circa 20BC/20AD
During the Roman Republic the denarius was minted of nearly pure silver.
Map showing the Roman Republic circa 20BC/20AD. The silver coin show in a Roman silver denarius circa 89BC.
Roman Empire Circa AD 70
During the early days of the Roman Empire the silver content of the denarius was above 90%. The silver coin shown is of Roman Emperor Trajan circa 98 AD.
Roman Empire Circa – 190 AD
The Roman Empire peaked in 117 AD and was in decline by 190 AD. The silver coin show a Roman Denarius depicting Marcus Aurelius circa 180 AD.
Roman Empire Circa AD 230-270
By the mid third century, the Roman Empire was becoming too vast and unwieldy to be ruled from Rome. The empire would eventually be split into two by Emperor Diocletian in 285 AD.
By the mid third century the “silver shield” around the empire had fallen well below fifty percent.
The Roman Empire was finally overrun in 476 when, a former soldier in the Roman army, the Germanic Odoacer ousted the last Roman Emperor, Romulus Augustulus,
The World’s Second Silver Empire – The United States
In the 20th century, the first world superpower since the Roman empire emerged -the United States of America. The U.S. was also a silver empire with billions of silver coins circulating among its citizens.
U.S. dimes, quarters, |
, which is part of what makes his transition to the Los Angeles Rams so unpredictable and so enthralling.
With the Washington Redskins, McVay helped Kirk Cousins compile the NFL's fourth-highest Total QBR from 2015 to '16 and led an offense that ranked sixth in yards, ninth in points and third in third-down conversions over that two-year stretch. But McVay was handling a more experienced quarterback, a better group up front and a dynamic collection of receivers. With the Rams, he takes over an offense that has amassed the NFL's fewest yards each of the last two years -- with a 22-year-old quarterback, an uninspiring group of pass-catchers and perhaps the game's worst offensive line.
How much of McVay's scheme moves with him from D.C. to L.A. remains wholly uncertain, but that doesn't mean we can't learn from the evidence presented to us. Below are three of the main takeaways from McVay's Redskins offense.
Stretching the field vertically
Seven days before McVay was hired as the Rams' head coach, he sat alone with Jared Goff and went over film for two hours. Goff left that meeting ecstatic about what McVay's offense could do for his career. He talked about how "everything kind of runs through the quarterback" and said he expects McVay to "bring out the best in me."
Goff, the 2016 No. 1 overall pick, was forced to make a lot of adjustments coming out of Cal, which ran an Air Raid offense that spread the field and prompted Goff to take almost every snap from the shotgun. But McVay often resembled a spread offense with the Redskins. He frequently ran formations with DeSean Jackson, Pierre Garcon, Jamison Crowder and Jordan Reed, a tight end, out wide, designing an assortment of deep vertical routes mixed with short, easy targets to take advantage of a soft middle of the field. He loved trips formations, running complex routes off of them that confused defenders. And he did a nice job of using motion before the snap to set up deep strikes down the field.
The play below illustrates several key aspects of McVay's offense: (1) motion before the snap, (2) use of play action, (3) unique routes off trips. It came in the season finale against the Giants, in the third quarter of a 19-10 loss. On first-and-10 with less than three minutes left, Cousins sent tight end Vernon Davis in motion to the right side of the screen. At the snap, the two outside receivers ran post routes towards the middle of the field, while Davis ran a deep fade up the right sideline.
NFL
The safety had to pay attention to the deep post and the outside corner had his eyes fixed on the outside receiver. That allowed Davis to beat the slot corner in single coverage and make a 31-yard, heel-tap catch near the 15-yard line. You can see the finish here.
NFL
Only one team, the Steelers, attempted more passes of at least 20 yards than the Redskins this past season. The Redskins used three-receiver sets more often than all but four teams, and in the vast majority of those sets, a tight end -- either Reed or Davis or both -- also acted as a downfield threat. Their vertical passing game opened things up, but it also became a hindrance in the red zone. Only 45.9 percent of the Redskins' red zone drives resulted in touchdowns, fourth-worst in the NFL, because spreading things out doesn't work so well with a shrunken field.
They needed a bigger threat with the run, which brings us to our next point.
Unbalanced attack
Chris Cooley, the former Redskins tight end who is now part of the organization's broadcast team, will tell you McVay "believes in a true run-pass balance system." He just wasn't able to implement that with the Redskins. McVay's offense averaged 23.7 rushing attempts per game, ranked 27th in the NFL even though it didn't play from behind very often. Cousins, meanwhile, was one of six quarterbacks to attempt more than 600 passes in 2016.
The Redskins averaged a solid 4.5 rushing yards per carry, but Cooley will tell you that's "entirely misleading, because there were 10 games this season when we could not run the football at all."
As a result, the Redskins threw frequently and unconventionally. They attempted 232 passes on first down and 80 passes in the red zone, both marks within the top 10. One of McVay's best skills was designing plays that put the Redskins in favorable third-down situations, evidenced by the fact they needed 3 or fewer yards on 32.2 percent of their third-down plays in 2016, fourth-highest in the NFL. But they were rarely able to do it on the ground, and correcting that will be a major focus for McVay with the Rams.
Todd Gurley, coming off a disastrous sophomore season, is traditionally a downhill runner who prefers to run behind a fullback or a pulling guard. Goff is more comfortable taking snaps from the shotgun and running a spread offense. McVay must strike a favorable balance, which brings us to our last point.
Ability to adapt
A turning point for McVay came on Dec. 7, 2015. The Redskins lost to the Cowboys, 19-16, on Monday Night Football and ran the ball on 16 of their 23 first-down plays. Their play-calling was too predictable and too basic. McVay vowed to turn up the aggressiveness. He soon adapted to an offense that was better-suited for throwing the football. He maximized Jackson's abilities as a deep threat, utilized Reed's skills on the outside and, according to several of those who watched that offense closely, constantly put his receivers in position to succeed.
Some say McVay was simply running an offense installed by head coach Jay Gruden. But there were shades of Mike and Kyle Shanahan, particularly the outside stretch zone and the bootlegs. McVay also incorporated the power run concepts of offensive line coach Bill Callahan. And he added his own wrinkles, too.
Two weeks after that fateful Monday night loss to the Cowboys, Cousins was mic'd up for NFL Films in a game against the Bills. At one point, Cousins walked over to McVay on the sideline and said, “Look at what putting our foot on the gas pedal the whole time has done.” McVay's response: “That's what we did last week, too. I'm going to keep doing that. I'm learning, too.”
The Redskins beat the Cowboys, 34-23, to finish the 2015 season. When the two teams met again in Week 2 of the 2016 season, the Redskins lost, 27-23, but gained 432 yards from scrimmage, even though Cousins missed two open receivers for long touchdowns. There was no way Cousins could miss Josh Doctson in the early stages of the fourth quarter, however. The rookie receiver was too open. It happened, once again, on first down, with motion before the snap and off play-action passing.
NFL
Doctson was motioned to the other side of the field, lining up almost directly behind Jackson. At the snap, Jackson ran a post and took both defenders with him, leaving Doctson wide open on a fly route for a 57-yard gain. The Redskins led by three, were just starting their fourth-quarter drive and had lined up in an offset-I formation. A deep pass down the field was the last thing the Cowboys expected. You can see the play here.
NFL
McVay has a lot to learn as a young, first-year head coach, but he will call plays for the Rams in 2017.
And he promises to adapt to his personnel.
"When you talk about forming an offensive identity, it's about first let's figure out what our players do best," McVay said at his introductory press conference. "What does Jared do best? How can we maximize Todd, and Tavon [Austin], and our linemen up front? We're going to continue to get to know our players, figure out what they do best, and fit our scheme to their skill-sets."
ESPN's John Keim contributed to this report.President Obama believes that no veteran should have to fight for a job at home after they fight for our nation overseas. On November 21st, the President signed The Vow to Hire Heroes Act of 2011, a law that combines provisions of the veterans’ tax credits from the President’s American Jobs Act, Chairman Murray’s Hiring Heroes Act and Chairman Miller’s Veterans’ Opportunity to Work Act into a comprehensive package that will aggressively attack the unacceptably high rate of veteran’s unemployment. The Obama Administration has also created resources to help veterans translate their military skills for the civilian workforce, built new online tools to aid their search for jobs, and partnered with the Chamber of Commerce and the private sector to make it easier to connect our veterans with companies that want to hire them:
Visit the program homepage (This link will take you off of Whitehouse.gov) Veterans
Employers looking to hire veterans The Veterans Job Bank connects unemployed veterans to job openings with companies that want to hire them. The Obama Administration partnered with leading job search companies to create a new, easy to use online service that enables employers to “tag” job postings for veterans. It launched with more than 500,000 job listings, a number that will continue growing as more companies tag the job postings on their own websites and add them to the Veterans Job Bank.
Visit the program homepage (This link will take you off of Whitehouse.gov) Veterans
Employers looking to hire veterans Veterans Recruiting Services connects employers and veterans through virtual career fairs. VRS offers services to assist veterans and their spouses as they transition to the civilian workforce, and helps employers find the right highly qualified, educated and well-trained veterans for their businesses.
Visit the program homepage (This link will take you off of Whitehouse.gov) Veterans My Next Move for Veterans is an easy-to-use online tool created by the Department of Labor that allows veterans to enter information about their experience and skills in the field, and match it with civilian careers that put that experience to use. The site also includes information about salaries, apprenticeships, and other related education and training programs.
Visit the program homepage (This link will take you off of Whitehouse.gov) Veterans The Veteran Gold Card provides post-9/11 veterans with extra support as they transition out of the military. Once a veteran has downloaded the Veteran Gold Card, he or she can access six months of personalized case management, assessments and counseling at the roughly 3,000 One-Stop Career Centers located across the country.
Visit the program homepage (This link will take you off of Whitehouse.gov) Veterans Hero 2 Hired (H2H) is a comprehensive employment program provided by the Department of Defense that offers everything a Reserve Component job seeker needs to find their next opportunity, including job listings, career exploration tools, education and training resources, virtual career fairs, a mobile app for IOS, Android and Windows Phones, an innovative Facebook application and a variety of networking opportunities. H2H also provides vast recruiting opportunities for military-friendly employers, including unlimited free postings; ability to send digital invitations to gauge the interest of potential veteran candidates; automatic notifications for applications; H2H messages and connect requests; and search capabilities on H2H's database to match the qualifications required for positions. h2h.jobs/
Visit the program homepage (This link will take you off of Whitehouse.gov) Veterans The Military Spouse Employment Partnership http://www.msepjobs.com/ (MSEP) is a comprehensive web-enabled recruitment and career partnership solution connecting military spouses to employers seeking a 21st century workforce with the skills and attributes possessed by military spouses. MSEP provides a digital recruiting platform for vetted FORTUNE 500 PLUS employers who have committed to identifying and promoting career employment opportunities for military spouses, posting job openings on the MSEP web portal, and to offering transferrable, portable careers to relocating military spouse employees.A few white supremacists and Nazis gathered in Charlottesville, and the whole country is now on edge. The mistake we made is giving them attention as if they represent something more than a fringe of a fringe. They do not. Ninety nine percent of Americans – including the President – appropriately denounce them and their worldview.
The white supremacists are rejected by the mainstream media, the entertainment industry, colleges, universities, public schools, and the people, so how did 50 nut cases capture the attention of the entire nation?
First, extreme leftists went to the rally with sticks, bats, and the hope of having a violent confrontation. They were not disappointed. Three people died as a result. If no one had shown up to counter-protest and the media had simply acknowledged that they were there, it would have been the proverbial tree falling in the forest with no one to hear the sound.
The sad truth is that the mainstream media needs this as much as the Nazis because violence and chaos bring ratings and money. Once bricks and bats and fists start flying and cars are turned into weapons, it’s an international story that no journalist can ignore.
There has to be a better way to solve the centuries-old problem of race in America. If not, future generations will be witnessing race riots in perpetuity. To the immediate issue -- the Confederate monuments and symbols -- it’s time to put them in museums and historical parks set aside for that purpose. At this point they are little more than a lightning rod for confrontations between white racists and left-wing extremists.
As an American of African descent, I am not a fan of the Confederacy. However, my wife and I visited the Confederate Museum in Richmond. It is part of American history and it is more complicated than the racial narrative. There was loyalty to family, friends, and state. There was the unresolved issue of where federal authority ends and state power begins. Many who fought for the South were brave and honorable, but they were on the wrong side of history. Most southerners who want to honor their heritage are not racists and haters. Nor can our Founding Fathers be dismissed merely as slaveowners.
We Americans are great at contextualizing our present: criminals, we are told, are the byproduct of poverty and black people's problems are vestiges of slavery and Jim Crow. However, we are very poor at contextualizing the past. America did not invent slavery, but the way our history is told, you would think it started here. Our Founding Fathers did not wake up one day and decide that it would be a good thing to enslave sub-Saharan Africans. They inherited the “peculiar institution” which was not peculiar at all for the times and is still being practiced today in some nations under Muslim rule. In spite of being steeped in the culture of slavery and benefitting immensely from it economically, America’s Founders wrote about its evil and debated how it should end.
Slavery almost derailed both the Declaration and the Constitution. Our Founders yielded to the need for unity rather than immediate moral correction. Had they chosen the immediate moral rectitude of ending slavery, we might not have a country now because at least two colonies adamantly opposed the mere denunciation of slavery.
That is why the treatment of the Confederate flag and monuments must be different from the treatment of Washington, Jefferson, Madison, and our other founding patriots. Yes, these three were among those who owned slaves, but they also gave us the world’s greatest experiment in human freedom. They understood that freedom is the inherent right of every human being, even slaves, and they said so in their writings.
We all are works in progress -- learning, growing and getting better as human beings. Sometimes we see things differently as we grow older and presumably wiser. The Founding Fathers were also human beings navigating a complicated world. Despite their imperfections, they established the greatest nation in history. We are heirs to their legacy of freedom, and they deserve gratitude, not disdain.
Wanting statues and monuments of the Founding Fathers pulled down is the sentiment of those trapped in stupidity and ingratitude. We all live under what Dr. King called the “majestic words” of the Declaration of Independence: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal and endowed by our Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.” Shall we strike those words from our history because a slaveowner wrote them?
Our Founders created a nation. The Confederacy would have divided it. These have two very different places in American history, but history is still history, the good, the bad and the ugly. It should be remembered and studied lest we repeat it.
The white supremacists and far left seem to want just that -- to repeat history and fight the Civil War again. We must not give them what they want.
E.W Jackson is a Republican Political analyst; a nationally syndicated radio host on American Family Radio & Urban Family Talk; Presiding Bishop of The Called Church; was 2013 Republican Nominee for Lt. Governor of Virginia; and is founder & president of S.T.A.N.D. [www.standamerica.us].Planned Parenthood branches in Texas have filed a federal lawsuit in an effort to block their exclusion from the state's Women's Health Program.
After Texas' Republican leaders indicated their intent to start enforcing a state rule that bans "affiliates" of abortion providers from participating in the Medicaid-funded contraception and cancer-screening program, the Obama administration pulled federal financing from the program. Gov. Rick Perry has vowed that the state will find the money to continue the program without federal help — and that the rule banning Planned Parenthood clinics will stand. No clinics participating in the program have performed abortions.
The lawsuit, filed today in Austin, asks the court for an injunction to stop enforcement of the rule so that the Planned Parenthood clinics would be able to remain in the program past April 30. Its filers argue the rule violates clinics' rights by putting an "unconstitutional condition on their participation" in the Women's Health Program. It also alleges that the Health and Human Services Commission, which is enforcing the rule, "overstepped its authority in adopting a rule that conflicts with the purpose of the laws that created the program."
In a conference call with reporters, Patricio Gonzales, the CEO of the Planned Parenthood Association of Hidalgo County, warned that his four remaining clinics along the border are at risk of shutting down by the end of May because half of their patients are Women's Health Program clients. The Hidalgo County Planned Parenthood group already closed four other clinics last September as a result of state family planning reductions.
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“We do not provide abortions, but we do support every woman’s right to make personal decision about her health,” Gonzales said. “We’re the largest women’s health care provider in our region. We know no one else can absorb 6,500 women in this region.”
Perry's office strongly disagrees. In a statement to The Texas Tribune, spokeswoman Catherine Frazier said Texas will "not leave these women stranded."
"The state of Texas is under no obligation to provide taxpayer dollars to Planned Parenthood, which accounts for less than 2 percent of the more than 2,500 [Women's Health Program] providers statewide," she said. "The Obama Administration’s decision to abandon the women participating in this program was a shameless pander to Planned Parenthood and its supporters."
Women's Health Program and Planned Parenthood client Rene Resendez of Odessa said she remains skeptical of the state’s plan to take over the program. A graduate student at the University of Texas of the Permian Basin who has no access to private insurance, Resendez participated in a Planned Parenthood conference call on Wednesday, saying she used to go to the clinic in Odessa for care until it shut down in March due to state family planning cuts. Resendez said she wants Planned Parenthood to remain a Women's Health Program provider because the group detected cervical cancer in her mother and provided referrals for care that ended up saving her life.
“Planned Parenthood has been a place my family can trust, and I should be able to decide who provides my health care,” she said.
Texas Tribune donors or members may be quoted or mentioned in our stories, or may be the subject of them. For a complete list of contributors, click here."India-Pakistan once again, and probably will draw the same questions," was the first thing asked of Virat Kohli at his press conference, even before the questions about the coach and captain rift. Because unlike the rules of Fight Club, the first rule of India-Pakistan is to talk about India-Pakistan.
Yet this feels like the quietest contest between these two teams in a long time.
Outside the India team's hotel, there were a handful of fans waiting for autographs, and not many seemed to be Indian fans. Often there is a feeling around the city, the hotel and among the players that lets you know an India-Pakistan match is coming. In Birmingham right now, you'd barely know there is a game of cricket going to be played, let alone the match that is hyped as a war without the shooting.
Perhaps in the days of amateur cricket, when a win for most teams was about national identity and pride, India-Pakistan was the biggest contest in sport. Now it might still be one of the most-watched contests, but for players who have marketing deals, agents, and are regulating their diet for optimum performance, every match is important.
Modern cricketers live in a bubble, and while Twitter and WhatsApp can burst it at times, they will be staying focused and bonding as a unit while ticking off the processes. At training they didn't do a super secret India-Pakistan only training regime, on match day they won't inject themselves with green or blue magical serum to turn into giant India-Pakistan gods. They will play as best they can, like the professionals they are, for their country, but also for their team-mates and their future.
Mickey Arthur was focusing on the professional part of it. "Yeah, we know for us to progress in this tournament, we've got to hit the ground running. So whether it was against South Africa, whether it was against Sri Lanka, the intensity and the expectation, certainly from myself as coach and I'm sure from the captain, would have been the same. It's just a different opposition, and there's a little bit of hype. And it's a massive game. But every game for us in this competition is massive. We can't take our foot off the pedal in any game, and we can't think, ah, it's India, we have to just lift ourselves, because that would be very unprofessional."
When talking about the rivalry, Sarfraz Ahmed spoke of the talk of the rivalry more than the rivalry itself. "It is also played up in the media. I feel those things affect the players sometimes. But we have tried to tell the players these things happen. There will be hype created in the media."
The professionally grumpy Virat Kohli said of the contest: "Nothing different, to be honest. I know it sounds pretty boring, but this is exactly what we feel as cricketers. We're not saying anything different to what we feel." Nothing different, the Indian captain, on India-Pakistan, the day before. Things done changed.
Of course that is probably an understatement, or at least a lesson in the language of pre-match press conferences.
The rivalry still holds for India-Pakistan fans AFP
When Aakash Chopra played in Pakistan in the Goodwill tour of 2003-04, India's first Test series in Pakistan in 14 years, they knew it wasn't a normal series: "As we grew up, it was not an option to lose to Pakistan". Sachin Tendulkar told Chopra that he didn't sleep for 15 nights before the big match in the 2003 World Cup. How many nights' sleep would Virat Kohli lose over a Pakistan match now? Probably none.
The relationship between the two countries has changed so much in the last 10 to 15 years. They are still two nations with a shared history and sibling rivalry, there are still problems on the border and of terrorism, but the roles of the siblings have changed. India is on its way to being one of the most important nations on earth, trying to go cashless while their leader sells out Madison Square Garden. Pakistan has been fighting with itself. India is an economic and political juggernaut, so why would a loss to Pakistan, their less successful sibling, mean that much? This current cricket relationship is more like a massively exaggerated version of Australia and New Zealand: the bigger sibling patronises the little one, when they think of them at all.
There is still tension, the last scheduled match between India and Pakistan caused such political problems that it needed to be moved to a new venue. But there is no doubt that it's not the same, as Chopra says: "It's no longer the matter of life and death, or a war without the weapons".
The players are professional, the nations have moved on, many of the fans who will watch this game at Edgbaston will have friends who are from their great rivals. "The days of effigies getting burned, and player's homes getting vandalised seem to have passed," Chopra says. "When India used to win they'd use firecrackers on the streets, I think now we are well beyond the firecracker celebrations". And as for the players, he says: "the current crop are not overwhelmed."
There are still uber-nationalists on both sides who cling to every chance to beat their enemy. Some players feel that way, most notably Gautam Gambhir, who has suggested that all ties with Pakistan be cut until terrorism ends.
But most players don't feel that strongly. Shahid Afridi recently wrote about his friendship with Indian players (Gambhir aside). Perhaps if the two teams played more often they would have a normal rivalry, but they don't. Of Virat Kohli's 264 international matches, 5% has been against Pakistan (16% against Australia, 17% against England). Azhar Ali has played India twice in 105 matches. And on the odd occasion they play each other, there haven't many good games, or Pakistan wins, to spark anything outside Shahid Afridi's last-over heroics in Dhaka three years ago.
If picked, teenage legspinner Shadab Khan will play India in only his ninth international match, but when he was asked about this momentous game of incredible national and geopolitical importance, he said: "I used to feel the pressure when I saw them play on TV, but now I don't feel any pressure". The pressure is gone, so too the firecrackers, and we're just left with the talk.With violent protesters shutting down Donald Trump’s campaign rally in Chicago, people getting physically assaulted, and a Black Lives Matter nutjob almost managing to rush the stage and do God knows what to a presidential candidate, the media is left trying to point the finger at the big boogeyman – “rhetoric.”
You see, “rhetoric” is the cause of these outbursts by the folks at Trump’s rally. It’s just not his rhetoric that is the problem.
President Obama recently claimed that things happening at Republican events are not “a consequence of actions that I’ve taken.”
But they’re certainly a byproduct of the “rhetoric” you’ve used over the years, Mr. Obama. And if “rhetoric” can be used to justify violence as you and the media have done in the case of demonizing Trump, then you are just as guilty as hell.
These left-wing goons are inciting violence because they’ve heard repeatedly from their President over the years that it’s okay to do so. They’re following Obama’s marching orders, that it’s okay to be violent against Republicans.
Need examples of Obama saying it’s okay to be violent against Republicans?
Here’s Obama saying that when it comes to Republicans, you need to “argue and get in their face”:
President Obama tells his supporters that “we need to punish our enemies”:
Obama told Republicans that they need to stop talking and “get out of the way”:
Here’s our President saying he wants to know “whose ass to kick”:
Then of course, there’s the time Obama told his supporters that “If they bring a knife to the fight, we bring a gun.”
Via Politico:
The McCain campaign and RNC are pouncing on another line from the Obama pool report: “If they bring a knife to the fight, we bring a gun,” Obama said in Philadelphia last night. “Because from what I understand, folks in Philly like a good brawl. I’ve seen Eagles fans.”
It’s only a matter of time before your followers actually carry out your orders on this last one, Mr. President.
Read more at The Political InsiderHillary Clinton’s ties to satanic rituals and the occult have been well-documented for decades.
Clinton insider Larry Nichols told Infowars that Hillary Clinton used to attend a “witch’s church” in Los Angeles during Bill’s presidency.
And a source claimed many FBI agents consider Clinton to be “the Antichrist personified.”
Also, DC insider Doug Hagmann broke the news that the NYPD found a blackmail sex network on Anthony Weiner’s computer.
Furthermore, the latest bombshell to come from WikiLeaks connects Clinton campaign head John Podesta to top occultist Marina Abramovic.
Infowars reporter Paul Joseph Watson breaks down the “spirit cooking” ritual:
The Clinton Satanic network has now been exposed on a national level thanks to WikiLeaks.
Abramovic in particular invited Podesta to a “spirit cooking” dinner, an occult ritual started by infamous Satanist Aleister Crowley, which involves eating semen, blood and breast milk.
Here are some examples of what a “spirit cooking” dinner with Marina Abramovic looks like:
Another email from WikiLeaks even shows Abramovic being invited to Hillary Clinton’s campaign launch party.
The Drudge Report linked this article at the top of the site propelling the hashtag #SpiritCooking to the top of Twitter’s trending hashtag section.
The internet exploded this morning after the news broke.
When you click on the top trending hashtag #SpiritCooking on Twitter, Hillary Clinton’s page comes up:
Here’s Abramovic pictured hanging out with top musicians Jay-Z and Lady Gaga.
The Elites are Satanists. Ppl have been called conspiracy theorists for DECADES & it's true. Jay Z w/ Maria Abramovic herself #SpiritCooking pic.twitter.com/Dn70eD5daS — ALWAYS TRUMP! (@Always_Trump) November 4, 2016
It's perfectly normal that this woman is close friends with Hillary campaign leaders. #SpiritCooking pic.twitter.com/uC4agv7kz1 — Paul Joseph Watson (@PrisonPlanet) November 4, 2016
#SpiritCooking More pictures w/ Marina Abramovic & Lady Gaga; nude African man humiliated by a tree via @RealityCallsV pic.twitter.com/aWnVF17yA3 — MicroTurkeyLeaks™ (@WDFx2EU7) November 4, 2016
Alex Jones has been proven right about the Clinton’s connections to Satanism:
Also, Infowars reporter David Knight investigates Marina Abramovic and her ties to the Clinton campaign:
And Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta is involved in satanic rituals:
Learn more about Clinton’s demonic fetish below:
During the RNC in Cleveland, Republican presidential candidate Dr. Ben Carson called out Clinton on her luciferian ties.
Similarly, an article from CNN in 1996 discusses Hillary’s affiliation with dark magic.
More information on that article can be found here.
Bill Clinton’s book My Life: The Early Years describes their trips to Haiti where they participated in “voodoo rituals.”
So far, all these revelations has hurt the Clinton campaign and Hillary is already losing voters.
I'm seriously am about to call the board of elections and see if I can change my vote #SpiritCooking — Aniyah ✨ (@aniyah_vernisha) November 4, 2016
I just recently switched to Trump, & glad I did
Won't have none of that devil worship in my white house#SpiritCooking pic.twitter.com/SXOGjA7fUy — Erma Jackson (@ErmaJackson20) November 4, 2016
Ironically, the media attacked Alex Jones for calling Hillary a demon:
Also, check out occult expert Mark Dice’s latest videos on the subject since the news broke:Will Stevens will start his first Formula One race this weekend in Abu Dhabi.
The 23-year-old, who won two races in Formula Renault 3.5 this year, will partner Kamui Kobayashi at Caterham. The team signed Stevens last week but had to wait until today for his super licence to be confirmed.
Stevens was previously a member of Caterham’s Racing Academy and tested for the team during the last two seasons. Following the change of management at Caterham earlier this year he joined Marussia as their official reserve driver.
“I’m absolutely thrilled to be getting this opportunity and am very grateful to everyone involved at Caterham F1 Team for giving it to me,” said Stevens.
“I feel ready for the challenge of my F1 debut and look forward to working as part of the team in a race environment after all the work we’ve done together previously in the tests I’ve completed and back at Leafield in the sim. Hopefully this will be something we will be able to carry through to the 2015 season together.”
Caterham’s head of engineering operations Gianluca Pisanello said: “We know Will very well through his involvement in the Caterham Racing Academy and more importantly he has done a vast amount of time in our simulator, completing around 10,000km, which has built his experience both of this year’s car and with the engineering team that are going to Abu Dhabi.”
“In addition, his 2014 test at Silverstone in our current car, where he completed over 500km, was very successful and his race pace was very good. As a result, he was one of our best candidates for this race weekend and we are delighted to have secured his services for our return to the F1 grid.
Stevens’ most recent race victory came in the penultimate round of the Formula Renault 3.5 championship at Jerez. He ended the season sixth in the standings with Strakka Racing:
2014 Abu Dhabi Grand PrixIf you focus your copy on your business’ status as a market leader, it’s important to consider a simple truth. What you do and what you have done will always be more significant than what you say.
If you don’t back up what you say, most visitors will see your words as nothing but waffle. Fortunately, assuming that you are what you say you are, proving your claims and values are genuine is easy to do. It comes down to showing who you are through your actions and clear evidence, rather than expecting what you tell people to do all the work.
In keeping with the theme of this post, I hope to show you why this is important rather than just tell you. To do this, I’ve turned to good storytelling and relationships as examples that demonstrate the importance of actions and how this applies to businesses.
What storytelling shows us about branding
Think back to the last great novel, film, radio play, game or stage production you enjoyed. Whatever your preferred form of storytelling, chances are it played on your emotions, had a central theme and several hooks that kept you interested. To do this, it will have told a story through actions and feelings rather than exposition and flowery description.
Showing is crucial to telling a good story. Don’t believe me? Here’s a paragraph that only worries about telling:
Steve was upset. He was going to his front door to collect the takeaway that he ordered earlier and stubbed his toe on the carpet divider. It hurt a lot. In fact, he did not answer the door in time because of all the pain and the driver left.
Tedious, isn’t it? I’m glad Steve stubbed his toe. Compare this with a paragraph that focuses on showing:
As the man turned back to his car, Steve wasn’t sure what hurt more. Sure, he had the newly severed tip of his big toe clenched in his hand, but his stomach had been rumbling for hours. As the engine kicked to life outside, Steve started to crawl back to his kitchen. It was for the best, really. He couldn’t have stomached pepperoni now anyway.
This is by no means a contender for the Man Booker Prize, but it does much more than the previous example because it focuses on actions rather than just disclosing information. I’m not suggesting novelists should be employed to write dramatic website copy, but this lesson is relevant for businesses.
Compare a company that only talks about itself and tells you about its work to one that shows its contribution through its brand, marketing and case studies. They’re essentially telling the same story, but only one of them is telling it in a way that people can believe.
Just as a red-eyed, snotty close-up conveys sadness more poignantly than an actor saying ‘I’m sad’ does, an example of your work or commitment will tell people ‘this lot are good’ in a way your copy can’t.
What relationships show us about trust
We all have a friend who tells wild tales. They have other friends who know people and uncles who’re involved in all sorts of scandal. They have run ins that nobody witnesses, mysterious illnesses that leave them bedridden for weeks and make claims that can't be verified. They swear they got a round in that time, but nobody else remembers.
It’s easy to talk, but it’s much harder to do. We realise this, it’s why we put more weight on actions than on words. It’s a cliché, but the truth often is. If you want to convince somebody who you really are, you have to show it. Of course, actions can still be used to deceive, but the responsibility that comes with actually doing something tends to act as effective reassurance.
Think about it. If somebody stole something from you but apologised when you caught them, would you remember the ten times they talked about their charity work or the one time they took your stuff? If your partner declared their love for you at every given opportunity, would you forgive them for having a secret second family in another town?
These examples are extreme, but the core message is clear: words will fall flat if they aren’t supported by actions. It’s why we sneer at politicians, bankers and other public figures, because we believe they say one thing but do another. Claiming you care for somebody means little if your actions don't show it.
To bring this back to websites, if you want your visitors to believe you, you’re going to have to give them proof. This could be an award, a testimonial, a client list, a clear walkthrough of your process or anything you have done that give your message substance. Trust elements like these are the website equivalent of looking into a salesperson’s eyes and they are crucial to ensuring your words hit their mark.
There are inherent differences between business-to-consumer and personal |
6 to attend the premiere of The Rainmaker, a Hollywood production loosely based on his life that starred Burt Lancaster and Katharine Hepburn. Two years later, he died, taking his secret chemical formula to the grave. Hatfield was laid to rest under clear skies, just the type he would want to milk for rain.
***
Critics claimed Hatfield was a huckster who merely benefited from coincidence. As Spence pointed out, many so-called rainmakers “were little more than gamblers, betting their time and what reputation they may have had that rain would fall while or after they commenced their machinations.” By working only in the midst of dry spells, Hatfield could improve his odds of timing an impending rainfall. Indeed, Hatfield likely profited from his keen knowledge of meteorology and close examination of weather records. Knowing when storm fronts were imminent, he could target cities in advance of the rain and claim success when moisture fell from the skies.
Others saw Hatfield as a forerunner of modern-day cloud-seeding, in which chemicals such as dry ice and silver iodide—perhaps among those used by Hatfield—are introduced into cloud banks to foster the formation of ice crystals and raindrops. These chemicals provide particles around which water vapor can condense and eventually fall as rain once the droplets reach a sufficient size. The condensation process generates its own heat, which causes air to rise and fosters the growth of additional rain clouds.
While Hatfield relied on the ascension of chemical vapors into the skies, rainmaking went airborne with the advent of the aircraft. The U.S. Army Air Service began experiments to determine if rain could be produced from electrified sand in 1921; however, the modern science of rainmaking truly began in 1947 with Project Cirrus, a joint venture of General Electric and the U.S. military under the direction of Nobel laureate Irving Langmuir that seeded clouds with dry ice. “The results of Project Cirrus gave scientific credence to the mystic works of such pioneer rainmakers as California’s now famous Charles Hatfield,” wrote Donald D. Stark in the California Law Review.
A century after Hatfield’s exploits, the science of rainmaking and the effectiveness of cloud-seeding remain points of contention, as Virginia Simms wrote in a 2010 article in The International Lawyer. Even so, cloud-seeding is on the rise. A 2014 report from the World Meteorological Organization found that 52 countries had active cloud-seeding programs, up from 47 the previous year, and 39 weather-modification programs were in place west of the Mississippi River.
Even after its experience in 1915, San Diego continued to be seduced by the hope offered by rainmakers. Incredibly, in 1961, the city council considered hiring Edmond Jeffery, who promised he could make it rain 40 inches in 40 days for a fee of $8,000. This time, with memories of “Hatfield’s Flood” still echoing in their minds, San Diego’s councilors refused the offer.Animator Cordell Barker recalls how his fictional yellow cat got its very first life
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In February 1988, six years after he first pitched the idea of an animated short film revolving around a vexed old man and his troublesome, yellow cat to the National Film Board of Canada, Cordell Barker was at the NFB’s Main Street headquarters, where a mix of editors, writers and directors had gathered for a preliminary screening of Barker’s long-awaited work The Cat Came Back. For weeks, Barker had been nervous about how his debut effort was going to be received. So nervous, in fact, that during the final stages of production, whenever he was forced to leave the cozy confines of his home studio to use the film board’s professional editing equipment, he would only venture there “in the middle of the night,” he says, when he was certain nobody else would be around. “The day of the screening, I remember someone yelling ‘roll it,’ and thinking to myself, ‘Oh my god, here we go,’” says Barker, seated inside his screened-in porch, which offers a spectacular view of a meandering stretch of the Red River. “When it was over, a couple of people near me shrugged their shoulders and made this kind of meh sound. Then, after the lights came on, my executive producer turned around and said, ‘thanks, Cordell,’ and walked out of the room without saying another word. Your free trial has come to an end. We hope you have enjoyed your trial! To continue reading, we recommend our Read Now Pay Later membership. Simply add a form of payment and pay only 27¢ per article. For unlimited access to the best local, national, and international news and much more, try an All Access Digital subscription: Thank you for supporting the journalism that our community needs! Your free trial has come to an end. We hope you have enjoyed your trial! To continue reading, we recommend our Read Now Pay Later membership. Simply add a form of payment and pay only 27¢ per article. For unlimited access to the best local, national, and international news and much more, try an All Access Digital subscription: Thank you for supporting the journalism that our community needs! We hope you have enjoyed your free trial! To continue reading, select a plan below: All Access Digital Introductory pricing* 99¢ per month Unlimited online reading and commenting
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In February 1988, six years after he first pitched the idea of an animated short film revolving around a vexed old man and his troublesome, yellow cat to the National Film Board of Canada, Cordell Barker was at the NFB’s Main Street headquarters, where a mix of editors, writers and directors had gathered for a preliminary screening of Barker’s long-awaited work The Cat Came Back. Cordell Barker will read from The Cat Came Back Sept. 23 at McNally Robinson Booksellers. The National Film Board recently turned his treasured animated film into a book. (Wayne Glowacki / Winnipeg Free Press) For weeks, Barker had been nervous about how his debut effort was going to be received. So nervous, in fact, that during the final stages of production, whenever he was forced to leave the cozy confines of his home studio to use the film board’s professional editing equipment, he would only venture there "in the middle of the night," he says, when he was certain nobody else would be around. "The day of the screening, I remember someone yelling ‘roll it,’ and thinking to myself, ‘Oh my god, here we go,’" says Barker, seated inside his screened-in porch, which offers a spectacular view of a meandering stretch of the Red River. "When it was over, a couple of people near me shrugged their shoulders and made this kind of meh sound. Then, after the lights came on, my executive producer turned around and said, ‘thanks, Cordell,’ and walked out of the room without saying another word. "At that point I seriously thought, 'that’s it, my film is a bust and my grand experiment with animation is over.'" Funny, that: not only did Barker’s seven-and-a-half-minute tour de farce go on to win a Genie Award for Best Animated Short, it was also nominated for an Oscar at the 1989 Academy Awards ceremony (more about that in a sec). Equally impressive: The Cat Came Back was included in the 1994 publication The 50 Greatest Cartoons: As Selected by 1,000 Animation Professionals, placing 32nd overall, one spot ahead of Superman. (In case you’ve been living under a box of kitty litter for close to three decades, The Cat Came Back tells the hilarious tale of "old Mr. Johnson" and a doggedly determined feline that "just wouldn’t stay away.") Next year will mark the 30-year-anniversary of The Cat Came Back. Fittingly, on Sept. 1 the film was released in book form as part of a new NFB venture that will soon see a slew of Canadian cinematic treasures make their way onto the printed page, including Barker’s 2009 effort, Runaway. Cordell Barker at his Winnipeg home with his cat Murphy. (Wayne Glowacki / Winnipeg Free Press) On Sept. 23, Barker, who has produced animated spots for the likes of Nike and Coca-Cola, and received a second Academy Award nomination in 2002 for his film Strange Invaders, will be at McNally Robinson’s Grant Avenue store reading excerpts from The Cat Came Back. If time permits, he’ll also field a few questions. (To answer the first query on everybody’s lips, yes, the married father of three sons is the proud owner of two cats: Murphy and "the white one.") "It is a bit crazy. If somebody at the NFB office that day had said my film was going to be turned into a book 29 years down the road, I would have been like, yeah, sure, tell me another one," he says, pausing to ask a visitor if he needs his coffee "freshened up," before he settles back in his chair and recants the story of how The Cat Came Back came to be, purr-cisely.
Barker grew up on Hazel Dell Avenue, a few blocks away from where he and his wife currently reside. When asked about his age, the father of three grown sons chuckles and says don’t believe everything you read on the internet. He was born in 1956 but for whatever reason, the person who penned his Wikipedia page shaved a year off by writing 1957, "which was kind of nice of them, I suppose." It took Barker (shown in 1989) six years to complete the animated short. (Glenn Olsen / Winnipeg Free Press files) Like most kids who grew up in the 1960s, Barker’s weekend ritual involved plunking himself down in front of his family’s console television set every Saturday morning with a big bowl of cereal, and proceeding to watch one cartoon after another. "Especially Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck — those early ones drawn by Bob Clampett were just spectacular," he says, adding because their TV only picked up three channels, he was forever jealous of neighbours who had a choice of — hold onto your remotes, ‘net-streaming generation — four channels. Animated Christmas specials were another thing he always looked forward to. Come December, he habitually scoured the television listings to see when time-honoured classics such as The Grinch Who Stole Christmas and A Charlie Brown Christmas were scheduled to air. "Back then, of course, there wasn’t any way to pause or record anything," he continues. "You had one shot at it, so you had to make sure you were all set up with your snacks and pillows. There was a purity to watching TV that way I sometimes miss, I have to say." Barker guesses he was 13 or 14 when he began contemplating a career as an animator, after becoming fascinated by behind-the-scenes clips of Walt Disney Studios illustrators hard at work during Sunday night episodes of The Wonderful World of Disney. There was one flaw in his plan, however: he wasn’t particularly adroit when it came to art class. "I almost got kicked out of art in high school, as a matter of fact, because instead of doing my assignments, I was always drawing cartoons and whatever," says the Miles Macdonnell Collegiate alumnus. Response at the first screening was so lukewarm, Barker thought his animation career was over. (Firefly Books) "I remember my Grade 12 teacher, Mrs. Thompson, giving me an F and telling me I was never going to go anywhere in art. I didn’t hold it against her, though. Back then I was a — what’s a good word for it — pretty casual student." Undeterred, the moment Barker heard a professional cartoonist by the name of Kenneth Perkins had opened an animation studio on Portage Avenue, the then-17-year-old headed there with a hastily-prepared portfolio of sketches, to apply for a job. Barker’s initial responsibility at Kenn Perkins Animation was painting movie celluloids, an undertaking he downplays by stating, "even a monkey can do that." He continued working for Perkins after graduating high school and by age 19, had switched over to the animation-side-of-things. When he wasn’t preparing short cartoons for the Canadian edition of Sesame Street ("in between showing the Muppets, there were hand-drawn letters or numbers that would flash across the screen… that’s one of the things we did"), Barker honed his craft illustrating television commercials for K-Tel albums such as 22 Dynamic Hits or 24 Golden Greats. "On a regular basis, K-Tel would send over whichever one of their records was coming out next, and the animators — there were three or four of us — would pick which songs we wanted to do the most," Barker says, listing the Trashmen’s Surfin’ Bird and Loudon Wainwright III’s Dead Skunk (the one about the deceased mammal in the middle of the road, "stinking to high heaven,") as a pair of tunes he handled, for sure. "Making commercials for K-Tel was a great way to learn (animation) because first of all, the quality demand wasn’t particularly high. Secondly, Kenn basically left it up to us to do whatever we wanted, no matter how bizarre or weird the finished product sometimes turned out to be." Barker remained at Perkins’s studio for three years. Following that, he toiled as a freelance illustrator while tending bar at night in order to make ends meet. He says it was during a months-long backpacking trip across Europe in the early 1980s when he realized what he really wanted to do was write, draw and create his own animated films. In January 1982, Barker was living in a "little home" on Leighton Avenue. On a particularly frigid morning, he was trying hard to stay warm — his furnace was faulty, at best — by lying on the floor, as close to a kitchen heating vent as humanly possible. "I liked the idea of an old guy and his unflappable cat -- that seemed like a pretty good contrast." (Firefly Books) At some point, he began thinking how he’d often seen cats doing the identical thing. Inspired, he retrieved a grease pencil from a nearby junk drawer and began sketching a balled-up cat on the wall. Before long, he added the image of an elderly man to the mix. "I liked the idea of an old guy and his unflappable cat — that seemed like a pretty good contrast — but the story I came up with, which mainly had to do with the heat in the house, was really lame," Barker says. "But because I’d heard the film board wanted to get some animation projects going and was open to ideas, I put together a bunch of thumbnail storyboards and headed there to make my presentation." Barker chooses the word "serendipity" to describe what occurred next. "The person I pitched my idea to wasn’t that crazy about the story I’d come up with. But he said it was funny I’d included an old man and a cat because, at the time, they were seriously thinking about doing something involving the song The Cat Came Back, because of Fred Penner," Barker says, referring to Penner’s 1979 rendition of the near-century-old folk song, which by then had become the Winnipeg entertainer’s signature tune. "To make a long story short, they offered me the opportunity to animate the song. I immediately said OK, figuring I was in no position to stand my ground on an idea for a film I knew was flawed. So yeah, that was the launch of everything." (At the beginning, the NFB proposed the notion of Barker and Penner working together. But because Barker viewed The Cat Came Back as "ostensibly a kids’ film, but with a darker underbelly," that partnership never really took off, he says.)
Richard Condie, the award-winning director of The Big Snit, was the co-producer of Barker’s The Cat Came Back. Condie became involved in the project in 1983, he guesses, after the film’s original producer moved to Toronto. "Sort of consulting…Cordell would have questions once in a while and I’d do my best to answer them," Condie says over the phone, when asked about his role. “I’m not surprised the cat film has such legs. It was very well-done, with great timing and gags and great design.” -Richard Condie Condie, who voiced the Mr. Johnson character and sang on the soundtrack (Barker also sang), chuckles when a reporter wonders aloud whether the six years it took Barker to complete the film exhausted his and his NFB cohorts’ patience. "No, that’s just how long these things take, sometimes," he states matter-of-factly, adding it makes perfect sense the film board chose to turn The Cat Came Back into a kids’ book, all these years later. "I’m not surprised the cat film has such legs. It was very well-done, with great timing and gags and great design." For his part, Barker says it wasn’t until he attended the highly regarded World Festival of Animated Film in Zagreb in June 1988, where The Cat Came Back was an official entry, that he began to realize he might have something special on his hands, after all. "It got a huge reaction during the screening, with tons of people in the crowd laughing and cheering. I remember feeling overwhelmed, and going out into the lobby afterwards and immediately being approached by one of the members of the jury. With a big grin on his face, he punched me in the arm and said, ‘Hey, terrific film.’" Oh, the name of that jury member? Jim Henson. Yes, that Jim Henson, the puppeteer, cartoonist and creator of the Muppets. (Firefly Books) "To go from complete pessimism to a moment like that, well..." Barker says, his voice trailing off. "For the longest time I couldn’t see Cat for anything other than the six years of labour I’d put into it... just constant work. But after Zagreb, it took off." Perhaps Barker’s only regret from that period was how he didn’t allow himself the opportunity to enjoy Oscar night, when he and his wife attended the 61st Academy Awards ceremony at Los Angeles’ Shrine Auditorium on March 29, 1989. Because he suffers from stage fright, and because every newspaper he read the morning of the awards predicted his film was going to win, he spent the entire day and early evening thinking, "I guess it’s official; I’m actually going to have to get up there and say something, with all these millions of eyeballs around the world staring back at me." Cordell Barker's certificate of nomination for the Academy Awards and a film reel of The Cat Came Back. (Wayne Glowacki / Winnipeg Free Press) He says the "adrenalin dump" he experienced that night after hearing Tin Toy announced as Best Animated Short Film was "severe." "I remember the fatigue that hit me as I was leaving the theatre... just whomp. Carly Simon (winner of the 1988 Academy Award for best original song) was right beside me and where today I’d probably go ‘hey, congratulations,’ I just trudged out of there, super-tired. "There was a party the Sutherlands – Donald and Kiefer – were hosting and my poor wife, she really wanted to go. But I said ‘I can’t do it. I just need to go fall down somewhere.’"The tight end position tends to be one of the most difficult positions for players to translate to at the next level. The waiting game for tight end development can be frustrating for any dynasty owner. On average, a tight end takes 3 to 5 years to reach fantasy relevance. What if there’s a way to identify the next tight end that has elite level potential and could break out sooner rather than later? Certain historical trends and athletic profiles may help carve the path to identifying the next elite fantasy tight end.
Not since the great Mike Ditka has there been a tight end that has had over 1,000 yards in a rookie season. The combination of 1,000 yards and double-digit touchdowns in a tight end rookie season is extremely uncommon. Even Rob Gronkowski who had 10 touchdowns his rookie season only produced 546 yards on 42 receptions.
Some of the best tight ends in the game such as Tony Gonzalez, John Mackey, Antonio Gates and Ozzie Newsome didn’t even come close to 1,000 yards and double-digit touchdowns their rookie year. In 2002, both Randy McMichael and Jeremy Shockey finished in the top 10 of tight ends their rookie season. This is very uncommon, but understanding what variables led to their success could help identify future tight end rookie breakout prospects.
Athleticism can be a key indicator of whether or not a tight end will have fantasy success in the NFL. While reviewing data of some of the top tight ends in the past decade, some athletic traits tend to be irrelevant.
There’s a lot of inconsistency when it comes to identifying trends. Vernon Davis is an exceptional athlete with a 4.30 forty and outstanding athleticism throughout the rest of his statistics, yet he hasn’t lived up nearly to Rob Gronkowski’s potential.
When looking at Vernon Davis and Rob Gronkowski, the size to athleticism scores reverse. Gronkowski’s size makes up for his lack of overall athleticism where Vernon Davis’s athleticism makes up for his lack of size. The only balanced player based on present statistics in this group is Jimmy Graham. He has the size and athleticism to put him in an elite category.
Looking over the past two years, some of the most athletic tight ends to come out have had either very little opportunity or production in their rookie year. Jeff Heuerman, drafted by the Broncos 92nd overall in the 2015 draft, has a very good measurement and athletic profile to succeed. His lack of speed will hinder his upside, but his inability to stay on the field is more detrimental to his success than anything else.
Jesse James did little with his opportunity in 2016, only posting 3 touchdowns on 39 receptions for 338 yards. Starting 13 games in a high-powered offense doesn’t bode well for his future success with this little of production in a starting rotation role. He has very good size for the position, but below average arm length and hand size for someone that is 6’7″ and 261 lbs.
The two most intriguing prospects are Austin Hooper and Hunter Henry. Hooper was drafted by the Atlanta Falcons 81st overall in the 2016 NFL draft. In his rookie year, he only posted 271 yards and three touchdowns. His opportunity was restricted by a high power run game and a dominant Julio Jones. At 6’3 and 254 lbs, Hooper has good size for the position. His almost 34″ arm length and over 10 1/2″ hands allow for an excellent catch radius.
Hunter Henry didn’t have the best athletic profile but proved that he could be a viable option in the Chargers’ offense. Drafted 35th overall in the 2016 NFL draft, Henry made an immediate impact his rookie year. In a Ken Whisenhunt offense that tailors to the TE position, Henry flourished when Antonio Gates was out. Thus proving opportunity and offensive scheme can be key to tight end success.
When reviewing the elite tight ends, a few things stick out in terms of athleticism and measurables. First, height and weight are key indicators. Jason Witten, Rob Gronkowski, Jimmy Graham, Greg Olsen and Travis Kielce all are 6’5″ or more and weigh more than 250 lbs. Although some successful tight ends like Delanie Walker don’t have this size profile, there is a better chance of success with tight ends that are between 6’4” and 6’5″ and 250 lbs.
Second, using Gronkowski and Graham as examples, they both have an arm length of 34″ or more with a hand size of 10″ or more. This combination of arm length and hand size makes for a dominant red zone threat and a terror against 50/50 balls. The overall combination of 6’5″, 250 lbs, 34″ arm length and 10″ hands makes for a fantastic red zone threat and a very good foundation for a nightmare mismatch against linebackers and defensive backs.
Lastly, speed tends to be the most important in terms of which athletic trait translates to the overall success of the tight end position. When looking at the best tight ends in the league, having a 40-time in the 4.7s or lower, regardless of size, tends to be a good average for success in the tight end position. Lateral agility is important, but physicality and tenacity to overpower defenders can make up for lateral quickness. A good vertical is a plus, but at 6’5″ or greater with 34” arms, a good vertical isn’t a necessity to beat out even above average defenders.
Physical Traits
The most important trait for a tight end is versatility. Having good balance as a receiver and blocker is essential. This position is so demanding of versatility that it leaves few prospects finding success at the next level. Possessing very good blocking technique and footwork will keep a tight end on the field, allowing for more opportunity. Leverage, balance, strength, awareness and power are key traits to look for when evaluating any tight end’s ability to block. Having good physically to handle defenders at the point of attack is essential as a blocker. Watching how a tight end hand fights and creates separation at the LOS tells a lot about their physicality and relentless nature.
As the receiver, it is important to have big hands, long limbs, and a muscular, athletic frame. We have already discussed how 10″ hands and 34″ arms are two ingredients to identifying potentially elite level tight ends. Having strong hands to catch in traffic against contested catches is imperative. Having good body control, awareness and good body adjustment to the ball facilitates separation and a weapon in the end zone.
Route running is an important aspect of the game. Having the athletic ability to move fluidly and gain yards after the catch is an underrated trait. Most tight ends have difficulty dropping their hips to change direction due to size. Fluid movements in route breaks are uncommon for larger tight end prospects. Showcasing a high-level of aggression and physicality to gain separation is essential to the tight end position. Lack of physicality and tenacity could plague any tight end’s route running and blocking ability. Coby Fleener is a good example of how the lack of physicality hinders a player’s ability to gain separation and get open.
Opportunity
The saying “opportunity is key” is very relevant to the potential breakout for any tight end. Being in a position friendly scheme and having the opportunity to be in a full-time role on offense is a nice blend for a successful season. There are always multiple variables that can lead to a player having a career year or finally having the light come on.
Looking back to the 2014 season, when Travis Kelce became a household name, multiple factors played into his breakout year. First, he was the primary tight end target in a tight-end friendly scheme while Anthony Fasano barely made a dent in his production. Second, there weren’t multiple receivers to threaten his production. This was the infamous year where Kansas City didn’t throw a single TD to a receiver. Lastly, Kansas City had a dominant run game with Jamal Charles to open up the passing game and allow for easy passes down the seam.
Vernon Davis had the same type of scenario during his breakout year in San Francisco. Michael Crabtree only played 11 games, and the passing offense went through Joe Morgan and Vernon Davis. Davis was the main tight end target, and Frank Gore dominated the ground game with over 1,100 yards and 10 TDs. Vernon Davis would have just short of 1,000 yards and 13 TDs to end the 2009 season.
Even Jordan Reed’s breakout year in 2015 contained the same variables. The run game was dominated by Alfred Morris and Matt Jones with almost 350 attempts between the two backs. Pierre Garcon was productive but put up an unreliable 64.9% catch rate while Jamison Crowder only started six games. Jordan Reed was the focal point of the offense and the main starting tight end, ending 2015 with 952 yards and 11 touchdowns while only starting nine games. The combination of a friendly offensive scheme, unchallenged starting role, and a dominant run game spotlights the key ingredients needed for a potential breakout year for a tight end.
Breakout Age
The age at which a tight end has the light come on and breakouts out is surprisingly pretty consistent. Rob Gronkowski, Jason Witten, and Tony Gonzalez are examples of players that are unique cases as they broke out between ages 22 to 23. Greg Olsen, Joran Reed, Tyler Eifert, and Jimmy Graham all broke out at the age of 25. The age range for a prospective career year is between 24 to 25 years of age. The average breakout age proved to be the age of 25.
Draft Capital
Where a tight end is drafted is more important than some may think. There is a much higher success rate for tight ends taken in the first three rounds than taken in mid rounds to being undrafted. Antonio Gates breaks the mold as he played basketball during his college career. After being told he wouldn’t make it in the NBA, he chose to try football. The San Diego Chargers worked him out and immediately signed him as a UDFA. Gates is a rare success story going undrafted, but the hit rate for an elite-level tight end starts in the early portion of the draft.
The chart doesn’t lie. The hit rate for finding the next elite level tight end is found in the first three rounds of the NFL Draft. There is a dramatic drop off in talent and potential NFL success in rounds four and later. Rarely will you find a Ben Coates in the fourth round that will become an elite level tight end for years to come.
Who is the next elite tight end?
Over the years there have been many potential elite-level tight end prospects entering the NFL. Many still hold out hopes for Eric Ebron, Zach Ertz, Maxx Williams and Coby Fleener. The truth is, the next elite level tight end was drafted this year. OJ Howard would be the obvious choice, right? Extremely productive, played against above average talent and landed in a great situation. The fact is, he may have landed in a crowded situation that also calls for more blocking assignments. The run game in Tampa Bay is also questionable and could hamper his overall potential. The correct answer is the Browns’ newest tight end, David Njoku.
As shocking as this may be, all the criteria for Njoku to be an elite tight end matches up. Let’s start with athleticism and measurables.
Njoku barely misses the mark with height and weight, but it’s his incredible 35.25” arm length and 10” hands that make him so intriguing. His 4.63 40-time is well above average for his size. Basically, he is everything Vernon Davis is except he has the size to go with it. From a 6.97 3-cone to an astonishing 40” vertical, Njoku’s athletic profile is off the charts.
He has a very strong, muscular frame. He possesses very good speed and acceleration. This is evident when gaining separation and breaking in his routes. He is a competitive blocker with good hand use and is able to sustain and gain leverage. He uses his athleticism to move defenders laterally and sustain blocks at the second level. He showcases enough functional strength to be effective against some upper tier defenders.
Some may look at Njoku going to the Browns as a red flag to his upside. When looking at where he landed from a different perspective, it’s the perfect recipe for him to succeed. The offense scheme is the same scheme that a Hue Jackson offense allowed Tyler Eifert to catch 13 TDs in 2015. Breaking down the Browns depth chart reveals a great opportunity for year one success for Njoku.
The offseason acquisition of 28-year-old Kenny Britt isn’t exactly a huge splash for this team. Josh Gordon has yet to be reinstated and only second-year WR Corey Coleman has first-round draft capital and considered the Browns WR1. Njoku could find himself being a primary target for second-year QB Cody Kessler. The rest of the receiving corps relies on Rashard Higgins, Ricardo Louis and Jordan Peyton, all which were drafted in the fourth and fifth rounds.
The Browns only drafted Matt Dayes in the seventh round while resigning Isaiah Crowell to a one-year $2.81 million dollar deal. The run game should be relied upon heavily between Crowell and Duke Johnson. An effective run game will only benefit Njoku allowing him to have more open opportunities in the passing game as previous research has stated.
Njoku has the draft capital that is proven to have a higher level of success. He was drafted by the Browns 29th overall in 2017. He comes from the University of Miami that has produced tight ends like Jeremy Shockey, Jimmy Graham, Bubba Franks, Greg Olsen and Kellen Winslow. There is no reason to think that Njoku couldn’t be the next great tight end to come out of Miami. Averaging 16.2 yards per reception in college and barely 21 years of age, Njoku has the immense upside to become the next elite-level tight end in the NFL.
THE RUNNER UP
OJ Howard, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
There is no doubt O.J Howard possess the athleticism and physicality to be an elite-level tight end. He landed with one of the best up and coming quarterbacks in Jameis Winston and is surrounded by a tight end-friendly scheme. The issue with Howard is the Cadillac that he is driving in. What that means is the surrounding cast he is playing with is above average in talent and will eat into his potential production. Mike Evans, Desean Jackson, Adam Humphries and now Chris Godwin will all be hungry to produce in the Bucs offense. A questionable backfield that consists of a troublesome Doug Martin, an average Charles Sims, Jacquizz Rodgers and newly drafted Jeremy McNichols doesn’t make many defenses feel threatened to stack the box. Howard has very good long-term upside but may take a while to burst on the scene.
THE LATE BLOOMER
Vance McDonald, San Francisco 49ers
The 49ers have had a QB epidemic for a while now, and it is destroying any fantasy value that their offensive skill position players may possess. Vance McDonald has a potential elite level profile to become an effective offensive weapon and fantasy asset. The passing game has been atrocious with Colin Kaepernick and Blaine Gabbert splitting the QB role, and the run game is non-existent. In 2015, Pro Football Focus rated McDonald as the fourth-best run blocking tight end. He catches the ball well and has the acceleration to turn upfield to gain yards after the catch. A fluid mover in space and proved last season he has enough speed to take the ball to the house with a 75-yard reception for a TD. Drafted in the second round in 2013, McDonald has the necessary draft capital. Keep him on your radar in dynasty. He is still only 26 and has the upside to be a very good fantasy contributor.
2017 SLEEPER BREAKOUT AGE CANDIDATE
Jeff Heuerman, Denver Broncos
Heuerman was drafted in the third round of the 2015 NFL draft. He has battled injuries his entire |
fondly of the mountain in “Monadnoc“:
Many feet in summer seek,
Betimes, my far-appearing peak;
In the dreaded winter time,
None save dappling shadows climb,
Under clouds, my lonely head,
Old as the sun, old almost as the shade.
And comest thou
To see strange forests and new snow,
And tread uplifted land?
And leavest thou thy lowland race,
Here amid clouds to stand?
Emerson would likely be impressed with the amount of winter traffic Monadnock sees these days. Trails are well maintained, wide, and accessible, with plenty of parking and facilities. Despite having a natural, undisturbed appearance, the ecosystems surrounding the mountain are in fact the result of dramatic human activity during the 1800’s that had a lasting impact on the landscape (more on that later). Regardless, Monadnock is ecologically, geologically and hydrolically important, and a range of New England species can be observed on its slopes.
Mt. Monadnock offers trails of varying difficulty, including connecting trails linked to other peaks in the area. For our short day hike, we decided to climb the White Dot trail, and descend on the White Cross trail. This was only my second time climbing Monadnock, and I wanted to check out the tree species near the summit, in particular. The weather was perfect, around 40F near the base, with clear blue skies. With the snow last week, we’d been told that the slopes were icy and likely to start melting mid-day.
It didn’t take long for the sun to start warming things up. The thin ice covering the mountain streams had already melted by 10 o’clock. Only a half hour from the trailhead, we had already seen at least fifteen other hikers.
Near the base of the mountain, and up to around 2200′, the forests are a relatively homogenous community of American beech (Fagus grandifolia), red oak (Quercus rubra), and gray birch (Betula populifolia), and less commonly yellow birch (Betula alleghaniensis) with some striped maple (Acer pennsylvanicum) and sugar maple (Acer saccharum) saplings. The forest floors, dappled in sunlight, are home to ferns, mosses and shrublike vegetation including a number of ericaceous species. The beech above shows the characteristic retention of foliage (marcescence), which makes these golden saplings highly visible in the winter landscape.
Birches are typically considered a pioneer species, appearing shortly after an area is disturbed, burned or clear-cut. Saplings shoot up quickly, and damaged trunks are mitigated by sending out basal shoots (suckers) and shedding dying limbs. Birchwood is relatively soft and offers little rot resistance. Because of this, it becomes a valuable source of energy for many heterotrophs, including the fungi seen above (Trametes versicolor top, Piptoporus betulinus bottom).
This birch became host to some kind of bark beetle, and its larval galleries can be seen ringing the dead trunk. Typically, a tree is able to survive the destruction of some of its cambium, and will die back from whatever regions of the tree were reliant on the disturbed vasculature. The undisturbed cambium, and the associated vascular tissues, can go on living, although the dead parts of the tree will most likely become host to all types of pathogens. When the cambium is destroyed in a complete ring around the trunk, a process called girdling, the living tissues that support the upper tree are essentially severed, and the tree will die back above this point. In the case of the birch above, it seems that overzealous larvae destroyed too much living tissue for the tree to survive.
Higher up, in the sub-apline and alpine zones of Monadnock, the flora changes dramatically. The larger hardwoods disappear, and the birches grow much shorter. Monadnock has an interesting history in terms of human involvement in the landscape. Throughout the 19th century, the slopes of Monadnock, like many New England forests, were clearcut and burned to make way for pasturelands. The summit was repeatedly burned throughout the century to eradicate the wolves believed to be denning on the upper slopes. The destruction of these alpine areas also prevented the accumulation of the rich topsoils necessary for woody species to establish. Because of this, Monadnock has a false treeline, appearing at a much lower elevation than is normal for the region.
Sub-alpine and alpine zones on Monadnock are dominated by red spruce (Picea rubens) which form dense, low canopies, preventing abundant undergrowth.
On many of the spruces on Monadnock, we found dry, brown, dead foliage tips. The damage done to these trees is most likely the result of either the summer drought or the rapid freezing and thawing cycles of the past few months, which can be devastating to tender new growth.
Near the summit, I found a single white pine (Pinus strobus) among the mountain cranberry. With the fierce winter conditions and high exposure, it is unlikely that this pine will survive beyond its juvenile years. Species on the exposed upper slopes depend on rock cover, and often form stunted, contorted mature trees, or krummholz.
By the time we reached the summit, the air was clear and the temperature was perfect. The relatively low, windswept snow accumulation left many of the low, scrubby plants exposed.
The importance of low-lying woody species, perennials and grasses can be seen near the trail edges, where roots maintain the structure of soils prone to erosion.
I found footprints but couldn’t identity who had left them.
By noon, a significant amount of runoff was flowing down the sunny slopes.
The summit was clear and bright, perfect for lunch and a rest. I’m looking forward to returning once things start to green up. I’ll leave you with our last sighting, the rare mountain snowman (Homo chionus):
Thanks for reading,
Dan
42.861080 -72.108327counselors of inquirers looked for three pivotal evidences of true conversion. One focused on the nature of the individual's perception of his sin and dependence on the work of Christ. Did the inquirer seem to have a clear and distinct and abiding sense of the seriousness of his offense toward God, a healthy remorse for that sin, a desire to turn from it and cease such offensive behavior toward God; did he also recognize that God was willing to receive him through the atonement made by Christ and through that alone? Second, did the present determination of the person's soul indicate a clear intention to live for Christ and overcome the opposing forces of the world; did he feel the urgency of seeing others escape from the wrath to come? Three, with a full knowledge of his own unworthiness and his full dependence on God, did the person have some knowledge of the doctrines of grace and that mercy was the fountain from which his salvation flowed? (310-11)
Arnold Dallimore's examination of this book [called the Inquirers {sic} Books, in which interviewing elders recorded their comments] showed that the entire interview process centered on the determination of three things. One, is there clear evidence of dependence on Christ for salvation? This involved a clear and felt knowledge of sin and a deep sense of the necessity of the cross. Two, does the candidate exhibit a noticeable change of character including a desire for pleasing God and a desire for others to believe the gospel? Three, is there some understanding of, with a submission to, the doctrines of grace? The only effective antithesis to merit salvation, in Spurgeon's view, was a knowledge of utter dependence on divine mercy. (248)
I hope that I will be able at some point to provide a review of Tom Nettles' excellent volume,(pastors and preachers, you need this book, and can get it at Amazon.com Westminster ).In the meantime, there are a couple of threads from the book that it is profitable to weave together. Spurgeon was adamant that the door to the church be well-guarded, and had a carefully-developed system whereby converts applying for membership were graciously but robustly assessed by elders, himself, and the whole congregation. He did not rush people into professions of faith, baptism and church membership (indeed, he had some distaste for the inquiry room as potentially exerting a pressure beyond that of the Holy Spirit's work on the heart of a sinner).At two separate points in the book, Nettles shows how - at times of particular evangelistic endeavour, as well as during the more regular procedures of church life - the saints were encouraged to make a thoughtful and scriptural assessment of a man's standing with God and prospective relationship with the local church.With regard to conversion,Then, with a great deal of common ground, here is the expectation for church membership:Perhaps, in our day, we are not always sure what we should be looking for in the heart and life of men and women who profess faith in the Lord Jesus. Far too many churches, perhaps feeling the pressure of numbers or some other force, are inclined to drop their standards or blur their distinctions, if they have them in the first place. In the face of that, these standards seem to me to be thoroughly biblical, genuinely gracious, and appropriately robust. They combine doctrinal understanding, experimental religion, and principled obedience - a religion of head, heart and hand, if you will. If more congregations embraced a righteous assessment of this sort with regard to professing converts and applicants for membership, I am persuaded that they would be spiritually healthier places than they too often are.After the success of The Last Exorcism, director Daniel Stamm was tapped to remake Pascal Laugier’s deeply religious French horror Martyrs for Dimension Films.
Years later, it never came into fruition. Instead, Stamm got behind the camera for another remake, 13 Sins, which is now on all VOD platforms. In speaking with Movies, he says the Martyrs remake script was “spellbinding,” a “beautiful character study of how far you’ll go for an insane friend,” and “one of the best scripts I’ve read, probably ever.” So what happened?
“..the French had done these 30 pages of just mind-numbing, repetitive violence, which is genius because it makes you feel the actual horror of that stuff, but there is no entertainment value,” says Stamm of the original film. “And so the Americans come in and go, ‘We have to spice this up and make it more entertaining,’ so suddenly it’s 30 pages of Saw that just didn’t work.
“The American remake keeps both girls alive, whereas the French version kills one of the girls very early. If you keep both of them alive this gives you a really great chance to have this psychological play between them and the torturers. Everything was going great creatively, and then the call comes in. ‘The option ran out a week ago and the French producers now want so much money that we can’t make the movie.’
“I think they’re now back to making the movie for like $1 million, really low budget, which I think you could almost do, it’s just there’s this philosophy in Hollywood that you can never go back budget-wise. As a filmmaker you are judged by that. And then there’s also this concept I was unaware of called plateauing, where if you’re a filmmaker who makes two movies in the same budget bracket, that becomes your thing. You are the guy for the $3 million movie, and then that’s all you do. And so my agents wouldn’t let me do the $1 million movie, because then that’s it for you, you’ll supposedly never get that bigger budget.”
So, while the rights have switched hands (thankfully), it sounds as if the remake is still a go, just at a lower budget. Do you guys want to see this? I’m curious to see if the dark finale remains intact…
The 2009 film, which had shades of Rosemary’s Baby, followed Lucie, now 25 years old, who sets out to get revenge on the people who attacked and permanently scarred her when she was only 10 years old.Breaking News Emails Get breaking news alerts and special reports. The news and stories that matter, delivered weekday mornings.
Sep. 14, 2016, 12:30 PM GMT / Updated Sep. 14, 2016, 12:30 PM GMT
OFF TO THE RACES: Obama Hits the Trail
Barack Obama didn’t hold back yesterday in urging Americans not to embrace Donald Trump, saying he is not "fit in any way, shape or form to represent this country.”
Former Secretary of State Colin Powell called Trump a "national disgrace” and an "international pariah" in a personal email exchange leaked Tuesday by hackers.
Mike Pence ran into trouble trying to rally Republicans on Capitol Hill over Clinton’s “deplorables” comment.
New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman revealedTuesday that his office is making an inquiry into possible impropriety at the Trump Foundation.
Also, "Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee are asking the Justice Department to investigate the circumstances surrounding a $25,000 donation the Donald J. Trump Foundation made to Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi at a time when her office was considering whether to open a fraud investigation of Trump University,” according to the Washington Post.
Newsweek looks at all of the potential conflicts of interest between a Trump White House and his sprawling business empire.
Trump outlined his new childcare plan Tuesday night with his daughter Ivanka.
The Washington Post crunches some numbers on how much of the public thinks Trump is unqualified to be president.
Republicans joining up with Team Clinton expect to get something in return, writes POLITICO.
The Wall Street Journal looks at how Trump’s new team has tried to steer him towards more “presidential” appearances. "Newly installed campaign chief executive Stephen Bannon and campaign manager Kellyanne Conway told their new boss, basically, trust us. Mr. Trump needed to move away from a preoccupation with rallies and wall-to-wall TV interviews toward “moments,” in the new managers’ parlance, that showed him in TV newscasts as presidential, with a caring side."
The New York Times: "The agreement that Secretary of State John Kerry announced with Russia to reduce the killing in Syria has widened an increasingly public divide between Mr. Kerry and Defense Secretary Ashton B. Carter, who has deep reservations about the plan for American and Russian forces to jointly target terrorist groups."
Hacker “Guccifer 2.0” released a new round of documents last night, including Tim Kaine’s cell phone number.
From the AP: "Democrats are sounding increasingly concerned about their chances of retaking control of the Senate, as Republicans demonstrate a commanding fundraising advantage and Hillary Clinton's lead narrows in key battleground races. Although most Democrats still express confidence that they will win back the Senate majority in November, they now appear to have fewer paths to victory as wins in Ohio and even Florida look increasingly remote.”
Gary Johnson will appear on all 50 state ballots.
The Washington Post offers a profile of GOP mega-donor Rebekah Mercer.
What happens if a presidential candidate withdraws or dies after the nominating conventions? The Washington Post asks an expert.SINGAPORE - A team of scientists from the National Cancer Centre Singapore, Duke-NUS Graduate Medical School Singapore, Fundeni Clinical Institute (Romania) and Koen Kaen University (Thailand), have made a seminal breakthrough in understanding the molecular basis of bile duct cancer or cholangiocarcinoma, a rare but highly lethal form of liver cancer. The team, led by Professors Teh Bin Tean, Patrick Tan, Steve Rozen, Irinel Popescu and Vajaraphongsa Bhudhisawasdi, used advanced DNA sequencing technologies to map the complete repertoire of human genes disrupted in cholangiocarcinoma.
The team's findings may lead to new cholangiocarcinoma treatments, and have shed light on some of the oldest questions in cancer research. The group is also affiliated with the Genome Institute of Singapore and the Cancer Science Institute in Singapore. This work was published online today in the scientific journal Nature Genetics.
Cholangiocarcinoma (CCA), is a cancer involving uncontrolled growth of the bile ducts, the part of the liver that drains bile into the intestine. In most countries, CCA is considered a rare cancer, but the incidence of CCA is rising worldwide and in certain countries such as the North East of Thailand and neighbouring Laos, CCA is already widespread due to patients in this region being exposed to liver flukes. Other potential causes of CCA include bile duct inflammation, congenital cysts, hepatitis, and the presence of liver stones. Patients diagnosed with CCA have a dismal prognosis as the disease is considered incurable, with a 5-year survival rate of 5%.
New Potential Avenues for Treatment
By studying CCAs from Singapore, Thailand and Romania, the team identified several genes that were repeatedly disrupted in order for CCA to develop. Importantly, the cellular pathways controlled by these genes have suggested new potential avenues to treat CCA. One such gene identified, BAP1, participates in the unpacking of DNA, and drugs targeting this process (called "chromatin modifier drugs") are being developed. Prof Teh said "While further research needs to be done, this may pave the way for identifying which bile-duct cancer patients may benefit from chromatin-modifier drugs."
Findings from the study have also deepened our basic understanding of how cancer develops. Prof Rozen said "A poorly-understood question in cancer research is whether different carcinogens, applied to the same cancer type, will cause disruptions in the same sets of genes, or if different carcinogens will cause different type of genes to be disrupted".
The team reasoned that CCAs could be used to answer these questions, as these cancers are caused by different carcinogenic exposure in different parts of the world. They found that while CCAs from Thailand, Singapore and Romania appeared very similar under the conventional microscope, at the molecular level they were in fact very different. This provides one of the first key pieces of evidence that different types of carcinogen exposures, although acting on the same type of tissue, are associated with disruptions in different sets of genes. Such findings have practical applications as well. Prof Tan said "Based on these results, it may be possible to investigate a patient's cancer and by looking at the types of disrupted genes, infer what caused the cancer." Such information would have major implications for cancer prevention efforts.
This most recent work is the latest in a series of high-profile papers from the Singapore team applying genomic analysis to cancers prevalent in Asia. In August, the same team reported their findings on a specific type of urinary tract cancer prevalent in Taiwan, which was caused by a carcinogen found in certain herbal remedies.
Invitation to join leading International Cancer Genome Consortium
The success of the team has not gone unnoticed by the international community. In October, the team of Professors Teh, Tan and Rozen was invited to join the International Cancer Genome Consortium (ICGC), a multi-national consortium composed of the world's leading scientists in cancer genomics, which aims to analyze over 50 different types of cancer. The Singapore team will take the lead in organizing the ICGC CCA sequencing program. "The ICGC Executive committee welcomes the participation of Singapore with great enthusiasm. The cholangiocarcinoma project will fit an important gap in the ICGC list of cancer types and the Singapore team has a track record of proven expertise and experience in this field", said Dr Tom Hudson, Chair of ICGC Executive Committee.
To-date, the Singapore team has raised funds from charities including a million dollar donation from a patient, and research institutions in Singapore to support the ICGC effort. Prof Teh concluded "This will be first time that Singapore has participated in such a large international cancer consortium. We will do our utmost to make this international effort a success but our greatest hope is that our findings will ultimately benefit cancer patients worldwide"
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Parties interested in supporting the Singapore ICGC effort should contact Prof Teh Bin Tean at National Cancer Centre Singapore. (teh.bin.tean@singhealth.com.sg)High-pitched sound is making a comeback. Engineers have discovered that ultrasonics, which have been around almost as long as electronics of any sort, can give modern devices some cool, futuristic features.
Ultreo ultrasound toothbrush
Mankind has been capable of making high-frequency ultrasounds for at least a century. Today, we use them to clean our teeth, capture the first images of our smallest humans or improve our photography. Tomorrow, it looks like we’ll be using them to link our gadgets or control them with the wave of a hand.
Google announced its Chromecast TV streaming stick will pair ultrasonically with phones, so you won’t have to share Wi-Fi passwords with friends anymore. Elliptic Labs has figured out how to use ultrasounds to enable mid-air (read: touchless) control over our phones, tablets and laptops. It’s gesture control that actually seems to work well, and it’s heading to the market next year. And they’re not alone.
The Sweet Sound Of Hooking Up
Shopkick’s ultrasonic transmitter/speaker
At its bare bones, ultrasonic technology requires a speaker to emit sound and a microphone to pick it up. But not just any sound. These are audio waves that oscillate at a high frequency beyond the range of human hearing (20 kHz or higher). Nearby mobile gadgets and appliances, however, can hear them just fine.
That’s why companies like Shopkick and Clinkle pursued ultrasonics as a proximity technology for retail applications. Shopkick lets stores locate customers inside, so they could push promotions onto the phone tied to specific aisles or departments. (Later the company brought in Apple’s iBeacons, which does essentially the same thing over Bluetooth.) Clinkle hasn’t officially ditched its ultrasonic approach to payments, but it hasn’t publicly launched it either. (Perhaps it’s too busy dealing with the revolving door in its C-suite.)
Plenty of other companies, though, are trying out ultrasound controls in other realms—like our living rooms.
Google’s Chromecast TV streaming dongle, waiting to hum with ultrasonic pairing
The engineers behind the popular Chromecast streaming stick knew they had a hit on their hands, but they also knew it wasn’t perfect. Pals can’t just come over and start slinging streamed video to your television; first you have to dig up your Wi-Fi password, and then they manually punch it into their devices before your Chromecast party can get started.
To eliminate that first-world digital drudgery, Chromecast product manager Jagit Singh Chawla and his colleagues decided on ultrasonic pairing. It uses a sort of PIN code to connect devices directly, instead of over a Wi-Fi connection. The numbers get encoded into an ultrasound signal played by the TV over its speakers. The smartphone picks it up on the microphone and decodes it—no typing necessary.
In this case, ultrasound communication was a fitting solution. “It’s a universal technology,” Chawla said. “Most TVs have speakers, and phones have speakers and microphones.” So most devices already have the bare minimum hardware. Plus, the short range offers a limitation that, it turns out, actually improves security.
“All we need to do is to prove that you’re in the same room,” he said. “Ultrasonic being high frequency doesn’t travel too long.… There’s no way to take it outside.” In other words, your neighbors won’t be able to hijack your Chromecast from their easy chairs next door.
Next-Generation Gestures
When ultrasounds hit objects, the audio waves get disrupted or echo back. That’s how devices can detect when other things are in the way—much like bats, who echolocate using high-pitched squeaks.
In a rudimentary sense, that’s how ultrasound imaging works, by registering the feedback. It’s also the way Elliptic Labs can tell where your hands are when you’re gesturing near your tablet or smartphone.
Qualcomm’s ultrasound NotePad and pen
The use of ultrasound in mobile devices is not a new idea. Qualcomm’s purchase of Israeli ultrasound technology firm EPOS in 2012 led to the mobile chip maker unveiling ultrasonic pen technology at the 2014 Consumer Electronics Show. It’s an intriguing concept—partially because this souped-up alterna stylus doesn’t actually have to touch the screen (or NotePad) to work. A user could theoretically write on a piece of paper nearby, and those scrawls could register on the device anyway.
Mid-air gesture control isn’t new either. The Samsung Galaxy S4 and the Leap Motion controller both promise the same sort of alakazam! functionality that ties hand-waving to device actions. But those products use cameras to track movement, whereas Elliptic relies on ultrasonic waves.
The primary differences seem obvious. With no camera, there’s no field of view to limit the working range or sunlight to battle. Indeed, Elliptic’s gesture control—which uses a specialized high-resolution speaker—works in a 180-degree range around the device. And judging from this demo video, shot by TalkAndroid, it appears to be pretty accurate.
At only a 5x5x5 mm size, the tiny speaker can fit inside today’s mammoth smartphones, not to mention tablets and laptops; some gadgets may even be able to use their existing microphones. Ultimately, the cost for manufacturers can be quite low; the speakers don’t put much strain on precious battery life, either.
No wonder device makers have been beating down CEO Laila Danielsen’s door. “Every single OEM [original equipment manufacturer] is coming to us or talking to us,” she said. “There’s at least one that’s trying to do it themselves, which is good. But the rest are talking to us.” Among them was Amazon, which first contacted Elliptic Labs a year and a half ago.
Ultrasonic’s On Fire
Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos showing off Fire Phone’s Dynamic Perspective
Amazon’s Fire Phone, which just launched last week, now relies on four cameras for its Dynamic Perspective feature. But back then, it was exploring an alternative way to track user movement in front of the device, presumably so that it could deliver the 3D-like visuals based on their viewing angle.
“We were not ready,” said Danielsen, sounding a little disappointed. She had just joined the San Francisco and Oslo, Norway–based company, and it was in the process of shifting from a research to product focus. But that didn’t stop Elliptic Labs from scooping up one of the Fire Phone team members.
“One of the the key leads on this Dynamic Perspective project really believed in ultrasound,” she told me. “I told him that we weren’t ready for what you’re trying to do.” The product would’ve needed redesigning to work with the Fire Phone.
A glamour shot of the Amazon Fire Phone
“He said, ‘Ugh! I could do a much better job at this…. Let me know when I can join your team!’,” Danielsen said. “He joined in January.”
With the Amazon defector in tow, Elliptic Labs now seems to be in the catbird seat, cherry-picking partners that can move swiftly to get its technology into consumers’ hands. The company currently offers software development kits for Windows, Windows 8 and Android, and “we are building products as we speak for launch,” said the CEO, who also recently opened a Shanghai office to cater to Asian OEMs. “We are targeting the next 12 months, for products to come out on the market.”
Where could Elliptic’s technology show up next? Danielsen’s not sure yet, but she has a team “looking for longer term areas.” Possibilities range from connected health gadgets and wearables to smart homes and cars—anywhere people might want to control the action with the flick of a hand.
For now, though, Danielsen and her crew are focused on mobile devices. Which may be wise, considering momentum could be building there.
Samsung’s Ultrasonic Cover for its Galaxy Core Advance smartphone
Samsung hopped on the ultrasonic wave recently, debuting a new ultrasonic cover for its low-end Galaxy Core Advance smartphone. An assistive technology, the case was designed to detect the presence of physical obstacles. The South Korean tech company said it plans to expand accessibility of other Galaxy devices, which means ultrasounds could find a home in the Android maker’s other smartphones and phablets. It also filed a patent (.PDF) covering an ultrasonic stylus, not unlike Qualcomm’s invention, for its upcoming Note 4.
Samsung loves to experiment with features, and these moves strongly suggest that ultrasonics has become music to its ears.
Feature image by Flickr user Staffan Vilcans; Shopkick ultrasound transmitter image courtesy of Shopkick; Ultreo ultrasound toothbrush photo courtesy of Ultreo via Amazon; Qualcomm ultrasound pen image screencapped from Qualcomm YouTube demo video; Amazon Fire Phone images by Taylor Hatmaker for ReadWrite; Ultrasonic Cover photo courtesy of SamsungYesterday, I speculated that the Toronto Maple Leafs could benefit from taking a chance on Romain Loeffel, who is currently starring for Switzerland at the IIHF World Championship. Based on the team’s need for right-handed defensemen and their willingness to sign European free agents, the idea that Loeffel would be on their radar isn’t far fetched. With that said, he likely isn’t even the best option for the Leafs in terms of right-shooting Swiss defensemen.
Meet Yannick Rathgeb, a 21-year old right defenseman playing for HC Fribourg-Gottéron of the NLA.
Unlike Loeffel, Rathgeb isn’t playing at this year’s World Championship thanks to a shoulder injury, but he is no stranger to international hockey. At the World Junior Hockey Championships that took place in Toronto & Montreal in 2015, Rathgeb was the captain and best defender on the Swiss team.
Since then, Rathgeb has started a professional career that has seen him become the best young defenseman in the NLA.
At 6’1, 200lbs, Rathgeb has the size to be an NHL defender and he plays with an edge to is game that would look rather nice on the Maple Leafs bottom pair – especially with the likely loss of Roman Polak.
Unlike Polak, Rathgeb brings a lot more than just the physical traits that Mike Babcock loves. He is a true two-way defender that can contribute at both ends of the ice. At only 21, Rathgeb finished third on his team in scoring with 34 points in 45 games – almost three times the next highest total for a defenseman. With 11 goals in only 45 games, Rathgeb has shown the ability to score from the point, something that Toronto’s third pairing couldn’t do this past season.
With 11 goals in only 45 games, Rathgeb has shown the ability to contribute goal scoring from the point – something that Toronto’s third pairing couldn’t do this past season.
Playing on a bad team – the Dragons finished second last in the NLA with a goal differential of -47 – Rathgeb was played in all situations and seems to have been relied upon a lot more than you’d expect from a 21-year old defender. His two seasons in Switzerland have helped him grow to the point that his agent has mentioned a desire to end up in the NHL – likely sooner rather than later.
Unlike other European free agents like Nikita Zaitsev – Rathgeb is no stranger to North American hockey. He played two seasons in the OHL for the Plymouth Whalers as recently as two years ago. Again playing on bad teams in Plymouth, he didn’t stand out enough for an NHL team to take a risk in the draft. He did, however, get an invite to the Chicago Blackhawks prospect camp last summer – where, by all accounts, he faired well.
Being at camp last summer, Rathgeb is clearly on the radar of NHL teams.
We know the Maple Leafs need depth on the blueline and in my opinion, a 21-year old Rathgeb is definitely worth the risk – especially considering the fact that you wouldn’t have to give up any assets to acquire him. He’s young, has two-way potential, and has a familiarity with the North American game that many European free agents don’t. I’d much rather the Leafs use one of their 50 contracts on a risk like this than bringing back one of Polak or Matt Hunwick.
Maybe he’d be nothing more than depth for the Marlies when guys like Justin Holl, Travis Dermott and Andrew Nielsen get their eventual call up to the Leafs – but maybe he ends up being something more.
In my eyes, it’s definitely worth the risk.
AdvertisementsANN ARBOR, Mich. – A new poll shows 82 percent of adults support banning smoking in cars when children under 13 are riding in the vehicle.
According to the latest University of Michigan Mott Children’s Hospital National Poll on Children’s Health, support is strong for prohibiting drivers and passengers from smoking when kids are in the car. However, only seven states nationwide have laws banning the practice.
Also in this month’s poll, 87 percent of adults said they’d support a ban on smoking in businesses where children are allowed. Seventy-five percent expressed support for banning smoking in homes where children have asthma or another lung disease.
“Smoke is a real health hazard for kids whose lungs are still developing, and especially for kids who have illnesses like asthma where the lungs are particularly fragile and flare up when exposed to secondhand smoke,” says Matthew M. Davis, M.D., M.A.P.P., director of the C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital National Poll on Children’s Health.
Even among current smokers in the poll, more than one half supported bans that would protect children from secondhand smoke. For example, 60 percent of current smokers said they’d strongly support or support a ban on smoking in cars with children under 13 years old present, compared with 84 percent of former smokers and 87 percent of never-smokers.
“Although the number of people smoking has dropped dramatically in the last 50 years, secondhand smoke remains a health risk,” says Davis, who is associate professor of pediatrics and internal medicine at the U-M Medical School and associate professor of Public Policy at U-M’s Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy.
In 2007 the American Academy of Pediatrics began advocating for specific legislation to prohibit smoking in cars with children present.
A 2006 study by researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health found “alarming” levels of secondhand smoke were generated in just five minutes in vehicles under various driving, ventilation, and smoking conditions. According to the California Environmental Protection Agency, secondhand smoke in cars can be 10 times more concentrated than the level considered unhealthy by the U.S. EPA – and it is dangerous even if the windows are open.
Between 2006 and 2011, four states (Arkansas, California, Louisiana and Maine) enacted statewide bans on smoking in vehicles carrying children. In 2013 three states (Illinois, Oregon, Utah) have enacted similar laws.
The violations usually carry a fine and often can be enforced only if a police officer has stopped the driver for a separate traffic violation or other offense, much like current seat belt laws.
Four other states (Hawaii, Indiana, New Jersey, New York) have cities or counties that ban smoking in vehicles with children present.
“But this is about children’s health, not about writing tickets. Just having the laws in place raises awareness and discourages the behavior – reducing the chances that kids will be exposed to secondhand smoke,” says Davis.
“Given the high level of public support for laws prohibiting smoking in vehicles with children in this poll, it may be that the bans enacted by a small number of states should be considered by many more states, and perhaps at the national level,” Davis says. Currently, the federal government prohibits smoking on all commercial flights.
“Forty of the 50 states currently ban smoking in public places in one form or another. At this time, we are not aware of laws at this time that prohibit smoking in homes where children have asthma or other lung conditions. However, the level of public support for ways to reduce children’s exposure to secondhand smoke is so high that now may be the time to for public health officials and legislators to move forward on ideas like these to protect children’s health,” Davis says.
Full report: http://mottnpch.org/reports-surveys/broad-public-support-banning-smoking-vehicles-kids-present#
Resources:
Secondhand smoke, kids and cars Harm to kids from secondhand smoke
Large majority of adults have smoke-free rules in homes, vehicles
Website: Check out the Poll’s new website: MottNPCH.org. You can search and browse over 70 NPCH Reports, suggest topics for future polls, share your opinion in a quick poll, and view information on popular topics. The National Poll on Children’s Health team welcomes feedback on the new website, including features you’d like to see added. To share feedback, e-mail NPCH@med.umich.edu.
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/mottnpch Twitter: @MottNPCH
Purpose/Funding: The C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital National Poll on Children’s Health – based at the Child Health Evaluation and Research Unit at the University of Michigan and funded by the Department of Pediatrics and Communicable Diseases and the University of Michigan Health System – is designed to measure major health care issues and trends for U.S. children.
Data Source: This report presents findings from a nationally representative household survey conducted exclusively by GfK Custom Research, LLC GfK Custom Research, LLC (GfK), for C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital via a method used in many published studies. The survey was administered in June 2013 to a randomly selected, stratified group of adults age 18 or over (n=1,996) from GfK’s web-enabled KnowledgePanel® that closely resembles the U.S. population. The sample was subsequently weighted to reflect population figures from the Census Bureau. The survey completion rate was 58 percent among panel members contacted to participate. The margin of error is ± 2 to 3 percentage points and higher among subgroups.
Findings from the U-M C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital National Poll on Children’s Health do not represent the opinions of the investigators or the opinions of the University of Michigan.
###'BoJack Horseman' Season 4 Updates: Premiere Date Set In August 2017? Fans Get Wish To See Less Of Mr. Peanutbutter?
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It will still be a long wait for fans before they can see "BoJack Horseman" season 4 as it is rumored to premiere in August 2017. While the adult animated series was renewed for a new season last year, no word has come out about what fans can expect from the upcoming season. Netflix and the show's production are also keeping mum about the exact return of the show on the small screen.
Expected Premiere Date Of "BoJack Horseman" Season 4
"Bojack Horseman" is a critically acclaimed and a fan favorite cartoon show, most especially because it tackles life issues to which adults can really relate. While there were previous rumors that the series is slated to make its comeback this year, |
runtime from a configuration file (this is the apache2-suexec-custom package). Failing this, well, you'll be arranging (somehow) for all of your virtual hosts to appear under /var/www (or at least all of the ones that need CGIs).
(You can determine the userdir and docroot settings for your suexec with'suexec -V'as root. You want AP_DOC_ROOT and AP_USERDIR_SUFFIX.)
Sidebar: what 'command not in docroot' really means
The suexec error 'command not in docroot' is actually generic and is used for both modes of requests. So what suexec means by 'docroot' here is either the actual docroot, for a virtual host request, or the user's home directory plus the userdir subdirectory, for a /~user/... request. Unfortunately you cannot tell from suexec's log messages whether it was invoked for what it thought was a user home directory request or for a virtual host request; that has to be obtained from the Apache logs.East Room
5:00 P.M. EDT
THE PRESIDENT: Hello, everybody. (Applause.) Well, Eid Mubarak.
AUDIENCE: Eid Mubarak.
THE PRESIDENT: Can everybody please give Aisha a big round of applause? (Applause.) It was such a kind introduction. I want to thank her for her eloquent letter and speaking out not just for herself, but on behalf of Muslim Americans everywhere. She was a little nervous when she came out, and she did great. I was nervous the first time I did this -- (laughter) -- but I have to admit, I’ve done this a while now.
I want to thank Raahima for sharing words from the Holy Koran. I want to welcome to the White House everybody who is here.
For the past seven years, we’ve held our annual Iftar dinner. Some of you have joined us on those occasions. This year, for my last year as President, I wanted to do something a little bit different, and I’m very proud to host this Eid celebration at the White House. (Applause.) I want give some particular thanks to our White House liaison to the Muslim American community, Zaki Barzinji -- (applause) -- for his great work on our event. And we’re joined by so many proud and patriotic Muslim Americans from across the country and from all walks of life.
This Ramadan, we said goodbye to somebody who was not only a friend to many here, a great American -- somebody who I had the great honor to know -- the Greatest, the Champ, Muhammad Ali. (Applause.) And as proud of his blackness as he was of his faith, the Champ taught us that the most important thing in life is to be ourselves. And so today, we are especially honored to be joined by his wonderful wife, Lonnie, and six of his children. So let’s give them a big round of applause. (Applause.)
So we’re coming together to celebrate Eid and the blessings of another holy month of Ramadan. I know we are a little late this year. (Laughter.) The advantage is that you’re not as hungry as you were a couple of weeks ago. (Laughter.) But our celebration is just as festive, the food is just as good.
For Muslims across the United States and around the world, this is a time of spiritual renewal -- a time to reaffirm your
duty to serve one another, especially the least fortunate among us. And it’s a time to reflect on the values that guide you in your faith -- gratitude, compassion and generosity. And it’s a reminder that those values of Islam -- which comes from the word salaam, meaning peace -- are universal. They bind us all, regardless of our race or religion or creed, in a common purpose, and that is in our shared commitment to the dignity of every human being.
Today is also another reminder that Muslims have always been a part of America. In colonial times, many of the slaves brought over from Africa were Muslim. We insisted on freedom of religion, in Thomas Jefferson’s words, for, “the Jew and Gentile, the Christian and the Mahometan.” For more than two centuries, Muslim Americans of all backgrounds -- Arab and Asian, African and Latino, black and white -- have helped build America as farmers and merchants, factory workers, architects, teachers and community leaders.
And Muslim Americans have enriched our lives every single day. You’re the doctors we trust with our health, entrepreneurs who create jobs, artists who inspire us, activists for social justice -- like the LGBT Muslims who are on the frontlines in the fight for equality. (Applause.) You’re the athletes that we cheer for -- like American fencing champion Ibtihaj Muhammad -- (applause) -- who is going to be proudly wearing her hijab when she represents America at the Rio Olympics. No pressure. (Laughter.)
Muslim Americans help keep us safe. You’re our firefighters, our police officers -- like Deputy Police Chief Malik Aziz of the Dallas Police Department, who’s helping that community that is still grieving heal after the tragic attack against law enforcement in that city. “There can be no actual progress unless we actually work together,” Malik has said. “The police and the community must work together. There is no us versus them.” So we thank Malik for his outstanding service. (Applause.)
And Muslim Americans serve proudly in our armed forces, risking their lives to defend our freedom. (Applause.) We’re especially honored to be joined by veterans here today like Sheikh Nazeem Abdul Karriem, who fought in World War II. (Applause.) He said he’s 95, but I think he’s lying. (Laughter.) He looks younger. He says he tells people he’s 59. (Laughter.) But we are so proud of him and what he’s done to fight for our freedom. And I’d ask all our proud servicemembers and veterans, if you can, to raise your hands so that we can thank you for your service. (Applause.)
By the way, I should mention that Muslim Americans aren’t just heroes in real life. One of today’s most popular comic book superheroes is a Pakistani American girl named Kamala Khan, also known as Ms. Marvel. (Applause.) And I’m a comic book fan. (Laughter.) But it’s important that our children see positive, rich portrayals of all people, including Muslims, from all walks of life -- not just in the national security context. In the news and TV and movies, the diversity and depth of the Muslim American experience needs to be portrayed.
So let’s be clear: Muslim Americans are as patriotic, as integrated, as American as any other members of the American family. (Applause.) And whether your family has been here for generations or you’re a new arrival, you’re an essential part of the fabric of our country.
Now, of course, we can’t deny that we’re in challenging times right now. This is a difficult time for Muslim Americans.
AUDIENCE MEMBER: Four more years!
THE PRESIDENT: Well, that --
AUDIENCE: Four more years! Four more years!
THE PRESIDENT: No, no, no, no, no. No, no. Michelle is going to come down and scold you. (Laughter.) Don’t say that.
Like all Americans, you worry about the threat of terrorism. But on top of that, you fear that your entire community will be blamed for the violent acts of a few who do not represent your faith.
As many of you know, earlier this year I had the chance to visit the Islamic Society of Baltimore, and I met with some outstanding Muslim Americans from across the country. And they told me about the great work they’re doing in business and education, and medicine and social justice. But they were very honest with me about their anxieties and their fears of being targeted because of their faith.
And I get heartbreaking letters like the one from Aisha. She told me, “There were moments in my life where I would want to just take off my hijab and leave my identity behind so I can fit in with my peers.” That’s a young American, full of promise, full of possibility, fearful because of her faith. And we’ve seen a spike in Muslim Americans, including children, being attacked, mosques being targeted, especially during the final, holiest days of Ramadan. And that shouldn’t be happening in the United States of America.
Singling out Muslim Americans, moreover, feeds the lie of terrorists like ISIL that the West is somehow at war with a religion that includes over a billion adherents. That’s not smart national security. In fact, it is ISIL and al Qaeda, and organizations like those that are waging war on Muslim communities, even during the holy month. And discriminating against Muslim Americans is also an affront to the very values that already make our nation great.
So on days like this, and on every day, we need to be clear about what we stand for. Muslim Americans -- and all Americans
-- have to reject hatred. Muslim Americans -- and all Americans -- have to reject discrimination. Muslim Americans -- and all Americans -- have to answer those who would peddle hate, or suggest that somehow their interpretations of their faith justify violence.
All of us have those obligations -- whether we are Christian, or Jew, or Hindu, or Muslim, or of no faith at all. We have to reaffirm that in this country, it is our obligation to abide by the law, to look out for each other, to be part of a single community -- and that we can still appreciate our differences and retain those things that are essential to our identities, and still strongly affirm our commitment and our faith in this country.
We’ve got to rededicate ourselves to make sure that no American feels isolated or second-class citizens. And I especially want to speak to the young people who are here, to make sure that you know that we see you, that we believe in you. And despite what you may sometime hear, you’ve got to know that you’re a valued part of the American family, and there’s nothing that you cannot do. (Applause.)
So during what was a difficult Ramadan, where we saw hundreds of innocent lives taken in Istanbul and Dhaka, and Baghdad and Medina, as well as in Orlando and Nice --
AUDIENCE MEMBER: Syria.
THE PRESIDENT: And Syria -- I was getting to Syria, but -- well, look, I mean, the brutal images and suffering that are taking place there are heartbreaking. And so the message has to be sent that we will stand with our friends and our allies around the world, including Muslim communities; that we will engage with those who want peace; that we will go after those who will harm innocents; that we will encourage dialogue not just between faiths, but oftentimes within the Muslim faith itself, which has driven violence in some parts of the world.
And in the face of terrorism, we will prevail. But we will prevail by working together, not driving each other apart. (Applause.)
That’s ultimately what we have to do as Americans -- to stand together and look out for one another. And we welcome those who believe in the basic promise of our country that no matter who you are, what you look like, where you’re from, how you worship, if you work hard, if you are responsible, if you are law-abiding, then you can make it here in America.
That’s the story of Aref and Aida Saad. Where are they? There you are way in the back. You can see their hands. In 1973, Aref and Aida decided to pack up their lives in Lebanon and come to America in search of a better life. The couple settled down in Detroit, Michigan. Aref spotted an opportunity -- he started a distribution company that specialized in halal meat, to serve the growing Muslim population in Detroit. Forty years later, it’s a thriving company. And they’re now paying it forward -- one of their daughters, Fayrouz, used to work in my administration -- she now she works with the Detroit Mayor’s office helping to welcome today’s immigrants and refugees. (Applause.)
So the Saads, they set a great example for new arrivals like Heba and Rahaf Alrahawan. Heba and Rahaf, where are you? There you are. So back home in Syria, these two sisters watched as the growing violence leveled their neighborhood, demolished their home, destroyed their father’s car company. And in 2012, their family fled Syria and spent four years in Malaysia as refugees. Four months ago, they were able to come to Brooklyn to start their lives over. In their first week, they signed up for English classes. Heba works in a clothing store on the weekends, studies English during the weekdays -- hopes to save enough money to enroll in college to study information technology.
So when you look at the life that the Saads have built, you look at Muslim Americans in this room who’ve made incredible contributions in every possible field, it’s not hard to imagine that these two sisters are going to do the same. So, Heba, Rahaf, welcome to America. (Applause.) We’re proud to have you here.
And that’s what makes this country special. You work hard, you do the right thing, and you can not only make a difference for ourselves and our families, but we can make a difference for the life of the nation.
So today, we celebrate this wonderful holiday and honor a great faith, but we also recommit ourselves to building an America where everybody has the opportunity to achieve their dreams. And we reaffirm the values of democracy, and freedom of religion, and tolerance, and community building, and understanding, and hard work that allows all of us -- whatever our faiths -- to prosper.
So, I'm proud of all of you. I hope you enjoy this wonderful reception. Thank you. God bless you. And God bless the United States of America. (Applause.)
END
5:23 P.M. EDTAndy Lyons/Getty Images
"Put on the game tape," Teddy Bridgewater told ESPN.
That's how he's answering a flash mob of critics, who've appeared over the last few weeks to cast aspersions on his NFL-readiness and drag down his draft stock.
A presumptive No. 1 overall pick throughout most of the 2013 college football season, and the consensus best-available quarterback through at least the NFL combine, Bridgewater's stock has taken a sudden, dramatic tumble.
Back during the combine, NFL Media's Mike Mayock called Bridgewater the "most NFL-ready" quarterback in the draft and touted him as an appealing No. 1 overall pick, per NFL.com's Mike Huguenin.
Mayock's latest attempt at positional rankings, released April 28 on NFL.com, has Bridgewater tied as the fifth-best quarterback.
What on Earth happened to drop Bridgewater's stock so low—and do NFL teams really think so little of him, or are the extra weeks before the NFL draft causing paralysis by analysis?
The Court of Opinion
The combine was the tipping point for Bridgewater's stock. It wasn't a poor performance that hurt him, though; it was a lack of one. As I wrote at the time, by not throwing in Indianapolis, Bridgewater missed a perfect opportunity to prove he's the best passer in the class.
He opened the door for Blake Bortles, who "stood out" from the middling prospects who chose to throw at the combine, per Jim Corbett of USA Today. Further, lesser-known players like Jimmy Garoppolo may have gotten a little closer look from scouts; Mayock now has Garoppolo ahead of Bridgewater.
Bridgewater's decision to place all his eggs in his pro day basket backfired when he had a poor showing. Mayock declared it an "average at best" performance, per Huguenin.
In fact, Bridgewater's in-person lack of arm strength and accuracy forced Mayock back to his game tape to re-evaluate.
"I went back and watched a bunch more tape and compared him to the rest of the guys in the draft," Mayock told NFL.com's Daniel Kim. "And like it or not, I've come to a conclusion -- if I was a GM in the NFL, I would not take him in the first round of the draft."
Wait, didn't Bridgewater insist to ESPN his tape answers all of the questions about him? Yes, he did.
"The game tape speaks volumes because I'm in live action," Bridgewater said. "I'm out there making reads, going through progressions, redirection protection, signaling hot routes, getting the offense in and out of the right play. Looking at those things, I think those things outweigh the pro day."
There's an old football cliche, "The eye in the sky don't lie," that was made for situations just like this.
The Evidence
Very few have access to real college game film, the kind with end-zone and All-22 views. The folks at DraftBreakdown.com, though, have created cutups of the broadcast film for many, many prospects, including Bridgewater.
Bridgewater knows his strengths. No prospect in this class more thoroughly understands and executes a pro-style offense. He makes great pre-snap reads and adjustments, quickly goes through many progressions when needed and makes good decisions quickly and consistently.
But can he wow? Is he athletic enough to escape the rush or make plays with his feet? Can he be dynamic enough to make game-breaking plays?
Yup:
DraftBreakdown.com
Bridgewater's not fast enough to run for over 2,000 yards like Johnny Manziel did in two seasons at Texas A&M. He doesn't have the frame to shrug off defenders like Bortles or the arm to effortlessly flick it 60 yards like Derek Carr.
Unlike any of three, though, Bridgewater is a complete, polished, NFL-ready passer. His footwork and mechanics are rock solid, and it shows in his consistent accuracy. He can zip intermediate passes; he can throw screens and fades with touch. He places the ball well, especially on crossing routes—something most of the quarterbacks in this class don't consistently do.
He's quick and sure in his pocket management, quick and smooth when stepping or sliding to avoid the rush. He doesn't let his mechanics or focus break down when he moves, either, allowing him to find the open man and deliver an accurate pass.
He also does the little things very well. Here's a great example, where he looks off a safety on a 3rd-and-8 against Rutgers:
DraftBreakdown.com
The play is designed to confuse and attack the single-high safety, with a short- and intermediate-depth crossing route in front of crossing corner and post routes. Shortly after taking the snap and making an initial read of the field, Bridgewater locks in on the crossing tight end:
DraftBreakdown.com
Then, he pulls the trigger, looking for all the world like he's going to throw to the tight end. Instead, he turns past his release point and fires a strike down the near seam—just as he's about to be crushed by a defensive tackle.
The extra time the safety spent frozen, waiting on the underneath route gave the real intended receiver the chance to turn it upfield for big, big yardage. Bridgewater's no-look throw leads his target just right, hitting him in the hands in stride. These are the throws Manziel can't consistently make even when he's staring his receiver down.
Unfortunately for Louisville, the Rutgers corner laid out and made a tremendous ankle tackle to save the play:
DraftBreakdown.com
Even so, Bridgewater did his job here. He knew the design of the play, how to execute it most effectively and he wasn't afraid to stand tall in the pocket and take a hit to make it happen.
Witnesses for the Defense
I'm far from the only media analyst to watch the tape and conclude Bridgewater stands head and shoulders above the rest.
Bleacher Report NFL Draft Lead Writer Matt Miller has had Bridgewater at the top of his draft board throughout his evaluation cycle, without wavering. "He's my top-rated passer and top-ranked overall player," Miller wrote in his April 10 Scouting Notebook. "Call it crazy or stubborn, but this is my guy."
NFL Media's Daniel Jeremiah actually seems to be warming up to Bridgewater.
On January 30, per NFL.com's Dan Greenspan, Jeremiah said Bridgewater didn't "have a 'wow' characteristic" that would induce teams to spend a high pick on him. On May 1, though, Jeremiah told CBS Radio Bridgewater will be the best quarterback to come out of this class.
"I think he’s going to hit the ground running," Jeremiah said, "and I think when you look down the line three or four years from now, I still think he’ll be the top guy."
Sports Illustrated's Doug Farrar did a little soul-searching in his final evaluation of Bridgewater and came away with the same conclusion.
"The more I go back and rewatch Bridgewater tape," Farrar wrote, "the less willing I am to drop into the seemingly common perception that he has some abnormally low ceiling, and that he’ll top off pretty quickly in the NFL."
When it came to pro day concerns, Farrar was blunt and accurate: "Any NFL executive who will throw multiple scouted games out the window based on a shirt-and-shorts session, whether positive or negative, is probably on his way out the door."
The Verdict
One of the big problems with projecting the NFL draft is trying to get it "right." It's assumed that doing the same work NFL teams do and coming up with the same answers they come up with validates the evaluation—so an exceptionally well-done mock draft will correctly predict all the picks, right?
Wrong.
If Bridgewater falls into the second round, that won't make Mayock right and Miller, Jeremiah and Farrar wrong. Bridgewater could still pull a Russell Wilson and play at a high level right away for a good team—like, as ESPN's Chris Mortenson tweeted, the Cincinnati Bengals:
Even if the Bengals aren't really interested in drafting Bridgewater, other teams are. His short-term floor and long-term ceilings are just too high to keep drafting seriously flawed prospects ahead of him. All it takes is for one team to see what I, Miller, Jeremiah, Farrar and many others have seen on tape for Bridgewater's name to be called.
Those who passed on Bridgewater because they didn't weigh his college game film as heavily as small hands, skinny knees, face-of-the-franchise potential and other silly non-football stuff?
They won't need to watch much of Bridgewater's NFL game film to realize they were wrong.by Brian Shilhavy
Health Impact News
This past weekend (June 6, 2015) a historic ban on growing GMO crops went into effect in Jackson County, Oregon. The ban was the result of a ballot initiative in 2014, where citizens voted overwhelmingly to ban the growing of GMO crops in Jackson County, Oregon, by a 65.9% to 34.1% measure. This was seen as a significant victory, since the corporate opposition to the GMO ban spent over $1 million to try and defeat the measure.
Oregon is a major battleground in the U.S. over farming rights, and the problems of GMO contamination. The state of Oregon exports a large amount of their organic and non-GMO crops outside the U.S. to places in Asia, where countries like Japan and China either forbid or restrict the import of U.S. GMO crops. In 2013, when an Oregon farmer discovered unapproved GMO wheat in his field, presumably the result of field trials by Monsanto many years earlier, several countries banned the import of wheat from the U.S., bringing economic hardship on farmers in Oregon.
Just after the GMO ban ballot initiative was passed, two GMO alfalfa farmers sued Jackson County saying the GMO ban would cause them undue financial hardship and violated their constitutional rights. But a federal judge rejected their request to block the ban on May 30th. U.S. Magistrate Judge Mark Clarke ruled that the GMO ban is not pre-empted by Oregon’s “right to farm” law. The GMO alfalfa farmers still have a $4.2 million lawsuit in place asking for compensation due to damages they will allegedly suffer for complying with the ban.
With the apparent backing of the Oregon Farm Bureau President Barry Bushue, some state lawmakers tried to introduce legislation that would allow GMO farmers to be compensated or exempt from the GMO ban, but Oregion Live reports that the proposed legislation died in committee last week.
“I viewed it as a way to say, if you’re gonna change direction and ban someone, you should at least pay them,” said Rep. Brian Clem, D-Salem, the sponsor. “If you don’t want to co-exist, buy the guy out.”
However, the farmers of Jackson County who put together the ballot initiative to ban GMOs say they’re just trying to protect their crops and seeds, which are vulnerable to GMO contamination in the narrow, windy Rogue Valley of Oregon. Oregon Live reports:
Even a minuscule amount of GMO seed can render a non-GMO farmer’s crop unsalable, said Elise Higley, director of Our Family Farms Coalition, a Jackson County group that pushed for the ban. “If GMOs stayed on the land they’re planted on, we wouldn’t be having this problem,” Higley said. Seed growers and non-GMO farmers in Jackson County said they resorted to the initiative after Syngenta representatives refused to reveal the locations of their test plots and stopped coming to Southern Oregon Seedgrowers Association meetings.
What’s Next?
Other counties in Oregon are watching Jackson County closely (as is the whole country, if not the whole world!) to see what happens next. The ban went into effect this past Saturday (June 6, 2015), but Oregon Live is reporting that officials won’t be patrolling or making farmers destroy their plants yet. According to Oregon Live, the ordinance doesn’t require the county to enforce the ban; it just gives leaders the authority to do so.
Jackson County Farm Bureau President Ron Bjork estimates that about 2,000 to 3,000 acres in the county are used for GMO crops, primarily alfalfa and corn for animal feed. “Those folks are not going to leave,” Bjork said. “You can’t tell if alfalfa is GMO just by looking at it. The county would have to go out and test it.”
The county’s Board of Commissioners will most likely wait to see what the outcome of the pending lawsuit the GMO alfalfa farmers have filed for compensation will be before they take any action.
In the meantime, non-GMO farmers seem to have a clear path to sue GMO farmers if their crops are contaminated by GMO crops, which would be a first in the U.S.CHAPTER ONE: Lelouch of the New Beginning
When Lelouch vi Britannia died, he expected brimstone and fire. Instead, he found himself floating in an infinite void, silent and completely still.
'Is this purgatory?' He wondered. He found he could'swim' in the void- not that there was anything to move towards at the moment.
But then there was a light- dim, distant. Lelouch turned his attention to the light and watched as it began to rapidly grow larger and brighter. Before Lelouch could even guess as to what the light was, the light had become blindingly bright and totally engulfed him. Lelouch shut his eyes tightly and suddenly felt grassy ground under him and a breeze on his face. He opened one eye a crack and saw he was in a forest of verdant trees. "So much for purgatory..." muttered Lelouch. He stood up and looked down at himself- he wasn't wearing his emperor's garb, instead he was wearing his red jacket and black t-shirt underneath. "Don't understand how I got an outfit change by dying..." he said, checking his pockets- they were totally empty. He took a look around and began walking around the forest, trying to find a way out.
He found himself lost in the woods after an hour. As he found a clearing, he suddenly heard screeching from above. He looked up in and felt a wave of horror crash over him as he saw a bird the size of a car flying above him- pitch black feathers, clawed fingers on the wingtips, a white mask-like bony protrusion on its face and four red eyes that glowed balefully as it looked down upon Lelouch and chose him as its prey.
'I take it back, this is Hell!' Lelouch thought before running for the trees. The flying abomination screeched as it flew low over the treetops and raining spear-like feathers around Lelouch. One landed only half a foot to his right as he ran for his life. He was quickly running out of breath and was slowing despite all his efforts to keep running. The bird screeched again as it let loose another volley of feathers.
"I'd advise you to duck!" shouted a woman's voice from in the forest. Lelouch went prone and immediately there was a crack of thunder and lightning struck the massive bird down. Lelouch turned to see a bespectacled blond woman in a skirt and tattered cape holding what appeared to be a riding crop. She gave it a flick and the feathers launched by the monster suddenly glowed with a purple light before being uprooted from the ground and launched right into the bird's head killing it. Lelouch looked at the woman with bewilderment. "What was that?" he asked hysterically. "That was you almost getting yourself killed by Grimm." said the woman.
"Grimm...?" Lelouch parroted the term unfamiliar to him. The woman looked at him skeptically. "You're kidding." she said, giving Lelouch a dubious glance. "There is no way you don't know what Grimm are-"
Something beeped in the woman's pocket and she stopped mid-sentence to pull out a phone-like device, glancing at the screen and sighing. "It seems that Ozpin wants me to escort you to him."
"Wait, who's Ozpin-"
Glynda gave a flick of her crop and suddenly Lelouch was hurled into the air screaming, flying up past the cliff face and slowing to a stop a few inches over the top of the cliff.
About half an hour later, Lelouch was seated before the man known as 'Ozpin'- a gray-haired man with shaded spectacles and a green scarf. When Ozpin asked his name, Lelouch used his assumed last name- 'Lamperouge'. He'd figured that this wasn't the afterlife and that he'd somehow ended up here. If he was in a new world, he was going to make a new life for himself.
"I'm curious, Lelouch, where are you from?" asked Ozpin. Lelouch struggled to come up with a response. "I'm...not from around here." he said half-truthfully.
"I see," Ozpin said before showing Lelouch his Scroll, a video of surveillance camera footage in Emerald Forest loaded up. "Maybe that will explain this."
Ozpin pushed the play button and the video showed an empty clearing for a few seconds before a flash obscured everything in the camera's sight- when it went away, Lelouch was sprawled out on the ground. Lelouch felt his palms getting sweaty with anxiety- he had no idea how he was going to explain this. If he said he was a dead man who was from another world, they'd either have Lelouch committed to a mental hospital or, worse, they'd believe him and proceed to do tests on him.
Ozpin seemed to sense Lelouch's nervousness and gave him a reassuring smile. "You don't have to worry, Lelouch. We're not interested in where you come from, just that you're safe."
"What was that thing that attacked me? I think your associate called it a 'Grimm'..."
Ozpin explained what the Grimm were to Lelouch- voracious monsters that try to destroy humanity and all its creations. They didn't need to feed, but chose to...from what Lelouch was being told, they were pure evil given form and life. Ozpin also explained the existence of Hunters and Huntresses- valiant warriors who served as the best defense against the Grimm. Lelouch thought of this and thought- he had been willing to sacrifice himself to bring peace to his world at the cost of his name and his life. But could he do it here? He knew he wouldn't be much of a Hunter as he was- scrawny, easily exhausted, practically a wet noodle- but if he could find a way to be trained, he could fight. He could protect those who couldn't protect themselves.
"How can I become a Hunter?" asked Lelouch.
Glynda gave Lelouch a frustrated look. "I doubt you could. Getting into a Hunting academy like Beacon takes 2 years of combat training at a preparatory combat academy like Signal, and students enroll there when they're 15. You're too old to enroll at a combat academy."
"I'm a fast learner." said Lelouch. "Even if that is the case, you hardly have the physicality to fight a Grimm." said Glynda. "You don't even have a weapon!"
Ozpin furrowed his brow, thinking deeply. "Perhaps if we condensed his training..." he said. "Enrollment at Beacon doesn't begin for another five months...and if Lelouch is the academic he makes himself out to be, all that would stand in his way would be combat training...something I think you would be perfect to supervise, Glynda."
The teacher balked. "Ozpin, have you gone insane? The boy's a twig with legs, the Grimm will eat him alive!"
"Thanks for the vote of confidence," deadpanned Lelouch, earning him an icy glare from Glynda. "You're the best teacher to whip him into shape." Ozpin said to Glynda. Lelouch grimaced, remembering Glynda's choice of weaponand fearing that Glynda would take that phrase literally.
Glynda sighed, resigning herself to the fate of being Lelouch's mentor.
The five months were living hell for Lelouch- it began with rigorous physical exercises that pushed him beyond his limits- long sprints, hundreds of situps and pushups, and having to hold himself up by a horizontal bar ten feet off the ground for a half hour at a time.
When Lelouch wasn't being driven to his breaking point, he was studying everything about the world of Remnant- from 'Aura' (the manifestation of a person's soul, protecting them from fatal blows but depleted if pushed too far) and 'Semblances' (a projection of Aura that gave a person a unique ability) to Dust (a natural energy propellant that could power technology and be used in weaponry, imbuing it with elemental power) and weapon design. Glynda was surprised at just how quickly Lelouch understood the concepts of life in Remnant- he could name Grimm just by being shown a silhouette, he could name all the major Dust types, and had practically memorized the history books.
Eventually, Lelouch had gotten all he could from basic workouts, and it was starting to show. While he wasn't looking much more muscular, he was definitely more toned in appearance, and physically felt better.
The training only proved to get more difficult. Glynda tried to instruct him on the use of multiple weapon types, trying to find the one that Lelouch was best suited to. Eventually, Glynda found Lelouch had an affinity for using a quarterstaff. After getting Lelouch familiar with the weapon, he was assigned to designing his own weapon. He consulted the weapon design documents and considered creating a hybrid quarterstaff-rifle, but when he went to a shooting range to test his compatibility with the rifle, he found the kickback to be a bit much- as in it took him more than two seconds to recover from the recoil, something he couldn't risk in combat.
He went back to the notes he compiled on Dust usage and developed a staff with a revolving series of Dust chambers located near one end of the staff. The Dust could be activated by a button near the other end, and both the chamber controls and the release button were located near where Lelouch would hold the staff, so he could easily change Dust types with one hand and activate the Dust with the other.
In that five months, Lelouch went through what most people undertook over two years and came out stronger, more determined to be a Hunter. However, during that whole time he more or less lived in an empty dorm room and didn't leave Beacon's campus. He helped out at the school library in exchange for food and board. But even sheltered from the rest of Remnant, he found that the Grimm wasn't the only problem Remnant had.
He had been working in the library one afternoon when he heard a girl's pleading voice: "Stop, let go!" Lelouch peered around a bookshelf to see a pink-haired girl tugging on a brown-haired girl's rabbit ears. Lelouch recognized the rabbit-eared girl as a Faunus- a subspecies of humans that possessed an animalistic physical feature such as claws or animal ears or tails. He also knew that Faunus sometimes got mistreated for being different, but didn't know the extent of said mistreatment. Lelouch rubbed an itchy eye as he approached the two. "What's going on here?" he asked. The pink-haired girl gave Lelouch a smile, releasing her grip on the Faunus girl's ear and acting like she was innocent.
"Just messing around with my friend here, isn't that right, Velvet?" she said in a sickly-sweet voice. Velvet nodded, obviously fearing what the girl would do if she contradicted her. Lelouch rubbed at his eye again- did he put in his anti-Geass contacts wrong? He didn't know if he still had his Geass, but he was wearing them as a precaution. He opened his eye and looked at the instigator. "I want you to leave her alone." he said, and the girl's face went blank. "I understand." she said dully before walking away. Lelouch felt a pang of dread. I still have my Geass...I thought I was free from this damn curse!
Velvet stepped towards Lelouch with a worried expression on her face. "Are you okay?" she asked. Lelouch made a point of looking down, making sure he didn't make eye contact with her. If she looked him in the eyes, anything he said could be construed as a command she'd have to obey. "I think my contact fell out." he said, sweeping his hand over the library floor, keeping his contact-free eye shut tight as he felt around. Velvet got on hands and knees and did the same, before picking it up. "This your contact?" she asked, holding it out |
to accommodate the fuming officer. The goal of the patrol shifted, from looking for bad guys in Baraki Barak to simply preserving the strained friendship between the Americans and Afghans.
"This did not go as planned," Odland admitted.
Ironically, the Americans' greatest advantage contributed to the patrol's failure. By being too advanced for their Afghan comrades, the Americans highlighted a fundamental incompatibility between the U.S. military and the native forces it is prepping to take over security in Afghanistan.
When the U.S. leads, this incompatibility is less severe. But with Afghans necessarily taking charge, the more advanced Americans must sometimes surrender their advantage.
It's worth it, because only by Afghans stepping up will the foreign coalition ever be able to leave Afghanistan. But that doesn't mean the pill goes down easy, when all-seeing American night-fighters must ignore their own incredible vision, to meet the Afghans at their half-blind level.
Video: David Axe
See Also:New pay boxes are coming to Chicago's streets. View Full Caption DNAinfo/Mike Brockway
CHICAGO — Some of the most coveted real estate in Chicago will disappear in the coming months.
Drivers who rely on free street parking spots will likely have to feed a meter in the coming months under a plan approved by the City Council as part of the 2017 budget.
The firm that leases Chicago's parking meters got the green light to install 752 new parking meters — 153 in the Loop — with the rest spread throughout the city.
Drivers will also pay $2 more to park at a meter near Wrigley Field starting two hours before Chicago Cubs games and other special events at the Friendly Confines and ending one hour afterward.
Drivers will have to pay more to park near Wrigley Field before and after games and special events. [City of Chicago]
Those efforts will generate $5.4 million, but it won't directly benefit the city. Instead, it will be used to offset the $12 million the city pays every year to the company that leases the city's meter system for spots that are out of service.
The spending plan also puts an end to free parking in loading zones in the 2nd, 27th and 42nd wards. It would cost $14 to park for an hour and add $13 million to $18 million to the city's bottom line every year.
Here's where the new meters will go:
• The south side of the 100 block of West Huron Street
• The west side of the 700 block of North LaSalle Street
• The south side of the first block of West Superior Street
• The north side of the 100 block of West Superior Street
• Both sides of the 400 block of West Taylor Street
• Both sides of the 2000 block of South Archer Avenue
• The south side of the 1907-1933 block of West Cermak Road
• The north side of the 1902-1908 block of West Cermak Road
• The east side of the street from 1800 South Wentworth Avenue through 2000 South Wentworth Avenue
• The east side of the street from 1800 South Wentworth Avenue through 1900 South Wentworth Avenue
• The west side of the street from 2000 South Western Avenue through 2100 South Western Avenue
• The east side of the street from 1801-1843 South Western Avenue
• The east side of the street of the 400 block of West Chicago Avenue
• The north side of the street of the 300 block of West Chestnut Avenue
• Both sides of the street in the 200 block of West Locust Street
• Both sides of the street in the 300 block of West Walton Street
• Both sides of the street in the 300 block of West Oak Street
• Both sides of the street in the 1700 block of West Taylor Street
• Both sides of the street in the 2000 block of West Taylor Street
• both sides of the street from 1000-1100 South Seeley Avenue
• Both sides of the street in the 2000 block of West Grenshaw Street
• Both sides of the street from 1000-1100 South Hoyne Avenue
• Both sides of the street in the 100 block of North Canal Street
• The north side of the street in the 500 block of West Chicago Avenue
• The south side of the street in the 600 block of West Fulton Street
• The west side of the street in the 800 block of North Hudson Avenue
• Both sides of the street in the 200 block of North LaSalle Street
• The west side of the 500 block of North Saint Claire Street
• Both sides of the street in the 800 block of North Sedgwick Street
• The east side of the street in the 700 block of North Sedgwick Street
• Both sides of the street in the 200 block of North Garvey Court
• The north side of the street in the 100 block of West Lake Street
• The North side of the street in the 300 block of West Lake Street
• The south side of the street from the first block of East Madison Street
• The north side of the street from the first block of West Washington Street
• The north side of the street from the 600-700 block of North Kinzie Street
• The south side of the street from the 300-400 block of East North Water Street
• Both sides of the street from 300 East-300 West Wacker Drive on the upper level
• Both sides of the street from 500 South-300 North Wacker Drive on the upper level
For more neighborhood news, listen to DNAinfo Radio here.Watch Stassi’s sit-down interview with HollywoodLife.com, including a re-enactment of her infamous Kristen slap at 3:45. Enjoy!
What would Vanderpump Rules look like without puppet-master Stassi Schroeder pulling the strings, making the wait staff of SUR dance like sexy little monkeys at her every whim? We might soon find out, as the show’s HBIC tells HollywoodLife.com that she’s done with the drama — and the west coast, in general.
Stassi Quitting ‘Vanderpump Rules’?
During a recent visit to our Times Square office, Ms. Schroeder revealed that she now calls the Big Apple “home,” as she’s moved on — and moved in — with boyfriend Patrick Meagher.
“I just realized that my life was just so toxic,” Stassi told us. “Like, everything was so toxic. No one was a good friend, besides Katie, obviously. I just needed to take myself out of that environment. I can’t be a waitress forever. Come on, eventually we were all going to start moving on.”
Honestly, there’s a lot of important information in the interview, including why Stassi probably won’t be attending Scheana Marie‘s wedding, so give it a look.
HollywoodLifers, can you imagine Vanderpump Rules without Stassi? Drop a comment with your thoughts on the future of Bravo’s reality treasure below.
— Andy Swift
Follow @AndySwift
More ‘Vanderpump Rules’:Yesterday, the University and Colleges Admissions Service (Ucas) announced a sharp drop in the number of university applicants for the first year of £9,000 fees. The official government narrative – that the 9% drop is merely a readjustment for a similar rise in applications for places before the fee rise – is paper thin. In fact, ministers have offered no serious explanation or sense of reflection at all. Most crucially, no analysis has been offered as to who has chosen not to apply, or why.
The reality, as major studies have suggested ever since tuition fees were introduced, is that rocketing tuition fees have pushed bright students from working-class backgrounds away from university.
This is supported by the fact that the biggest drop to occur is among people over the age of 23 – often among the most disadvantaged set of applicants. These mature students are not the Willetts fantasy of "ill-informed" 18-year-olds, failing to understand that debt repayments are income-linked. The fact is that the government is in the process of creating a system driven by consumer choice, in which the rational money-driven decision could be never to apply to university.
The only possible result of this process will be fewer people going to university, or, to put it more accurately, fewer working-class people going to university. For those not fortunate enough to get good grades at a nice secondary school, a degree in some subjects, costing £27,000 before living costs, will result in a net earning loss over your lifetime. Education as a life-enhancing, horizon-broadening experience – even if only inadvertently and in passing – is being snatched away, both by the ideology of the system, and now by debt and post-graduation data.
Even without this process, the result of the government's programme for education will be the systematic exclusion of many of Britain's less affluent prospective students. The market system – put in motion by Labour's introduction of fees and moved to its logical conclusion by the coalition's higher education white paper – will starve newer universities of teaching grants, concentrating wealth into the hands of whatever the market, regulated by the Research Excellence Framework (REF) and mechanisms like it, decides is best.
A quiet cull of "unprofitable" courses has been taking place for some time: students at London Met, Britain's most working-class university, have lost their history and philosophy departments. A report released by the UCU this year found that the number of courses on offer in England has declined by almost a third in four years.
On the surface, course cuts, fees and marketisation, not to mention the abolition of EMA, appear to be the betrayal of a generation; but in truth they stem from a deeper and more typical Tory agenda. The 9% drop in applicants will not be from the sons and daughters of government ministers, whose parents can pay, or whose knowledge of the system and schooling means that they can be assured that university will be a sound investment, not a financial nightmare.
Equally, the winners from the white paper, if there are winners at all, will be "world class" and research-intensive universities. Fees and marketisation may yet boost the global prestige of a handful of Britain's universities, and the collective ego of the likes of universities minister David Willetts and the vice chancellors who inform his thinking, but their broader social implications will be a disaster for the vast majority of ordinary people.
The latest Ucas data is not at its root a lesson in students getting the "wrong information", or the fact that the government's reform programme is often chaotic and dysfunctional, which it is. The truth is that the reforms are having broadly the desired effect: higher education is shrinking and increasingly being privatised, and different tiers of learning are developing – some for the elite, and some for the rest.
The key question as students and trade unions prepare for another autumn of discontent will be "who pays?", and when Ucas releases reports on student numbers, attention is focused on fees. This narrative is in part correct, but if education and other evaporating public services are to be saved, we must also be clear that student numbers are more than statistics; they are the symptoms of a rapidly accelerating class war.
• Follow Comment is free on Twitter @commentisfreeA claim of sexual harassment of any kind is now the nuclear option in American politics. It was most famously (although unsuccessfully) deployed against Clarence Thomas, 27 years ago, near the end of his confirmation hearings, by a former subordinate, Anita Hill. To this day, Justice Thomas’s detractors believe Hill, but Thomas has always denied Hill’s charges; and while, in my opinion, the evidence supported Thomas’s version of the story, when it is a matter of “he said; she said,” it is usually difficult, if not impossible, to know who is telling the truth.
No doubt, women are often subject to horrible abuse by powerful men. When the abuse is recent, continuing, and well-documented—as it was and is, for example in the case of Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein—it is only right that the full force of the media and society, and perhaps even criminal prosecution be used to punish the perpetrator and secure justice for the victims. But it is also true that fabricated charges of sexual harassment are difficult conclusively to rebut, and it is nearly impossible to repair a falsely besmirched reputation, as we learned, for example, in the case of the Duke lacrosse players or the more recent incident involving the University of Virginia fraternity.
So what are we to think about the recent bombshell allegations against Alabama U.S. Senate candidate Judge Roy Moore? The judge—known as the Ten Commandments judge, for his defiance of the federal courts when he was a sitting Alabama jurist and ordered (wrongly, it could be argued) to remove representations of the Decalogue from his courtroom—has been accused by three women of engaging in inappropriate sexual contact. One of those women reportedly was only 14 (the age of consent in Alabama was 16 at the time), when Moore was 32, almost four decades ago. Moore flatly and vehemently denies the allegations, published in the Washington Post, a liberal newspaper that endorsed his Democratic opponent.
Moore, a Republican, had been comfortably ahead in the polls in a state that has now been very red for some time. The U.S. Senate is nearly evenly divided between the two parties, and if the Democrat defeats Moore in the election a month from now, the Democrats would have a much better chance of defeating the legislative initiatives of the Trump Administration. The stakes, in other words, could not be higher, and this is one of the most chilling examples in this country of politics as a blood sport.
If the then-single and adult Moore did the acts of which he was accused with a minor, it is not clear that his conduct was necessarily criminal (since his conduct, while clearly immoral may not have violated any statutes). But if illegal, it is also clear that he would now be immune from prosecution, since the statute of limitations for any such crimes would have passed long ago. A statute of limitations forbids the government from bringing any charges regarding acts that occurred far in the past because of the risk that memories will have lapsed, corroborating witnesses may no longer be available, and any supplemental forensic proof would likely no longer exist.
Ours is a system of jurisprudence in which the accused is presumed innocent until proven guilty; it takes proof beyond a reasonable doubt to convict one of criminal acts, and even in a civil court one cannot prevail without a preponderance of evidence. Thus, “he said, she said” matters, in court, are losers. In the court of public opinion, however, slander, calumny, and unscrupulousness can prevail, which is why, strangely enough, America’s Founders used to say there were only two ways to ruin a republic: an excess of luxury and the licentiousness of the press.
Is it licentious of the Washington Post to publish these allegations, which, even if they were true, occurred more than four decades ago? The founders probably employed the word “licentious” in its older connotation to denote behavior that went against established rules or practices, rather than the new meaning of sexually illicit or promiscuous. Even so, these days sex sells and not only is it politically potent, in our prurient age a charge such as that levied against Roy Moore is likely to be trumpeted to the four corners of our country by every conceivable media outlet.
There was a time when there were customs of restraint regarding sexual innuendo and rumor, perhaps because of the difficulties of proof and the radioactive nature of the charges. That time is now gone. Current misconduct ought to be exposed, but is it asking too much once again to secure some sort of statute of limitations or standards for sexually sensational reportage?NEWS BRIEF French authorities shut down 20 mosques and prayer halls they found to be preaching radical Islamic ideology since December, French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said Monday.
Lutte contre la #radicalisation : depuis décembre 2015, une vingtaine de lieux de culte musulman ont été fermés — Ministère Intérieur (@Place_Beauvau) August 1, 2016
“Fight against the # radicalization: since December 2015, twenty Muslim places of worship have been closed,” the Interior Ministry tweeted.
Of the country’s 2,500 mosques and prayer halls, approximately 120 of them have been suspected by French authorities of preaching radical Salafism, a fundamentalist interpretation of Sunni Islam, according to France 24.
“There is no place... in France for those who call for and incite hatred in prayer halls or in mosques … About 20 mosques have been closed, and there will be others,” Cazeneuve said.
The announcement came days after French Prime Minister Manuel Valls called for a temporary ban on foreign funding of French mosques. A Senate committee report on Islam in France published in July found that though the country’s mosques are primarily financed through individual donations, a significant portion of their funding also comes from overseas—specifically from Morocco, Algeria, and Saudi Arabia. The same report called banning foreign financing of mosques “absurd and impossible,” calling instead for more transparency.Everyone’s suddenly going electric, so India is doing it too. In the past six months, Norway, Germany, Britain, France and China have announced their intention to end the use of fossil fuels in cars by 2040 at the latest. Germany aims to do it as early as 2025.
Although several of these governments have hedged their statements saying that they will switch to electric cars or alternate fuels, everyone knows that, with the possible exception of China, which already has a large coal-based methanol programme running, they are talking about electric cars. So to no one’s surprise, the Indian government has also hastened to fall in line.
In May this year, NITI Aayog, India’s revamped Planning Commission, electrified the Indian elite by announcing that India would aim at replacing its entire passenger vehicle fleet with electric cars by 2040. “India can save 64% of anticipated passenger road-based mobility-related energy demand and 37% of carbon emissions in 2030 by pursuing a shared, electric, and connected mobility future,” it announced. “This would result in a reduction of 156 Mtoe (million tonnes of oil equivalent) in diesel and petrol consumption for that year.” In the same month, Piyush Goyal, the-then minister of power, said that not a single petrol or diesel passenger vehicle should be sold in India from that year onwards.
On September 7, Amitabh Kant, chief executive of NITI Aayog, told the annual meeting of the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM), an industry lobby, that India would have 30.81 million electric cars on the road by 2030. None of those present could tell how he had been able to arrive at the second place decimal, to within 10,000 cars of what would happen 13 years hence.
The very next day, the newly appointed minister for transport somewhat incautiously told the assembled automakers that they would be “bulldozed” into switching to electric and alternate fuel vehicles if they did not do so voluntarily.
Automobile manufacturers are predictably incensed – and the Modi government’s electric car dream is only the latest development in a long-series of general industry policy flip-flops.
Not well thought out
Was it well thought out? Did any analysis of costs and returns precede this sudden announcement? A look at the draft energy policy for 2040, which was released in June, shows that there was none. For the plan, which estimates that India’s total energy consumption will treble by 2040, predicts that in an “ambitious energy-saving scenario,” the share of fossil fuels will only come down from 81% in 2012 to 78% in 2040. Transport will account for 25% of this.
Only 16% of the oil and 5% of the gas that the “business as usual” scenario would have required will have been saved, mainly through increases in fuel efficiency. Quite obviously, at the time when the policy was being finalised, electric cars had not yet entered the government’s dreams.
What none of the governments that have made this commitment have thought about is its feasibility. The first question any transport minister should have raised was, “Is it feasible?”. One small question would have shown that it is not. The batteries that supply power to electric cars use nickel, cobalt, aluminium, graphite and lithium. All these are rare earths, whose availability in the earth’s crust is far smaller than that of coal and oil.
This poses two problems. First, will there be enough to power the more than two billion cars that will be on the road in 2040, not to mention the billions upon billions of electric bicycles and scooters? Second, will enough new reserves of these be found to offset the amount being mined every year? If the discovery of new reserves falls short of the annual increase in consumption, it will immediately trigger speculation on their future prices in commodity markets, which will push their prices into the stratosphere.
How sensitive these prices are can be judged from the fact that the fall in price of lithium reversed itself sharply at the end of 2015, when the major automakers committed themselves to making electric cars. By mid-2017, they had risen by 50% over the 2015 price.
Wishful thinking
The propagandists for the electric car argue that since lithium accounts for no more than 2% by weight of the most advanced of today’s car batteries, production will be able to keep up with demand and iron out short term price fluctuations. But this is wishful thinking.
The lithium-ion battery that powers the latest Tesla weighs 540 kg and contains close to ten kg of lithium. If the world’s governments wish to wean the world off fossil fuels, they will have to wean two billion conventional passenger cars off fossil fuels. This will require close to 20 million tonnes of lithium. If the number of passenger cars grows by 2% a year and batteries last an average of eight years (the current warranty period on the Tesla), the annual demand for lithium will be in the neighbourhood of 580,000 tonnes.
Even that will reduce the consumption of fossil fuels by somewhere around half, for it does not take into account the consumption of the road haulage industry or the billions of two-wheelers that also consume gasoline today. Against this the entire global production of lithium was 160,000 tonnes in 2015. Since it is rising at 8.8%, it is expected to reach 239,000 tonnes by 2021, according to Macquarie Research. At that rate, it will cross a million tonnes a year before 2040. Can the increase be sustained? The short answer: No. The total amount of lithium in the earth’s crust is an estimated 13.1 million tonnes, according to the US Geological Survey.
Led by the nose
Why then are governments tumbling over each other to announce plans to stop the production of cars that run on petrol or diesel within the next two decades? The answer is that they are being led by the nose by the global automobile industry. As of now, Volvo, Toyota, BMW, Daimler-Benz, General Motors, Chrysler-Fiat, Renault, Honda, Kia, Mitsubishi, Nissan, Volkswagen and Tata have announced plans to make electric cars. They have done this because they know even if their governments do not, there simply isn’t enough rare earths and metals in the earth’s crust to permit a complete shift out of petrol and diesel. So their massive investments in the auto industry will remain safe while they exploit the consumers’ growing fear of climate change to make a fast buck.
Electric cars are therefore a blind alley up which the giant oligopolies that dominate the market economy are taking the world. It is not the first one, for wind and solar photovoltaic power are also in no position to replace even a small part of the electricity that the world consumes. Had there genuinely been no alternative to oil-based petrol and diesel, the mad dash to electric cars would have been excusable. But the technology for converting carbon monoxide and hydrogen, obtained from biomass, into any olefin or transport fuel via the Fischer-Tropsch synthesis has been known for a hundred years and was first used to convert urban solid waste into methanol commercially in the US in 1922.
Today, it can do this with any kind of biomass in the world. Thus the determination of big businesses to lead the world up the blind alley of electric cars at a time when climate change is very obviously accelerating is utterly inexcusable. For the Indian government to fall for it is just plain dumb.
Prem Shankar Jha is a senior journalist and the author of several books including Crouching Dragon, Hidden Tiger: Can China and India Dominate the West?. This article was first published on India Climate Dialogue and has been republished with permission here.My great-uncle Alfred Hollis was in his early 40s when he died; he was a bachelor and had never worked. According to my aunt, he was always dressed beautifully, quite beyond his means. In the only photograph I have of him, he is sporting a rakishly angled wide-brimmed hat with a feather in its band, a high, stiff collar, a waistcoat and a long jacket. He is leaning his hip elegantly against his stick and holds a cigarette in his left hand. Parkland stretches behind him. He has written on the picture: "The one and only... I took this 15 years ago."
In the winter of 1938-39, Alfred visited the south of France with his sister Amelia and her husband Albert Emery, my maternal grandparents. Amelia wrote in her diary in January 1939 that they were "nicely settled in a charming hotel on the promenade of Cap Martin... the beautiful blue sea under my window and oranges and lemons growing along the streets". She described the distractions of the resort, in particular the casinos, and her "great difficulty" in stopping "my husband in trying to break the bank". Alfred may also have enjoyed the nightlife, but his main aim must have been to improve his health, or perhaps just to die in a pleasant place. He had spent much of his adult life in Ware Park sanatorium in Hertfordshire. Nine of his siblings had died of TB, in infancy or childhood. Now he seemed likely to follow; he was already so weak that, to his great chagrin, he had to wear a leather and steel surgical corset.
I have been told different stories about his death on January 28, 1939. My mother maintained that he died in a sanatorium near Menton. My aunt, on the other hand, remembers being told that, coming down for dinner, my grandmother found her brother sitting in an armchair in the hotel lounge with a martini in his hand, a small drop of blood on his closed lips the only indication of death. Amelia and Albert stayed on to arrange the funeral and burial in the hilltop cemetery of Roquebrune, above Menton. They chose a grave plot, the lease on which, according to the usual practice in France, had to be renewed after 10 years.
WB Yeats died in Cap Martin on the same day. His family chose the same sort of plot; the two men were buried alongside each other and their graves marked by plain white marble slabs bearing just their names and dates. Family photographs show both graves strewn with wreaths and flowers and Alfred's headstone has an ornate wire frame fixed behind it, covered with more flowers. Amelia and Albert were the only mourners at Alfred's funeral on January 30 1939. According to the Paris correspondent of the Times, those at Yeats's graveside included "Mrs Yeats, Mr Dermod O'Brien, the President of the Royal Hibernian Academy of Arts, and Lady Gerald Wellesley, the poetess".
In February 1947, my grandparents again made the trip to the south of France, accompanied this time by their teenage daughters. My mother recalled her intense excitement, and the ivory-framed sunglasses and frocks bought for the trip. In one of her daily letters to my father, she described their visit to the cemetery at Roquebrune. All the graves in the part of the cemetery where Alfred was buried had disappeared. Although they went to the local officials and the priest, they couldn't find any trace of his grave and no one knew or would say what had happened to his remains.
The explanation given to my distraught grandmother was that there had been fighting around Roquebrune and that, in the confusion, all burial records had been lost. The family was determined to discover what had happened to Alfred's body. "I must say if ever my husband said he would do a thing," my grandmother wrote in her diary, "he would do it and I have never known him to let me down."
In the Times of January 6 1948, my grandfather read that Yeats's "last wish", expressed to his wife, was that his remains be returned to Ireland for reburial in Drumcliffe churchyard, County Sligo, where he had "spent his early days and where his father lived and his great-grandfather was once rector". Arrangements for the exhumation were being made, according to the Sligo corporation and its mayor, AJ Dolan. How was this possible? The Yeats family must have known that the graves had been destroyed during the war. Or did they know something my grandfather didn't? Alternatively, were the authorities trying to cover up the fact that the graves had been destroyed?
Albert wrote to Yeats's son, Michael. His letter has not survived but the reply has. It is a kind letter, and Yeats agrees with Albert that "the position with regard to the cemetery at Roquebrune would appear to be more than a little confused". He had not been to Roquebrune himself, but says that he was told that the disturbed remains were removed to an unmarked corner of the cemetery. "In the case of my father certainly, and probably also in the case of your brother-in-law, the concession given was a 10-year one, and should not therefore have expired until early next year.
But it would seem that during the war, changes occurred in the administration of Roquebrune cemetery, and conditions were for a time much disturbed - you will remember that fighting took place in and around Roquebrune... they have clearly made a mistake as regards the time for which certain of the concessions were granted. As far as the remains of my father are concerned, they have been traced and are now lying in a vault ready to be taken home as soon as transport can be arranged. But you will understand that the circumstances in this case were exceptional."
Albert was unhappy with the response. He hadn't seen any unmarked graves in the cemetery. And, more disturbing, he had read in the press that the body waiting to go to Ireland was said by a French doctor to have been encased in a steel and leather surgical corset.
The arrangements for Yeats's reburial continued. On August 20, the Times reported that in two days' time the corvette Macha would leave Cork for Dublin, and that Sean MacBride, the minister for external affairs, would join the ship on its journey to Villefranche, where the casket said to contain the poet's remains would be collected. The Macha would then return to Sligo Bay, where a state funeral was being arranged.
The Times correspondent at Marseille reported that the casket had been collected on September 6 in the presence of Sean Murphy, the Irish government's representative in Paris, M Haag, prefect of the Alpes Maritimes, and a detachment of French troops. The next report says that the remains were interred on September 17 in Drumcliffe churchyard, after first lying in state at Sligo town hall. Picture Post added that the Yeats family had wanted a quiet ceremony but the government had insisted on a state funeral with full honours.
The Times didn't mention that there was some doubt about who was buried in Drumcliffe, but my grandfather's questions were echoed in the Picture Post of October 9 1948. John Ormond Thomas, a staff journalist, had made inquiries at Roquebrune and "despite close questioning and examination of all the people who should have been able to produce conclusive proof", he was "still not convinced" of the identity of the body in the casket. Local officials at first denied that Yeats had ever been buried there, and later told him that they had discovered that the death had been entered in the register under the name "William Butler".
They wouldn't let him see the register and didn't seem to understand how important Yeats was. Thomas was also shown two different plots where Yeats was supposed to have been buried, one by the sexton, who had not been present at the exhumation, and another by the undertaker. The first plot seemed to have been reused, although it was now empty; the date on the headstone was 1946. It didn't look like the grave shown in the photographs published in the Irish Times during the war. Thomas went to look at the casket, which stood in the chapel "before a small altar that was covered with jampots that had once held flowers" with a madonna and "mildewing cherubs" looking down from the damp walls.
It was all very odd: the casket looked too new to have been in the earth for nine years, but the plaque on its lid was very tarnished. My grandfather wrote to Picture Post and received a reply from the assistant editor, EC Castle: "What you say," he wrote, "seems to justify the doubts which our staff journalist and photographer had when they started to ask questions about the grave at Roquebrune." On October 25, he heard from John Thomas, who said that the editor wanted to thank Albert for his letter and a subsequent visit he had made to their London office, but they had decided that "it would be best for us not to pursue the matter further in Picture Post, if only out of respect for the Yeats family's feelings". He enclosed an office memo:
Dr William Patrick Griffin, who is a Harley Street physician, says that he has definite proof that when the body of the Irish poet WB Yeats was brought home from abroad in 1948 and buried with great ceremony in Sligo, the coffin contained not WB Yeats but a man whom of all people the Irish thoroughly disliked. He knows the name but was unwilling to divulge it at this stage. He would like to discuss the matter, and terms, with someone. He understands that we pay generously for exclusives. I told him we would ring him.
This note is typed on unheaded paper, although an address, 530 Fulham Pal. Rd SW8, is scrawled on the bottom. Nothing more is known about Griffin's claims - my great-uncle appears to have had no connection with Ireland - but they make clear that others were aware of the doubt as to the identity of the body in Drumcliffe.
My grandfather was also told by Picture Post that his activities were threatening relations between Ireland and France. Others agreed. Hugh McNally of the Daily Express wrote to Albert, saying that he had "gone into the whole affair" and had also decided not to "publicise what had happened". The warnings must have had a great effect on my grandfather: he didn't investigate the matter any further.
Some of the confusion can perhaps be explained by a visit Yeats's last lover, Edith Shackleton, made to Roquebrune accompanied by the painter Gluck in the summer of 1947. This is what Gluck's biographer, Diana Souhami, reports: the two women, having searched in vain for Yeats's grave, questioned the local priest, Abbé Biancheri, and Pierre Reynault, director of Maison Roblot, a firm of undertakers at Menton; they also visited Roquebrune town hall.
They were told that Yeats had been buried in a "fosse commune", a pauper's grave, and that the site had long since been dug up and the bones placed in the communal ossuary. None of this tallies with either Michael Yeats's or my grandparents' account, and is belied by the photographs Albert took at the funeral. Biancheri did, however, speak to César Lottier, the official responsible for exhumations and the maintenance of graves. He then wrote to Shackleton and Gluck saying that Lottier had only a vague memory of the exhumation, but that he thought a "surgical truss circled with thin strips of steel" had encased the body believed to be Yeats's.
The women hurriedly consulted the artist Edmund Dulac, a close friend of Yeats's, who wrote to Biancheri on June 27 1947 imploring him not to let the matter go any further. The priest was asked to reveal nothing, no matter who came to question him, and to make sure that no one else said anything either. He was even asked to check the identity of any member of the Yeats family who visited the cemetery and, should anyone else ask questions, to say that his duties did not permit him to reveal the whereabouts of any grave. The abbé agreed.
When, three months later, Shackleton and Dulac read in the Times details of the arrangements for the poet's exhumation and reburial in Ireland, they wrote to his widow, George Yeats, told her what they had found out and tried to persuade her to abandon the plan. They didn't feel they could rely on the abbé's discretion and were worried that another body might be substituted for Yeats's to avoid a scandal. George Yeats contacted the French ambassador in Ireland and seems to have been content with his assurances that there would be no difficulty in returning her husband's remains. On March 31 1948, Abbé Biancheri again wrote to Dulac saying that, though he himself had been unable to attend the exhumation on March 17, Reynault, Lottier, a police inspector from Paris, the mayor of Roquebrune and a nameless "medical expert" had all been present. A body now lay in a casket in the chapel of rest and, despite the doubts, would be taken to Drumcliffe churchyard.
More than 20 years later, in the early 1970s, John Ormond Thomas, now working for the BBC in Cardiff, arrived at my mother's house wanting to speak to my grandmother. He was trying to trace the mysterious and avaricious Harley Street physician. He must have failed for nothing more was said until Souhami's book was published.
In October 1988, the Independent and the Irish Times carried a letter from Michael and Anne Yeats disputing Souhami's suggestion that their father had been buried in a pauper's grave. Their mother, they said, was |
tonight. His tenacity and aggressive play is exactly what the Pacers needed when the game was starting to get ugly.I recently resized the hard drive of a VM from 150 GB to 500 GB in VMWare ESXi. After doing this, I used Gparted to effectively resize the partition of this image. Now all I have to do is to resize the file system, since it still shows the old value (as you can see from the output of df -h ):
Filesystem Size Used Avail Use% Mounted on /dev/mapper/owncloud--vg-root 157G 37G 112G 25% / udev 488M 4.0K 488M 1% /dev tmpfs 100M 240K 100M 1% /run none 5.0M 0 5.0M 0% /run/lock none 497M 0 497M 0% /run/shm /dev/sda1 236M 32M 192M 14% /boot
However, running sudo resize2fs /dev/mapper/owncloud--vg-root returns this:
resize2fs 1.42 (29-Nov-2011) The filesystem is already 41608192 blocks long. Nothing to do!
Since Gparted says that my partition is /dev/sda5, I also tried running sudo resize2fs /dev/sda5, but in this case I got this:
resize2fs 1.42 (29-Nov-2011) resize2fs: Device or resource busy while trying to open /dev/sda5 Couldn't find valid filesystem superblock.
Finally, this is the output of pvs :
PV VG Fmt Attr PSize PFree /dev/sda5 owncloud-vg lvm2 a- 499.76g 340.04g
fdisk -l /dev/sda shows the correct amount of space.
How can I resize the partition so that I can finally make the OS see 500 GB of hard drive?GREENVILLE, South Carolina (Reuters) - Religious conservative voters in South Carolina, shaking off months of indecision, are showing signs of movement toward surging Rick Santorum but are still badly split in the Republican presidential race.
Republican presidential candidate former U.S. Senator Rick Santorum (R-PA) speaks during a Republican presidential candidates debate in Concord, New Hampshire, January 8, 2012. REUTERS/Jessica Rinaldi
Before they jump off the fence, many of those Christian right voters will need to be convinced Santorum is the candidate who can kick President Barack Obama out of the White House.
“I see a little bit of movement to Santorum in South Carolina in the last few days,” said Robert Taylor, a dean at Bob Jones University, the powerful fundamentalist Christian college in Greenville.
“But when you talk about religious conservative voters now, the big consideration is ‘Can he beat Obama?’” Taylor said. “Santorum is still going to have to make the case that he is the one who can do it.”
Santorum took a big first step toward rallying religious right voters last week in Iowa, where he came within eight votes of an upset of front-runner Mitt Romney in the kick-off contest of the 2012 Republican nominating race.
South Carolina is the next battleground after Tuesday’s New Hampshire vote, but polls show Santorum splitting conservative votes here with Texas Governor Rick Perry, former U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich and U.S. Representative Ron Paul.
The former U.S. senator from Pennsylvania has little time before the January 21 primary to ramp up his organizing and spending but appears to be benefiting from the momentum gained in Iowa, said Barry Wynn, a former South Carolina party chairman.
“There is a beginning of a little bit of a groundswell for Santorum,” Wynn said. “Sometimes when you roll that snowball down the hill it gets big faster than you think.”
Santorum, who is Roman Catholic, built his shoestring campaign on a grass-roots appeal to social and religious conservatives. He left New Hampshire to kick off the South Carolina race on Sunday and won the endorsement of evangelical leader Gary Bauer, who called him “a conservative leader for our times.”
“We are going to plant our flag here in South Carolina,” Santorum promised an overflow crowd that packed a chicken-wing restaurant in Greenville. He said his values meshed well with the conservative state.
“Please pray for us, it’s a tough battle,” he said. “We are a great country because we have a strong foundation of faith and family.”
Three polls late last week showed Romney taking the lead in South Carolina, with Santorum rising to battle Gingrich for second place. The polls also found about half of the state’s likely voters could still switch their allegiance.
CONSERVATIVE STATE, MODERATE CAN WIN
South Carolina Republican primary voters in 2008 were overwhelmingly conservative and religious, with exit polls showing nearly two-thirds attended church at least once a week and seven in 10 believed abortion should be illegal.
But Arizona Senator John McCain won South Carolina over Baptist minister Mike Huckabee in 2008, proving a more moderate candidate can beat a religious conservative contender in the Bible-belt state.
Economic concerns in South Carolina, where unemployment is higher than the national average and worse than all but seven states, could help draw voters to Romney’s argument that as a former businessman he knows how to create jobs.
The South Carolina showdown could be the last chance for conservatives to stop the more moderate Romney, the former governor of Massachusetts who has a big lead in New Hampshire polls and a chance to clinch the nomination early.
“I think there is a lot of interest in Santorum, if he does well in New Hampshire it will really help him here,” said Wendell Estep, pastor at the First Baptist Church in Columbia, who has met Santorum, Perry and Gingrich and is undecided.
“But I don’t think people are ready to make up their minds yet,” he said.
Santorum supporters at a campaign event in Greenville said they were not concerned he was Catholic, although they acknowledged it could be a stumbling block for some voters.
“He is exactly what we need to bring the country back - and I think he can beat Obama,” said Lynn Waldrop, a Greenville homemaker with two kids who described herself as a born-again Christian.
“Iowa has put some steam in his campaign here,” said Tammy Smith, a school nurse in Moore, South Carolina, and a Presbyterian who described herself as a Christian conservative.
“I like his position on family values. If we can make our families strong, we can make the country strong,” she said.
The shifting nature of the race, which has seen several contenders falter after rising to become the top conservative alternative to Romney, has left some conservative voters bewildered.
“As you watch each candidate fall, people have been saying ‘OK, now who do we go for?’” said John Lehman, pastor at Hampton Park Baptist Church in Greenville, where Perry planned a visit on Sunday evening.
Lehman said those shifts had fed worries about finding a candidate who can reclaim the White House. Polls show Romney, distrusted by many conservatives because of his past moderate positions, performs best of any of the Republicans in direct match-ups with Obama.
The CNN/Time poll last week showed Romney, a Mormon, grabbing a respectable slice of the conservative vote in South Carolina. He was backed by about one-third of self-described Christians, conservatives and Tea Party voters.
“There is some concern that we need to get behind whoever can rally the vote and win the White House,” Lehman said. “People are trying to decide who is going to win in the end.”
If Romney comes out of New Hampshire with two straight wins, an inevitability factor begins to kick in, said Republican strategist Chip Felkel of Greenville.
“I don’t get the sense there has been a ‘come-to-Jesus’ moment to bring them together,” he said of religious conservatives. “But if anyone does it, it will be Santorum.”We are steeped in a whole world of how wonderful our constitution is and what a miracle of freedom it was, etc. Understanding how it is that nothing seems to WORK in PRACTICE as we are taught in school, starts with understanding what a spin job they put on the drafting and RATIFICATION of that constitution. Now I don’t claim to be “telling the whole story”. That is impossible anyway. My goal here is to be the PEOPLES’ Lawyer. To make the case ON BEHALF OF THE PEOPLE, instead of the money power. The OPPOSITE side of the story from what you’ve been told all your life. Just a sketch. A little “equal time”. We need a little counter balance to the one way propaganda machine that describes this event. I want to put it into some perspective for you. Then you can make up your own mind. Probably for the first time.
I am not a historian, I am just a simple caveman lawyer. But I can read and I can understand bulls*** when I see it. Don’t believe the brainwashing that only “scholars” and formal historians are fit to comment about “history”. You don’t have to go through the archives to see what was really going on at the constitutional convention. I can see THE RESULT. And that is the gigantic federal government they claim is supported by a constitution they claim created only a “limited” government. Those two don’t fit together. So maybe it is worth a bit of time to look into what REALLY happened that summer in Philadelphia.
When I read the ridiculous sales brochure called “The federalist papers” written by guys pushing for big government by selling “limited government” I start to get even MORE suspicious of the fairy tale I have been told. I suspect, that it is always the same con. Obamacare is sold as something to help reduce costs. Income tax is sold as only applying to the rich. Social Security is sold as a limited program where the social security number will NEVER be used as a national ID. The patriot act is sold as a way to make US SAFE. And on and on. People in government are habitual liars. It is WHAT THEY DO FOR A LIVING.
First off let’s be clear. There was no “single mind” of the men who met in Philly that summer. Some may have been decent honest people. We can’t know that. But what we can do is use common sense with what we do know and compare it and see what theory fits with the KNOWN facts.
To me, it is clear. The people driving the bus that “august summer” when “history was made” and the “holy constitution” was drafted, were typical power hungry politicos and nothing more. That doesn’t mean the place didn’t have plenty of honest well meaning individuals. But the reality is that many of them walked out or didn’t bother attending because they KNEW what was up. Whoever remained and did not stop what was going on, were either duped, didn’t care, or were in on it.
For this article I have chosen to use a site that is run by an institution that is designed to “teach” the “teachers”. That’s right a propaganda school for propagandists. Here’s the site. If I quote it and I don’t tell you another source, that is the source I used. I am going to give you an overview of my read of what THEY SAY happened, and what are checkable facts.
First, understand that those “holy men” who met in Philly that summer were NOT SENT THERE to do what they did. They were acting completely outside their “agency authority”. The recommendatory act of Congress that EMPOWERED the “constitutional convention” reads thus:
“A Convention of delegates should meet “for the sole purpose of revising the articles of Confederation and reporting to Congress and the several legislatures such alterations and provisions therein as shall, when agreed to in Congress and confirmed by the States, render the federal Constitution adequate to the exigencies of government and the preservation of the Union.” (Italics in the original of the version reprinted in Federalist 40.)”
They weren’t sent to tear up the articles of confederation and create this mammoth centralized power structure. Got it? There already was a constitution. There already was an arrangement. It worked fine. It needed a little tweaking, nothing more. When they went there and scrapped the whole thing they did something they had no agency authority to do. NOBODY, not the people, not the legitimate government of the people, NOBODY Who sent them and who they CLAIMED to represent sent them up there to create a WHOLE NEW FORM OF CENTRALIZED GOVERNMENT.
Knowing that, let me ask you, if you’re doing something you KNOW you aren’t supposed to be doing, what is the NUMBER ONE thing you want and need while you are making your plans and doing it? That’s right, make sure the proceedings are ALL SECRET and there are as few a records as possible.
“The delegates also agreed that the deliberations would be kept secret. The case in favor of secrecy was that the issues at hand were so important that honest discourse needed to be encouraged and delegates ought to feel free to speak their mind, and change their mind, as they saw fit. …the windows were closed and heavy drapes drawn.”
Secrecy? Check. Are you picturing this? It is the opposite of freedom of discourse FOR THE PEOPLE. Secrecy is the heart of a conspiracy. Look at that ridiculous excuse for it they give. Absurd. Not credible. But doesn’t this all seem very familiar? Of course it does. Power grabbers do it all the time. Meet in “closed session” and keep all the details secret until they are ready to submit the bill, etc. Can you say Hillary care or Obamacare? THAT is the same thing that went on at the holy constitutional convention.
Before we get too far into it I think it is important to know WHAT KIND OF GOVERNMENT they were sent to improve. The government that needed a small amount of tweaking. Here’s how it is described.
“The Articles of Confederation created a nation of pre-existing states rather than a government over individuals. Thus, the very idea of a Bill of Rights was irrelevant because the Articles did not entail a government over individuals. The states were equally represented in the union regardless of size of population, only one branch was needed, normal political activity required the support of super majorities, the union was limited to the powers expressly enumerated, and amendment was required to endow the union with powers that weren’t specifically articulated. Amendments required the unanimous approval of all thirteen state legislatures.”
Are you seeing this? It was a very small very DECENTRALIZED government. THAT is what the people had CHOSEN AFTER THE WAR. Doesn’t this sound eerily familiar to what we are TOLD the basics of the CONSTITUTION ARE. It is almost exactly what the federalist papers CLAIMS the constitution creates but with just a teeny tiny bit more “authority” so “it runs better”.
And of course they had to sell it like it was just a tweak to the system because that is what they were sent to do and they knew the People didn’t want what they had ACTUALLY done. So they sold them a load of crapola about limited government and express powers etc. etc. The guys pushing it wrote the federalist papers to sell it. The government that EXISTS and that WE EXPERIENCE bears no resemblance to what they DESCRIBE. It is all an illusion. That’s why we can never “get back to the constitution”.
Well let’s give them the benefit of the doubt. Maybe the proceeding notes and minutes can at least illuminate what went on there even if the discussions themselves were held in secret. Oops, no such thing. They didn’t bother to keep any official record of the proceedings. No minutes taken. Darn, I hate it when that happens. All we have to try and piece together what went on there are Mr. BIG GOVERNMENT himself’s personal notes. The other attendees only made sporadic notes about certain issues. So, secret proceedings, no record. Check check.
“James Madison took extensive Notes of the proceedings and although some scholars have questioned their authenticity and completeness, they remain the primary source for reproducing the conversations at the Convention.”
So in other words we are put in the position of having to rely on what Nancy Pelosi tells us went on when she met with Harry Reid and the rest of the gang. Makes sense. This sounds like the exact kind of arrangement that I would expect to find when agents for “we the people” meet. Oh and did I mention that even Madison’s notes weren’t made public for about 35 years. Yeah, that too. So secret meetings, no documentation released to the public, and a group of delegates sent by the people to do one thing who did something else. Yeah, I’m getting that freedom vibe baby.
Well maybe it was unclear at the time they were overstepping and that they were way over the line? No, turns out they knew. In fact delegates from Connecticut, New Jersey, Delaware, New York argued:
“that the Convention had exceeded the Congressional mandate because the Articles had in fact been scrapped rather than revised. Thus the Convention had violated the rule of law. Moreover, the Convention was about to propose a novelty——a large country under one republican form of government——that would never be accepted by the electorate. These delegates knew… republican government could only exist in areas of small extent where the people kept close watch over their representatives.”
Are you getting the picture? Remember I am using the teaching tool for teachers. But I am rearranging it and putting it in the CORRECT order so you can see what really went on there.
The guys pushing this thing knew that the time was running out to capitalize on the public’s image of them from the revolutionary war. They were extremely, crazily wealthy land owners. How suspicious would you be if the 25 richest people in america, like Buffet, and Zuckerberg etc. all met in secret with no notes of the proceedings and came out and said, Eureka, we have drafted a document FOR THE PEOPLE? lol. Well that is what ACTUALLY happened that summer.
The guys driving this boat wanted a centralized BIG GOVERNMENT THEY controlled but they knew the people wouldn’t go for that, so they hid it in the details.
“Several statesmen, especially George Washington, were concerned that the idea of an American mind that had emerged during the war with Britain was about to disappear and the Articles of Confederation were inadequate to foster the development of an American character.”
He wanted to foster “an American character”. Who is he to WANT anything for anyone else? What is “an American character” anyway? This is just code talk for a centralized power structure to CONTROL the people “in the country”. There already was a constitution. It was a FEDERATION, not a giant centralized country the people had CHOSEN. He was “concerned” the “idea of an American mind” was about to disappear. I’m sure he was. He understood that very soon they would no longer be able to play that “revolutionary war hero card” to trick people into buying this scam, so they needed to act NOW. Get it?
Who didn’t hear growing up as a kid in school about how Washington “could have been King” if he wanted, but chose not to because he was so noble and humble etc. Where is there ANY actual evidence for this idea that the people were clamoring to have him be a king? Look at the actual government they had chosen. It is the opposite of a monarchy. It was totally decentralized. The idea that the people wanted him as a king is so ridiculous. Honestly, it is insulting. It’s like saying Obamacare is wildly popular. How do we know this? Oh, because the people administering Obamacare tell us so.It is absurd. Washington was a social climbing man who married a wealthy woman with connections and proceeded to parlay it into a huge land fortune. That’s WHO HE WAS.
They produced a constitution to create a giant centralized monster OVER TIME through the courts and then they sold it as a limited government. It was the greatest deceptive trade practices act violation in history. It is hardly a moment to rejoice and remember longingly as having “secured our freedom”.
“And the delegates wondered whether or not the power to create a national university was implied within the meaning of the necessary and proper clause.”
Are you seeing this? This is the kind of propaganda they floated to get it passed. Worried about the authority to create a national university? Cue the belly laugh. are they kidding? They “have the power” to tell you what kind of light bulbs you can use?
Look at some facts. 70 delegates were chosen to go to the convention. Only 55 ever even WENT. So 20% of the people had NO REPRESENTATION AT ALL at the convention. It takes 75% of the states to get an amendment passed under the document, but did 75% of the delegates WHO EVEN ATTENDED sign the thing? NO. 39 of 55 THAT ATTENDED signed it. So 39 of a total of 70 CHOSEN ever signed it. That is just 55% signing! And remember Rhode Island refused to even send any delegates because they smelled a rat just like Patrick Henry did.
So how did they get this stinker through? Simple they used the same kind of tricks they use now. You know, where it goes to committee and then gets changed and then jammed through right before a holiday with low turn out etc. Games people. Games.
Remember they were sent by the states to fix the articles. And the empowering document empaneled them: “for the sole purpose of revising the articles of Confederation and reporting to Congress and the several legislatures such alterations and provisions therein as shall, when agreed to in Congress…”
So they WERE empowered to come up with a fix, and then REQUIRED to bring it back to Congress and have CONGRESS approve it. So did they follow the law? Of course not. Do you see? the guys in charge DON’T bother to follow the law. But they insist you “FOLLOW THE LAW”. It is game theory.
The reason they didn’t bring it back to Congress for approval like they were SUPPOSED TO, is because,they knew that it would NEVER be approved by Congress, who were the Peoples’ representatives. So instead they claimed they wanted to “take it to the people” directly. What a charade.
“In order to fulfill the revolutionary principle that the consent of the governed is the only legitimate foundation of government, the Framers proposed a popular-based ratification, rather than exclusively state-based ratification. But as a nod to reality, the voice of the whole people was collected through state-based popular conventions.”
What double talk bs. “As a nod to reality..”. Look there was NOTHING preventing the vote from being a DIRECT VOTE of the people. But did they do that? No, they put the vote in the hands of yet another group of “delegates” chosen to then go vote for the people. Why? How does that make sense? Simple, it builds in a layer so they could manipulate and FIX that VOTE. It’s always the same. They are simply liars. Like so many other politicians. They lie to people for a living and the people never bother to look into it.
So how did the actual vote go down? Remember this is to CREATE AN ENTIRELY NEW GOVERNMENT? Surely in order to do that you have to get a “super majority” of votes to approve it in EACH state!! So was any type of super majority required? Of course not. lol Why would they make a limitation like that part of the process? That would only assure they could never get the power they wanted. The basics are this. They needed 9 states to “approve”, meaning they needed to bribe at least one extra delegate from the needed 9 states. Here are the 8 states where they didn’t get a super majority of 75% as is required to amend it.
NY. 30-27, NH 57-47, VA 89-79, RI 34-32, MA. 187-168, NC 194-77 Pa. 46-23, S.C. 149-73
Look at THOSE NUMBERS. Look at how CLOSE that is in 5 of the states. And that is using the jerry rigged system they created instead of just putting it to the people and requiring a SUPER majority of voters to approve in EACH STATE. Think about what that jacked up scammed up vote has wrought. Is that what self determination looks like for a whole PEOPLE? No, it is absurd.
And this doesn’t even take into account that ONCE AGAIN there are NO NOTES of the proceedings or the discussions that the delegates undertook before making their votes. There were no supervisors, no people allowed to watch the proceedings, no oversight of the financial affairs of the delegates, no follow up to be sure they hadn’t been bribed etc. etc. Nothing.
Oh and did I mention that there were three states, NJ, DE and GA who’s “delegates” all voted UNANIMOUSLY and quickly in favor.??? And once again, no notes about what took place. Are you telling me that a document, created in secret with no authority to go do it and no notes or proceedings kept during it, and that was designed to form a WHOLE NEW government had UNANIMOUS approval from the people of three states in a matter of months!? Absurd!
Here is what THE STATE OF DELAWARE ITSELF tells us about the “election” of these delegates who then went on to unanimously vote for it with virtually no known discussion or record of the proceedings.
“The elections were held and thirty men were chosen to meet in Dover and decide the action Delaware would take on this important matter. History tells us that all the elections were orderly with one exception–the one held in Sussex County. here we find, from the words of a political pamphleteer of the time that armed men prevented a fair election.”
Are you seeing this? This is from a government site! Evidence of ARMED MEN preventing a fair election of the delegates?? Nothing to see here, move along you had your election. “The people have spoken”. Sound familiar? How much constant vote fraud is there today? It was no different then. They don’t even claim to have bothered to keep any records etc.
Here is the last and most extensive quote I will put here. And remember this is the teachers teacher and it is discussing the extremely quick unanimous approval by Delaware, where Delawares’ own website says there were reports of armed men preventing a fair election of the electors. Biden’s home state, known far and wide as a center of corruption.
“Unfortunately, there is no record of the proceedings or significant correspondence that might illuminate what took place. It is clear, however, that Bedford and Bassett needed to do very little explaining because the 30 people who were elected were all Federalists, and all were in favor of adopting the Constitution before they even entered the ratifying convention. These 30 people showed up in Dover on December 4th, and these delegates representing the 60,000 people of Delaware had a momentous decision to make. Shall we or shall we not ratify this Constitution? Three days later, they ratified. There was not much conversation. They were all in agreement and they also behaved themselves. Not one deviated from what the voters understood when they were elected — I voted for you and you will vote for ratification… Now it might strike you as a little odd, given the conventional wisdom, that Delaware, the smallest state in the Union, had no objection to ratifying. There are all kinds of self-interested, even conspiratorial, theories that have circulated over the years to explain away this oddity including that Delaware ratified first in order to be favorably considered for federal grants.”
Honestly, you can’t make the stuff up. It is beyond farce. And this is what we ARE TOLD represents self determination and freedom? Remember, they did what the people had told them to do. Really? Well what about those reports of armed men at the polls? Does any of this pass the most basic smell test? It doesn’t for me.
Go my brainwashed Brethren and investigate it yourself if you care to. I encourage it. But I think it is pretty clear what went on, and it isn’t the celebration of freedom you were told as a child. Go nose around and see all of the “conspiratorial theories” that abound about bribes and everything else.
Why wasn’t it just PUT TO THE PEOPLE? Why wasn’t a super majority required to pass it? Why are there no records? Why was everything kept secret?
Why? Well because they were selflessly creating a freedom machine for all times of course. A freedom machine for the ages. A freedom machine that the very same freedom machine itself now says you can’t leave. And who would want to leave such a wonderful freedom machine anyway? Only a crazy person or maybe a “Terrorist”.
My friend my work is done on this. The rest is up to you. I have showed you the framework. I have given you the keys. You can either crank it up and take it for a drive, or you can just leave it in the garage and go back to catch the season finale of “The Voice”. Gives July 4th a whole new perspective doesn’t it?
That’s all for now. Take care my brainwashed Brethren, don’t be down, live in the light and don’t forget to tell someone about the truth about the law.The purpose of this blog is for me to publish not-quite-daily updates on my continuing research on the English Reformation and its aftermath, especially for Catholics until Emancipation in 1829; I'll particularly highlight the stories of the Catholic Martyrs of England and Wales, especially those beatified and canonized by the Holy See. I will also highlight promotional events for Supremacy and Survival: How Catholics Endured the English Reformation.If you like my blog, you might like my book, available from these retailers, on Kindle, and Nook! [If you want a signed copy, please contact me via email: englishreform(at)cox(dot)net].Comment moderation is turned on; since I am not a full-time writer/blogger but have a full-time job outside the home please be patient with me logging in to approve comments.Royal Pains was Wednesday’s top cable show with a 1.0 adults 18-49 rating. Shark Week special Shark Fight was the number two cable original with a 0.9 adults 18-49 rating.
We only receive the top 100 cable shows for adults 25-54 for the whole day from our primary source, if you don’t see your show it was not in that top 100 list.
The list below is long but you can use your browsers “find on page” feature (usually CTRL+F or CMD+F) to search – that’s probably the easiest way to find Wednesday night’s episode of your favorite show.
Selected Wednesday cable ratings: (all Live+Same Day ratings):
Show Net Time Viewership (million, Live+SD) Adults 18-49 rating (Live+SD) BIG BANG THEORY, THE TBSC 10:30 PM 2.963 1.4 BIG BANG THEORY, THE TBSC 10:00 PM 2.839 1.2 FAMILY GUY ADSM 11:30 PM 2.934 1.2 FAMILY GUY ADSM 11:00 PM 2.946 1.1 ROYAL PAINS USA 9:00 PM 3.948 1.0 SHARK FIGHT DISC 9:00 PM 2.023 0.9 STORAGE WARS TEXAS AEN 9:00 PM 2.530 0.9 BIG BANG THEORY, THE TBSC 9:30 PM 2.105 0.9 HERE COMES HONEY BOO BOO TLC 10:00 PM 2.059 0.9 AMERICAN DAD ADSM 10:30 PM 2.348 0.9 STORAGE WARS TEXAS AEN 9:30 PM 2.507 0.9 WORLDS SCARIEST ANIMAL AT DISC 10:02 PM 1.803 0.8 HERE COMES HONEY BOO BOO TLC 10:30 PM 1.943 0.8 STORAGE WARS AEN 8:30 PM 2.166 0.8 ROBOT CHICKEN ADSM 12:00 AM 1.901 0.8 FAMILY GUY TBSC 9:00 PM 1.605 0.8 AMERICAN DAD ADSM 10:00 PM 2.026 0.7 MILLION DOLLAR LISTING LA BRVO 9:00 PM 1.589 0.7 NECESSARY ROUGHNESS USA 10:01 PM 2.488 0.7 ROGUE SHARKS DISC 8:00 PM 1.551 0.7 REAL WORLD XXVII MTV 10:00 PM 1.233 0.7 FAMILY GUY TBSC 8:30 PM 1.312 0.6 STORAGE WARS AEN 8:00 PM 1.639 0.6 ROBOT CHICKEN ADSM 12:15 AM 1.562 0.6 DAILY SHOW CMDY 11:00 PM 1.726 0.6 BABY DADDY FAM 8:30 PM 1.324 0.6 FUTURAMA CMDY 10:00 PM 1.179 0.6 OPERATION REPO TRU 9:00 PM 1.604 0.6 AUCTION HUNTERS SPIKE 10:01 PM 1.627 0.6 HOUSE HUNTERS INTL HGTV 10:30 PM 1.848 0.6 FRIENDS NAN 11:33 PM 1.484 0.6 SPONGEBOB NICK 5:00 PM 2.733 0.6 HOUSE HUNTERS HGTV 10:00 PM 1.989 0.6 AMERICAN PICKERS HIST 9:00 PM 2.249 0.6 FX MOVIE PRIME FX 8:00 PM 1.334 0.6 MELISSA & JOEY FAM 8:00 PM 1.281 0.6 AMERICAN HOGGERS AEN 10:00 PM 1.629 0.6 SPONGEBOB NICK 5:30 PM 2.630 0.5 AMERICAN HOGGERS AEN 10:30 PM 1.673 0.5 FRIENDS NAN 12:06 AM 1.320 0.5 HOLLYWOOD EXES VH1 9:00 PM 0.979 0.5 PROPERTY BROTHERS (1 HR) HGTV 9:00 PM 1.841 0.5 NCIS USA 8:00 PM 2.914 0.5 PICKED OFF HIST 10:00 PM 1.857 0.5 OPERATION REPO TRU 9:30 PM 1.295 0.5 FAMILY GUY TBSC 8:00 PM 1.063 0.5 STORAGE WARS AEN 7:30 PM 1.209 0.5 AMERICAN PICKERS HIST 8:00 PM 1.979 0.5 FRIENDS TBSC 5:30 PM 1.021 0.5 KING OF THE HILL ADSM 9:30 PM 1.347 0.5 SPONGEBOB NICK 4:30 PM 2.68 0.5 FX MOVIE PRIME FX 10:00 PM 1.111 0.5 TODDLERS & TIARAS TLC 9:00 PM 1.296 0.5 SHARK FIGHT DISC 11:05 PM 1.008 0.5 HARDCORE HISTORY HIST 11:31 PM 1.482 0.5 PARANORMAL WITNESS SYFY 10:00 PM 1.169 0.5 SEINFELD TBSC 7:30 PM 0.945 0.5 RESTAURANT IMPOSSIBLE FOOD 9:00 PM 1.194 0.5 CONAN TBSC 11:00 PM 0.973 0.5 COLBERT REPORT CMDY 11:31 PM 1.079 0.5 TODDLERS & TIARAS TLC 11:00 PM 1.17 0.5 HARDCORE HISTORY HIST 11:01 PM 1.294 0.4 KING OF QUEENS TBSC 6:30 PM 1.000 0.4 HERE COMES HONEY BOO BOO TLC 12:00 AM 1.046 0.4 TOP CHEF MASTERS BRVO 10:00 PM 1.089 0.4 NCIS USA 7:00 PM 1.991 0.4 TWO/HALF MEN FX 7:30 PM 1.119 0.4 JAWS COMES HOME DISC 5:00 PM 0.984 0.4 OPERATION REPO TRU 10:00 PM 1.151 0.4 HAUNTED COLLECTOR SYFY 9:00 PM 1.224 0.4 HOW JAWS CHANGED THE WORL DISC 7:00 PM 1.048 0.4 STORAGE WARS AEN 7:00 PM 1.043 0.4 HARDCORE PAWN TRU 8:30 PM 1.142 0.4 FRIENDS NAN 11:00 PM 1.245 0.4 AMERICAN PICKERS HIST 7:00 PM 1.350 0.4 FRIENDS NAN 12:39 AM 1.061 0.4 PARDON THE INTERRUPTION ESPN 5:30 PM 0.772 0.4 AMERICAN PICKERS HIST 12:01 AM 1.150 0.4 HARDCORE PAWN TRU 8:00 PM 1.181 0.4 RESTAURANT IMPOSSIBLE FOOD 10:00 PM 1.136 0.4 SEINFELD TBSC 7:00 PM 0.815 0.4 PROPERTY BROTHERS (1 HR) HGTV 11:00 PM 1.198 0.4 STORAGE WARS TEXAS AEN 1:01 AM 0.963 0.4 HAPPY FEET TWO HBOM 8:00 PM 0.907 0.4 KING OF QUEENS TBSC 6:00 PM 0.885 0.4 CALL OF WILDMAN: MORE LIV APL 9:30 PM 0.845 0.4 STORAGE WARS TEXAS |
, is among the Labour Party politicians who have taken an interest in the idea. As quoted in The Guardian, McDonnell believes that recent research on UBI “makes an interesting case for a universal and unconditional payment to all, which could prepare our country for any revolution in jobs and technology to come – it is an idea Labour will be closely looking at over the next few years.”
On Monday, June 6th, he will be attending at meeting at the House of Commons to discuss a research report recently prepared by Compass, a leftwing think tank that describes itself as a “pressure group for a Good Society.”
Compass’s new report urges policymakers in the UK to investigate and trial a universal basic income, and compares two potential schemes — a full UBI, which replaces most means-tested benefits, and a “modified scheme” in which under most means-tested benefits are retained. (The authors believe that the latter could provide an initial step towards the development of the former.) In both schemes, cash benefits “are paid to everyone, without condition, and cannot be withdrawn.”
In a detailed analysis, the Compass report compares the two schemes on the basis of cost, “the number and pattern of gainers and losers” (e.g. according to income level and household type), and the impacts on poverty and inequality. Additionally, the report describes options for financing a basic income, such as a social wealth fund on the lines of the Alaskan Permanent Fund.
It concludes:
With the existing income support system increasingly ill-equipped to deal with the complexity of the modern labour market, and the impact of the technological revolution coming so fast down the track, the idea of a UBI has already been gathering growing support in the UK. It is now time for a campaign to promote a much wider debate among the public and decision makers.
The report was developed by two economists and Compass Associates, Howard Reed and Stewart Lansley. Reed is the director of the economic research and consultancy group Landman Economics, which developed the tax-benefit model that was employed in the analysis of the UBI schemes. Lansley is a visiting fellow in the School of Policy Studies, University of Bristol, and the author of several books including, most recently, A Sharing Economy: How Social Wealth Funds can Reduce Inequality and Help Balance the Books.
The Chair of Compass, Neal Lawson, has also recently spoken out to members of Britain’s progressive parties, urging them form a “progressive alliance” to “usher in a post-imperial foreign policy, introduce a basic income, end austerity and renew the social fabric of our lives.”
Howard Reed and Stewart Lansley, “Universal Basic Income: An idea whose time has come?” Compass, June 2016.
Neal Lawson, “An open letter to the SNP – it’s time to join political forces with Labour,” Commonspace, May 31, 2016.
Heather Stewart, “John McDonnell: Labour taking a close look at universal basic income,” The Guardian, June 5, 2016.
Ashley Cowburn “Labour considering backing universal basic income as official party policy,” The Independent, June 5, 2016.
Photo of John McDonnell MP CC Owen Jones, Wikimedia Commons
Thanks to my supporters on Patreon. (To see how you too can support my work for Basic Income News, click the link.)Media playback is not supported on this device Steven Davis hails 'incredible' Northern Ireland qualification
Northern Ireland have qualified for the Euro 2016 finals by beating Greece 3-1 on a brilliant night at Windsor Park.
Two goals by skipper Steven Davis and one by stand-in striker Josh Magennis sent them through to a major tournament for the first time in 30 years.
Media playback is not supported on this device Watch our fans' guide to Euro 2016
Davis forced in a first-half goal, and then headers by Magennis and Davis ensured Northern Ireland were going to their first European finals.
Christos Aravidis got a late goal for Greece but it did not spoil the party.
With Romania drawing 1-1 at home to Finland, Northern Ireland will top Group F if they get a point in Finland on Sunday in their final qualifier.
On new ground
Captain Davis was one year old and Kilmarnock player Magennis not even born the last time Northern Ireland competed at a major finals - the 1986 World Cup when Billy Bingham was manager and the team included Pat Jennings, Mal Donaghy and Norman Whiteside.
Northern Ireland fans had endured 14 unsuccessful qualifying campaigns since then, but those repeated disappointments made Thursday night's celebrations all the sweeter.
Southampton midfielder Davis stretched to score his first goal in 13 games for his country after Stuart Dallas had delivered the ball low from the right.
Magennis netted a looping header from an Oliver Norwood corner on 49 minutes and nine minutes later Davis made it three with a well-placed header.
Magennis - keeper turned striker
It was a first international goal for 25-year-old Magennis, who played for Northern Ireland as a goalkeeper at Under-17 level.
When his club Cardiff City told the teenager from Bangor, County Down, he would not make it as a keeper, he was offered the chance to become a striker.
Goalscorer Josh Magennis was making his first international start
It was an opportunity he grabbed and has gone on to make a career in the Scottish Premiership.
The suspension of Kyle Lafferty, who had scored seven goals in this qualifying campaign, handed Magennis his chance to shine on the international stage and he celebrated his goal at Windsor Park by running into the arms of manager Michael O'Neill on the touchline.
Man of the match - Davis at the double
It was a case of captain fantastic as Steven Davis scored in both halves.
The midfielder netted for the first time in 13 Northern Ireland games when he opened the scoring 10 minutes before half-time. He later made it 3-0 with a well-placed header to cap a memorable night.
Before Thursday, Davis had not scored an international goal since 15 October 2013 against Israel in a World Cup qualifier
Long wait ends
After the final whistle, the supporters known as the Green and White Army refused to leave the ground, singing in celebration as the realisation that so many years of hurt were over, began to sink in.
They were rewarded with an encore as their players came back out for a lap of honour.
Predictably, manager O'Neill got a special ovation as he was joined on the pitch by his two daughters and also lifted up by this players.
O'Neill's side have won six of their nine qualifiers so far
Beating all the odds
Few would have given Northern Ireland much hope of reaching the expanded Euro finals, coming after a dismal qualifying campaign for the 2014 World Cup in which O'Neill's men lost to Luxembourg and could not beat Azerbaijan.
Even going into Thursday's match, there were doubts as Northern Ireland were without four key players in suspended Lafferty, Chris Baird and Conor McLaughlin and injured Jonny Evans.
But it all went right on the night at the partly-rebuilt Windsor Park, and O'Neill's men are top on 20 points and have scored most goals in the group.
Now 12 December has been put in the diary as that is when the draw for next year's finals takes place in Paris.
What the boss said:
Media playback is not supported on this device Michael O'Neill says Northern Ireland qualification 'phenomenal'
Northern Ireland manager Michael O'Neill: "Tonight we were without four of our top players and yet we can come and win the game and win the game so well in such a tense occasion.
"We look forward to the draw now, it gives everyone something to look forward to. The preparations for France start now.
"We have to enjoy tonight, we have got a three-point gap now. Our objective was to qualify and we've done that. It is a lovely position to be in going into the last game."
How Northern Ireland reached Euro 2016 7 September 2014 - Hungary 1-2 Northern Ireland McGinn, Lafferty (scorers) 11 October 2014 - Northern Ireland 2-0 Faroe Islands McAuley, Lafferty 14 October 2014 - Greece 0-2 Northern Ireland Ward, Lafferty 14 November 2014 - Romania 2-0 Northern Ireland 29 March 2015 - Northern Ireland 2-1 Finland Lafferty 2 13 June 2015 - Northern Ireland 0-0 Romania 4 September 2015 - Faroe Islands 1-3 Northern Ireland McAuley 2, Lafferty 7 September 2015 - Northern Ireland 1-1 Hungary Lafferty 8 October 2015 - Northern Ireland 3-1 Greece Davis 2, Magennis 11 October 2015 - Finland v Northern IrelandBorderlands 2
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Assassin's Creed Rogue
Amid the chaos and violence of the French and Indian War, Shay Patrick Cormac, a fearless young member of the Assassin Brotherhood, undergoes a dark transformation that will forever shape the future of the colonies. After a dangerous mission goes tragically wrong, Shay turns his back on the Assassins who, in response, attempt to end his life. Cast aside by those he once called brothers, Shay sets out on a mission to wipe out all who turned against him and to ultimately become the most feared Assassin hunter in history. Introducing Assassin’s Creed® Rogue, the darkest chapter in the Assassin’s Creed® franchise yet. As Shay, you will experience the slow transformation from Assassin to Assassin hunter. Follow your own creed and set off on an extraordinary journey through New York City, the wild river valley, and far away to the icy cold waters of the North Atlantic in pursuit of your ultimate goal, to bring down the Assassins.
Gyromancer
Gyromancer: A fusion of puzzle and RPG gaming. You are Rivel, a powerful mage who leads fearsome beasts into battle as he explores the depths of Aldemona Wood. Master a deep--and deeply addictive--battle system. Twelve stages of play against dozens of unique foes. The full version allows you to play all stages of the game.
The King of Fighters 2002 Unlimited Match
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Space Invaders Infinity Gene
Space Invaders, the game that defined video games for generations, is back with a new twist! The game starts off looking like the classic Space Invaders, but as you play through the game, it evolves. Unlock new stages, new power ups, and new features. The full game features a total of 143 stages from both Normal Mode and the breathtaking Challenge Mode where stages change with each playthrough. You can even blast your way through unique stages evolved from your very own music! Compete against o…
Moon Diver
(Online Interactions Not Rated by the ESRB) Side-scrolling co-op action game for 1–4 players. Features a wide variety of special attacks/co-op attacks and challenging stages. MOON DIVER, take the plunge!The notion that diesel exhaust can cause the body harm — specifically cancer — hardly seems shocking. The US National Toxicology Program suggests that diesel exhaust particles can be “reasonably anticipated” to be carcinogenic, and the International Agency for Research on Cancer lists them as “probable carcinogens“. The US Mine Safety and Health Administration cited cancer risks when it regulated diesel emissions in mining operations back in 2001.
So it is not entirely surprising that a landmark new study involving US miners has identified sharply higher cancer rates in workers exposed to high levels of diesel exhaust. But the study is more comprehensive and apparently robust than those that have come before, and it comes as at least one major scientific organization prepares to reassess the link between diesel exhaust and cancer. Perhaps it was the fear of this exact scenario that led a coalition of industrial interests to wage a 17-year legal and political battle against government scientists conducting the study — a battle that now appears to have outlived its purpose thanks to a 29 February ruling from the US Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals.
Researchers at the National Cancer Institute (NCI) in Bethesda, Maryland, and the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) in Atlanta celebrated the publication of a trio of studies today, including two concluding papers in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute (not affiliated with NCI). Initiated in 1998, after the first of many legal delays, the study analysed exposures in detail for more than 12,000 workers while controlling for smoking and other risk factors; researchers also focused on a series of non-metal mines to minimize the effects on the results of workers’ exposure to radon and other contaminants. In the end, the scientists found that miners faced a three-fold risk of lethal lung cancer, and underground workers who were heavily exposed faced a five-fold risk.
“It’s been a long hard road,” says Debra Silverman, an NCI epidemiologist who has been working on the study since its inception in the early 1990s. “But I’m very happy to see this happen.”
The legal dispute began around 1995, quickly turning a ground-breaking study into a legal and political exercise that ultimately required researchers to release their data before peer review. It’s a long and strange tale, first detailed by the non-profit Center for Public Integrity here, but we’ll skip forward to August 2011. That’s when a US District Court in Louisiana affirmed an earlier ruling granting an industry coalition led by the Mining Awareness Resource Group (listed as the Methane Awareness Resource Group on court documents) as well as the US House Committee on Education and the Workforce the right to a 90-day review of any data be publication.
The court also held the science agencies in contempt of court for apparently failing to provide said data, even as House lawmakers and industry officials had sought access to additional data. As detailed over at ScienceInsider, a law firm representing the Mining Awareness Resource Group even wrote vaguely threatening letters to scientific journals that might publish the studies. An attorney representing the group did not return a phone call from Nature seeking comment.
But the science agencies and their attorneys at the US Department of Justice appealed that ruling and argued that they had already complied and turned over the data. That’s where the matter stood until last week, when the US Court of Appeals stayed the lower court’s August ruling. No final decision has been rendered in the case, and officials at the Cancer Institute and the Justice Department declined to comment. But with the earlier ruling lifted there was nothing to prevent publication. The 90-day deadline expired on 1 March, and today the studies went live.
New assessments
The results come as the International Agency for Research on Cancer, part of the World Health Organization, prepares to reassess the carcinogenic effects of diesel exhaust at a meeting in Lyon, France, this June. Kurt Straif, who heads the unit conducting the review, says that the NCI–NIOSH study is one of the reasons his group is reviewing diesel emissions, but studies on cancer and diesel emissions have come out in recent years. “They all seem to point in the same direction,” Straif says, suggesting some level of increased risk of lung cancer. In the United States, the National Toxicology Program at the Department of Health and Human Services is now considering whether to reassess diesel exhaust as part of its 2013 Report on Carcinogens.
Both are purely scientific bodies, but any upgrade in diesel exhaust’s link with cancer would ripple through the regulatory system as governments consider their rules and requirements. The non-profit Clean Air Task Force is also citing the new research as it makes the case for clean-air provisions in legislation pending on Capitol Hill.
Celeste Monforton, a professorial lecturer at the George Washington University in Washington DC, marvels at how hard the industry has fought this particular study. She suggests this kind of legal wrangling — although perhaps extreme in this case — has itself become an industry in Washington (for more of the sordid history, see her detailed writings here and here). At the same time, harking back to mining regulations instituted by the Clinton administration in 2001 that substantially lowered allowable exposures to diesel exhaust, Monforton says that the mining industry responded by doing simple things like shifting to low-sulphur fuel and installing filters to clean up emissions.
“These are not necessarily high-tech solutions,” she says. “There were feasible controls that they could put in place to try to protect their people, and I think most of the mining operations view it that way.”
Nonetheless, she says a quick analysis of the NCI—NIOSH study suggests that workers might face an elevated risk of lung cancer even under the present regulations, in which case it will be up to regulators to weigh the costs and benefits of more stringent standards. More broadly, the study could provide fodder for calls to expand protections to workers in other settings, such as bus terminals and maintenance depots.
photo: NIOSH/CDCAn al Qaeda-worshipping teen from Somalia apparently posted an online rant against the United States on Monday morning — then plowed his car into a crowd of students at Ohio State University and swung at others with a butcher knife, wounding 11.
The attacker, Abdul Razak Ali Artan, 18, was fatally shot within moments of his rampage by a campus officer at the Columbus school, according to authorities. He was a student there.
Just three minutes before the attack, Artan — a refugee who lived in Pakistan before moving to the US with his family in 2014 — is believed to have posted a rant online in which he blasted America and hailed US-born al Qaeda cleric Anwar al-Awlaki as a “hero.”
“I am sick and tired of seeing my fellow Muslim brothers and sisters being killed and tortured EVERYWHERE,” reads the post, which ABC News said was uploaded to a Facebook account believed to be Artan’s.
“I can’t take it anymore. America! Stop interfering with other countries, especially the Muslim Ummah,” the post reads, using the Arabic word for community. “We are not weak. We are not weak, remember that.”
Warning that he had reached his “boiling point,’’ the post adds, “Stop interfering with other countries... [if] you want us Muslims to stop carrying lone wolf attacks.”
ISIS, a breakaway branch of al Qaeda, recently published an article in its English-language magazine, Rumiyah, that encouraged lone-wolf attacks, noting that using vehicles can reap “large numbers of casualties.”
“[Artan] did exhibit some of the methods encouraged by terror groups who can’t attack the US themselves,” a federal source told The Post.
Hours before Monday’s bloody assault, Artan also wrote, “Forgive and forget. Love.”
The mayhem unfolded at 9:52 a.m., when Artan drove over a curb and rammed his silver Honda Civic into a group of people who had evacuated the school’s Watts Hall after reports of a gas leak, officials said.
Officials do not believe the reported gas leak was related to the attack, according to reports.
Artan then got out of his car, which is registered to a family member, and started stabbing people with a butcher knife, officials said.
Police issued an “active shooter” alert that prompted a campus-wide lockdown, with a tweet from the university’s emergency management department chillingly ordering students to “Run Hide Fight.”
Some students barricaded themselves in classrooms, while others made a run for it.
Campus cop Alan Horujko, who was in the area investigating the gas leak, sprang into action, shooting and killing Artan almost immediately.
“We all owe a debt of gratitude to [Horujko],” said Monica Moll, director of the university’s Department of Public Safety. “He did a fabulous job today.”
The 11 injured included Professor Emeritus William Clark, four graduate students and three undergraduates. One person was critically injured, officials said.
Jacob Bower, an Ohio State sophomore, was sitting on a bench about 100 feet away from the morning’s chaos and saw people running for their lives.
“I heard someone yell, ‘He’s got a knife!’ And I saw a guy with a big-ass knife just chasing people around,” Bower told NBC News. “When I saw that, I grabbed all my stuff and started running.”
The officer who responded shouted at Artan, “Drop it, and get down, or I’ll shoot!” before firing three times, Bower recalled.
“The man was going insane,” Bower said of the attacker.
Ohio State junior Jerry Kovacich said he witnessed Artan try to run over his classmates and then attack them with the large knife after a fire alarm went off, according to The Lantern, the university’s student paper.
“The guy ended up just coming and hopping the curb with his car and trying to mow down a couple people. He lost control, and I think he ended up hitting three people,” Kovacich said.
“Somebody asked him if he was OK, and the guy just hopped out of the car with a butcher knife and starting chasing people around.”
In August, Artan told The Lantern that he was nervous about praying in public on campus.
“I’m a Muslim, it’s not what the media portrays me to be. If people look at me, a Muslim praying, I don’t know what they’re going to think,” he was quoted as saying.
“It’s the media that put that picture in their heads, so they’re just going to have it, and it’s going to make them feel uncomfortable. I was kind of scared right now [of praying in public]. But I just did it. I relied on God. I went over to the corner and just prayed.”
Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) said Monday’s violence “bears all of the hallmarks of a terror attack carried out by someone who may have been self-radicalized.”
And Rep. Peter King (R-LI) noted that there have been a number of terror-related incidents involving Somali immigrants in recent years.
“We have to gather more facts, but the reality is that there have been significant terror problems with Somali immigrants over the past several years in the United States,” he said.
Artan left Somalia in 2007 and lived in Pakistan before coming to the United States, where he became a legal resident, according to federal sources.
He spent time in a temporary shelter in Dallas before settling in Ohio, NBC News reported.
Artan had studied at nearby Columbus State Community College for two years, graduating cum laude, then transferred to Ohio State.
Additional reporting by David K. Li and Post wire servicesI started on Steemit about a month ago, and it's been a great month so far. I've encouraged my YouTube subscribers to follow me to Steemit, I've answered questions from Steemians on YouTube, and have met great people in this community.
I've been speaking to a few Steemians about how to get more larger creators to come to the platform, and I am personally starting a project to recruit new creators to come to Steemit.
I am currently in talks with a number of news, politics, gaming, and other creators about coming to Steemit, which I believe will be terrific for the growth of the platform. Two of these creators are close to finalizing details and I'll be announcing them soon. I hope to have an announcement to make in the next 48 hours.
I am excited about this and will be using the tag steemitcreators for what I hope will be a number of upcoming introductions of new creators to Steemit. I hope you will help me in welcoming them!The DS Guitar Hero games were popular enough to warrant three entries in the series, so it wasn’t surprising that, deep in to the year of oversaturation that was 2009, they’d make another one. Unlike the previous games, however, this wasn’t an On Tour title. Instead we received a portable version of Band Hero, launching day and date with the console equivalent.
Feature-wise, the guitar and bass mechanics are just like those in the Guitar Hero: On Tour series. What was new, however, was the expansion to a full band with the addition of vocals and drums. Vocals are fairly self-explanatory with the DS microphone being used to sing in (it actually works fairly well). Drums are played by using a skin that fits on the bottom of a DS Lite (although it’s not needed if you know what buttons to push) that puts drum pads over the buttons that you hit in time.
One thing that didn’t return was the Share the Music feature, but up to four DSes could play at the same time to have a proper band on the go. Another thing that Band Hero featured was the ability to fully customize your band. All the songs are unlocked at the start, but playing certain songs and completing challenges would unlock new clothing and venues.
Similar to the console version, Band Hero has a heavy emphasis on more pop oriented hits, although some of the choices were a bit more obscure from the bands like All You Need by Sublime and Boots of Chinese Plastic by Pretenders. Also, just like the other DS games, the North American and European setlists were vastly different, with each version having 15 exclusive songs in addition to the 15 that were shared between the two versions. The North American version had more NA-centric acts like Boys Like Girls, Weezer, and Spin Doctors while the European version was more EU-centric with acts like Kasabian, Blur, and The Last Shadow Puppets.
Between the two games, there is a grand total of 45 songs. Of those 45, 13 are currently available in Rocksmith 2014 for a total of 28%. While it’s above Guitar Hero On Tour: Modern Hits’ 15%, it’s still the second lowest percentage of all the DS Guitar Hero games.
Artist Song Date in Rocksmith The All-American Rejects Believe N/A Alphabeat Fascination N/A Avril Lavigne Girlfriend N/A The Black Eyed Peas Let’s Get It Started N/A blink-182 First Date 01/17/2017 Blur Song 2 10/18/2011 Boys Like Girls The Great Escape N/A The Cardigans My Favourite Game 03/27/2018 Coldplay Yellow 02/14/2017 Duran Duran Hungry Like the Wolf 08/19/2014 Eagles of Death Metal Wannabe in L.A. N/A Editors Munich N/A Evanescence Call Me When You’re Sober N/A Fall Out Boy Thnks fr th Mmrs 02/05/2013 Foo Fighters Monkey Wrench 11/18/2014 Gorillaz Feel Good Inc. N/A Kaiser Chiefs I Predict a Riot 3/13/2018 Kasabian Club Foot N/A The Killers Spaceman 10/28/2014 Kings of Leon Manhattan N/A KT Tunstall Suddenly I See 05/01/2018 Lacuna Coil Our Truth N/A The Last Shadow Puppets The Age of the Understatement N/A Lenny Kravitz Fly Away N/A Lily Allen Take What You Take N/A Maroon 5 She Will Be Loved 05/14/2013 MIKA Grace Kelly N/A N*E*R*D Windows N/A No Doubt Excuse Me Mr. N/A P!nk So What N/A The Presidents of the United States of America Lump N/A The Pretenders Boots of Chinese Plastic N/A Queen Crazy Little Thing Called Love 06/09/2015 Queens of the Stone Age No One Knows 06/02/2015 Razorlight Golden Touch N/A The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus You Better Pray N/A Robbie Williams Tripping N/A The Rolling Stones Under My Thumb (Live) N/A Spin Doctors Two Princes 04/22/2014 Sublime All You Need N/A Sum 41 In Too Deep 06/03/2014 Ugly Kid Joe Everything About You N/A Vampire Weekend A-Punk N/A The Vines Get Free 04/16/2013 Weezer Troublemaker N/A
Here’s the songs from Band Hero DS that we’d like to see in Rocksmith 2014:
Avril Lavigne – Girlfriend
It’s a great, catchy pop punk song that pretty much defines the whole mid-2000s pop punk scene. Sure, it may be a bit simple, but it’d be a fun little beginners track.
The Black Eyed Peas – Let’s Get It Started
This song is a certified banger with an absolutely smashing bassline. With the announcement that Hey Ya! is coming to Rocksmith, here’s hoping the floodgates for more hip hop have been opened.
Evanescence – Call Me When You’re Sober
How have we never gotten more Evanescence? Sure, Bring Me to Life might have been pretty easy, but beginners need songs to rock out to as well. Call Me When You’re Sober is yet another classic of the 2000s and would be great to have in your repertoire.
Kaiser Chiefs – I Predict a Riot
While Ruby might be the more well known Kaiser Chiefs track (and believe me, I want that one too), I Predict a Riot has such a great atmospheric feel to it that would definitely make for some fun gameplay.
Kasabian – Club Foot
Despite the fact that this song has effectively been ruined by being used as the entrance music for Arsenal, the worst team in all of football and sports as a whole (COYS), the bassline on this song is too cool to ignore and would surely provide some great tones to use.
Lenny Kravitz – Fly Away
Pretty much one of the only notable late 90s radio friendly light alt-rock songs left that hasn’t appeared in Rocksmith, Fly Away has some cool funky guitar work going on that would be an absolute blast to play in the game.
MIKA – Grace Kelly
Despite the fact that MIKA wasn’t really big in America, he was HUGE in Europe and we’ve seen that help acts like The Libertines, Biffy Clyro, and The Stone Roses find their way to the game before. Grace Kelly is a fun little pop song that has a pretty prominent guitar part going on that’d make it a pretty good track for the game.
Razorlight – Golden Touch
Speaking of big British bands… Again, not the most complex song in the world, but I like it a lot and want to have it in a console rhythm game.
Elliott’s Picks
The Cardigans – My Favourite Game
It is surprising to say the least that this is the only appearance of The Cardigans in plastic guitar related games (yes, they are in Singstar). A fun and approachable bass and guitar part coupled with the nostalgic late 90s Swedish alt-rock feel makes this a winner in my book.
The Rolling Stones – Under My Thumb
I know we’ve all been waiting for more content from The Rolling Stones but if I had to pick one song from the only DLC pack Guitar Hero (or any music game) ever released, it would be this one.
Sublime – All You Need
You all know I am a fan of Sublime, and was extremely surprised and grateful at the addition of Badfish. However, this right here is the holy grail of @Sublime songs in music games. @UbisoftStudioSF, if this song is available to license please, PLEASE get it. It’s a real scorcher!
Ugly Kid Joe – Everything About You
The 90s song that you should never confuse with the one from that other band, the solo is really going to shock you.
There’s our picks, what songs would you like to see from Band Hero: DS end up in Rocksmith 2014? Let us know!March 2012
I'm not a very good speaker. I say "um" a lot. Sometimes I have to pause when I lose my train of thought. I wish I were a better speaker. But I don't wish I were a better speaker like I wish I were a better writer. What I really want is to have good ideas, and that's a much bigger part of being a good writer than being a good speaker.
Having good ideas is most of writing well. If you know what you're talking about, you can say it in the plainest words and you'll be perceived as having a good style. With speaking it's the opposite: having good ideas is an alarmingly small component of being a good speaker.
I first noticed this at a conference several years ago. There was another speaker who was much better than me. He had all of us roaring with laughter. I seemed awkward and halting by comparison. Afterward I put my talk online like I usually do. As I was doing it I tried to imagine what a transcript of the other guy's talk would be like, and it was only then I realized he hadn't said very much.
Maybe this would have been obvious to someone who knew more about speaking, but it was a revelation to me how much less ideas mattered in speaking than writing. [ 1 ]
A few years later I heard a talk by someone who was not merely a better speaker than me, but a famous speaker. Boy was he good. So I decided I'd pay close attention to what he said, to learn how he did it. After about ten sentences I found myself thinking "I don't want to be a good speaker."
Being a really good speaker is not merely orthogonal to having good ideas, but in many ways pushes you in the opposite direction. For example, when I give a talk, I usually write it out beforehand. I know that's a mistake; I know delivering a prewritten talk makes it harder to engage with an audience. The way to get the attention of an audience is to give them your full attention, and when you're delivering a prewritten talk, your attention is always divided between the audience and the talk — even if you've memorized it. If you want to engage an audience, it's better to start with no more than an outline of what you want to say and ad lib the individual sentences. But if you do that, you might spend no more time thinking about each sentence than it takes to say it. [ 2 ] Occasionally the stimulation of talking to a live audience makes you think of new things, but in general this is not going to generate ideas as well as writing does, where you can spend as long on each sentence as you want.
If you rehearse a prewritten speech enough, you can get asymptotically close to the sort of engagement you get when speaking ad lib. Actors do. But here again there's a tradeoff between smoothness and ideas. All the time you spend practicing a talk, you could instead spend making it better. Actors don't face that temptation, except in the rare cases where they've written the script, but any speaker does. Before I give a talk I can usually be found sitting in a corner somewhere with a copy printed out on paper, trying to rehearse it in my head. But I always end up spending most of the time rewriting it instead. Every talk I give ends up being given from a manuscript full of things crossed out and rewritten. Which of course makes me um even more, because I haven't had any time to practice the new bits. [ 3 ]
Depending on your audience, there are even worse tradeoffs than these. Audiences like to be flattered; they like jokes; they like to be swept off their feet by a vigorous stream of words. As you decrease the intelligence of the audience, being a good speaker is increasingly a matter of being a good bullshitter. That's true in writing too of course, but the descent is steeper with talks. Any given person is dumber as a member of an audience than as a reader. Just as a speaker ad libbing can only spend as long thinking about each sentence as it takes to say it, a person hearing a talk can only spend as long thinking about each sentence as it takes to hear it. Plus people in an audience are always affected by the reactions of those around them, and the reactions that spread from person to person in an audience are disproportionately the more brutish sort, just as low notes travel through walls better than high ones. Every audience is an incipient mob, and a good speaker uses that. Part of the reason I laughed so much at the talk by the good speaker at that conference was that everyone else did. [ 4 ]
So are talks useless? They're certainly inferior to the written word as a source of ideas. But that's not all talks are good for. When I go to a talk, it's usually because I'm interested in the speaker. Listening to a talk is the closest most of us can get to having a conversation with someone like the president, who doesn't have time to meet individually with all the people who want to meet him.
Talks are also good at motivating me to do things. It's probably no coincidence that so many famous speakers are described as motivational speakers. That may be what public speaking is really for. It's probably what it was originally for. The emotional reactions you can elicit with a talk can be a powerful force. I wish I could say that this force was more often used for good than ill, but I'm not sure.
Notes
[ 1 ] I'm not talking here about academic talks, which are a different type of thing. While the audience at an academic talk might appreciate a joke, they will (or at least should) make a conscious effort to see what new ideas you're presenting.
[ 2 ] That's the lower bound. In practice you can often do better, because talks are usually about things you've written or talked about before, and when you ad lib, you end up reproducing some of those sentences. Like early medieval architecture, impromptu talks are made of spolia. Which feels a bit dishonest, incidentally, because you have to deliver these sentences as if you'd just thought of them.
[ 3 ] Robert Morris points out that there is a way in which practicing talks makes them better: reading a talk out loud can expose awkward parts. I agree and in fact I read most things I write out loud at least once for that reason.
[ 4 ] For sufficiently small audiences, it may not be true that being part of an audience makes people dumber. The real decline seems to set in when the audience gets too big for the talk to feel like a conversation — maybe around 10 people.
Thanks to Sam Altman and Robert Morris for reading drafts of this.Cam Cameron is interviewing Monday for the New York Jets' vacant offensive coordinator position, sources told ESPN.
The Jets are looking to replace Tony Sparano, who was fired after the team's offense finished 30th overall during a disappointing 6-10 season.
Stanford offensive coordinator Pep Hamilton also will interview for the position this week, CBSSports.com reported.
The Jets also have shown interest in former Eagles coordinator Marty Mornhinweg and Bengals assistant Hue Jackson.
Jackson is interviewing for the Carolina Panthers' offensive coordinator position |
in the room to promise him that they will go home and say,'shut up bitch!'" Vejlø reported.
Though the event was in mid-April, it caused a firestorm Sunday after an English-language version of Vejlø's account was posted to Reddit.
Vejlø wrote that she was shocked that a company of Dell's stature would hire someone like Christensen.
It doesn't look like that will ever happen again.
"Mads Christensen made a number of inappropriate and insensitive remarks about women. Dell sincerely apologizes for these comments," Dell wrote Monday in a post to its Google+ account. "Going forward, we will be more careful selecting speakers at Dell events."
Neither Christensen nor Vejlø immediately responded to requests for comment.Renewables Cannot Replace Nuclear In Fight Against Climate Change, Says IAEA
Policies & Politics
20 Oct (NucNet): Renewable energy sources would have to increase at a level “hard to believe” to compensate fully for the use of nuclear energy in the fight against climate change, David Shropshire, head of the International Atomic Energy Agency’s planning and economic studies section said today.
Speaking to the press after the launch of the latest edition of the IAEA’s ‘Climate Change and Nuclear Power’ report, Mr Shropshire said the world needs to use “what works now” as opposed to investing huge amounts of money into “extreme” energy efficiency or new renewables infrastructure.
The report, updated every year, says nuclear power is economically competitive. Recent assessments indicate that the levelised cost of electricity (LCOE) from nuclear, ranging from $26-64 per megawatt hour, is less than that of coal ($65-95 per MW/h) and gas ($61-133 per MW/h) at a three percent discount rate. At a seven percent discount rate, coal and nuclear sources largely overlap at $75-100 per MW/h.
However, Mr Shropshire said upfront investment costs remain the “big challenge” for nuclear.
The levelised cost of electricity is the long-term price electricity produced by the nuclear plant will have to be sold at in order for the investor to cover all costs. The discount rate refers to the expected rate of return foregone by bypassing other potential investments. In other words, it is the rate of return investors could potentially earn in financial markets.
In terms of greenhouse gas emissions, since 1970 the use of nuclear energy avoided more than 65 gigatonnes of CO2 emissions, the report says. Greenhouse gas emissions from nuclear plants are negligible, and nuclear power, together with hydropower and wind-based electricity, is among the lowest CO2 emitters when emissions over the entire lifecycle of a facility are considered.
The report puts forward two scenarios for the future of nuclear energy. The first is to keep the world’s current nuclear generating capacity of about 379 GW stable until 2050. This will mean rebuilding a large portion of the existing reactor fleet because of plant retirements.
The second scenario sees a two-fold increase in capacity up to about 800 GW by 2040, meaning the construction of 10 to 20 reactors per year. This would require government policies and incentives to pay for the high capital costs, Mr Shropshire said.
In both cases there is a need to accelerate the rate of capacity growth over current levels, Mr Shropshire said.
Asked about the role of developing nations in the development of nuclear energy, Mr Shropshire said over 30 “newcomers” have expressed an interest in developing nuclear energy to the IAEA, even after the March 2011 Fukushima-Daiichi accident. Many developing countries are attracted by nuclear energy because of energy security and its low-carbon attributes, he said.
Mr Shropshire said small nuclear reactors (SMRs) are a good option for developing nations, but it will take at least another decade before they can be deployed.
Speaking at the same media briefing, Bertrand Magne, an energy economist working for the IAEA, said liberalised markets tend to be detrimental to nuclear. Growth for the next decade is expected to be in Asia where markets are heavily regulated, he said.
He said a set of policies could be implemented in order to support nuclear.
The report is online: http://bit.ly/1PE6pez
Related reports in the NucNet database (available to subscribers):
Nuclear Expansion To Continue, But At Slower Pace, Says IAEA (News No.171, 08 September 2015)
Source: NucNet Editor: Kamen Kraev
© NucNet a.s.b.l Brussels, BelgiumDETROIT - Exploding manholes prompted evacuations Wednesday night in Detroit's Greektown.
Watch video from the scene below.
The streets were evacuated, as was Fishbone's restaurant and the Atheneum Suite Hotel.
At about 9:30 p.m., there were explosions.
"A thick, heavy plume of smoke filled the air. We determined it was coming from underground," said Detroit police Capt. Darin Szlagy.
According to the fire department, a transformer blew near Fishbones in the 400 block of Monroe Street and manhole covers are now blowing up randomly, causing concern for citizen safety.
DTE told Local 4 early Thursday that the explosions were caused by a "high voltage cable failure."
Rick Jeroski was on the eight floor of the Atheneum.
"The building shook a little," he said.
Jeroski said he ran to a window when he heard the explosions and saw smoke and fire coming from the street.
A parking lot attendant said it sounded like bombs were going off when the manhole covers blew.
It's unknown if or when another cover may blow.
There was smoke in the basement of Fishbones, firefighters said.
The perimeter of Greektown is blocked off, and people are being told to avoid manholes in the area.
Stay with ClickOnDetroit for updates.
Sign up for ClickOnDetroit breaking news alerts and email newsletters
Copyright 2017 by WDIV ClickOnDetroit - All rights reserved.I work with a guy who emails Steve Bannon. He’s an Archie Bunker type: conservative, a pre-internet troll, so I thought he was joking. Nope. He emails Steve Bannon. They’re sort of friends. I don’t know how they met, but I believe my colleague was trying to get his nemesis, who worked for the government for a long time, fired. I don’t really know if he convinced Bannon, but I do know the nemesis was canned and my friend took great joy in this: He got Steve Bannon to do his bidding.
A dark and deferential tone permeates almost everything we read or hear about Bannon. Many of us whisper, “He’s an avowed Leninist. He reads impenetrable books. He wants to dismantle the state. He governs by chaos, and Trump is his blundering vector of havoc.” Worst of all, though: “He’s dangerous.” We gotta understand, folks, that this is exactly the story Bannon likes to tell himself about himself. It’s a myth.
Sure, the man holds some dangerous beliefs. But, guys, come on: they’re insane. The only truly dangerous thing about Steve Bannon is his credibility. He’s nothing unless we buy what he’s selling.
We need to expose that myth: Where we need to resist normalizing Trump, we need to normalize Bannon. He craves The Big Ideological Battle, but he’s vulnerable to fine print. The more we iconize this sub-Reddit gasbag in our headlines and our self-indulgent long-form profiles, the more power Trump—and we—will give to a blogger who wants to start a global holy war. The truth is that Steve Bannon is just a fairly smart conspiracy theorist who snaked his way into tremendous political power and is slowly but surely realizing he doesn’t quite know what to do with it.
This is actually quite serious, because Bannon, if left to his own devices, isn’t capable of starting a global holy war. He’s not even capable making a film about a global holy war. He’s writing a pulp fiction about the United States of America, and he thinks you’re stupid enough to read it.
Steve Bannon might be smart, but he’s stupid about it. So don’t try to prove him wrong. Prove him incompetent.
The Lusty Theologian
First, there’s some good in the man. The foul-mouthed, gin-blossomed Bannon is actually a fierce Catholic. Really. His worldview —Western civilization in bad decline; only a shock to the system can pull it out—is the product of what he calls the “Christian militant” wing of the Catholic church. Funnily enough, this gives way to some pretty noble views about capitalism.
Bannon has spoken out against our “brutal form of capitalism that is really about creating wealth and creating value for a very small subset of people.” He decries Ayn Rand’s libertarian doctrine as “a capitalism that really looks to make people commodities, and to objectify people, and to use them almost.” These ideals seem to be grounded in a genuine passion for fairness, for equity—financial, if not racial.
And Bannon has indeed visited the Vatican, even gave an address to the Vatican. While he was there, though, he didn’t meet with Pope Francis—a friend of Obama—but with Cardinal Raymond Burke, a severe conservative in open opposition to Pope Francis. Paste Politics has written about Bannon’s Vatican address, and you can read the whole monstrous thing for yourself right here.
So really, Bannon wants to be a theologian. He’s built a church out of ones and zeros and, on Breitbart, began writing his Bible. He populated the White House pews with converts, from Stephen Miller to Reince Priebus and Michael Anton. And in Donald Trump he’s found a willing, desperate apostle, an ideal combination of fragility and fire, someone who, as long as you’re an alpha male and project authority, will shout whatever you whisper. And what is Bannon whispering about?
The Presidentriloquist
It’s been heavily reported that Bannon—along with toe-faced white nationalist Stephen Miller—has written all of Trump’s executive orders. Most famously perhaps the (possibly illegal) executive order naming himself, Bannon, who has zero experience making foreign policy, a permanent member of the National Security Council. And to give you an idea of how brainwashed Trump is, he signed that order without even reading it, Even for Trump, that’s simply stunning.
In fact, when you hear Trump read anything—anything—you’re really hearing Bannon. Here’s a great example where Trump and Bannon occupy the same mouth. Trump said all of this himself at his disastrous speech at the National Prayer Breakfast.
BANNON: We have seen unimaginable violence carried out in the name of religion. Acts of wanton slaughter against religious minorities. Horrors on a scale that defy description. Terrorism is a fundamental threat to religious freedom. It must be stopped, and it will be stopped. It may not be pretty for a little while. It will be stopped. We have seen peace-loving Muslims brutalized, victimized, murdered and oppressed by ISIS killers. We have seen threats of extermination against the Jewish people. We have seen a campaign of ISIS and genocide against Christians—
TRUMP:—where they cut off heads. Not since the Middle Ages have we seen that. We haven’t seen that, the cutting off of heads. Now they cut off their heads, they drown people in steel cages. Haven’t seen this—I haven’t seen this. Nobody has seen this for many, many years.
BANNON: All nations have a moral obligation to speak out against such violence. All nations have a duty to work together to confront it and to confront it viciously, if we have to.
And indeed, some combination of Bannon and Miller wrote exactly all of Trump’s campaign speeches. Whenever Trump manages to stay on-prompter, his mouth might be moving but Bannon is doing the talking. And as The Wall Street Journal uncovered, it was actually Bannon and Miller who wrote Trump’s inauguration address. Trump didn’t write it himself, as he bragged and stupidly tweeted he did.
But get a load of this doozy. After the inaugural address, in an interview with The Washington Post, Bannon praised the speech that Trump “wrote,” saying, “I don’t think we’ve had a speech like that since Andrew Jackson came to the White House.” That frightened us. Bannon liked that American carnage stuff! But it sounds much different when we know Bannon wrote it. His quote to the Post sounds petty. It sounds like Bannon thought The Washington Post was stupid—and he’d have gotten away with it, too, if it weren’t for all you meddling leakers in my own White House!
Later that weekend, though, good ol’ Donnie Puppy Trump went and hung a portrait of Andrew Jackson in the Oval Office. Trump then remarked of himself, “George Washington, Alexander Hamilton, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, Andrew Jackson—who a lot of people, they compare the campaign of Trump with the campaign of… You have to go back to 1828, but that seems to be a comparison for certain obvious reasons.”
(“Obvious reasons” might include the fact Andrew Jackson was a populist and racist firebrand who passed the Indian Removal Act, then defied the Supreme Court’s ruling against it and enforced the removal of the Cherokee from U.S. territory. This led to the “Trail of Tears,” when thousands of Native Americans died walking from their homes in the Southeast to reservations in the West. Jackson also had an election controversy.)
Now, we could write off Trump’s linking himself to Jackson, which began after the election, as another odd Trump ramble, but it’s not. Trump’s surprisingly accurate citation of 1828—which for Trump passes as positively erudite—is out of character. Bannon almost certainly gave Trump a three-minute revisionist history of Jackson, flattering Trump into thinking he’s shaping himself, but becoming the President Bannon wants.
This is troubling for a number of reasons, among them the fact that Bannon is a media savant. Under his watch, the “alt-right”, nationalist, toilet graffiti, propaganda website Breitbart went from a racist internet crawlspace to the White House press corps. He knows how to hijack and spin a narrative. He knows how to get a certain kind of person to believe what he wants them to believe, which is—and again this sounds extreme—that if Western civilization is to survive, we must start a global holy war against radical Islamic fascism.
His words, not mine.
The Disheveled Disestablishmentarian
But like I said before, Bannon can’t even start a movie about a global holy war. He pitched one in which Muslims invade the US and turn it into the “Islamic States of America.” According to The Washington Post, the treatment outlines “a three-part movie that would trace ‘the culture of intolerance’ behind sharia law, examine the ‘Fifth Column’ made up of ‘Islamic front groups’ and identify the American enablers paving what Bannon calls ‘the road to this unique hell on earth.’”
That’s totally crazy. It is physically impossible that it could happen.
But we buy it. Hell, I bought it in a way. I thought the travel ban chaos was intentional. Bannon, I figured, wasn’t really interested if the ban ultimately failed. He was just testing his abilities to bust up our ancient marbled institutions and wrest the fragile state from their petrified clutches. After all, that’s what Bannon wants, right? “I’m a Leninist,” Bannon recently told The Daily Beast. “I want to destroy the state. I want to bring everything crashing down and destroy all of today’s establishment.”
We have to take him literally, but he literally sounds like a cartoon. He sounds like Professor Chaos. Yeah, from South Park. Or like some guy from high school you used to talk to every once in and a while but then he started saying shit like he was a Leninist and that he wanted to destroy the state.
“Ever see Loose Change, bro? Dude. It’s gonna Blow. Your. Mind. Bro.”
Bannon is quite literally that guy, but instead of sulking and feeling superior to everyone else in a hometown sports bar, he’s in the White House. He means what he says, and he holds a truly dark and disruptive ideology. But let’s pull back out of Bannon’s own narrative and into the real world. His plans are, for lack of a better word, stupid. Sure, he’s smart enough to have schemed his way into a position where, if the right people buy his theories, he has the power to put those plans into action. But like I said earlier, Bannon might be smart, but he’s stupid about it.
Bannon will fail. His contempt for the state is exactly why he won’t be able to undermine it.
The travel ban is a great example. Let’s assume Bannon really did want to create chaos, pull a surprise power play before the government or the people had settled into this administration. Let’s assume he really was pushing the limits of the constitution, trying to find a loophole around the establishment clause and test the President’s ability to shut down our borders at will, see how the public would react. Let’s even say the Grand Strategist knew the courts would intervene and wanted to see how strong they were too, how easily and for how long the President could ignore them.
So let’s just say that all went more or less according to plan and Bannon got his wish: His day in court. Balance v. Check; Check v. Balance. The Bannon administration was ready with an obscure clause in immigration law: the President “may by proclamation and for such period as he shall deem necessary, suspend the entry of all aliens and any class of aliens as immigrants or non-immigrants” whenever he thinks it “would be detrimental to the interests of the United States.”
“Ha ha!” says Bannon. “No one can stop him! No onnnnneeee….”
But that’s exactly why the court stopped him. The judges, all of them, basically said that no, you can’t just do whatever you want with immigration. You have to listen to the judicial branch. And this whole trolling thing, Don? The literal Muslim ban you ranted about for months? The one you’re now trying to tell us has a totally different goal from this new one you just wrote? We don’t believe you. I mean, dude, you’re so smug about it that you haven’t taken the DONALD J. TRUMP STATEMENT ON PREVENTING MUSLIM IMMIGRATION down from your campaign page.
And what was Professor Chaos’ response? Ignore the court? Nope. A rewrite. Not only did he rewrite it, he took a month to do it. It gave him a hard time.
In other words, Bannon defeated himself. He was being clever where you need to be wise. Though he might see the world in big terms, he’s actually a pretty small-minded fellow. Bannon’s not a builder, after all. He’s just a destroyer. A wannabe Shiva. Listen to literally everything he says: It’s negative, every last word. He has no real plan. He just wants to destroy everything. Nobody wants to do that without a real motive. Bannon’s motive? He needs to be right.
And that’s what is entirely up to us. We’re much more dangerous than Steve Bannon.
The Real Danger
Even after all that smarmy ranting, there’s a line that Bannon wrote in that prayer breakfast speech that still troubles me: “It may not be pretty for a little while.”
That’s not Trump. That’s the strategy, at home and abroad.
If you follow terrorism carefully, you know the war against the Islamic State and al Qaeda and the like will never, ever, ever become global in any true sense other than sporadic attacks at different dots on the map. It’s not going to be World War III. We won’t be taken over by Islam. Europe won’t either. Bannon’s ego is so wrapped up in his grand theory that he’s resorting to creating a global holy war that was never really there.
Bannon also said months ago—that the United States and China will fight a war over islands in the South China Sea within the next decade, and that “there’s no doubt about that.” He also said we’ll soon fight a “major” shooting war in the Middle East. Now two-thirds of America believe it. And note that Trump bullied China about Taiwan before he was even President, and it was recently reported the Department of Defense is considering a proposal to send ground troops into Syria to fight the Islamic State.
None of that sounds particularly Christlike to me, Steve.
The real danger is in telling and retelling the story Bannon is writing.
In this sense we need to remember this isn’t only about shooting wars. Bannon is stoking a war with the media (“the opposition party”; “the enemy of the American people”—both of them Bannonisms Trump has adopted). He’s trying to bait the press into a fight because he knows he can spin a vicious response from the media as proof to further discredit the establishment in the eyes of his true believers. We cannot, simply cannot, continue to spew his bullshit for him.
To sum up: Steve Bannon is insane. He suffers delusions of grandeur, and we’re indulging him. He aspires to theology, but Bannon is no theologian. He’s no priest and no Shiva either. He replies to emails. He leaks information he shouldn’t. He’s no evil genius. He’s just another troll: cold, aloof, weathered, immobile—made of stone. Steve Bannon is a gargoyle. A blogger puking a steady stream of runoff.
Listen closely: He’s wrong.We caught up with Interplay co-founder and Wasteland 2 mastermind Brian Fargo recently to get his thoughts on the evolution of the game industry, post-apocalyptic hellscapes, and Kickstarter’s strengths and weaknesses.
When you’re done with this, be sure to check out our Classic GI section from the recent July book, which features much more from Fargo on the original title itself.
How did we get to this point, where what was once a successful franchise is ignored by publishers and has to go to Kickstarter to get funded?
We were doing these products for Electronic Arts. We were surviving, but we weren’t making much money…. We had had hit after hit after hit, and I said I had to change my business model, because this was as good as it gets at the time. So I decided to become a publisher, and one of my first games was Battle Chess. I went to Electronic Arts and said, “I’d like to keep doing Wasteland.” They said, “Well, it’s our trademark, and if you want to do it you have to do it for us.” I wasn’t making money doing that, so it really made no sense. I then got Interplay rolling as a standalone publisher…and I continued to pester them, asking if there was any chance they’d let it go. The answer was pretty consistently “no.” So finally, I said, “Fine. We’ll just do our own Wasteland.” And that’s when I kicked off Fallout.
Then finally in the early 2000s I left Interplay, and now I had neither Fallout nor Wasteland, and so I was a man without a post-apocalyptic world. I was able to work a deal out where I got the trademark to Wasteland. I said, “Okay, I’m finally going to do this thing!” I went out and pitched the idea, and I didn’t really get anywhere, and I was surprised. And then Fallout 3 came out and sold four or five million copies. So I went and hired one of the co-creaters of Fallout, Jason Anderson, I got Mike Stackpole aboard again, and I [personally] had produced both products. I went out, and I went into my pitch meetings and said, “Okay guys, this pitch is as good as it gets. I will never come to you with a better one.”
I got nowhere. I didn’t even get to a point where people would question the budget or anything; it was just a complete pass for different reasons. They wanted to do their own properties, or they didn’t want to do a role-playing game and compete against BioWare, or whatever. Every excuse was completely different. I was surprised; I was a publisher once and I thought, “If someone came to me with this I’d do it in two seconds.” But over the years I continued to hear from fans that wanted it made.
Kickstarter had been around, but I’d never focused on it because of the size of the deals. But then boom, Tim Schafer does a million dollars in 24 hours, and that got me thinking. The fans were right in sync with me, saying, “Hey Brian, this could be the chance to do a Wasteland sequel finally.” I pretty much dropped everything at that point because I saw an opportunity with Kickstarter that this could be the thing that saves the middle-size developer.
You’ve got this huge gap now. You’ve got the big triple-A developers, who typically have these housekeeping deals with the publishers where they’ll keep feeding them these 10-30 million-dollar projects and keeping them alive. Then you’ve got the small little indies doing their stuff, which is great, but they’re just two or three or four or five people. When I say mid-sized, I mean 15-20 people. I’m not talking about a huge company. I saw [Kickstarter] as a way to save the mid-sized developer, us included, so I dropped everything and jumped on it.
I worked with the fans day one. The way we made this happen is a microcosm of how the product is going to happen. I didn’t just invent the tiers and throw it out there; I set up a whole bulletin board system and forums and then threw the tiers at them and said, “What do you guys think?” I went back and forth with the fans, triangulating on what the right tiers were. And thank god I did, because there are a lot of counter-intuitive things that you wouldn’t see coming if you hadn’t worked with the fans…It’s been successful, and I’m going to continue that same communication throughout the entire process.
For the last decade or so, European studios have largely been the caretakers of the legacy of Western RPG design. Now we're seeing more American developers going back to their roots. Why do you think that is?
It’s been bubbling under the surface for some time. There’s been a lot of frustration about where the genre has been going. The console is a different kind of experience, and a lot of effort in my opinion has been on dumbing things down. I find on the PC side there’s no effort dumbing things down [laughs]. The audience likes to be treated like they’re intelligent, and I’ve always tried to take that approach. Even when we used to do Wasteland or Bard’s Tale – our audience was much younger then than it is now, but we would always treat them like they were smart. They always figured things out. We’d find people that could go through our games the first time faster than we could having played them a hundred times.
Are we seeing a renaissance in so-called old-school games, like the long list of indie PC titles and things like Dark Souls and the XCOM reboot, as well as Wasteland 2?
I think people are sick of the “re-imagining.” Where there’s a classic title and it gets re-imagined. It becomes a first-person shooter, for example, where it had been a tactical top-down game. People pretty consistently have said that they don’t want that. There was something about that earlier product that they loved, and they want that back. They don’t want it re-imagined in any way.
Do you worry about being perceived as Fallout Junior, as ironic as that would be?
One of the best thing about doing a Kickstarter project is [people ask me], do I worry about attracting the new audience, the young audience, the mass audience. And my answer is always the same, which is, “I don’t care.” Because my fans have told me what they want. I’m making this game for them. These backers who gave me the money – I know what they want, and I’m going to be communicating with them throughout. We’re going to make a kick-ass top-down, isometric, turn-based game with cause and effect, post-apocalyptic, gritty, mature-rated, warped sense of humor. If I do a good job of that, I believe the new people will find me. Whether they think I’m Fallout Junior or not – it’s ironic – but let them think what they want. To me, I just have to create this core experience and let the chips fall where they may.
Do you worry at all about the vision of the designers and the developers getting distorted by this audience participation in the development cycle?
That is another very common question I get, and no, I don’t. Because we all have versions of it, you know. Even doing the tiers, right? I’ll give you an example which was early on we said, “How about we give the backers a special ability that non-backers don’t get?” Well that sounds pretty good on paper, right? Isn’t that cool? Guess what? They hated it! They hated it. They want the same experience for everyone and they don’t want to change for them or for anyone, even if it gives them a benefit. Now to me, that is slightly counter-intuitive, but I understood where they were coming from. And we didn’t do it, and I am glad we didn’t do it. Now if you take that extrapolation to the game design there are lots of things like that which are minor in the details which they have a very strong reaction to. I think as long as you are working with them on broad strokes type stuff, they kind of know what the product is, but if I was going to introduce something new or radical or go for a graphic look that is completely different than what they are expecting, then we need to be in communication with them.
Now once we have established those key points, we’ll go silent for a little while, but then we go into beta test, right? Well what is beta test? It is just audience participation. I don’t think Blizzard is afraid to do beta test. I don’t think Valve is afraid to do beta test. And they have to make changes based upon that input. So we’re not going to get in there in the beginning and say "Do you like the way this sentence reads?" you know? "Do you like the way this music sounds?" We’re not going to go there. We’re not going to go into every nuance of the detail. But they are going to get their input on the first pass, which is the broad-stroke vision of it all, and then on the second pass they are going to get in on the specifics of the game and majority rules. You know, if I put a – even if it is a song and 85 percent of people chime in and go, “We hate that song,” well, why fight it, right? There is no point. But I find that when I work with the fans as a whole, they are pretty smart. There are always the outliers that say things that you can’t do, but as a whole I find them to be very smart and they tend to fall in the places where I think they are. I’d say 80 to 90 percent of the time my instincts are kind of in line with where I thought they’d be, but then there’s the things like I mentioned earlier about “Don’t give us something extra,” little things like that which catch me off-guard. And again, I don’t think that affects the experience negatively in anyway.
Are there any modern RPG player expectation that are counter to the core of Wasteland?
That’s so hard for me, because I’ve been so in tune with this crowd that they haven’t been chiming in on some of the newer stuff. I know that, for example, I hear a lot of negative things about focusing on relationships. I think that is something that is more popular now, and it certainly was not popular back then, and there is kind of a negative backlash to focusing on the relationships. There can be a lot of ways of describing what that means, but my audience is saying don’t do it. So, I don’t know what thing I have to think of that they do today, because again, you know I’ve really been trying to stay close to the street on this.
Sure, that makes sense. The last question I have for you on this is when I will be able to give you my money for the Bard’s Tale Kickstarter for a proper Bard’s Tale game?
You know what, for now, we don’t want to put even one ounce of our effort into thinking about anything else yet, because you know, I feel more responsibility and pressure to deliver on this game than anything I have ever done before. So not only does how it fares affect me personally, but also for other people. Because me and Tim [Schafer] are very high profile on this and if we do a great product it is going to make it easier for people down the road to succeed on their Kickstarter project. We don’t want to be the guys that people point to and go, “Well, look what happened there.” That would be bad for everyone.The Swedish team passions, that qualified for the European Minor closed qualifier, has been signed by Red Reserve.
Red Reserve made headlines earlier this year when they signed a Brazilian team with Renato "nak" Nakano and Vito "kNgV-" Giuseppe, which originally moved to Sweden to play for Orbit. After the Brazilians parted ways due to a "division in the squad" earlier this month, Red Reserve was left without a team.
That changed today, as the organization announced the signing of passions, a Swedish team that managed to qualify for the European Minor closed qualifier and will face Envy in the first round of the Swiss system.
hampus represented the main Epsilon team at WESG
Making the team are three ex-Epsilon Hype players: Alfred "RuStY" Karlsson, Aron "xajdish" Fredriksson and Hampus "hampus" Poser, who are joined by the twins Fredrik "FREDDyFROG" Gustafsson and Joakim "Relaxa" Gustafsson, formerly players of a lower tier Swedish team Japaleno.
Red Reserve's COO released the following statement regarding the signing:
"It may or may not come to a surprise to you that we have signed a team that again, hasn’t had any incredible results but shows an increase in ability day after day. At Red, we pride ourselves on seeing our teams not as a way to make money but as a project, giving these players the necessary tools to reach their goals when no other organisations would and allowing them to reach the next level with that assistance. It is a pleasure to be working with a hungry and driven set of players that all share the same goals." - Sebastian Spooner, Red Reserve COO
HLTV.org has learned that the team is currently at a bootcamp, and will be practicing in that environment for the rest of the week.
Red Reserve is now:[todaysdate]
By Tracy Simmons
The news of Bishop Blase Cupich’s new post as the archbishop of Chicago sent shock waves throughout the Catholic community, and in Spokane left adherents feeling both proud of their leader, and mournful to see him go.
Spokane author Victoria Thorpe, who has led efforts locally to abolish the death penalty, said she’s worked with Cupich on the issue and has mixed emotions about him leaving.
“As much as I wish him the very best in his new position in Chicago, I believe Spokane is losing a vital, compassionate faith leader,” she said. “My prayers go with him; may his apparent mission to serve social justice through his dedication to the church be accomplished wherever he goes.”
Thorpe described Cupich as personable and said he had genuine concern for the hearts and souls of those on death row, recalling that he once said no one can know who is guilty and who is pure, as no one can know one’s inner heart.
Cupich not only participated in local education events and forums about the death penalty, but wrote a letter to Thorpe’s sister, who is on death row in California, Thorpe said.
The Rev. Darrin Connall, rector of The Cathedral of Our Lady of Lourdes, pointed out that Cupich also led the Catholic Diocese of Spokane through the aftereffects of bankruptcy, which happened nearly 10 years ago because of sex abuse scandals.
“(The diocese) faced not only financial ruin, but a significant blow to to the mission and ministry of the church in Eastern Washington and he was to shepherd us through that,” he said, noting that Cupich wasn’t just a financial and legal leader, but a pastor one as well.
Connall said another highlight of Cupich’s ministry in Spokane is his creation of the Nazareth Guild, which aims to support Catholic education.
He added that Cupich is one of the best cooks he knows, and has a quick whit.
Bishop James Waggoner of the Episcopal Diocese of Spokane, who was attending the House of Bishops meeting in Taiwan, said the Archdiocese of Chicago will be served wisely under Cupich’s leadership.
“I know him as a person of prayer, intellect, integrity and pastoral leadership that spans from the local to worldwide mission,” he said. “He is a valued and highly respected colleague who will be missed in the Diocese of Spokane.”
Spokane Catholic Mary Wissink said Cupich is progressive Catholic and she’s pleased with the pope’s decision.
“His appointment is a bold move that shows Pope Francis’ commitment to reform the Catholic Chruch and work to modernize the church,” she said.
Michael Richard Etten, also a local Catholic, got know the bishop during Theology on Tap, which the Cupich hosted regularly at O’Doughety’s Irish Grille.
“He will be missed, but a man of his caliber is probably under-used in a small diocese like Spokane,” he said.
He said it will be hard to replace Cupich, but that he trusts Pope Francis in this process.
Matthew Sewell, who is involved with the Eastern Washington University Catholic Newman Center, was surprised when he heard the news about Cupich.
“Not because he wouldn’t do a great job in Chicago, but because I I was anticipating an archbishop from a smaller metropolitan area like Seattle or Portland instead of a small diocese like Spokane. That said, I think he’s incredibly well-equipped to lead the Chicago archdiocese,” he said.
Sewell said Cupich’s experience as a diplomat for the church (prior to being a bishop) will help him engage with, “one of the most liberal and secularized areas of the nation with charity, while remaining faithful to the Magisterium. I think that’s especially needed in the 21st Century.
He said he hopes Spokane’s next bishop is one who will answer the call, but who isn’t seeking it.
“It was true of Pope Francis |
played mind games with the girls when she should have been rehearsing.
Luckily for her it didn’t cost her the competition as Ginge and Katya landing in the bottom two. While Ginge performed better in this week’s challenge, I would argue that Katya was screwed by getting allocated the worst character, so defend Alyssa’s decision to send home Ginge despite the girl’s agreement to follow the judges critiques.
Which I obviously did not share with Ginge.
Despite the fact that we’re exes – we were each other’s starter marriage after meeting at a Danny DeVito look alike contest – we have remained close, which for me is completely surprising given my love for revenge. I guess it is the fact we’re both old and grumpy, so even if we aren’t holding a grudge, we are holding a grudge.
Our brief marriage was filled with the highest highs and the most vitriolic fights I’ve ever been involved in – verbally speaking, my fight club with the Knowles-Z’s is defintely the most physically taxing – but at the end of the day we could always be reunited by our favourite drink – a wet ginger minj.
I could literally list off a million things I’d rather have in my mouth than a wet minj, but when you add in a little bit of ginge, it is hard to say no. Spicy and sweet, this quenches your thirst even if minj isn’t something that would normally flood your basement.
And yes, this is just a moscow mule – from Katya with love. Enjoy!
Wet Ginger Minj
Serves: 1.
Ingredients
Ice
¼ cup vodka
1 tbsp fresh lime juice
½ cup ginger beer
1 lime wedge
Method
Like all of my drinks, this is a toughie.
Fill the glass with ice, add the vodka, lime juice and ginger beer, stir, garnish and drink.
Good luck mastering that.
As you can probably tell, we are very social but the fun isn’t only limited to celebrities! You can follow us on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Tumblr and Google+.While the US Supreme court reviews Proposition 8, Jedis in Scotland are fighting their own fight, with the hopes that weddings officiated by followers of the 'Temple of the Jedi Order' are recognized by the country with the same equality as other religions. Completely unrelated: I'm thinking about starting a cult.
A bill under consideration in Scotland would grant those who have literally made "Star Wars" a religion the power to perform marriage ceremonies.
The BBC reports that the Marriage and Civil Partnership Bill would apply to other nonreligious groups such as the Flat Earth Society and the Jedi Knights Society, aka Temple of the Jedi Order. And while it may sound like a joke to most, the Jedi religion is quite popular in some parts of Europe. In England, it is the second-most popular "alternative religion," with more than 175,000 people listing themselves as Jedi in the 2012 nationwide census.
Hey -- different strokes for different folks. You want to have a Jedi wedding? Have a Jedi wedding. But you better cut the cake with a lightsaber. Or do Jedi followers not believe in wedding cakes? They better still believe in open bars, I'll tell you that.
Thanks to Nobhdy, who agrees the number of lightsabers present at a wedding is directly proportional to how long the marriage will last. Over ten and you should be good for life.NEW YORK -- The CIA's chief technology officer outlined the agency's endless appetite for data in a far-ranging speech on Wednesday.
Speaking before a crowd of tech geeks at GigaOM's Structure:Data conference in New York City, CTO Ira "Gus" Hunt said that the world is increasingly awash in information from text messages, tweets, and videos -- and that the agency wants all of it.
"The value of any piece of information is only known when you can connect it with something else that arrives at a future point in time," Hunt said. "Since you can't connect dots you don't have, it drives us into a mode of, we fundamentally try to collect everything and hang on to it forever."
Hunt's comments come two days after Federal Computer Week reported that the CIA has committed to a massive, $600 million, 10-year deal with Amazon for cloud computing services. The agency has not commented on that report, but Hunt's speech, which included multiple references to cloud computing, indicates that it does indeed have interest in storage and analysis capabilities on a massive scale.
The CIA is keenly interested in capabilities for so-called "big data" -- the increasingly massive data sets created by digital technology. The agency even has a page on its website pitching big data jobs to prospective employees.
Hunt acknowleded that at some scale, data storage becomes impractical, adding that he meant "forever being in quotes" when he said the agency wants to keep data "forever." But he also indicated that he was interested in computing capabilities like 1 petabyte of RAM, a massive capacity for on-the-fly calculations that has heretofore been seen only in computers that simulate nuclear explosions.
He referenced the failure to "connect the dots" in the case of Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, the "underwear bomber" who was able to board a plan with an explosive device despite repeated warnings of his intentions. In that case, a White House review found that the CIA had all of the data it needed to identify the would-be bomber, but still failed to stop him. Nevertheless, the agency does not seem to have curbed its ambitions for an endless amount of data.
A slide from Hunt's presentation.
"It is really very nearly within our grasp to be able to compute on all human generated information," Hunt said. After that mark is reached, Hunt said, the agency would also like to be able to save and analyze all of the digital breadcrumbs people don't even know they are creating.
"You're already a walking sensor platform," he said, nothing that mobiles, smartphones and iPads come with cameras, accelerometers, light detectors and geolocation capabilities.
"You are aware of the fact that somebody can know where you are at all times, because you carry a mobile device, even if that mobile device is turned off," he said. "You know this, I hope? Yes? Well, you should."
Hunt also spoke of mobile apps that will be able to control pacemakers -- even involuntarily -- and joked about a "dystopian" future where self-driving cars force people to go to the grocery store to pick up milk for their spouses.
Hunt's speech barely touched on privacy concerns. But he did acknowledge that they exist.
"Technology in this world is moving faster than government or law can keep up," he said. "It's moving faster I would argue than you can keep up: You should be asking the question of what are your rights and who owns your data."It is a big day for us at Team Kang, and it gives me immense pleasure to bring this news to all fellow Kanglings. Most of you might have been wondering, why after starting work on lollipop, we have been taking so long to come out with any builds. Well, as it happens, we all were busy working behind the curtains on a project, the details of which have finally been crystallised.
With Cyanogen parterning with various OEMs and OnePlus grabbing hold of the ParanoidAndroid team, the folks at Xiaomi started considering that to have a larger share of the international market, they needed to collaborate with some established custom ROM community, and hence since last year we had been in close talks. With all the pieces of the deal in place, I wish to announce that all Team Kang members are working with Xiaomi on a new and refreshed MIUI 7, which will be finally based on Android 5.1, and be coming on the Mi 5.
MIUI 7, (which the team internally calls codename MiKangy, not to be confused with MiKandi), is a whole new take on the Android UX. The idea behind it is to kang all important features from the top ROMs like CM, PA, Omni and AOKP and create an experience which completely submerges the user in his own world. The UI will evolve with the user, and thus a few months after usage, the UI of each Mi 5 phone will be different – personalised to the traits of it’s individual user.
MarcLandis, who was leading development on AOKP, has been appointed to lead MiKangy technically, while Zaphod will be overlooking the product development. Only yesterday they were found discussing how this project will shoot an arrow through the knee of CyanogenMod and snatch it from Cyanogen, even before Kirt McMaster is able to snatch Android from Google, and of course we have a few inside men in form of Roman and Tom to pull that off. From the rate at which development is going on, I believe this can very well be true.
Loyal Kanglings who have been waiting impatiently for AOKP Lollipop builds should not lose heart though. We will continue to devote time to AOKP, and builds will come soon. This new collaboration with Xiaomi is an entirely new project and should not be considered as having an effect on the future of AOKP.
UPDATE : If you have not seen it through yet, gotcha!! Well, this was an April Fools prank. It was fun trolling all of you Kanglings, and best of all, it was fun getting some tech blogs to actually believe this was true. The ball rolled down the hill so much that Xiaomi contacted us, and explicitly asked us to add this little clarification. :DJim Burroway
TODAY’S AGENDA:
Events This Weekend: Spring Diversity, Eureka Springs, AR; AIDS Walk, New Haven, CT; Dina SHore Weekend, Palm Springs, CA; Phoenix Pride, Phoenix, AZ; Gay Snow Happening, Solden, Austria.
TODAY IN HISTORY:
Iowa Supreme Court Declares Ban on Same-Sex Marriage Unconstitutional: 2009. In a unanimous ruling, the Iowa Supreme Court upheld a lower court ruling which held that the state’s marriage statute was unconstitutional. The Court concluded that:
We are firmly convinced the exclusion of gay and lesbian people from the institution of civil marriage does not substantially further any important governmental objective. The legislature has excluded a historically disfavored class of persons from a supremely important civil institution without a constitutionally sufficient justification. There is no material fact, genuinely in dispute, that can affect this determination.
Senate Majority Leader Mike Gronstal and House Speaker Pat Murphy issued a joint statement welcoming the court’s decision. Citing Iowa’s long tradition in being a leader in civil rights, they congratulated “the thousands of Iowans who now can express their love for each other and have it recognized by our laws.” Iowa’s same-sex couples began marrying on April 27.
TODAY’S BIRTHDAY:
Anne Lister: 1791. Her father was a veteran British soldier who fought with the Redcoats at the Battles of Lexington and Concord (he later wrote a book about it) during the American War for Independence. After the war, he married and became a wealthy country gentleman in Yorkshire. His eldest daughter, Anne, was brought up with all of the advantages education and erudician, the latter resulting in an intense interest in classical literature. In 1826, she inherited the family estate, Shibden Hall, and with it a steady income from the estate’s tenants. That modest wealth was enough to afford her a measure of independence and deference from those who might otherwise criticize her “masculine appearance.” She was sometimes referred to as “Gentleman Jack,” for her propensity to enter into business (she became engaged in the very male-dominated coal mining business) and recreational affairs (she was the first woman to climb Mont Perdy in the Pyrenees in 1830) that were not considered normal for a woman of her standing.
What’s more, private life was not considered normal for a woman of any standing. Lister had a long term relationship with Marianna Belcombe, which lasted lasting several years including a period of time when Belcombe was married. In 1832, Lister met and fell in love with a wealthy landowner Ann Walker, and the two of them would remain together for the rest of Lister’s short life. Their relationship was as close to a marriage as was possible, given the times. Lister died in 1840, at the age of 49, while traveling with Walker in Eastern Europe.
Lister left behind a 26-volume diary covering the years 1806 to 1840. Most of the diary covered various mundane topicc — the weather, social events, business concerns, her travels — but about a sixth of the diary was encrypted in a simple code. Those coded sections describe her lesbian nature and affairs. When a relative, John Lister, who was the last to inhabit Shibden Hall, decoded the diaries and discovered the contents, he was advised to burn them. He didn’t, but decided instead to hide them. A century later, Helena Whitbread published portions of the diaries in two volumes in 1988 and 1992, and issued a re-release of selected excerpts as The Secret Diaries of Miss Anne Lister in 2012. As Shibden Gall currator Claire Shelby observed, the diaries reveal a complicated woman who was very frank about her sexuality. “She talks about her tactics for wooing women. She talks about how she likes a particular woman, how she is interested and how she has spoken to tem. It’s almost like you can see relationships developing as they go along. And, though she doesn’t refer to it in the sort of language we use today, it is clear to see a sexual element in her relationships. … She approached an awful lot of women, including married women, and it doesn’t sound like she was rejected very often. She could be very charming when she wanted to be.” In 2010, BBC Two aired a dramatization of Lister’s life and a documentary. Between the books and the television program, Lister’s reputation as “the first modern lesbian” has been firmly cemented.
If you know of something that belongs on the agenda, please send it here. Don’t forget to include the basics: who, what, when, where, and URL (if available).
And feel free to consider this your open thread for the day. What’s happening in your world?ONE benefit of the Federal Reserve’s rescue of Bear Stearns is that public outrage has aroused the political system to action in mitigating the foreclosure crisis.
Never mind that the supposed conflict between Wall Street and Main Street is a false one — Main Street runs on credit and cannot prosper if the financial system is in shambles and credit dries up. Never mind that the supposed Fat Cat “bailout” was a disaster for Bear Stearns stockholders, and that the idea of a “moral hazard” risk — that other investment banks will be tempted to emulate Bear Stearns — is preposterous. Never mind that if markets head back up and the collateral can be sold at a profit, taxpayers may lose nothing.
In the end, the Fed’s action was not aimed at rescuing those who made bad decisions out of greed or stupidity, but at protecting the rest of the country — and indeed the world — from the possibly devastating consequences of a financial meltdown.
Nevertheless, the outrage is both understandable and useful. Public money has been put at risk to calm a storm on Wall Street while ordinary people are losing their homes. The public is crying, “What about us?” and politicians are listening, as they should.
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Like the failure of a financial behemoth, spreading foreclosures engulf the innocent as well as the imprudent and unwise. To be sure, many homeowners were shortsighted and greedy. Like their Wall Street counterparts they borrowed too much and got caught when the music stopped. Like the Bear Stearns shareholders, they should take losses. But putting them out of their homes does not merely harm them and their children, it endangers whole neighborhoods and drags down the assets of their more prudent neighbors.
Advertisement Continue reading the main storyExplanation
It takes a large amount of energy to compress the air in the cylinder. This energy is transferred to the air, the only way a gas can hold this energy is as heat, so the gas heats up. The gas inside the cylinder is compressed to about 1/20th of its original size and theoretically could be heating up to about 400°C although it is probably a little less than this.
This high temperature and the fact that the oxygen in the air is at a much higher pressure means that the cotton wool can start reacting with the oxygen in the air, and burn. The cotton wool has a large surface area so burns incredibly quickly and is ash by the time the piston is back to the beginning.
What has this got to do with Rudolf Diesel?
Rudolf Diesel invented (possibly unsurprisingly) the Diesel engine. This works similarly to a petrol engine, it mixes air and fuel in a cylinder, ignites it and uses the resulting explosion to move a vehicle along.
A diesel engine uses the same principle as the fire piston to ignite the fuel.
Air is sucked into the cylinder as the piston moves down
The air is compressed, so it gets hotter.
The compressed air gets very hot and fuel is injected, which ignites. The explosion drives the piston back down, producing power.
The exhaust gases are then pushed out of a valve.
Why does the gas get hotter when you compress it?
Gases are made up of molecules; these are small groups of atoms. In a gas they are flying around at high speed, colliding with each other and the walls. Normally, when they collide with a surface, on average, they will leave it with the same energy as they hit it. But what happens when that wall is moving?
If the wall is moving towards the gas molecule (like when the piston is compressing the gas), it will tend to bounce off faster than it approached the piston. This is the same reason that a tennis ball will bounce off a racket faster when the racket is swung towards it.
The moving piston means that the air molecules bounce off faster, and therefore have more energy, so the gas heats up.
Similarly, if the piston is moving away from the gas molecules, it will bounce off more slowly and lose energy. So a gas cools when it expands.
This is why an aerosol can gets cold when you spray it (the gas is expanding against the air and getting colder) and is the same principle that most fridges use to keep food cold. They compress a gas at the back of the fridge and it increases in temperature. It then loses heat in the thin pipes at the back of the fridge. The gas is then allowed to expands inside the body of the fridge, cooling it down.Bernie Williams Goes To Music School
Paulo Camacho Blocked Unblock Follow Following Jun 7, 2016
Legendary New York Yankees center fielder Bernie Williams graduated from the Manhattan School of Music last month — an unexpected accomplishment from an athlete that had a love for the guitar.
Not many of us have the opportunity, let alone the talent and drive, to make out a successful life for ourselves in more than one discipline. For most of us, we dedicate ourselves to the one craft we have chosen for much of our adult lives. Few occupations allow people to be highly successful, and still be young and driven enough to retire and find success in another field.
Professional sports, inherently speaking, is one such occupation. After all, not many jobs have such a narrow window of opportunity — while most professional athletes begin their careers in their late teens and early 20s, only the most successful will see their tenure last longer than a decade. Between professional baseball, basketball, NFL football and hockey, the average length of a professional career doesn’t even crack six years.
With that in mind, it would be safe to say that it is rare to see a wildly successful professional athlete — one who had dedicated decades to their craft and win the highest of honors for it — to dedicate as much time and energy to another craft. One, it would seem, so intrinsically dissimilar, in terms of its methods for mastery.
And, yet, that is what we had, so recently, with former professional baseball center fielder Bernie Williams.
Born Bernabé Williams Figueroa Jr. in San Juan, Puerto Rico in 1968, Williams played for the famed New York Yankees dynasty of the 1990s. He played in Yankee pinstripes for his entire 16-year career — a rare feat for Major League Baseball players of his stature — and, partly because of his stellar play, won a number of awards.
He was a four-time All-Star, a four-time Gold Glove winner, won the American League batting title in 1998, and won the Silver Slugger Award in 2002. He was also a big part of four World Series titles with the Yankees. While his professional career didn’t officially end until 2015, he played his last game in Major League Baseball game on October 1, 2006. For his stellar career, the Yankees honored him with a plaque at their famed Monument Park — one of only 37 — and by retiring his number 51.
And yet, despite his monumental success in the sport of baseball, it didn’t stop Williams from pursuing another passion in his life: musical performance. He was a talented jazz guitarist, and even released an album during his playing career (The Journey Within, in 2003), which went to No. 157 in the US music charts, and No. 3 in the US jazz charts.
He released a second album in 2009, after his retirement from baseball, which went to No. 178 in the US music charts, and No. 2 in the US jazz charts.
But two successful LPs wasn’t enough for Williams. His dedication to the medium of music compelled him to take it a step further:
I think to be successful, you need to have a combination of what the public perception is of you and what your peers’ perception is of you. And I think that being able to do something and just kind of rubbing elbows with master musicians, to me, that is part of going in the right path of being successful. I think anybody could go out there and play some chords and be very passionate about it and break some guitars, put them on fire, whatever, to get the people’s attention. And that could be a certain part of success. But I think to me, it’s just trying to be the best musician that I can and having the respect of the music industry and the people that are really playing.
Coupled with the values instilled to him by his mother — an educator of 40 years in his native Puerto Rico — about the importance of academics, it was these raw motivations that brought him back to school. Music school, that is.
More specifically, the Manhattan School of Music — an institution a mere hour from his home in White Plains. After passing an audition to enroll into the school, Williams spent four days a week, for four school years, going to four or five classes per semester.
By many accounts, it wasn’t even a distraction for the school, itself — to pretty much everyone at the school, Williams was simply a 47-year-old with a passion for guitar that was going for a long-awaited bachelor’s degree. The music institute housed a diverse population, full of international students who did not follow baseball, so Williams was able to go about his business with little, if any, fanfare.
If you asked his classmates — or even the school president — of Bernie Williams’ baseball accomplishments (including his four World Series rings) while he attended MSM, they probably would have given you a blank stare.
Even MSM President James Gandre — who had lived in New York during Williams’ playing career — had no knowledge of his past life as one of the most revered Yankees of the late 20th century. It spoke to his humility as a student, and as a person, that his career at MSM was as low-key as it was. Said Gandre:
I was so floored by him. He’s so unpretentious for someone who has achieved as much as you’re going to achieve in the field that he is famous for thus far.
All of these things — his passion for music; his drive and dedication to his studies; and his general humility — led to his ultimate goal: his bachelor’s degree in music, which he officially earned in mid-May. So, what does he hope to do with his newfound credentials?
I think the whole college experience … prepares me to do whatever I decide to do in this world. It gives me access to different things that I may not have access to before. And it gives me a certain amount of credibility in the industry that I might have not had.
As a baseball fan who can appreciate both music and sports, I can only hope that those opportunities will be as plentiful as the ones he received while in the Major Leagues.Some time during the Glendale City Council’s executive session Tuesday afternoon, the coalition of council members in favor of a Jobing.com Arena lease deal with Renaissance Sports and Entertainment (RSE) fell apart.
They lost faith in all of the information they’d been comfortable with — swayed by a communications blitz of repackaged concerns spearheaded by Mayor Jerry Weiers.
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There was no way the council could produce deal points for a one-week public vetting prior to a July 2 vote on the future of the Phoenix Coyotes because there was no deal. The deal was dead.
Meanwhile, just out of a series of meetings with the NHL in New York, one of RSE’s principals, Anthony LeBlanc, was celebrating his 43rd birthday when he got the news. Feeling betrayed and utterly spent after a lengthy effort to buy the Phoenix Coyotes, LeBlanc instructed his attorneys to pull his arena-lease bid off the table.
With Renaissance out of the picture, less than two days before the NHL Board of Governors was due to meet, the fate of the Phoenix Coyotes was sealed. NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman was told it was time for Plan B — whatever that might be.
Then the Coyotes ownership saga did what it always does: It veered in another direction.
Somehow, in the last hours of Tuesday and the wee hours of Wednesday morning, everything changed. The deal gained new life, its supporters decided to give it one more go and Wednesday morning the deal points were being prepared for release to the public.
Sources told FOX Sports Arizona on Wednesday that council member Gary Sherwood and Vice Mayor Yvonne Knaack will force a vote on the deal on July 2, a tactic that is well within their rights. Four yes votes are required for passage in what is believed to be a make-or-break vote for the team’s future in Glendale.
Sherwood and Knaack also want the deal points posted on the city’s website Wednesday. The release of the deal points and contract comes just ahead of a deadline the NHL had set for the release of such information: At the end of the business day, Wednesday — in anticipation of Thursday’s Board of Governors meeting.
UPDATE: As of 9:40 p.m. (Arizona time), no deal points were posted on the Glendale City website: www.glendaleaz.com, and there was no notice of a special City Council meeting on July 2. It was unclear what impact that would have on the NHL as it prepared for the Board of Governors meeting Thursday. An email to deputy commissioner Bill Daly was not immediately returned.
Where do we go from here? Given the rampant and rapid twists and turns this story has taken over the past four years, no one can say. Opponents of this deal still want more guarantees on revenue that RSE will not give, reasoning that both sides should assume some risk in a business deal, and that Glendale bears some burden because it chose to build the arena.
This much, however, can be safely predicted: There will be more behind-the-scenes shenanigans, more political plays, more alliances being leveraged.
Behind the scenes, other ownership groups may continue their quest through local lobbyists or local attorneys.
Some of the questions surround John Kaites, a longtime chum of Weiers with deep business ties to the city who visits City Hall frequently and has long been pursuing the purchase of this team. What are his ties to one of the two arena-management bids that are up for consideration if the Coyotes leave, and what will he and his elected buddy do if this deal appears to have traction?
Will Matthew Hulsizer’s representatives offer more infusions of equity into RSE’s deal out of the goodness of their hearts, as multiple sources say they have proposed? Or will they finally realize everyone knows there are very real strings attached — in the form of a prominent role in the hockey operations department that might end GM Don Maloney’s relationship with the team?
leveraging City Hall did to the uninitiated in this saga. Maybe the mayor has another power play up his sleeve. Maybe public opinion will hold some sway. Maybe another well-timed release of a red herring will alter the climate once again, as some believe Tuesday’s idea ofdid to the uninitiated in this saga. Maybe the mayor has another power play up his sleeve.
But the deal points are expected to be on the table later Wednesday for everyone to see, so there can at least be some clarity. If the city decides to go ahead with this deal, the votes will tell who shares the credit or blame for whatever the Coyotes do in Glendale from here on out.
And if the deal fails, it should be abundantly clear now that Weiers is the responsible party.
If the city comes out the other end of the Coyotes deal in fine shape, Weiers should get the credit and congratulations for his foresight.
But if Westgate falters, businesses close, Jobing.com Arena fails to secure enough events in a highly competitive market, city revenue falls and the picture turns as bleak as some have suggested it will, that, too, will be on Weiers.
Follow Craig Morgan on TwitterThe intersection of video games and real life is a fantastic place to play, as evidenced by Roombas Halo and the occasional six-string guitar, but all you really need to blur reality is a webcam, an R/C car and a studio filled with cardboard. That's what Malte Jehmlich and company used to create this rendition of Wipeout, which moves practically as fast as the PlayStation original due to the blinding scale speed of its 1/28 model cars. It's all controlled by an arcade racing cabinet complete with steering wheel and on-screen display wirelessly connected to an Arduino board. Originally a two-month hobby project, the designers are presently working towards an advanced version with force feedback and powerups (including boost!) using sensors built right into the track -- and hopefully a forklift to lug all that corrugated wood pulp around. See it in action after the break.“As long as they are talking, they are going to try to make a deal,” said one of these people.
General Motors and Tengzhong declined to comment.
Tengzhong had been prepared to pay $150 million to $200 million for Hummer, and would not assume debts as part of the planned transaction.
Providing new details on the proposed deal, people close to the negotiations said that the biggest obstacle to emerge in the last few days was not regulatory approval, as suggested by the Chinese media, but rather bank financing.
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Regulators have informally agreed not to object if Tengzhong makes the purchase through an offshore subsidiary, said another person knowledgeable about the transaction. But if an offshore subsidiary is used, Hummer would not qualify as a Chinese company after the deal and would not be able to open a low-cost assembly plant in China any time soon to supplement production in the United States.
China only allows foreign automakers to set up 50-50 joint ventures with Chinese car companies, and each of these deals also requires individual approval from regulators.
While Tengzhong has the cash to pay for the Hummer brand, it needs bank financing to operate the division, redesign vehicles and set up new production facilities in China. Some of China’s biggest banks had agreed to provide that financing, but have now pulled out partly because they prefer to lend to projects with Beijing’s blessing and partly because of concerns about whether Hummer can be run profitably without a factory in China, one of the people close to the transaction said.
Tengzhong has been desperately trying to persuade Western banks in the last few days to lend it the money to operate Hummer while keeping it outside China, but has found little enthusiasm so far, this person added.
Hummer sales have plunged in the last two years because of the combination of high gas prices and the slump in the global economy.
G.M. had planned to keep making the Hummer H3 and H3T for Tengzhong through 2012 in Shreveport, La.[Editor’s Note: You may have noticed Alvina Lai’s byline on TMS the last few months. She was our latest intern and we’re saying so long to her today with her final project with us here. We hope you’ll join us in wishing her well!]
The portrayal of female characters in anime and manga is a complex discussion, not only because of the various tropes that exist but also because of the cultural perspectives through which they must be filtered and digested. The girls in Sailor Moon mean something different than the protagonist of Princess Mononoke, and they are also different from the female characters created by the all-women’s group CLAMP. While the subject of female characters in anime and manga is not as frequently written about as other popular entertainment such as LOTR or Game of Thrones here at The Mary Sue or even in North America overall, it nonetheless has become a topic of discussion not only by the Japanese consumers but also by those who, like myself, have only a limited but enthusiastic experience of watching anime and reading manga and would want further discussion of the subject.
In order to explore the magnitude of anime with essential female characters, a general understanding of genres involving female characters comes in handy. For example, josei is a genre generally aimed at young adult and adult women while shoujo is more geared towards younger girls. Both can encompass romantic plots, but romance can exist as its own genre. Anime and manga tend to fit into more than one genre and are not only organized by subject but age group. However, because of this, it is understandable that certain character traits would be more prominent in one genre than another.
Shoujo often addresses a girl’s first love, and the innocent excitement and sometimes painful drama that comes with it. It also deals with friendship and personal development. A recent popular shoujo is Wolf Girl and Black Prince. An older popular one is Fruit Baskets. A personal favorite of mine, Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki-kun, parodies the genre. This is a very different feeling than the popular ongoing manga Princess Jellyfish (which I recommend) and some other ones we have discussed. The josei genre is where the understanding of adulthood, and what it means to be a woman, seeps into daily life and with that a sense of maturity and—maybe for some—disillusionment. Of course, the lines often blur in terms of which genre a manga can go into, but nonetheless such genres are a reason why female character tropes, some more positive than others, become prominent in the work.
So what does this mean for female characters? Well, as certain characteristics are visible in dramas or sitcoms, the protagonists of josei and shoujo, or any genre in general, have relatable but sometimes simple personalities: innocent characters, tsundere characters, the kind and helpful characters, the cute and oblivious characters, and so on. Sometimes, this can lead to a development of strong, admirable female characters with interesting development, but it can also lead to oversimplification, sexualization, and objectification as well. A case study would be two stories created by CLAMP, an all-female mangaka group who have been in the industry for many, many years. They’re known for Cardcaptor Sakura, a shoujo that I grew up with, and a more controversial project, Chobits.
Cardcaptor Sakura is about a girl, Sakura, who opens a book that contain magical cards, Clow Cards, that scatter across her hometown. Her job is to get these cards back. This magical adventure is a comedy and a romance, but overall, you get a sense of a willful, brave, goodhearted girl who you watch grow as a person. Chobits is about a guy who finds a persocon, a human-like robot, in the trash. But in order to turn her on, literally, he has to push the switch located at her crotch. Her name is Chii and because she has no memory, she’s completely dependent on her finder. She’s a sweet and lovable character but without depth, and that dangerously reinforces the stereotype that women are submissive and cute, a sexist and problematic view. Chobits happens to be categorized as ecchi, a more sexual genre, and seinen, a genre geared at older boys and men, so it is not aimed at girls as a model for what being a girl is, like CCS, but it is problematic despite that.
So how does an all-female mangaka group make a strong female character like Sakura while at the same time have characters that are essentially seen as sexual objects? Of course, there’s a clear intent in regards to the audience. One story inspires young girls while the other fulfills certain fantasies. We discussed female anime characters in hentai, a genre that’s all about sex, and the treatment and portayal of women was clearly an issue.
While Western social values of women are shifting towards equality, we have not yet completely resolved problems such as undesired sexualization or objectification. However we are recognizing them as issues and are working towards resolving them. Therefore, we are seeing the objectification and sexualization as an issue through our perspective. In order to truly see if this is an issue to Japanese society, and in order to avoid applying our ideas to another society, the subject of the portrayal of girls and women in anime and manga needs to be seen from the perspective of those who it affects most. How do Japanese women and anime and manga consumers see and interpret this sexualization?
Earlier this year, a Japanese Twitter user @ykhre tweeted a controversial essay in making a case about the problematic sexism in a popular manga and anime, One Piece. While she was not looking to disrespect the series, she nonetheless highlighted issues of underlying themes.
I just think that the underlying themes of ‘women are weak,’ ‘oversexualization,’ ‘ |
Omicron Group Pilot — Lambda-Class Shuttle 21
Sensor Jammer 4
Emperor Palpatine 8
Ship Total: 33
Carnor Jax — TIE Interceptor 26
Veteran Instincts 1
Autothrusters 2
Stealth Device 3
Royal Guard TIE 0
Ship Total: 32
Ordnance is getting a bit of a boost here with Tomax Bren. Tomax is PS8 and is relatively decent at acquiring target locks. Both missiles he is equipped with do not require him to spend a Target Lock to perform the attack, allowing him to modify dice. Guidance Chips then allows him to fix one errant die, as does the Emperor, letting him get very close to ensuring max damage. Crack Shot then allows him to punch an extra hit through. Soontir Fel does not enjoy the idea of 4 dice with TL, two guaranteed hits, not being able to spend focus, and one of his defense dice cancelled. Nor does any large base ship want to risk two turns of Ion Pulse Missiles. However, Tomax is expensive.
The Notorious OGP acts as a potent carrier for Palpatine. However, with the Sensor Jammer, it becomes surprisingly capable against TLT lists. Indeed, any enemy wishing to hunt the shuttle must have a focus token or other such ability to be reasonably assured of victory.
Carnor Jax makes that proposition very difficult. At PS10, while he can only take one action, he can threaten a great number of ships by shutting down their primary form of offense and defense. Autothrusters, Stealth Device, and the Emperor can ensure that his survival for far longer than expected. His positional advantage fills ships like Soontir or Corran Horn with existential dread.
The list clocks in at 99 points with a modest initiative bid, but one that isn’t quite as necessary not having a PS9.
Conclusion
Tomax Bren is a force to be reckoned with, one which will grow with each new discardable EPT. Coupled with a durable ship and a high PS, this TIE Bomber will find a home in many lists of those players who take a chance on this pilot. The amount of customization is huge on Tomax, especially with the TIE Shuttle title. While Crack Shot may be the best of the discard EPTs, Tomax can find a use for them all.
The options for Tomax will only become more numerous with each new wave. New EPTs and new crew will allow this ship to be tailored to many lists and Tomax will be the foundation of many a potent build. Tomax can fulfill a support role, an aces role, or as the backbone of a swarm. This is a pilot to study and understand, for to disregard Tomax is to court disaster.
This article is a part of the monthly Scum and Villainy Article Series paid for by our wonderful Patreons. You can find our patreon at https://www.patreon.com/scumandvillainyA couple of months ago, I attended a talk given by Robert Austin from the Princeton University Physics department. I debated with myself for quite a while about whether to report on this talk for two reasons: the results are largely unpublished, for reasons that will become clear; and, frankly, he has excellent technology and great biology, but it was combined with what seems to be a crappy understanding of evolution.
So, what I will do is present this in reverse order, because the technology should become an important tool to microbiologists, but Austin has poisoned the well so thoroughly that no one will touch it until it is invented independently of him. The part about evolution will be left until last, and it'll be short, and, hopefully, not too ranty.
The device that Austin has created is, on a micro-scale, a pattern of interconnected wells. Each well has enough volume to support a small population of bacteria, while the interconnections allow the population in each well to migrate out. From the outside edge, nutrients, antibiotics, and other things can be added to the wells. If the flow rate is chosen carefully, huge gradients in the amount of nutrient and antibiotics can be created.
So, imagine an experiment where a bacterial population is placed at the center of the well. This is a very food-poor area, so the bacteria immediately migrate to the outside, where there is the largest amount of food. Now let's add some antibiotic to the solution. We end up with three very steep gradients; food, antibiotic, and bacterial populations all have their highest concentrations on the outside.
But these wells are not static. Rather, the populations can move back and forth, while still being partially isolated from each other. This allows bacteria that can't tolerate the antibiotic to move inward and survive, albeit at a slower reproduction rate; bacteria that can tolerate a higher concentration can move outward to get more food. This creates a partial isolation that allows genetic diversity to increase, and different paths to antibiotic resistance end up evolving. These are then strengthened when different populations come into contact with each other and exchange genetic material.
The end result is that E. coli can end up resistant to ciprofloxacin in about ten hours.
The good and the bad
This is both good physics and, I think, good biology. The device highlights how gradients in the fitness landscape, combined with many partially isolated populations, can drive very fast evolution. Austin argues (correctly, I believe) that this is a good analog to fighting cancer in the body. The idea is that the human body consists of many small, partially interconnected populations of cells, which provides the ideal ground to evolve in response to selective pressure.
His point is that the better targeted a drug is, the more likely a tumor is to escape through evolution along the gradient that runs away from its target. I believe that this phenomena is actually observed by oncologists, so I don't think his conclusion is going to draw any ire or adoring fans to his ideas.
Where it all goes wrong, as far as I am concerned is his evolutionary model. He starts with the classic picture of a three dimensional fitness landscape, where there is a global maximum (picture all the bacteria sitting at the peak of a mountain). He argues that classical evolution will place the population with little diversity right near the top of the global maximum, and, when the landscape suddenly changes, the population does not have the genetic diversity to evolve fast enough to survive.
Fair enough, you might think—after all, extinctions are known to happen in the face of sudden changes to the environment. But Austin argues that, even in the face of a fixed landscape, a population retains a large amount of diversity to protect itself against such changes. Since he thinks evolution doesn't predict this, there must be some additional factor involved.
Arguing against the wrong model
He is right: his model of evolution is wrong. There is no such thing as a fixed fitness landscape. The fitness landscape is evolving on all time-scales. The seasonal flu is a great example of evolution on human time-scales: each year, a different flu strain arises as a result of the human population's increasing immunity to the previously dominant strain. On longer time-scales evolution is driven by things like climate change and continental drift.
The point is that most organisms retain genetic diversity because the population members all experience a slightly different fitness landscape, one that varies over time.
It also misses the point that evolution doesn't select for the best; instead, it selects for good enough. Thus, not every cat has, well, cat-like vision. As long as its vision is good enough for successful hunting—or, indeed, if the cat has bad eyes but a better sense of smell and hearing that compensates—then it may survive to reproduce.
The message is that simple evolutionary models are instructive but can be misleading.
He then argues that what his experiments show is that, when faced with stress, the rate of mutation goes up, allowing rapid evolution. This sort of enhanced mutation seems to have been observed when bacteria are placed under various forms of stress. Those results were somewhat controversial, but we're still within the realm of mainstream biology.
But Austin's model has only two parameters: the rate of mutation and the portion of those mutations that are beneficial. It seems to me that he has missed two very important points. When the fitness landscape changes, the portion of mutations that are beneficial must increase, simply because the organisms are no longer as fit as they were. The other important point is that many mutations that were mildly harmful—for instance, slowing reproduction rates—might become neutral.
A neutral mutation can get carried along and spread in a population, and some of these can later be combined with another mutation to produce a beneficial effect. Just allowing for more neutral and beneficial mutations while keeping the rate of mutation constant could well explain Austin's results.
In fact, it is probably important to consider the whole harmful/beneficial/neutral mix far more carefully, because something that might be mildly harmful in one aspect of an organism's life might provide a net benefit in another aspect, making it hard to determine if the mutation is harmful, beneficial, or neutral. Which, again, points to the importance of genetic diversity within classical evolutionary theory.
Annoying the biologists
If you look at Austin's sequencing results, they are all over the map. The genetic diversity in his population increases hugely once the antibiotic is introduced and resistance has evolved. It seems to me that the bacteria are finding multiple routes to drug resistance and carrying along many neutral mutations with them. But this doesn't necessarily involve a switch inside the bacteria that says "get lots of mutations now."
Austin argues that there is such a switch and blames technology aversion among biologists as the reason that he cannot publish his results. I think this is a slap in the face to a field that has embraced a huge amount of technology in a very short time (think genome sequencing and DNA chips). In fact, I think if Austin dropped his dodgy evolutionary theories—and the rather sullen whining about their lack of acceptance—and presented his technical data, he would find a good home for it.
I could say something trite about the hazards of letting physicists do biology. But the point is that Austin's experiments are ingenious, beautiful, and useful. Unfortunately, he has gotten totally out of his depth in interpreting them and would benefit by bringing an experienced evolutionary biologist (along with an experienced cell biologist) into his team to help interpret the results. Until he does so, he will remain on the margins.RENNES, France (AFP) - A man with known psychiatric problems stabbed a 19-year-old girl three times in western
France on Tuesday (June 14), telling police he had heard voices ordering him to make a “sacrifice” for Ramadan, the Rennes prosecutor said.
The attack came a day after a militant killed a French police couple in a small town near Paris, in a stabbing inspired by the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria group.
“Voices told him that he had to make a sacrifice on the occasion of Ramadan,” the holy Muslim fasting month that began on June 6, prosecutor Nicolas Jacquet told AFP.
The 32-year-old man was immediately assessed by a doctor and sent to a psychiatric hospital after stabbing the girl twice in the wrist and once in the abdomen, Jacquet said, adding that the teenager’s wounds are not life-threatening.
The assailant told a witness that he was Muslim before handing over the knife after the attack, Jacquet said.
The man had been in and out of psychiatric wards several times, the prosecutor said, adding that he told investigators he was being treated for schizophrenia and was supposed to receive an injection on Tuesday.
An investigation has been opened into attempted murder.Wayne LaPierre, the executive vice president of the firearm group, made clear the N.R.A. would not support the president’s call for gun control, recommending instead a “school shield” program of armed security guards at the nation’s schools as well as a national database that could track the mentally ill.
“The only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun,” Mr. LaPierre said at a news conference that was interrupted by protests and allowed no questions from reporters.
At the same time, the White House said on Friday that it would officially name Senator John Kerry of Massachusetts as Mr. Obama’s choice to lead the State Department — a decision Mr. Obama was forced to make after Republicans effectively blocked his preferred choice, Susan E. Rice, the ambassador to the United Nations.
Ms. Rice, a longtime confidante of Mr. Obama’s, was never formally nominated, but it was no secret inside the White House that the president would have liked her to succeed Hillary Rodham Clinton early next year. But even on the heels of his electoral victory, Mr. Obama was unable to overcome Republican opposition — led by Senator John McCain — to her nomination.
Polls suggest that Mr. Obama’s popularity has surged to its highest point since announcing the killing of Osama bin Laden. In the latest CBS News poll, the president’s job approval rating was at 57 percent.
But taken together, the events of the last five weeks suggest that even that improvement in the polls has done little to deliver the president the kind of clear authority to enact his policies that voters seemed to say they wanted during the election.
Even some of the president’s closest advisers said they were surprised by the ferocity of the Republican opposition.
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“It’s kind of a stunning thing to watch the way this has unfolded, at least to date,” said David Axelrod, one of Mr. Obama’s longtime advisers. “The question is, how do you break free from these strident voices?”
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Mr. Axelrod said that the election appeared to have had no effect on the president’s most committed adversaries in the Republican House, many of whom remain committed to blocking his every move.
“You have got members of Congress who are simply unwilling to compromise and unwilling to yield to either the will of the American people or the demands of the moment,” Mr. Axelrod said.
That may yet change.
There are still 10 days left in which Mr. Obama might reach some sort of arrangement with Congress on averting a fiscal crisis that some predict could plunge the nation back into recession. The White House says it remains hopeful.
In another 31 days, Mr. Obama will deliver his second inaugural address, providing him the opportunity to make his case to the American public on the direction he wants to take them in a second term.
A few weeks after that, he will give his State of the Union address, which he has already promised to use as a call for new gun control laws.
Those opportunities could provide the president with fresh political momentum in the new year.
He will need it. Whatever happens during the remainder of December, Mr. Obama will face economic challenges starting in January, including the likelihood of an extended debate with Republicans over how to overhaul the nation’s tax code.
The president’s team will need to shepherd Mr. Kerry through the Senate, past what appears to be minimal Republican opposition. But his nominees for other posts — including, perhaps, Chuck Hagel, the former senator from Nebraska, to be secretary of defense — may face tougher questions.
The gun control fight he has promised to wage will also compete for time and energy with a battle over comprehensive immigration reform, which he has also said he wants to begin early next year.
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In a news conference on Wednesday, Mr. Obama expressed hope about finding ways to compromise with his adversaries but also lamented the opposition that he faces in Republicans.
“They keep on finding ways to say no, as opposed to finding ways to say yes,” Mr. Obama said on the tax and spending fight. On the subject of guns, he acknowledged the challenge of pursuing gun control in the face of political opposition from those same Reublicans.
“It won’t be easy,” he said.Food Crawl: A culinary tour of the Junction, history meets an exciting food future
This formerly dry ’hood has undergone a renaissance, brimming with food finds that embrace both the old and the new
By David Ort
This mini fried chicken sandwich (a.k.a. Lil' Crunch) is a new addition to the menu at 3030 in the Junction. Image: David Ort
Arrive at Keele and Dundas West on a summer’s eve and you get to see one of the last spots in T.O. where neighbours get off the bus and grab an after-work drink together.
The former city of West Toronto — the Junction to locals — has put its history of meat-packing and rail yards behind it, and now boasts two craft breweries and one of Toronto’s fastest changing restaurant scenes. Hit up these hot spots while spending a day exploring this blossoming ’hood.
A half-dozen oysters at Honest Weight come with a generous serving of sourdough and olive oil and could be a light meal for one or snack for two. (Image: David Ort)
Honest Weight
With blond wood and a fish counter packed with thoughtfully sourced seafood, Honest Weight represents the new face of the Junction. Six oysters (hailing from both coasts) are a great way to prep for an evening of eating. Alternately, ask proprietor John Bil what’s fresh and interesting, and you might get to try whelks, limpets or razor clams for the first time. 2766 Dundas St. W., 416-604-9992
Get an extra pastizzi for the walk back to Malta Park on Dundas West. (Image: David Ort)
Malta Bake Shop
On the opposite end of the ’hood, almost at Runnymede, Malta Bake Shop stands as a sentry for the old Junction. Perched in Little Malta, the bakery is where parishioners head after services at St. Paul the Apostle. The menu of baked goods is long, but best to stick to the classic cheese pastizzi ($0.90). The crispy stegosaurus pastry contrasts with a rich ricotta filling. 3256 Dundas St. W., 416-769-2174
The pepperoni slice from Vesuvio is one of the Junction’s best walking snacks. (Image: David Ort)
Vesuvio
While annexing West Toronto in 1909, the big city agreed to keep its booze to itself and leave the Junction dry. Vesuvio’s was one of the businesses on the fun side against Temperance Willie (MPP Bill Temple’s actual nickname) whose buzzkills helped keep the floodgates closed until 2000. The dining room’s menu runs the gamut of North American–ized Italian classics, but a pepperoni slice from their takeout counter is not to be missed ($2.50). The large rectangles are culinary cousins to New York City’s Sicilian slices — soft and tender crust with an oil-crisped base holds up melted mozzarella and browned pepperoni. 3014 Dundas St. W., 416-763-4191
Indie Alehouse serves a one-two punch with its Bison & Belly Burger. (Image: CJ Baek)
Indie Ale House
One of the more experimental small breweries in Toronto, Indie Ale House comes armed with a full restaurant. With a selection that runs from their Cockpuncher IIPA to Rye So Sour and Red Tape Imperial Stout, it’s best to base your first visit around one of their paddles of five four-ounce samples ($10 to $15). As expected in such a laid-back atmosphere, the bison and belly burger is one of the kitchen’s strongest dishes. They sell beer to go from their bottle shop and will soon add corked versions of their barrel-aged offerings. 2876 Dundas St. W., 416-760-9691
3030
A combination of beer bar, sit-down restaurant, live music venue and pinball arcade should be too much. But somehow, 3030 ably manages all four at once. The menu’s small plates section is a gold mine of classics like the pig tail torta ($5) and newbies like the Lil’ Crunch ($6). 3030 Dundas St. W., 416-769-5736
A well-poured pint of Collective Arts Saint and Circumstance at The Hole in the Wall. (Image: David Ort)
The Hole in the Wall
Local spirits and on-trend mixers (think Carpano, Aperol and Fernet) backstop the cocktail list at the Junction’s narrowest watering hole. As the name suggests, the Hole in the Wall is easy to miss from the street, but the atmosphere is perfect for a nightcap paired with a bite from their deep late-night menu. 2867A Dundas St. W., 647-350-3564
La Vizziata
Room for dessert? La Vizziata has you covered with their range of artisanal gelato. They go beyond the traditional with options like affogato, cannoli and gelato pops. 2986 Dundas St. W., 416-766-4545I wonder if the shine had worn off of Althea for the Grateful Dead by mid 1982? The song was in extremely heavy rotation in 1980 and 1981, but by 1982 the number of performances per year starts to level out.
On the one hand you can’t blame them for playing it so much in 80-81. It was a new song and arguably the strongest song on their most recent album. To answer my own (mainly rhetorical) question, I don’t think the band grew tired of the song as much as it simply took on a “normal” rotation. Let’s be honest, who could really get sick of Althea? It’s such a great tune, and the imagery and characters are some of the most interesting and active in the Hunter tradition.
Totally unrelated from this performance, but in looking up Althea on the setlist program a show from later in 1982 jumped out at me. The 11/26/82 show from the Bob Marley Performing Arts Center in Montego Bay, Jamaica. An audio stream is available here. Just reading the first comment it sounds like a magical show. Definitely one worth checking out. If anyone ever invents a time machine this may be a show to catch just for the environment!
Jerry’s got a really bouncy tone here and he’s got a root-strum thing going on where he really emphasizes the root note of the chord giving it a little extra oomph. There’s a bit of a root-five feel here as well giving this kind of an oom-pah band feel during the verses. It’s actually pretty fun. Weir is attempting to play some slide guitar here so proceed with appropriate levels of caution. Luckily he seems to be turned down a bit in the mix so it’s not as in-your-face as it could be. Do we thank Dan Healy for that? Jerry doesn’t seem to keen on taking a bona fide guitar solo here. The instrumental section between verses has him pretty much sticking to the main melody line with some of those accented bass notes thrown in. Brent adds a bit of flourish here and there. It’s not until the final instrumental section around the 6 minute mark that we really get a major derivation from the norm here. Jerry finally has a flash of inspiration and Brent joins him for the ride. It’s relatively brief considering this is an 8 minute song, but it’s better than nothing. All in all, a solid version of Althea that gets its legs under it just a little too late.
Complete Setlist 8/7/82
Previous Althea DFAY Selections
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Error: (CURL) RequestThrottled — AWS Access Key ID: AKIAIYLOQR2VU6FCXGGA. You are submitting requests too quickly. Please retry your requests at a slower rate.Four St. Bernard Parish Prison correction officers have been charged in the death of the Nimali Henry. According to NOLA.com, Henry, who suffered from a rare blood disorder, was denied access to medication for her condition, which resulted in her 2014 death.
On Thursday, December 3 a federal grand jury indicted Captain Andre Dominick, Corporal Timothy Williams, Debra Becnel and Lisa Vaccarella. The group stands accused of civil rights violations and making false statements to the FBI.
According to St. Bernard Parish Sheriff James Pohlmann, they have been placed on indefinite administrative leave. The FBI intervened in the investigation approximately eight months ago during a civil rights lawsuit that was filed by the father of Henry’s daughter against the sheriff’s office. The lawsuit was placed on hold pending the outcome of the criminal investigation. Investigators say that all four officers lied to cover up the role they allegedly played in the young woman’s death.
“I don’t know a lot of the facts that resulted in the indictment today,” Pohlmann said. “I’m hoping to meet with the U.S. Attorney’s Office soon to maybe get briefed up on more of the detailed facts.”
Even relatives of Henry say that they tried to inform authorities of how important it was for the victim to have access to her medication.
“I tried to let them know about how sick she was, and they wouldn’t listen to me,” said the young mother’s 20-year-old sister, Deshawna Henry
According to the Huffington Post, Henry was locked up for 10 days on minor charges—including disturbing the peace, simple battery and unauthorized entry. Bond had been set at $25,000, but her family was unable to put up the money. She was 19 years old and had recently given birth to a baby girl. Relatives say that the altercation began when she was trying to see her daughter, who was four months old at the time.
If convicted, each defendant faces maximum life sentences for the civil rights charges and up to five years for the false statement charges.
Follow Jazmine on Twitter @JazmineDeniseAfter launching on iOS last month, image recognition app Not Hotdog is now available for Android in the Google Play Store. Aimed at food, specifically hotdogs, the app from SeeFood Technologies has already garnered rave reviews.
The premise of Not Hotdog is remarkably simple with a matching interface that is also quite straightforward. The app opens to a camera view with a shutter button at the bottom, flash in the top-left corner, and file picker to the top-right. The latter allows users to import any image from their library.
After snapping or selecting, it will run an algorithm to determine whether the image is in fact a hotdog. The app makes use of bright green and red neon banners to announce the result. A share button can be used to broadcast the hotdog-or-not status with a link to the download the app.
Unfortunately, it does not include a screenshot of your result. Hopefully, this feature will arrive in a future update.
The app has already racked up 22 five-star review since it launched on Friday. When downloading, beware as there are already a number of knock-off apps.
Not Hotdog by SeeFood Technologies is available for download now on the Play Store and works with Android 4.3+ devices.Story highlights Criminal complaint says suspect was found with two devices with exposed fuses
Vladislav Miftakhov said he was going to set off devices in a field, document says
Miftakhov, a 19-year-old Russian citizen, was arrested Friday
Officers originally went to his residence to check for marijuana plants
Authorities in Pennsylvania arrested a 19-year-old Russian man Friday and charged him with possession of a weapon of mass destruction, Altoona police said in a written statement.
Police officers were investigating a reported marijuana-growing operation when they discovered a homemade bomb and bomb-making materials in a suitcase, the news release said.
Vladislav Miftakhov, a Russian citizen, was arrested and charged with possessing a weapon of mass destruction, risking a catastrophe and drug-related offenses. He was arraigned Friday and bail was set at $500,000, Blair County corrections officer James McMahon said Sunday.
According to a criminal complaint, police found one pound of atomized magnesium and one pound of Chinese potassium perchlorate along with a package labeled potassium nitrate powder. They also found fuses and several containers of compressed air.
When asked what he was going to do with two devices that were found with exposed fuses, Miftakhov said "he was going to blow things up," the complaint alleges.
Miftakhov later said he only intended to set devices off in a field and wasn't going to blow anything up, the document says.
He told police that he had previously experimented with other homemade explosives in California.
Authorities found five marijuana seedlings and a grow light, the complaint says.
Miftakhov will next appear in court on February 5. He will be assigned a public defender, McMahon said.
The Pennsylvania State Police bomb squad "safely deconstructed" the device, officials said.
According to the release, Miftakhov told officers that he had purchased materials for the bomb on the Internet.
A man who lived in the same building told CNN affiliate WTAJ that Miftakhov was "the weirdest individual that I've ever met," but Andrew Leff added that he didn't think Miftakhov had done anything dangerous before.
Leff told the Altoona Mirror, which identified him as an apartment-mate, that Miftakhov had recently set off three small homemade bombs outside the apartment, leaving small craters in the ground. Another roommate, Steven Taylor, said Miftakhov was quiet.
"He barely talked," he told the newspaper.
An independent student newspaper said the Russian native is a student at Penn State Altoona, a branch of the university about 40 miles from the main campus. The Altoona campus has about 3,645 full-time students, according to the school's website.Speaking in Iowa today, Hillary Clinton offered a proposal for a kind of supercharged Buffett Rule that would ensure very high-income individuals would pay higher tax rates regardless of the source of their income.
The idea is what her campaign is calling a "Fair Share Surcharge" of 4 percent on incomes above $5 million per year. It's characterized as a surcharge rather than a 4 percentage point increase in the top marginal tax rate because the intention is to levy the fee on all income above the $5 million line regardless of the source of the income.
Current law taxes income derived from investments at a lower rate than labor income, which economists have traditionally seen as maximizing capital investment and long-term growth, though a new body of research has cast considerable doubt on that conclusion.
A Clinton aide described the proposal as inspired by the recent release of 2013 tax data, which revealed that the top 400 high-income taxpayers in America paid an effective federal tax rate of just 23 percent, even though their average annual income, as a group, was a bit north of $250 million. The campaign says raising the effective tax rate on the very wealthy is a basic matter of fairness, and expects that with the threshold at $5 million it can raise $150 billion over a 10-year scoring horizon.
The political context is an ongoing argument with Bernie Sanders
In political terms, the context for this proposal is an ongoing argument with Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders about the structure of taxation in the United States.
Sanders (and virtually all Democratic senators) supports the FAMILY Act, which would extend Social Security by granting all workers up to 12 weeks of family leave at 66 percent pay, in exchange for charging all workers slightly higher payroll taxes. Clinton, replicating a pledge that both she and Barack Obama made in the 2008 campaign, has pledged to avoid any tax increases for people earning less than $250,000 a year, which would rule out the FAMILY Act's funding mechanism.
Clinton has sought to use this issue against Sanders, positioning herself as the true champion of middle-class interests, while Sanders has earned wonk points by embracing what is generally considered to be sound policy design by financing broad social insurance with a broad tax.
Clinton's surtax proposal draws further attention to a contrast she welcomes — she'll soak the rich, while her socialist opponent wants to soak you — and gestures in the direction of an answer to how to find adequate tax revenue to finance the progressive agenda without asking some middle-class people to pay some of the load. Clinton's team says she's not done on the tax fairness front, and hints that even more soak-the-rich proposals are to come in advance of this weekend's debate.
This is a nonstarter with Congress
In terms of trying to assess what will happen if Hillary Clinton becomes president, these proposals are pretty clearly irrelevant. It's certainly conceivable that if she wins, a chastened GOP will make some steps toward policy moderation. But the structure of this proposal — both in its hyper-targeting of the rich and especially in its focus on capital income — is almost perfectly designed to be dead on arrival in a Republican Congress.For those of you in the Windows Phone 8.1 Developer Preview program, Microsoft is rolling out a mandatory update right now. This update bumps the build number to 8.10.14192.280.
Here’s what Microsoft had to say about it: “This update contains our usual scope of fixes and improvements. We’re requiring this update so we can continue to test our update systems. The update will show as a “critical update” on your phone.”
This update is mandatory and will bring you to the latest build offered for the Windows Phone Preview for Developers program. If you ignore the update, it will automatically install 72 hours after it has been downloaded, or you can install it right away.
For those of you who do not want this update (we’re not sure why you wouldn’t), just open the Preview for Developers app on your Windows Phone device and uncheck “Enable Preview for Developers.”
No change log for this update has been provided, so download it and let us know what new improvements you notice.
Update: Microsoft has just confirmed that this update is ‘testing critical update capability’ and the update itself does not contain any critical fixes. See tweet below.
WP developer preview “critical update” is testing critical update capability. Payload is not actually “critical”. — Greg Sullivan (@gregwardo) October 23, 2014
Thanks for all the tips guys!
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Further reading: Microsoft"Man is not a rational animal, he is a rationalizing animal." ~ Robert A. Heinlein
Disclaimer: Joanne Rowling brought the world of Harry Potter into being. Eliezer Yudkowsky created a timeline (which this story branches off from) within her world. Robert A. Heinlein codified the idea of "the World as Myth." The cover image contains foreground elements from an unnamed vanitas painted by Simon Renard de St. André, and the background was created by Google's Deep Dream Generator.
Author's Notes: This is a sequel to Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality, and it begins in medias res during HPMOR's ending. It isn't entirely necessary to have read HPMOR in order to follow the plot of HPIO. However, HPMOR is pretty great, and you're gonna have the entire ending of it spoiled if you try to read HPIO first, so, y'know, maybe consider reading HPMOR if you haven't already. Also, in the interest of full disclosure I am obligated to inform you of the fact that this is a Mega Crossover, or a Massively Multiplayer Crossover, or a Multicross, or whatever the hell you wanna call it. "A sequel to HPMOR? And on top of that it's a crossover? There's no way in hell this isn't gonna turn out to be a rolling dumpster fire." I know this seems like an absurd premise for a story. Trust me, I know. But this is not going to go the way you think.
Nothing is infinite. Everything has an end. Mors fontis Omnia.
The sound of gunfire rang in her ears as she reached into her pouch and drew forth the wax-sealed paper, on the surface of which was inscribed simply the number 42. She broke the seal and began to read...
HARRY POTTER
AND THE
IRRATIONAL ODYSSEY
Book One: Everything Not Forbidden
Chapter 1 - A Vertical Velocity of Zero
Upon a rooftop terrace floored in rough-hewn stone, atop a high tower which no one looking at the Hogwarts castle from the outside could see, Harry stood facing Hermione across crossed wands.
"Can you at least not say anything about 'until death takes me', because did I mention I have the Philosopher's Stone now? Or anything about 'the end of the world and its magic'?" He raked his free hand through his hair and gave a small, strained smile. "I'm a lot more nervous around phrases like that than I used to be."
"Well, maybe after this you'll be less nervous," said Hermione. "I do choose this, now." A sharp-edged gust of wind caught her hair, and her chestnut curls billowed around her shoulders. She seemed somehow older, as though an undercurrent of formidable power were bubbling just beneath the surface of her tranquil demeanor.
When she spoke again, her voice was level and precise. "Upon my life and magic I swear friendship to Harry Potter, to help him and trust in him, to stand with him and stand by him, and to sometimes go where he can't go, till the day that death takes me for real - if it ever really does, I mean." She was silent for a moment, then smiled. "And if the world or its magic ends, we'll deal with that together."
A huge grin lit Harry's face. Hermione had been right, he felt much less nervous now about the prophesied destruction of -
If this were a story, that would have been The End.
Harry blinked.
What? Why did I just think that? He frowned at the strange little thought, annoyed that his brain had interrupted itself with such an irrational non sequitur. I mean, I guess it does fit the pattern, in the sense of conforming to standard literary convention...
Far below in the Hogwarts grounds, a large grove of trees swayed in the crisp morning air, drawing Harry's attention back to reality. Spring was rolling into summer in the Scottish Highlands; the wind was light and cool, the sun bright and warm, and Hermione's Magical Aura of Innocence and Purity™ was filling him with a sense of calm peace. It was all too easy to disregard a vague apprehension and shove it to the back of his mind.
He felt much less nervous now about the prophesied destruction of the world at his own hands.
Harry turned his head to gaze out towards the horizon. Thoughts of the future pervaded his mind - Hermione, the Philosopher's Stone, |
to deliver on your commitments to cycling with statements like this?
It would be a lot easier for me to promise the Earth and then deliver very little if I get elected in May. But I want to be honest about some of the tensions that exist. The fact I am being honest will I hope give people confidence I’m thinking about this and am serious about overcoming them. I have said I am going to ramp up Boris’s cycling revolution and my cycling policies will deliver this. I never promise anything I can’t deliver, and you can judge me on my record as an MP, where the people who know me best gave me a massive thumbs up at the 2015 General Election because they know I am a politician who does what he says.
Verdict: Goldsmith sounds engaged and committed on cycling. But there’s a couple of very serious caveats. Firstly, his repeated stress on recognising “local resident concerns” edges a bit close to offering small and noisy groups of car-preferring objectors a near-veto over schemes. This raises fears of a mayor without the political vision or courage to deliver.
This could be in part written off as electioneering, but there a parallel worry: whether Goldsmith understands big city transport. Late last year he said London’s bus lanes would no longer be needed in a few years because “everybody” would be driving electric cars. As critics noted, this managed to ignore the main purpose of bus lanes – to allow quicker, easier passage to those in buses or on bikes, rather than be slowed by the minority in private cars or cabs.
4/10
Update: since this piece was published I’ve been told Goldsmith sought to clarify his remarks on ending bus lanes, arguing he only intended it as a temporary measure to boost electric car use.
Caroline Pidgeon - Liberal Democrat
Facebook Twitter Pinterest Caroline Pidgeon at a mayoral hustings. Photograph: REX/Shutterstock
1.
Because I want to see more space for cycling on main roads and at junctions, the extension of ‘mini-Holland’ schemes to make cycling safer in our town centres (particularly in outer London) and a ban on HGVs at rush hours in central London.
2.
I do agree with those statements, although why it has taken almost eight years for the current mayor to make them is anyone’s guess. Cycling is beneficial to both our environment and health.
3.
With Chris Boardman when I met him for an interview we did together for British Cycling.
Extra question: How much do you trust the various claims of both Sadiq Khan and Zac Goldsmith to be the true proponents of cycling in London?
They promise much. But I do wonder whether either candidate actually realises the workload that a mayor of London has, and how well they would advance the cycling agenda in London?
Verdict: Pidgeon seems committed and ambitious, and it’s worth noting that she was the first candidate to agree to the London Cycling Campaign’s (LCC) ambitious Sign for Cycling series of pledges. Her manifesto is similarly positive (see p41), and includes measures to discourage driving, such as a levy on some parking spaces and changes to congestion charging.
9/10
Siân Berry - Greens
Facebook Twitter Pinterest Sian Berry (R) with Green activists visiting the ‘mini-Holland’ scheme in Walthamstow, north-east London. Photograph: Green party
1.
I’ve worked in transport for many years and so I know that what works when you’re trying to get more people cycling is to make it safe, with proper space on quality cycle infrastructure. This is how Amsterdam and Copenhagen (which weren’t at all cycling havens originally) transformed themselves and now put London to shame when it comes to how many people of all ages cycle. I’ve guaranteed funding to complete Transport for London’s current cycling vision and superhighway plans and in future years I’ll increase the budget for major cycling projects and fund people-friendly streets projects in every borough at a similar level to the current ‘mini-Holland’ schemes. There’s much more in my manifesto too, such as backing new river crossings for people on foot and on bikes, and expanding the Cycle Hire scheme. Unlike the other candidates, I’m fully committed to giving more space to cycling and finding for it the biggest budget I can. Crucially, I’ll have the means to pay for all this by raising the congestion charge and levying a charge on workplace parking.
2.
I completely agree with what he says there – but I am not sure if he really believes it, as I can’t understand why he is so keen on massive new road projects, such as the Silvertown tunnel, which will make traffic worse and make it harder to cycle on the roads leading to and from it. We have to have an integrated plan, not make things better with one project and worse with another.
3.
Last week. Until a few months ago, when I gave up my job as a transport campaigner to run for City Hall, I went to work on my bike three or four times a week between my home in Kentish Town and the office in Old Street but I’m all over London now so it’s not so easy to reach the farthest away places on my bike. In Camden, I am lucky to have lots of new infrastructure being built, including the route down Royal College Street and the widened Tavistock Place segregated lanes. It just needs to be extended up to my house now. I’m looking forward to getting back on my bike more often when I have a fixed workplace again – ideally in City Hall where I can push for even better facilities for cycling for all Londoners, myself included.
Extra question: How much do you trust the various claims of Sadiq Khan and Zac Goldsmith to be the true proponents of cycling in London?
I’m really worried that both my rivals haven’t even gone as far as Boris Johnson in their commitment to cycling so far. Zac Goldsmith has said he might rip out cycle superhighways and Sadiq says he’ll only build new superhighways if there is minimal disruption, which is basically impossible. In the recent ITV hustings he even called segregated cycle space ‘obstructions in the road’ which is extremely worrying, as they actually open up the road to more people, because bike travel is much more efficient on space than vehicle travel. If Sadiq doesn’t understand that, we do have a problem. It’s also an issue that neither of them have the funds earmarked, whereas I have specifically pledged to use money raised from much-needed new congestion and air pollution measures to invest in infrastructure for people on bikes.
Verdict: Berry’s answers and manifesto could have been written by the Bike Blog (they weren’t, I should add). She’s also signed up to the LCC pledges, while her manifesto calls for the congestion charge to be replaced with a “smart” road-charging system covering all London, and measures to better enforce road safety.
10/10
Peter Whittle - Ukip
Facebook Twitter Pinterest Peter Whittle at a mayoral hustings. Photograph: Steve Parkins/REX/Shutterstock
1.
In Ukip we would encourage more people on to the roads by creating a safer environment for people to travel via bicycle. We would do this by expanding the Santander cycle hire scheme and make Santander cycles available for hire using an Oyster card.
2.
I agree that London’s roads are becoming increasingly congested however I believe the best way to keep London moving is to tackle the huge increase in the allocation of private hire vehicles which is numbering around 700 a week. Putting a freeze on the licensing issuing would be a good way to tackle congestion and keep London moving.
3.
In Greenwich park 20 years ago, but I have to say I am a great walker!
Extra question: In the past Ukip has seemed quite anti-cyclist. For example, the 2010 election manifesto called for cyclists to have to walk round roundabouts and pay for parking. Has the party changed on this?
Ukip have never been anti-cycling, however we have always been pro road safety and this is something which is shared by many Londoners who are becoming increasingly concerned about the poor behaviour of a significant number of cyclists. Our roads must be as safe as possible for all road users and we do not believe cyclists should escape sanctions when their behaviour on the roads falls short.
Verdict: Oh no. Things were going reasonably smoothly and then we asked that last question. Sure, some cyclists do silly things like jump lights. But then a good proportion of drivers speed or are distracted by phones. Only one of these groups is likely to kill other people. It’s not morals, just physics. This is not to say bad cycling shouldn’t be policed, only that if you see that as a major priority in your cycling policy then you don’t even understand the basics.
Whittle’s manifesto is only out next week, so we’ll have to take him at his word that Ukip would aim to make cycling safer. That’s why the score isn’t zero.
1/10One fact that has grown bracingly clear over the course of the presidential campaign is that the campaign is not about any of the normal issues in American politics, but about democracy. The other elections we all remember have pitted two small-d democrats against each other. This one pits a small-d democrat against a candidate who has repeatedly stated that strong leaders crush their enemies, who warns without evidence that Antonin Scalia was murdered and that the election will be “rigged,” who threatens retaliatory policy crackdowns on owners of newspapers whose coverage displeases him, who has asked Russia’s autocrat to conduct a cyberattack on his opponent, and who, today, exhorted his audience to violent insurrection.
The democracy question has opened a deep schism within the Republican Party. Republicans stand mostly united on ends but divided on means. Trump’s somewhat amorphous promise to negotiate better trade deals aside, the candidate has mostly endorsed traditional Republican policies on taxes, regulation, judicial appointments, and so on. The division lies between the Paul Ryan wing of the party, which is focused on passing regressive debt-financed tax cuts through peaceful electoral means, and the Trump wing, which proposes regressive debt-financed tax cuts through peaceful means if possible, but through the trampling of democratic norms if necessary.
The two wings co-exist uneasily, as one might expect, but the more curious question is how they co-exist at all. Peter Beinart explores the fascination some right-wing intellectuals have with authoritarianism, and finds a psychological attraction to the energy and putative legitimacy of the people as an imagined unified force. Another source of overlap is a distrust of democracy on the libertarian right.
Ayn Rand’s theories have had enormous influence on the conservative movement and on leaders like Paul Ryan. Rand’s theories are a kind of inverted Marxism. Like Marx, she depicts society as riven between a producer class and a parasite class, but she identifies the classes in opposite terms. Rand’s producers are the capitalists, and the parasites who leech off them are the workers. (“The man at the top of the intellectual pyramid contributes the most to all those below him, but gets nothing except his material payment, receiving no intellectual bonus from others to add to the value of his time. The man at the bottom who, left to himself, would starve in his hopeless ineptitude, contributes nothing to those above him, but receives the bonus of all of their brains.”) But since the virtuous producer class amounts to a small minority, it is helpless before the majority that is able to confiscate their rightful earnings through democratic means. Democracy, by this way of thinking, poses a constant threat of enabling redistribution from the few to the many.
This is the notion that undergirds the otherwise puzzling habit on the right of depicting any discussion of the distributional ramifications of policy as “class warfare.” It is likewise the spirit of a long-standing apocryphal quote, repeated by conservatives like Ronald Reagan, that “a democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until the voters discover they can vote themselves largesse out of the public treasury.”
Peter Thiel, the libertarian investor who spoke for Trump in Cleveland, wrote in the libertarian Cato Institute’s journal in 2009, “I no longer believe that freedom and democracy are compatible. … For those of us who are libertarian in 2009, our education culminates with the knowledge that the broader education of the body politic has become a fool’s errand.” The Heritage Foundation’s Stephen Moore, who has advised Trump, has admitted, “Capitalism’s more important than democracy. I’m not even a big believer in democracy. I always say that democracy can be two wolves and a sheep deciding what to have for dinner.”
Not all libertarians think this way — most despise Trump, in fact — nor should these statements be taken as a straightforward endorsement of autocracy over democracy. What they show, instead, is an unease about (small-d) democratic economic policy. This helps explain why, of all of the factions in the GOP, the economic right has reconciled itself so easily to its nominee. Ryan’s spokesperson cheered Trump’s Ryan-like economic plan yesterday. Brian Ballard, a former Jeb Bush donor who now serves as Trump’s finance chair in Florida, stated accurately that repeal of the estate tax, which affects only inheritances over $11 million per couple, is “the linchpin of the conservative movement,” and hence a sign of the nominee’s close adherence to party doctrine. It also helps to explain why a clear bright line between virtuous respect for democratic norms and a dangerous willingness to flout them might present itself to the party of Trump and Ryan as something less than a perfectly clarifying choice.State Machines
The idea of “state” and the “state machine” is so ubiquitous in software programming that we tend to use it all the time without even thinking about it very much: that we have a fixed number of states of some object or system and that there are fixed allowable transitions from one state to another will be almost inevitable when we start modelling some physical process or business procedure.
I quite like the much quoted description of a state machine used in the erlang documentation:
If we are in state S and the event E occurs, we should perform the actions A and make a transition to the state S’.
once we string a number of these together we could consider it to form a workflow. Whole books, definition languages and software systems have been made about this stuff.
Managing State
Often we find ourselves implementing state management in an application on an ad-hoc basis, defining the constraints on state transition in code, often in separate part of the application and relying on the other parts of the application to do the right thing. I’m sure I’m not alone to have seen code in the wild that purports to implement a state machine which in fact has proved to be entirely non-deterministic in the face of the addition of new states or actions in the system. Or systems where a new action has to be performed on some object when it enters a new state and the state can be entered in different ways in different parts of the application so new code has to be implemented in a number of different places with the inevitable consequence that one gets missed and it doesn’t work as defined.
Using a single source of state management with a consistent definition within an application can alleviate these kinds of problems and can actually make the design of the application simpler and clearer than it might otherwise have been.
Thus I was inspired to write Tinky which is basically a state management system that allows you to create workflows in an application.
Tinky allows you to compose a number of states and the transitions between them into an application workflow which can make the transitions between the states available as a set of Supplies: providing the required constraints on the allowed transitions and allowing you to implement the actions on those transitions in the appropriate place or manner for your application.
Simple Workflow
Perhaps the canonical example used for similar software is that of the bug tracking software, so let’s start with the simplest possible example with three states and two transitions between them:
use Tinky; my $ state-new = Tinky::State. new (name => " new " ); my $ state-open = Tinky::State. new (name => " open " ); my $ state-done = Tinky::State. new (name => " done " ); my @ states = ( $ state-new, $ state-open, $ state-done ); my $ new-open = Tinky::Transition. new (name => " open ", from => $ state-new, to => $ state-open ); my $ open-done = Tinky::Transition. new (name => " done ", from => $ state-open, to => $ state-done ); my @ transitions = ( $ new-open, $ open-done ); my $ workflow = Tinky::Workflow. new (name => " support ", : @ states, : @ transitions, initial-state => $ state-new );
This defines our three states “new”, “open” and “done” and two transitions between them, from “new” to “open” and “open” to “done”. This defines a “workflow” in which the state must go through “open” before becoming “done”.
Obviously this doesn’t do very much without an object that can take part in this workflow, so Tinky provides a role Tinky::Object that can be applied to a class who’s state you want to manage:
class Ticket does Tinky::Object { has Str $. ticket-number = ( ^ 100000 ). pick. fmt ( " %08d " ); } my $ ticket = Ticket. new ; $ ticket. apply-workflow( $ workflow ); say $ ticket. state. name ; # new $ ticket. next-states >>. name. say ; # (open) $ ticket. state = $ state-open ; say $ ticket. state. name ; # open
The Tinky::Object role provides the accessors state and next-states to the object, the latter returning a list of the possible states that the object can be transitioned to (in this example there is only one, but there could be as many as your workflow definition allows,) you’ll notice that the state of the object is defaulted to new which is the state provided as initial-state to the Tinky::Workflow constructor.
The assignment to state is constrained by the workflow definition, so if in the above you were to do:
$ ticket. state = $ state-done ;
This would result in an exception “No Transition for ‘new’ to ‘done'” and the state of the object would not be changed.
As a convenience the workflow object defines a role which provides methods named for the transitions and which is applied to the object when apply-workflow is called, thus the setting of the state in the above could be written as:
$ ticket. open
However this feature has an additional subtlety (that I unashamedly stole from a javascript library,) in that if there are two transitions with the same name then it will still create a single method which will use the current state of the object to select which transition to apply; typically you might do this where the to state is the same, so for example if we added a new state ‘rejected’ which can be entered from both ‘new’ and ‘open’:
use Tinky; my $ state-new = Tinky::State. new (name => " new " ); my $ state-open = Tinky::State. new (name => " open " ); my $ state-done = Tinky::State. new (name => " done " ); my $ state-rejected = Tinky::State. new (name => " rejected " ); my @ states = ( $ state-new, $ state-open, $ state-done, $ state-rejected ); my $ new-open = Tinky::Transition. new (name => " open ", from => $ state-new, to => $ state-open ); my $ new-rejected = Tinky::Transition. new (name => " reject ", from => $ state-new, to => $ state-rejected ); my $ open-done = Tinky::Transition. new (name => " done ", from => $ state-open, to => $ state-done ); my $ open-rejected = Tinky::Transition. new (name => " reject ", from => $ state-open, to => $ state-rejected ); my @ transitions = ( $ new-open, $ new-rejected, $ open-done, $ open-rejected ); my $ workflow = Tinky::Workflow. new (name => " support ", : @ states, : @ transitions, initial-state => $ state-new ); class Ticket does Tinky::Object { has Str $. ticket-number = ( ^ 100000 ). pick. fmt ( " %08d " ); } my $ ticket-one = Ticket. new ; $ ticket-one. apply-workflow( $ workflow ); $ ticket-one. next-states >>. name. say ; $ ticket-one. reject; say $ ticket-one. state. name ; my $ ticket-two = Ticket. new ; $ ticket-two. apply-workflow( $ workflow ); $ ticket-two. open ; $ ticket-two. next-states >>. name. say ; $ ticket-two. reject; say $ ticket-two. state. name ;
You are not strictly limited to having the similarly named transitions enter the same state, but they must have different from states (otherwise the method generated wouldn’t know which transition to apply). Obviously if the method is called on an object which is not in a state for which there are any transitions an exception will be thrown.
So what about this asynchronous thing
All of this might be somewhat useful if we are merely concerned with constraining the sequence of states an object might be in, but typically we want to perform some action upon transition from one state to another (and this is explicitly stated in the definition above). So, for instance, in our ticketing example we might want to send some notification, recalculate resource scheduling or make a branch in a version control system for example.
Tinky provides for the state transition actions by means of a set of Supplies on the states and transitions, to which the object for which the transition has been performed is emitted. These “events” are emitted on the state that is being left, the state that is being entered and the actual transition that was performed. The supplies are conveniently aggregated at the workflow level.
So, if, in the example above, we wanted to log every transition of state of a ticket and additional send a message when the ticket enters the “open” state we can simply tap the appropriate Supply to perform these actions:
use Tinky; my $ state-new = Tinky::State. new (name => " new " ); my $ state-open = Tinky::State. new (name => " open " ); my $ state-done = Tinky::State. new (name => " done " ); my $ state-rejected = Tinky::State. new (name => " rejected " ); my @ states = ( $ state-new, $ state-open, $ state-done, $ state-rejected ); my $ new-open = Tinky::Transition. new (name => " open ", from => $ state-new, to => $ state-open ); my $ new-rejected = Tinky::Transition. new (name => " reject ", from => $ state-new, to => $ state-rejected ); my $ open-done = Tinky::Transition. new (name => " done ", from => $ state-open, to => $ state-done ); my $ open-rejected = Tinky::Transition. new (name => " reject ", from => $ state-open, to => $ state-rejected ); my @ transitions = ( $ new-open, $ new-rejected, $ open-done, $ open-rejected ); my $ workflow = Tinky::Workflow. new (name => " support ", : @ states, : @ transitions, initial-state => $ state-new ); # Make the required actions $ workflow. transition-supply. tap ( -> ( $ trans, $ object ) { say " Ticket'{ $ object. ticket-number }'went from { $ trans. from. name }'to'{ $ trans. to. name }'" }); $ state-open. enter-supply. tap ( -> $ object { say " Ticket'{ $ object. ticket-number }'is opened, sending email " }); class Ticket does Tinky::Object { has Str $. ticket-number = ( ^ 100000 ). pick. fmt ( " %08d " ); } my $ ticket-one = Ticket. new ; $ ticket-one. apply-workflow( $ workflow ); $ ticket-one. next-states >>. name. say ; $ ticket-one. reject; say $ ticket-one. state. name ; my $ ticket-two = Ticket. new ; $ ticket-two. apply-workflow( $ workflow ); $ ticket-two. open ; $ ticket-two. next-states >>. name. say ; $ ticket-two. reject; say $ ticket-two. state. name ;
Which will give some output like
[open rejected] Ticket '00015475' went from new' to'rejected' rejected Ticket '00053735' is opened, sending email Ticket '00053735' went from new' to 'open' [done rejected] Ticket '00053735' went from open' to'rejected' rejected
The beauty of this kind of arrangement, for me at least, is that the actions can be defined at the most appropriate place in the code rather than all in one place and can also be added and removed at run time if required, it also works nicely with other sources of asynchronous events in Perl 6 such as timers, signals or file system notifications.
Defining a Machine
Defining a large set of states and transitions could prove somewhat tiresome and error prone if doing it in code like the above, so you could choose to build it from some configuration file or from a database of some sort, but for convenience I have recently released Tinky::JSON which allows you to define all of your states and transitions in a single JSON document.
The above example would then become something like:
use Tinky; use Tinky::JSON; my $ json = q :to / JSON /; { "states" : [ "new", "open", "done", "rejected" ], "transitions" : [ { "name" : "open", "from" : "new", "to" : "open" }, { "name" : "done", "from" : "open", "to" : "done" }, { "name" : "reject", "from" : "new", "to" : "rejected" }, { "name" : "reject", "from" : "open", "to" : "rejected" } ], "initial-state" : "new" } JSON my $ workflow = Tinky::JSON::Workflow. from-json( $ json ); $ workflow. transition-supply. tap ( -> ( $ trans, $ object ) { say " Ticket'{ $ object. ticket-number }'went from { $ trans. from. name }'to'{ $ trans. to. name }'" }); $ workflow. enter-supply( " open " ). tap ( -> $ object { say " Ticket'{ $ object. ticket-number }'is opened, sending email " }); class Ticket does Tinky::Object { has Str $. ticket-number = ( ^ 100000 ). pick. fmt ( " %08d " ); } my $ ticket-one = Ticket. new ; $ ticket-one. apply-workflow( $ workflow ); $ ticket-one. next-states >>. name. say ; $ ticket-one. reject; say $ ticket-one. state. name ; my $ ticket-two = Ticket. new ; $ ticket-two. apply-workflow( $ workflow ); $ ticket-two. open ; $ ticket-two. next-states >>. name. say ; $ ticket-two. reject; say $ ticket-two. state. name ;
As well as providing the means of constructing the workflow object from a JSON description it adds methods for accessing the states and transitions and their respective supplies by name rather than having to have the objects themselves to hand, which may be more convenient in your application. I’m still working out how to provide the definition of actions in a similarly convenient declarative way.
It would probably be easy to make something similar that can obtain the definition from an XML file (probably using XML::Class,) so let me know if you might find that useful.
Making something useful
My prime driver for making Tinky in the first place was for a still-in-progress online radio management software, this could potentially have several different workflows for different types of objects: the media for streaming may need to be uploaded, it may possibly require encoding to a streamable format, have silence detection performed and its metadata normalised and so forth before it is usable in a show; the shows themselves need to have either media added or a live streaming source configured and then be scheduled at the appropriate time and possibly also be recorded (and then the recording fed back into the media workflow.) All of this might be a little too complex for a short example, but an example that ships with Tinky::JSON is inspired by the media portion of this and was actually made in response to something someone was asking about on IRC a while ago.
The basic idea is that a process waits for WAV files to appear in some directory and then copies them to another directory where they are encoded (in this case to FLAC.) The nice thing about using the workflow model for this is that the code is kept quite compact and clear, since failure conditions can be handled locally to the action for the step in the process so deeply nested conditions or early returns are avoided, also because it all happens asynchronously it makes best of the processor time.
So the workflow is described in JSON as:
{ " states " : [ " new ", " ready ", " copied ", " done ", " failed ", " rejected " ], " transitions " : [ { " name " : " ready ", " from " : " new ", " to " : " ready " }, { " name " : " reject ", " from " : " new ", " to " : " rejected " }, { " name " : " copied ", " from " : " ready ", " to " : " copied " }, { " name " : " fail ", " from " : " ready ", " to " : " failed " }, { " name " : " done ", " from " : " copied ", " to " : " done " }, { " name " : " fail ", " from " : " copied ", " to " : " failed " } ], " initial-state " : " new " }
Which defines our six states and the transitions between them. The “rejected” state is entered if the file has been seen before (from state “new”,) and the “failed” state may occur if there was a problem with either the copying or the encoding.
The program expects this to be in a file called “encoder.json” in the same directory as the program itself.
This example uses the ‘flac’ encoder but you could alter this to something else if you want.
use Tinky; use Tinky::JSON; use File::Which; class ProcessFile does Tinky::Object { has Str $. path is required ; has Str $. out-dir is required ; has Str $. new-path ; has Str $. flac-file ; has @. errors ; method new-path () returns Str { $! new-path // = $! out-dir. IO. child( $! path. IO. basename). Str ; } method flac-file () returns Str { $! flac-file // = self. new-path. subst (/ \. wav $ /, '.flac'); $! flac-file ; } } multi sub MAIN ( $ dir, Str : $ out-dir ='/tmp/flac') { my ProcessFile @ process-files ; my $ json = $ * PROGRAM. parent. child('encoder.json'). slurp ; my $ workflow = Tinky::JSON::Workflow. from-json( $ json ); my $ flac = which('flac') or die " no flac encoder " ; my $ cp = which('cp'); my $ watch-supply = IO::Notification. watch-path( $ dir ). grep ({ $_. path ~~ / \. wav $ / }). unique ( as => { $_. path }, expires => 5 ); say " Watching'$dir'" ; react { whenever $ watch-supply -> $ change { my $ pf = ProcessFile. new (path => $ change. path, : $ out-dir ); say " Processing'{ $ pf. path }'" ; $ pf. apply-workflow( $ workflow ); } whenever $ workflow. applied-supply() -> $ pf { if @ process-files. grep ({ $_. path eq $ pf. path }) { $ * ERR. say : " ** Already processing'", $ pf. path, "'** " ; $ pf. reject; } else { @ process-files. append : $ pf ; $ pf. ready; } } whenever $ workflow. enter-supply('ready') -> $ pf { my $ copy = Proc::Async. new ( $ cp, $ pf. path, $ pf. new-path, : r); whenever $ copy. stderr -> $ error { $ pf. errors. append : $ error. chomp ; } whenever $ copy. start -> $ proc { if $ proc. exitcode { $ pf. fail ; } else { $ pf. copied; } } } whenever $ workflow. enter-supply('copied') -> $ pf { my $ encode = Proc::Async. new ( $ flac,'-s ', $ pf. new-path, : r); whenever $ encode. stderr -> $ error { $ pf. errors. append : $ error. chomp ; } whenever $ encode. start -> $ proc { if $ proc. exitcode { $ pf. fail ; } else { $ pf. done ; } } } whenever $ workflow. enter-supply('done') -> $ pf { say " File'{ $ pf. path }'has been processed to'{ $ pf. flac-file }'" ; } whenever $ workflow. enter-supply('failed') -> $ pf { say " Processing of file'{ $ pf. path }'failed with'{ $ pf. errors }'" ; } whenever $ workflow. transition-supply -> ( $ trans, $ pf ) { $ * ERR. say ( " File'{ $ pf. path }'went from'{ $ trans. from. name }'to'{ $ trans. to. name }'" ); } } }
If you start this with an argument of the directory where you want to pick up the files ffrom, it will wait until new files appear then create a new ProcessFile object and apply the workflow to it, then every object to which the workflow is applied is sent to the applied-supply which is tapped to check whether the file has already been processed: if it has (and this can happen because the file directory watch may emit more than one event for the creation of the file,) the object is moved to state ‘rejected’ and no further processing happens, otherwise it is moved to state ‘ready’ whereupon it is copied, and if successfully encoded.
Additional states (and transitions to enter them,) could easily be added to, for instance, store the details of the encoded file in a database, or even start playing it, or new actions could be added for existing states by adding additional “whenever” blocks. As it stands this will block forever waiting for new files; however this could be integrated into a larger program by starting this in a new thread for instance.
The program and the JSON file are in the examples directory for Tinky::JSON, please feel free to grab and tinker with them.
Not quite all
Tinky has a fair bit more functionality that I don’t think I have space to describe here: there are facilities for the run-time validation of transition application and additional supplies that are emitted to at various stages of the workflow lifecycle. Hopefully your interest is sufficiently picqued that you might look at the documentation.
I am considering adding a cookbook-style document for the module for some common patterns that might arise in programs that might use it. If you have any ideas or questions please feel free to drop me a note.
Finally, I chose a deliberately un-descriptive name for the module as I didn’t want to make a claim that this would be the last word in the problem space. There are probably many more ways that a state managed workflow could be implemented nicely in Perl 6. I would be equally delighted if you totally disagree with my approach and release your own design as I would be if you decide to use Tinky.
Tinky Winky is the purple Teletubby with a red bag.Looking for news you can trust?
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This afternoon, John McCain joined in a summit with his rival Barack Obama and President George W. Bush, after “suspending” his campaign and rushing back to Washington to help rescue the American economy. As pundits and the public argue over whether this is the patriotic act of a true statesman or the desperate stunt of a political operator, McCain hopes they will forget what it really is for him: pure deja vu. McCain has already been here and done this, back in the roaring eighties, when he was in the thick of another financial meltdown that yielded a huge government bailout—and the worst scandal of his own political career.
The savings and loan crisis developed along lines remarkably similar to the current sub-prime crisis: A flurry of deregulation gave S&Ls the capabilities of major commercial banks without the corresponding oversight and regulation. S&Ls proceeded to make high-risk investments, including thousands of unsound mortgages during a housing boom. The government looked away—until the bottom fell out and the S&Ls started to fall like dominoes. Then it stepped in with a bailout of then-unprecedented levels, which added to ballooning deficits and ushered in years of recession.
When the S&L scandal unfolded, Barack Obama was working as a community organizer in Chicago, and George W. Bush was busy running a series of failed oil ventures and managing his baseball team in Texas. But John McCain was already in Congress—and in the S&L mess up to his neck.
The story of McCain’s hinky financial dealings is told by Stephen Pizzo, Mary Fricker, and Paul Muolo, in their excellent book on the scandal, Inside Job. As they describe it, one day in 1987, Senator Dennis DeConcini (D-Ariz.) asked Ed Gray, head of the Federal Home Loan Bank Board (and a former press aide to Ronald Reagan) to stop by his Washington office. When Gray arrived he was unexpectedly was ushered into a meeting attended not only by DeConcini but also by Senators John McCain, John Glenn (D-Ohio), and Alan Cranston (D-Calif.).
All of these men had received substantial campaign contributions from Charles Keating, the colorful California developer (and anti-porn crusader) who owned American Continental Corporation and its subsidiary, Lincoln Savings and Loan. From 1982 through 1987, McCain had received $112,000. All four could also claim Keating as a constituent: Lincoln Savings was headquartered in California, |
was no social service for people and the Returned Soldiers supported her for as long as possible and finally she moved to NSW where there was a pension system in place.
* Significant dates and events in the history of Canberra 1909-1929
* A192/1 FCL23/39 Letter dated 11/10/1922 re Bachelors Quarters & Residency (Canberra House)from WO Russell. Re accommodating vbisiting officers - shortage of accommodation and suggestion that 6 tents be erected in front of the Bachelors Quarters. This was preceded by a letter re additional quarters to be added to the Bachelors Quarters - 27th June, 1921.
* Included in the above file is a list of rooms at the Quarters.
A149/1 Box 1 Annual Report Lands & Survey Department 1913
* Staff Boarding Houses 9th September, 1916 board costs etc
* 15th August, 1916 Letter written and signed by Walter Burley Griffin re the duplication of services at the official quarters and Bachelors Quarters at Acton re services of cook etc -suggest combining and that he was working on plans for a temperance hotel - solve the problem.
*Draft for book - Forgotten Characters and Places of Early Canberra
*CP464/4/1 Bundle 2 C1244 20th May, 1924 from Crease - Collector of Public Moneys to the Accountant. Re outstanding rents - follows with a list of each man owing, his place of residence and names.
* Ccn April 11, 1926 page on Canberra Cycling Club and Canberra Diggers on Map - Returned Soldiers & Sailors Imperial League with reports from each of the sub branches. Camp Notes by Gleaner ( Lasseter).
Box 8, Folder 5
* Photocopy of a photograph of Mervyn Haines taken outside the Westlake Hall 1940s - in background is Bell’s corner (39 Westlake). The pines between 39 and 38 are still in situ.
* Photocopy of Jack Jenkins and friends at the Tradesmen’s Camp (Westlake) 1925/26
* The Workmen of Canberra and Where they Lived.
* Notes with call signs for Acton, Printers Quarters, Eastlake General, Brickyards etc
Box 8, Folder 6
* CP464/5/1 Bundle 3/22/402 Letter from C Ivey Molonglo Progress Association re borrowing of a Paino.
* A361/1 DSG24/47 22nd November, 1923 Memo to Commonwealth Surveyor General from Works Director re accommodation for men at Power House Cottages - list of names included.
* Plan of Section 64 Westridge, cottage plans and the names of people given the tenancy of the cottages
* AA1/1 21/23256 Bachelors Quarters mess 14.2.1916 to 30.6.1916 with lists of names and where they were at this time.
* Poster advertising Builders of Canberra...
A62661/1 G27/2045 22nd March, 1927 Lists of numbers of cottages, Cubicles, tents etc in Canberra
* AA1/1 21/23256 List of men at Bachelors Quarters who owed money - 20th March, 1919. Most were on active service.
* 1928 Electoral Roll Tharwa & Places Via Tharwa.
* List of documents and outline relating to Molonglo
* Federal Capital Pioneer cuttings - eg June 1925 Pioneer Prize Poem - 1925 Canberra Maligned, Tennis, Children’s Playgrounds...
*CT86/1/1 404 20th April 1928 letter re brick cottages Section 64 Yarralumla. Lists problems in cottages.
*CT 14.12.1928 St Gabriel’s Speech Day, Bowls
* CT 17.10.1928 Protest Meeting at Queanbeyan Against Employment Policy, The Elections, City Band Albert Hall Concert, Mothercraft Proposed at Russell Hill
CT 25.10.1928 Russell Hill dispenses with Christmas Tree.
CT 29.10.1928 Fatal Gun Accident, Kingston Man shot in the stomach...Clifford Tylden Ellison - accident happened at Kambah.
* CT February 29, 1928 Building News - heating plant at Solar Observatory; Cottage Design, FCC Service men eligible without exam. Drawing side elevation of Assembly Hall (Albert Hall).
*CT December 6, 1928 Commission’s Destiny.
* CT July 23, 1928 Forestry School second Annual Dance. Readers Views - Price of Milk, School Sports, Gorman House Girls Entertain Mrs Clarence Gorman
Box 8, Folder 7
* Plan of Rolland’s Cottage erected at Westlake, Acton and Causeway - latter used horizontal wood to cover walls instead of vertical
List of footnotes for early chapters of Builders
* Draft for Builders - lists of camps and Chapter Two details about housing types plus related diagrams etc
Box 8, Folder 8
* Drafts for chapters including lists of documents for particular chapters.
Box 7, Folder 1
* CT October 28, 1926 Social Service Year’s Splendid Recort...
* CT December 31, 1926 Social Service/ Year of Achievement/ Manifold Activities and other related articles 1927
*CT Friday December 31, 1926 The Growth of Canberra/ Development During 1926/ City and Suburbs Assume Definite Shape and other related articles in 1927 including the naming of Canberra Streets etc.
* A361/1 DSG23/780 Afforestation Branch 11th July, 1922 supply of vegetables to the Bachelors Quarters - singed Weston
* A361/1 DSG23/780 11th October, 1922 Bachelors Quarters - tents in front of quarters.
* A361/1 DSG23/780 Bachelors Quarters 5th march, 1923 Problems with the Manager and the Committee at the quarters and Fred Walker’s answer.
* A192/1 DCL 17/120 Four page typewritten Conditions of Lease of the quarters which also gave costs etc including for picnic baskets.
* A6265/1 25/727 Bachelors Quarters 14th April 1925 - letter from Butters with such information etc as 1 The house standard should be given a through shaking up and informed that the rooms must be kept in better order. I myself noticed cobwebs of considerable extent and age in one of the rooms.
*AA1/1 21/23256 Electricity at the Bachelors Quarters 1916.
* A361/1 DSG23/776 1924 letter from Medical man Henry Stoker to Commonwealth Surveyor General re the Wallace house on the flat at Acton (self built) I have inspected Mr Wallace House on the flat and gave necessary instructions re disinfecting of room from which the sick child was removed...The house was an old time structure which needs to be replaced. I noticed that there were several houses served by two double water closets which in the case of Mr Wallace house is at a distance of over 100 yards. The distance is such, as at night and with children, to make more than probable that these WC’s are not always used...
* A361/1 DSG23/700 Bachelors Quarters 3/8/1922 - re illegal wiring for jugs etc. Must stop.
Box 7, Folder 2
* A414/1 44 Home & Territories Dept to Sec Works & Railways Dept Melbourne re Housing of Officers at Canberra signed J G McLaren 6th June, 1923.
* CP698/9/1 46/15 List of entertainments held in the Causeway Hall between 13th February 1926 and 24th July 1926, map of Causeway District of Social Service Association including nearby Eastlake (including tenements) and Molonglo. Letter from Mark Heselden, Ancient Order of Foresters (lived 9 Acton Cottages) re use of Causeway Hall for meetings and 3rd March, 1926 letter to Honeysett from Canberra Fire Brigade Recreation Club re use of the Causeway Hall for eg clean boxing displays...Letter signed by Percy Douglas, Fire Brigade Chief.
* Letter dated 21st January, 1918 from Chief Surveyor Goodwin to Lands & Survey Branch Melbourne re cottages 1,3,5,9 Acton and teants.
* A414/1 19 Amusement Hall Russell Hill 8th July 1927 from Honeysett to Butters re lavatory accommodation at the hall.
*
A6270/1 E2/27/2613 1927 Sanitation Report
* Herald Friday evening Arpil 16, 1926 The Trek to Canberra How the Public Servant Will Get There by the Wife of one of them & Arpil 1926 Canberra Beauty, simple ideas with flowers. Mrs Lane-Poole’s Survey.
* CP698/9 Bundle 2/12/5 Letter from Lasseter to Honeysett re road making in FCT
*A361/1 DSG 23/700 Bachelors Quarters Canberra Prices etc 10.5.1918
* Draft Chapter on Bachelors Quarters etc
* Draft copy of Annueal Report Lands & Survey Department 1913
* List of Canberrans to contact
* List of major camps sites within the city limits.
* 1913 Census
* Cartoons from CCN
* Draft of Chapter Nine - permanent suburbs
* Photocopies of photographs - King O’Malley hitting in peg and two photographs of early surveyors.
Box 7, Folder 3
* 1928 Electoral Roll section on Canberra - notes on Molonglo Tenements, applicants for Blandfordia cottages etc.
* Typed notes on Bachelors Quarters, Westlake etc - also in other files
Box 7, Folder 3
* A6266/1 G26/805 Plan 20/1/1926 Site for National Museum. Also on map of area is the old road into White City Camp and the site of their tennis court.
* CT86/1 Bundle 3/443 Memo for architect from Chief Commissioner 16th August 1927 re the sale of the concrete cottages built at Blandfordia - one is in Hayes Cres, Griffith. The min deposit was to be 50 pounds.
* A414/1 21/2 17th March, 1923 re cottages near Power House, Brickworks & Blandfordia - additional cottages and types in each.
*A292/1 CF016 Queanbeyan Canberra Railway Power House to Civic Centre 1920-1921, 1922-1923. Plus costs re the completion of the line. Map of part of the area.
*A192/1 FCL22/1082 Plan of school teacher’s residence at Molonglo.
* notes on Acton - Canberra House and remodelling for Butters as at 1/1/11925 - costs included the septic tank and drainage and dog kennal (4 pounds 3/9d). Plus other general notes.
* handwritten notes RMC Duntroon A461/1 C337/1/7 ATT - report on Jervis Bay - when opened etc
* Pictorial History - photograph in Canberra Times of the early camp at Acton.
* Detailed modern map of Duntroon
*A6266/1 G30/417 List of employees at Canberra living at Queanbeyan - linesmen etc - 1929 and continues with a full list of those employed and where they lived.
* handwritten notes - electricity 3.4.1922 and names of people and amounts
*A361/1 DSG17/2580 List of galvanised iron sheets removed from Yarralumla Woolshed - can be reused 8.11.1917
*A1/1 17/18583 20.12.1917 - lists the dates in 1916 and 1917 when Mr Walter Burley Griffin stayed in Yarralumla House.
*A/1 34/4662 29.7.1929 Parkes Barracks - men’s Mess sent to Causeway. Size of Mess 16 ft x 31 ft etc. Most of buildings 16ft x. At the present time there were 43 cubicles on site. Plus other related files to Parkes Barracks and the men’s annoyance at being moved.
* CP698/9/1 Revenue CCN
*CP698/9/1 12/5 Box 2 1925 A Cummins at No 1 Mess -captain of No 1 Cricket Team
* Oct 4 1929 - Jeremiah Dillon died at a private hospital at Newtown - survived by his wife. He was termed the father of the game in Canberra National Football.
* CT February 17th, 1927 Stealing at Red Hill Camp and Camp Stabbing at No 1 Labourers Camp, Westlake.
Box 7, Folder 5
* Outline of accommodation at Acton between 1910 and 1929
* List of footnote numbers for Chapter Two
* A192/1 FCC17/1261 re land before ACT and a statement that the land was not covered by forests of any market value. 1920
* Letter to Honeysett from Sorensen Hon Sec Welfare Council 7 Causeway 17.9.1926 hoping that materials ready for the working bee on October 9th to build the Children’s playground.
* Notes including one where O’Neill AWU stated that if it were fair to erect 100 houses for 100 men, it was equally fair that 1,000 cottages should be provided for 1,000 me. The Chairman [Mr Butters] said that, in other words, Mr O’Neill desired to shut his eyes to the main object for the appointment of all workmen at Canberra. Mr O’Neill said that his point of view was that he was addressing the men who had the show in his own hands...
* General notes with call numbers on camps
* a6266/1 G27/2045 18.5.1927 review of points raised at interview with three senators, Needham, Charlton & Scullin. Re accommodation in camps.
* Minutes of Meeting of Council of Canberra Social Service Association held at “Acton House” (Social Service Building) on Tuesday 8th May, 1929. This meeting in effect was the death nell of the Association. Butters refused any more funds.
* A431/1 48/693 Letter dated 11th November 1926 st of representatives for Social Service Association and place they represented.
*CP698/9/1 Bundle 1/10/8 20th May, 1926 Memo to First Commissioner with list of officers elected to Eastlake Social Service Association and other associated documents.
* List of people at Section 26 Barton
* Survey of School Site Duntroon
* CT86/1/1/ Bundle 3/406 Estimates for 1927-1928
* Draft for camps
Box 7, Folder 6
* Map shewing roads from Melbourne Avenue SW Kurrajong to Federal Avenue Station Place.. Proposed route of suggested Water Main
* A6266/1 G27/4241 Map showing proposed site for the Court House and Police Station No 1. It is on the opposite side to where it is today and on Garden Circuit. There is a second site near Manuka Circle.
* A192/1 FCL22/1534 Bachelors Quarters 22.12.1917 refers to the reduced numbers at the Quarters (the war had taken many boarders). Nine bedrooms in use etc and too many staff - also notes prices paid per day eg Cook 9/- per day, Steward 7/- per day.
* A1/1 23/15040 15th June, 1923 bachelors quarters - complaint by boarders re Mr Walker, manager. This letter by WO Russell notes that nine did not sign the petition. He also noted that Mr Walker is certainly disliked by those whose behaviour is not of the best and who unfortunately seem to have a forceful influence at mess meetings.
* A361/1 DSG25/145 Letter to Secretary Home & Territories Dept from Commonwealth Surveyor General 14th June, 1924 Manager of Bachelors Quarters - Mr W H Hicks was about to start work and his wife worked as Matron. His salary was six pounds per week including a cottage. An earlier letter dated 14th June, 1923 mentioned that the Bachelors Quarters increased to the extent that a Manager was necessary.
* A361/1 DSG25/145 Letter of application from PJ Breen for the position of Manager of Bachelors Quarters 30th April, 1923.
* A361/1 DSG23/774 Letter to Mr Wallace at Acton dated 9th April, 1924 telling him that the medical officer had condemned his dwelling and it was necessary for him to rebuild or move into a government cottage when it became available. He moved into one of the workmen’s cottages at Acton.
* A361/1 DSG23/776 Tenancy agreement Charles May dated 14/6/1919/
* A1/1 24/24712 Letter from Goodwin to Secretary Home & Territories Dept 3 May, 1924 re the cottage built for the Manager of the Bachelors Quarters (No 12 Acton Cottages - known to the locals as The Big House because it was larger than the others). Breen wanted the house as part of his package but it was resisted by the authorities. He never lived in it.
*A/192 FCL20/12 26.11.1918 Messrs A Davis, James Stewart, H Thorning, EA Bland and F Dorman occupied camp sites rent free. The premises were condemned that is why no rent paid. F Dunshea was on site and paid rent. The letter states that all had to pay rent after 1st December, 1918.
*CP698/9 B7/56/10 Constitution of the Acton Tennis Club
*CP698/9 B7/56/10 Letter to Honeysett from F Dorman 21.11.1927 re decision by residents of the weatherboard cottages at Acton re use of Acton Tennis Courts - children denied use - residents annoyed.
*CP698/9 B7/56/10 Acton Park Tennis Club 13.9.1927 to Secretary Acton Branch SSA from J H Sanders re the control of the discussed tennis court.
*CP698/9 B7/56/8 10 July, 1926 To SS Officer from Daley re the dressing sheds erected under the auspices of the Outdoor Recreation Committee by the Canberra Swimming Club last season - without anchorage - need to fixed because of floods.
*CP698/9 B7/56/8 Re the Bathing Sheds Acton Swimming Pool 16th April, 1926 refers to left over timber - could be used at Northbourne etc.
* A192/1 FCL 21/1891 12.2.1920 re Acton School - Mr Caldwell, teacher arrived on 9th February and on the following day opened the school with eight pupils. Furniture removed from Cotter School and stored in Power House inspected - may be used.
* 192/1 FCL 21/1891 9th March, 1922 to Secretary Prime Ministers Dept Melb from Secretary re the School at Acton. Mentions that it was the intension to built a new school near the Narrabundah School (Cross Roads). This new school was built - Telopea Park - opened in Sept 1923. Letter states that Acton School therefore not necessary.
*A192/ FCC21/1891 Acton School - letter to Surveyor General Melbourne from Sheaffe 23.9.1921 - this three page letter sets out the concerns of the parents in Acton - The Officers whose children have been attending this School [Acton] are stationed at Canberra in their official capacity and therefore have not the freedom of the average citizen as regards their place of residence, consequently it is maintained that they are entitled to prior consideration to the average citizen... several of the children had been going for their Qualifying Examination..
*A192/ FCC21/1891 9th September, 1921 letter from Miss Fitzgerald teacher of Provisional School at Acton - she couldn’t continue in the position because of the unsuitability of the accommodation at the Bachelors Quarters - she was the only female. There are a number of letters relating to this subject and the fact that Mr Caldwell was moved because he was needed at more difficult situations - half time schools etc.
* A361/1 DSG/1969 16th May, 1923 Recreation Hall at Acton galvanised iron - need to move it because of road work. It was used as an infants school for some time.
*A361/1 DSG21/209 Furniture selected from the Power House for the Acton School 19/2/1920
A361/ DSG/23/1695 26th June, 1923 picture show at Molonglo Camp, Westridge and Acton - interviewed Mr Freebody Proprietor of Picture Show at Queanbeyan re pitcutres. How to go about it - generator - or portable lamp plus other letters in realtion to this type of entertainment - one letter states that the total adult population at Monlonglo was 200 and 170 at Brickworks.
* A361/1 DSG25/145 Illness of Mr Hicks, Manager of Bachelors Quarters. He had cancer and at time of writing the letter (Mr Rain, Staff Supervisor) he had only days to live. Hicks was concerned about his sick leave money for his wife and Rain organized it and made sure that Hicks did not know how seriously ill he was and made sure that he had no worries - 21st August, 1924. Another letter from a Mr Gould a year later - position of manager?
* A192/ 1 FCL 16/1232 Arsenal Camp and map showing the area at Tuggeranong
* Letter to Commandant RMC Duntroon from JN Rogers for the Secretary 22nd February, 1955 re the tenancies Camp Hill. Fortnightly tenancies were granted from 1933. This letter from Duntroon Archives.
* Plan of the official quarters (Bachelors) at Acton
Box 7, Folder 7
* Notes
* Trust News with article on Forgotten Canberra Ann Gugler.
* Map showing the site of the proposed Arsenal Factory, Tuggranong
* Early map of FCT showing city area and various bridle tracks etc and various maps used in Builders.
* Odds & Ends notes with call
* CDHS newsletter August/September 1993
* Some people Associated with Duntroon - Robert Campbell, Charles Campbell, George & Marianne Campbell, General Bridges etc Col Bridges was a descendent of Charles Throsby Smith one of the first Europeans to enter the Limestone Plains.
* Maps showing land recommended to be set aside for the Arsenal at Tuggranong, Reservoir near Duntroon
* Photocopy of the children at Duntroon School in 1927 - from D’Arcy McInness. The names of each child and the teacher, Mr Jones written on page. A copy of this photograph is in the section on photographs.
* Braddon Conservation plan showing the 1921/22 cottages and those built in 1923 - courtesy of Peter Freeman.
Box 7, Folder 8
* Odds & Ends - Acton including names of people who applied for one of the ten Acton workmen’s cottages
* CP698/9/1 Bundle 1/10/8 Eastlake Social Service letter 20th May, 1926 list of office holders etc plus copies of other documents.Lebowski Fest is an annual festival that began in 2002 in Louisville, Kentucky, celebrating the 1998 cult film The Big Lebowski by Joel Coen and Ethan Coen. In addition to its home city of Louisville, Lebowski Fest has been held in Milwaukee, New York, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Austin, Seattle, Chicago, San Francisco, Portland, London, Boston, New Orleans and Pittsburgh.
Description [ edit ]
The annual Lebowski Fest celebrates the 1998 cult film The Big Lebowski by Joel Coen and Ethan Coen. Typically held over two nights, Lebowski Fest features a screening of the film, live music, and a bowling party attended by fans of the movie, many dressed as characters from film.
History [ edit ]
The festival began in 2002 in Louisville, Kentucky, and has been held in Milwaukee, New York, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Austin, Seattle, Chicago, San Francisco, Portland, London, Boston, New Orleans and Pittsburgh.
Various stars from "The Big Lebowski" have attended the fest over the years, including Jeff Bridges, who in 2005 showed up at Lebowski Fest in Los Angeles singing and playing "The Man in Me" by Bob Dylan, which is featured in the film. In 2011, members of the cast reunited at Lebowski Fest in New York, including Bridges, Julianne Moore, John Goodman, Steve Buscemi, and John Turturro.
Legacy [ edit ]
Lebowski Fest was co-founded by Louisvillians Will Russell and Scott Shuffitt, who, along with Bill Green and Ben Peskoe, authored the book, I'm a Lebowski, You're a Lebowski: Life, The Big Lebowski, and What Have You, described as "a punch-drunk tribute worthy of a bowling-loving stoner named 'the Dude.'"[1] There is also a documentary about Lebowski Fest, entitled The Achievers.[2]
An account of the first ever Lebowski Fest is included in Mike Walsh's non-fiction account of his endeavor to bowl in all 50 U.S. states, Bowling Across America.
Lebowski Fest has also appeared on the Food Network program "Ace of Cakes." The episode named "The Big Cakeowski" features the Charm City Cakes staff creating and delivering a movie-themed cake to Lebowski Fest in Louisville.
The British equivalent, inspired by Lebowski Fest, is known as The Dude Abides and is held in London.[3]
See also [ edit ]Depending on who you ask in the world of motor racing Tony George is seen as either a determined figure that reopened the doors of top-level auto racing to the sport’s underdogs or an egotistical figure that helped to all but destroy open wheel racing in North America. Regardless of what you think of him there is no overlooking the part he played in one of the most controversial chapters of Indy’s illustrious history.
Born on December 30 1959, George grew up with motor racing and the Indianapolis 500 firmly rooted into his psyche. His grandfather was the beloved Indianapolis Motor Speedway chairman Tony Hulman, his father the three time 500 participant Elmer George and with the entire family boasting the likes of AJ Foyt as close personal friends. With that kind of background to work from, it appeared that George would be the perfect figure to lead Indycar racing into the 21st century.
When George finally did take over the ownership of IMS in 1989, he did so with the speedway and it’s series firmly in rude health. Television ratings both nationally and globally were the highest they had ever been, high profile superstars such as Emerson Fittipaldi had transitioned over to the sport, and thanks to its mix of oval and road course racing looked set to pose a genuine threat to the global dominance of Formula One. Despite this however George began to have concerns over the long term-sustainability of the sport, increased costs had created a spending way war which favoured the sport’s powerhouse teams such as Penske and Newman Haas at the detriment to more under funded outfits, whilst the increase of road course led to European based drivers being hired by teams over oval based American drivers, with the majority of those (including an Indianapolis based youngster by the name of Jeff Gordon) to pursue a career in Nascar racing instead. Although George did have a place on the board of Indycar racing, his role in proceedings was largely minimal, derogatorily dismissed as merely a track owner despite the importance that IMS and the 500 had on the series.
The tensions between the two sides came to a head in 1994, when George announced the formation of the Indy Racing League, with it’s first race set to be held for the 1996 season. The new series would fix many of the wrongs George found with Indycar racing at the time, a cheaper car and engine package would allow for closer competition and increased opportunities for smaller outfits, whilst the emphasis on oval racing played into the hands of American junior drivers over ride-buying Europeans. The reaction to the decision was hostile, especially from CART who saw George’s decision as a blatant power move to seize control of American Open Wheel Racing. When George further created ructions with the introduction of the 25+8 rule (more on that later) CART responded by moving a 500 mile race at Michigan to the same day as that year’s 500, making any sort of compromise between the two sides for the event an impossibility.
On May 29th, 1996 two 500 mile races ended up taking place, with CART taking its superstar teams and drivers to inaugural US500, whilst Indy played host to a hodgepodge group of rookies, aging veterans and year old machines. Although both races still turned out to be well regarded events, with Indy producing a heroic winner which we’ll cover in a later episode, the damage had been done to American open wheel racing. Ratings for both series fell, with Nascar free to pick up the pieces from disillusioned fans.
CART would suffer from financial issues throughout its existence, declaring bankruptcy in 2002 before eventually being reunited with Indycar racing in time for the 2008 campaign. Tony George had managed to seize control of American Open Wheel Racing, but did so at the expense of fans, ratings and goodwill that Indy continues to fight for to this day.
For more information about The Split today’s video is an episode of ESPN’s Outside The Lines, focusing on each of the 500 mile events:
Tomorrow a young Canadian goes further then ever to win at Indy…literally.
AdvertisementsSKOPJE, 2 July 2013 – A public debate was held today in Skopje on the results of a survey on citizens' perceptions on corruption in the private sector and a qualitative analysis of preventative measures.
The event, supported by the OSCE Mission to Skopje, in co-operation with the State Commission for Prevention of Corruption (SCPC), provided an opportunity for representatives of civil society, government institutions, international community and media to exchange views about the private sector corruption.
During the debate, key findings and recommendations from a qualitative analysis of anti-corruption measures of the State Program for Prevention of Corruption in the private sector were also presented.
“The OSCE identifies corruption as detrimental to stability, security and development. Therefore, in co-operation with the State Commission for Prevention of Corruption, we are focusing on measures to address this problem in selected sectors to contribute to a more efficient anti-corruption policy in the country,” said Marcus Rolofs, the Head of the Human Dimension Department of the OSCE Mission.
Gjorgji Slamkov, President of the SCPC added: “The results of these analyses represent an additional measure to support the activities stipulated in the section on the private sector of the State Program for prevention and repression of corruption and conflict of interests 2011-2015, as well as to define future course of action towards corruption prevention in this area. ”
Other debates in the political and local self-government sectors will take place during the course of the year to increase public awareness on corruption issues.Photo illustration by Derreck Johnson. Images via Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images; gabriel__bostan/iStock.
This is the third in a series of posts looking at how Donald Trump’s presidency could impact countries and regions around the world.
While a lot of things Donald Trump promised during his campaign probably aren’t actually going to happen, he did suggest on Monday that he was serious about at least one of his pledges: his vow to pull the United States out of the proposed 12-country Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal.
There are good economic and legal arguments against the TPP, including the secrecy under which it was negotiated and its controversial provisions on intellectual property. But Trump has never displayed any understanding of these, articulating his opposition to the deal during a debate by saying that the agreement was “designed for China to come in, as they always do, through the back door, and totally take advantage of everyone.” In fact, the agreement explicitly did not include China and was intended in part to help the United States maintain influence in the Asia-Pacific region to counterbalance an increasingly influential China.
Now that the deal’s on the ropes—it’s hard to imagine it happening without the U.S. on board—the governments involved are probably wondering why they spent so much time and energy negotiating the controversial agreement in the first place. “Key Asian allies of the Untied States, I think, are quite concerned because of the amount of bandwidth they’ve put into this,” says Alex Neill, senior fellow for Asia-Pacific Security at the International Institute for Strategic Studies, based in Singapore. “There was a lot of protracted negotiation to reach this agreement. A lot of friends of America in the Asia-Pacific feel that there’s a bit of a vacuum now. China may see this as an opportunity because it was basically bypassed in the TPP.” Indeed, the presidents of China and Russia announced at a summit last weekend that they will push to establish their own free-trade area among East Asian countries.
Trump’s promises to get tough on China were a constant refrain of his campaign, including vows to label China a currency manipulator and even slap a 45 percent tariff on Chinese exports to the United States. But Elizabeth Economy, director of Asia studies at the Council on Foreign Relations, suggests that Beijing probably hasn’t started panicking quite yet. “The U.S. has on multiple occasions and on multiple administrations threated to call China out as a currency manipulator, but at this point there’s a sense that cooler heads will prevail and large multinationals that do business in China would lobby quite hard against the kind of tariffs that he’s been discussing.” Even Trump is probably aware of the impact on consumer prices in the United States that a trade war with China would have, and it’s not unreasonable to expect he won’t be quite the populist crusader against moneyed interests that he promised to be on the stump.
Chinese leaders, who like their American governments stable and predictable, probably preferred Hillary Clinton, but it’s possible that a Trump presidency could work out well for them. If Trump doesn’t actually follow through on his trade war talk, but does kill TPP and follow through on promises to reduce American security commitments to allies, including in Asia, China will be happy. “There are definitely some analysts in China who saw a positive side to a Trump election in the sense that the United States would leave a big vacuum and China could fill that,” says Economy. The leaders of traditional U.S. allies like the Philippines and Malaysia were suggesting they want closer relations with Beijing even before Trump’s election, and if this trend accelerates, it could help Beijing solidify its controversial territorial claims in the South China Sea, claims these countries—with U.S. backing—have traditionally contested, and have been rejected by international courts.
China might be feeling pretty good, but countries that rely on U.S. security guarantees, particularly those like Japan and South Korea that host large numbers of U.S. troops, are nervous. “Trump’s rhetoric has created extreme nervousness in South Korea as well as in Japan,” says Katharine H.S. Moon, a professor of Asian Studies at Wellesley College who studies the U.S.-South Korea relationship.* “Both countries have been very worried that Trump is signaling a potential withdrawal of forces, or at least a reduction. These acts could create such a vacuum in the region, it could upset the entire post-World War II status quo there.”
Asian leaders were particularly perplexed during the campaign by Trump’s suggestion that he would be willing to withdraw U.S. troops from the region if allies didn’t pay more for protection. (Contra Trump, they do already pay quite a bit.) He also said that they might be better off with their own nuclear arsenals, rather than relying on U.S. security guarantees. (Adding to the confusion, Trump has, inaccurately, denied ever saying this.) Jeffrey Lewis, an expert on nuclear nonproliferation at Middlebury College and founder of the Arms Control Wonk blog, suspects that Trump’s statements indicate he may not actually believe this. “He always is talking about how allies aren’t paying enough,” says Lewis. “People say to him, they won’t pay you, they’ll just build nuclear weapons. I think he thinks he’s calling their bluff.”
Even if he doesn’t mean it, these statements still have an impact in South Korea, argues Moon. “This talk should never have started. You shouldn’t foment something you can’t take responsibility for,” she says, noting that polls show growing support in South Korea for developing the country’s own nuclear arsenal, so Trump’s rhetoric could empower hard-liners. This is not a good moment for that: It’s a chaotic time in the country’s politics, the government may be about to fall, and power is up for grabs. The prospect of a nuclear South Korea would alarm China, as well as Japan—where nuclear weapons are far less popular for obvious reasons but where the government has been gradually chipping away at the postwar pacifist constitution. “We’re looking at hypothetically an arms race in a region that increases the risk of something going wrong, even if by mistake,” says Moon.
That something could very well involve North Korea, a topic on which Trump has also sent mixed signals, at one point suggesting he’d be willing to invite Kim Jong-un for a hamburger in the United States, but also suggested that he would “get tough” on China to make them pressure North Korea into giving up its nukes, something that three straight U.S. administrations have failed to do.
The author of The Art of the Deal isn’t likely to have better luck, suggests Lewis. “People haven’t gotten used to the idea that that horse is out of the barn,” he says. “North Korea has nuclear weapons and you’re not going to get |
2017
UPDATE 11 p.m. ET: Jeb Bush on Trump Admin Handling of Hurricanes Irma, Harvey: “I Think They’ve Done Well”
More here.
UPDATE 10:15 p.m. ET: FEMA has established a “rumor control page” to help discern fact from fiction.
We created an #Irma rumor control page to help you verify what’s true and what’s not. Visit it here: https://t.co/nnXuF8Q7E8 pic.twitter.com/ypNwNRlOM0 — FEMA (@fema) September 8, 2017
UPDATE 10 p.m. ET: An estimated 5.6 million people have been asked to evacuate Florida according to the Associated Press ahead of Hurricane Irma.
BREAKING: Officials: 5.6 million people have been asked to evacuate Florida ahead of Hurricane Irma. — The Associated Press (@AP) September 8, 2017
UPDATE 9 p.m. ET: The National Hurricane Center’s latest advisory has the storm located at 22°N 77.2°W, moving west at 12 mph, 315 miles southeast of Miami.
UPDATE 8 p.m. ET: NBC 6 in Miami has a side-by-side comparison of Hurricane Irma and 1992 Hurricane Andrew. Andrew ended up costing $26.5 billion in damage, the fifth-costliest hurricane in American history.
Here's how Hurricane Andrew and Hurricane Irma significantly differ from one another https://t.co/1UXY21UJjk pic.twitter.com/kGvSGUs4C5 — NBC 6 South Florida (@nbc6) September 8, 2017
UPDATE 7 p.m. ET: The National Hurricane Center’s latest advisory has the storm located at 22.1°N 76.5°W, moving west at 12 mph, 345 miles southeast of Miami.
UPDATE 6 p.m. ET: Computer models showing storm now trending a trek up the west coast of Florida.
All of the hurricane models have shifted west as well in terms of the track of #Irma. Southwest Florida will likely take the landfall. pic.twitter.com/DW9LCQuGje — Hurricane Tracker App (@hurrtrackerapp) September 8, 2017
UPDATE 4:30 p.m. ET: Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn to CNN: “We have never seen a storm like this before in its depth, in its breadth, in its magnitude.”
Tampa Mayor @BobBuckhorn: "We have never seen a storm like this before in its depth, in its breadth, in its magnitude." #HurricaneIrma pic.twitter.com/RG3CbIEmeM — Michaela Pereira (@Michaela) September 8, 2017
UPDATE 3:30 p.m. ET: Walt Disney World, other theme parks and resorts to close Saturday through Monday for Hurricane Irma.
UPDATE 2:30 p.m. ET: New EURO computer model has Hurricane Irma tracking even further to the west.
The latest run of the EURO tracks #Irma even further west by a bit. This increases the threat for storm surge in southwest Florida. pic.twitter.com/MfFkeeeebV — Hurricane Tracker App (@hurrtrackerapp) September 8, 2017
UPDATE 2:15 p.m. ET: Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal has expanded the state of emergency coverage area to now include 30 counties in southeastern Georgia.
UPDATE 2 p.m. ET: The National Hurricane Center’s latest advisory has the storm located at 22°N 76°W, moving west at 14 mph, 380 miles southeast of Miami.
UPDATE 1:30 p.m. ET: Florida airports begin to announce closures ahead of storm’s arrival.
UPDATE: 12 p.m. ET: The National Hurricane Center’s latest advisory has the storm located at 22°N 75.3°W, moving west at 14 mph, 405 miles southeast of Miami.
UPDATE 10:30 a.m. ET: The National Weather Service has created a one-stop website for all things Hurricane Irma.
UPDATE 9 a.m. ET: Florida newspaper front pages continue to warn residents about Hurricane Irma’s arrival.
UPDATE 8 a.m. ET: Irma remains a Category 4 hurricane.
The National Hurricane Center’s latest advisory has the storm located at 21.8°N 74.7°W, moving west at 16 mph, 80 miles east of Cabo Lucrecia, Cuba.
UPDATE 7 a.m. ET: Nuclear plants ready for Irma
Politico’s Bruce Ritchie has the story about two of South Florida’s nuclear facilities in the path of the storm — a St. Lucie plant on Hutchinson Island, eight miles southeast of Fort Pierce and at the Turkey Point plant on Biscayne Bay 24 miles south of Miami.
From Politico Florida:
Utility officials said earlier in the week they were prepared to shut down either or both plants if the hurricane threatens, and they were making preparations this week as the storm approached. “Turkey Point of course will be closed,” [Gov. Rick] Scott said during a news conference in Hialeah. “I’ve been talking with FPL — they’re all prepared to do it. We’ve preparing both — to close it, and how to reopen it,” he said.
.@insideFPL said they were prepared to shut down either or both nuclear plants if #Irma threatens https://t.co/O4OWMiTkPj pic.twitter.com/bMTDzC2cIb — POLITICO Florida (@politicofl) September 7, 2017
UPDATE 5 a.m. ET Friday: Hurricane Irma now a Category 4 hurricane.
The National Hurricane Center’s latest advisory has placed storm located at 21.7°N 73.8°W, moving west at 16 mph, 55 miles east of Great Inagua Island.
UPDATE 11 p.m. ET: Parts of Florida are now under a hurricane warning.
The National Hurricane Center’s latest advisory has placed storm located at 21.3°N 72.4°W, moving west at 16 mph, 55 miles east of Great Inagua Island.
The hurricane warning area includes from Jupiter Inlet southward around the Florida peninsula to Bonita Beach, as well as for the Florida Keys, Lake Okeechobee and Florida Bay according to the advisory.
A hurricane watch has been extended from north of Jupiter Inlet to Sebastian Inlet and for the west coast of Florida north of Bonita Beach to Anna Maria Island.
Hurricane Warning now in effect for the Florida Keys and surrounding coastal waters. Here is what that means. #Irma #FLKeys #KeyWest #FLwx pic.twitter.com/FXmXWD7CYq — NWS Key West (@NWSKeyWest) September 8, 2017
UPDATE 10:30 p.m. ET: Man reportedly shot by police at the Miami International Airport according to CBS Miami.
BREAKING: Man shot by police at Miami International Airport @iflymia https://t.co/HD3htonVKc — CBS4 Miami (@CBSMiami) September 8, 2017
The Miami Herald reported it was described as a “security situation” and law enforcement said it was under control.
The Miami International Airport has been an integral part of the Hurricane Irma evacuation process.
Security incident involving a single suspect & @MiamiDadePD has occurred at MIA. Situation under control. Terminal J is temporarily closed. — Miami Int'l Airport (@iflymia) September 8, 2017
UPDATE 9 p.m. ET: Gov. Rick Scott has closed all K-12 public schools, state colleges, state universities and state offices per a release posted to the governor’s website.
Statement as follows:
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – Today, Governor Rick Scott is directing all public K-12 schools, state colleges, state universities and state offices to close Friday, September 8 – Monday, September 11. Governor Scott said, “Today, I am directing the closure of all public schools, state colleges, state universities and state offices for their normal activities effective Friday through Monday, to ensure we have every space available for sheltering and staging. Floridians are facing a life-threatening storm in Hurricane Irma, and every family must prepare to evacuate. Our state’s public schools serve a vital role in our communities as shelters for displaced residents and staging areas for hurricane recovery efforts. Closing public schools, state colleges, state universities and state offices will provide local and state emergency officials the flexibility necessary to support shelter and emergency response efforts.” For detailed shelter information, visit www.fldoe.org/irma and www.floridadisaster.org/info.
Gov. Scott closes K-12 public schools, state colleges, state universities & state offices: https://t.co/gWJmQnDP9C — Rick Scott (@FLGovScott) September 8, 2017
UPDATE 8:30 p.m. ET: The National Hurricane Center’s latest advisory has the storm located at 21.1°N 71.8°W, moving west at 16 mph, 90 miles east of Great Inagua Island.
UPDATE 7:45 p.m. ET: Gov. Nathan Deal (R-GA) orders 540,000 Georgia residents to evacuate ahead of Hurricane Irma.
From the Associated Press:
SAVANNAH, Ga. (AP) — Georgia’s governor on Thursday ordered nearly 540,000 coastal residents to evacuate inland ahead of Hurricane Irma as authorities warned the storm had the potential to strike as a major hurricane, something the Georgia coast hasn’t seen in more than a century. “If there’s a freight train coming at you, then you get off the tracks,” said Jason Buelterman, mayor of Tybee Island, a beach community of more than 3,000 residents east of Savannah.
UPDATE 6:45 p.m. ET: The Weather Channel’s Jim Cantore: “God help us.”
From the Miami Herald:
Though Cantore hates to be an alarmist, the 53 year old storm tracker believes Irma could be absolutely devastating. “I have to paint the worst possible scenario,” Cantore admitted. “It would be a disservice to do otherwise. There are dark skies ahead potentially. God help us.”
‘God help us all.’ Weather Channel’s Jim Cantore in Miami for Hurricane Irma https://t.co/FSwzRLBZNd pic.twitter.com/kKbZ8Qmvhh — Miami Herald (@MiamiHerald) September 7, 2017
UPDATE 5 p.m. ET: The National Hurricane Center’s latest advisory has the storm located at 20.9°N 71.1°W, moving west at 16 mph, 45 miles east of Great Inagua Island.
UPDATE 4:20 p.m. ET: The National Weather Service offers some approximate mileages of Hurricane Irma’s distance from Florida population centers.
As of 3 PM EDT, here as some approximate distances from the eye of Hurricane Irma to a few select central & southern Florida cities. #flwx pic.twitter.com/aYcqwGtv0r — NWS Tampa Bay (@NWSTampaBay) September 7, 2017
UPDATE 4 p.m. ET: Map shows a high volume of traffic on Florida’s interstate highways in the middle of the evacuation.
This traffic map shows people trying to get out of Florida before Irma hits https://t.co/XOcA4bcTFO pic.twitter.com/aKBN5xuJ0r — BuzzFeed News (@BuzzFeedNews) September 7, 2017
UPDATE 3:30 p.m. ET: Gov. Nathan Deal (R-GA) has issued mandatory evacuations for coastal areas in Georgia from the Florida state line to the South Carolina state line.
Per @GovernorDeal: all areas E of I-95, all of Chatham Co. & some areas W of I-95 are under a MANDATORY evacuation. See maps for more info pic.twitter.com/8VJQ588T76 — Georgia EM&HS (@GeorgiaEMA) September 7, 2017
UPDATE 3 p.m. ET: ECMWF 12Z suggests a potential westward trek that could impact the entire state from the Florida Keys to Tallahassee.
If Hurricane #Irma takes ECMWF 12z slightly west track, huge wind gusts for Florida from Keys to Miami, Tampa & Orlando, Tallahassee & Jax. pic.twitter.com/SmONxW0I5S — Ryan Maue | weathermodels.com (@RyanMaue) September 7, 2017
UPDATE 2 p.m. ET: Gov. Rick Scott has activated a total of 4,000 Florida National Guard troops.
4,000 National Guard members now activated for Hurricane Irma https://t.co/L0fg9D7TMa pic.twitter.com/3S0abxSbyi — Miami Herald (@MiamiHerald) September 7, 2017
UPDATE 1:30 p.m. ET: President Donald Trump offers praise for the state of Florida’s effort in preparing for Hurricane Irma’s landfall.
"Florida is as well prepared as you can be for something like this and we'll see what happens." – Trump in Oval office, per pool. #Irma — Alex Leary (@learyreports) September 7, 2017
UPDATE 12:30 p.m. ET: Mandatory evacuations have now pushed up the coast to Brevard County, FL, some 200 miles north of Miami-Dade County, FL, where Hurricane Irma is anticipated to make landfall.
9/7/17|12:25AM: Live in the red highlighted area? Then you are in Zone A & under a mandatory evac starting at 3PM Friday, 9/8 pic.twitter.com/jIYVPRWqkW — Brevard EOC (@BrevardEOC) September 7, 2017
UPDATE 12 p.m. ET: Sen. Bill Nelson (D-FL) lobbied colleagues on the floor of the U.S. Senate to approve $15 billion in funding for FEMA as it is set to expire.
From the Tampa Bay Times:
“I urge the Senate, I implore the Senate, I beg the Senate to pass this package,” Nelson said on the Senate floor. “FEMA is stretched, and, of all things, FEMA runs out of money unless we act by tomorrow.”
Nelson: 'I beg the Senate to pass this package' https://t.co/Sgd8B4yvaI pic.twitter.com/WxReK80sT9 — The Buzz (@PoliticsTBTimes) September 7, 2017
UPDATE 11:15 a.m. ET: The National Hurricane Center’s latest advisory has the storm located at 20.4°N 69.7°W, moving west at 16 mph, 75 miles east of Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic.
UPDATE 11 a.m. ET: A hurricane watch has been issued for the Florida Keys and south Florida north to Jupiter, FL.
As of 11am AST, a Storm Surge Watch has been issued for portions of South Florida and the Florida Keys https://t.co/wCVIdbWe4H pic.twitter.com/19hYm27dDF — NHC_Surge (@NHC_Surge) September 7, 2017
UPDATE 10:30 a.m. ET: “Once in a generation event” – National Hurricane Center Director Richard Knabb
From my TV interview with NHC Director "if this hits south Florida this is going to be a once in a generation event…the big one for us" pic.twitter.com/NfODX6xVzd — Craig Setzer (@CraigSetzer) September 7, 2017
UPDATE 10 a.m. ET: Highlights from Rick Scott’s briefing —
.@FLGovScott – "This thing is bigger than our entire state." #hurricaneirma2017 — Gary Fineout (@fineout) September 7, 2017
Gov. Rick Scott authorizes police escorts for gas trucks in Florida — Charlie Spiering (@charliespiering) September 7, 2017
Florida Gov. Scott says state is coordinating with Google's emergency response team to mark closed roads in real-time on Google Maps pic.twitter.com/T4NwVnyOv8 — CBS News (@CBSNews) September 7, 2017
While in Hialeah @FLGovScott said he knows fuel shortages and traffic jams are "frustrating" for Floridians — Gary Fineout (@fineout) September 7, 2017
.@FLGovScott on #HurricaneIrma: "It's wider than our entire state and could cause major and life-threatening impacts on both coasts." pic.twitter.com/sbf1zN61Sm — Fox News (@FoxNews) September 7, 2017
UPDATE 9:25 a.m. ET: Watch briefing live from Hialeah, FL with Gov. Rick Scott.
UPDATE 9:05 a.m. ET: Sen. Bill Nelson (D-FL) says he and Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) are lobbying for aid for Irma damage to be included in the Harvey relief package on CNN’s “New Day.”
FL @SenBillNelson explains the resource issues faced by FEMA ahead of Hurricane Irma https://t.co/Ionz6qA0nA — New Day (@NewDay) September 7, 2017
UPDATE 9 a.m. ET: The National Weather Service says to expect hurricane watches to be issued for the Florida Keys and South Florida today.
Hurricane watches will likely be issued for parts of FL today. TS winds expected to arrive in south FL and the Keys on Saturday #Irma pic.twitter.com/l6WkxYet6P — National Hurricane Center (@NHC_Atlantic) September 7, 2017
UPDATE 7 a.m. ET: Hurricane Irma continues to dominate front pages of Florida Thursday newspapers, especially along the state’s east coast.
UPDATE 6 a.m. ET: The National Hurricane Center’s latest advisory has the storm located at 20.1°N 69.0°W, moving west at 17 mph, 270 miles east of Grand Turk Island.
UPDATE 1:30 a.m. ET: At least seven have died according to a report from the BBC. Barbuda said to be “barely habitable” and the death toll is “likely to rise”…
From BBC News:
Hurricane Irma has caused widespread destruction across the Caribbean, reducing buildings to rubble and leaving at least seven people dead. The small island of Barbuda is said to be “barely habitable” while officials warn that the French territory of St Martin is almost destroyed. With the scale of the damage still emerging the death toll is likely to rise.
UPDATE 12:30 a.m. ET Thursday: According to the Associated Press, Hurricane Irma is responsible for blacking out in much of Puerto Rico.
Hurricane Irma blacks out Puerto Rico, heads for Hispaniola. https://t.co/lr71Tjrmfl — The Associated Press (@AP) September 7, 2017
NBC News reports an estimated 1 million without power.
Hurricane Irma knocks out power to more than 1 million in Puerto Rico, about a third of the island's population https://t.co/PhDmW2OVxx pic.twitter.com/EMxXIHjhSc — NBC News (@NBCNews) September 7, 2017
UPDATE 11 p.m. ET: The National Hurricane Center’s latest advisory has the storm located at 19.1°N 66.1°W, moving west at 16 mph, 315 miles east of Grand Turk Island.
UPDATE 10:30 p.m. ET: Traffic is backed up on I-75 near Ocala, FL, which is 300 miles north of Miami (where the storm is expected to make landfall). The Weather Channel has the footage.
UPDATE 9:55 p.m. ET: Per Gov. Rick Scott, the Environmental Protection Agency approved an “emergency fuel waiver” to allow more fuel into the state in preparation for Hurricane Irma.
.@EPA has approved an emergency fuel waiver, allowing more fuel to enter FL quickly for #HurricaneIrma prep: https://t.co/LTkcwBjwUh — Rick Scott (@FLGovScott) September 7, 2017
UPDATE 9:30 p.m. ET: Miami Beach, FL now under a mandatory evacuation order.
UPDATE 9 p.m. ET: Law enforcement in the Florida Panhandle now warning travelers to be aware of increased traffic due to evacuations.
Evacuations in South Florida have begun. Expect increase
traffic on the Interstate in the Panhandle. Be patient we are all in this
together! pic.twitter.com/onYPZOmSpe — FHP Panhandle (@FHPPanhandle) September 6, 2017
UPDATE 8:30 p.m. ET: Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez seeks to dispell the fears of those in the country illegally seeking shelter from Hurricane Irma.
According to the Miami Herald, Gimenez made it known identification would not be checked at shelters.
Miami-Dade tries to avoid Harvey trouble, tells unauthorized immigrants: Don’t fear Irma shelters https://t.co/rsDWvw235d pic.twitter.com/Qdsm5kfOxW — Patricia Mazzei (@PatriciaMazzei) September 7, 2017
From the Herald’s Patricia Mazzei:
Immigrants in South Florida illegally should not fear deportation if they seek shelter during Hurricane Irma, according to political leaders who urged the undocumented to heed local evacuation orders. “We don’t ask anybody for their identification,” Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez said in a briefing late Wednesday from the county’s emergency operations center in Doral. “Everybody who needs shelter in Miami-Dade County is welcome, and you should do so without any fear of any repercussions.”
UPDATE 7:30 p.m. ET: Amtrak suspends service in Florida.
Amtrak says it will temporarily suspend service in Florida due to Hurricane #Irma. https://t.co/LeEn31zoym pic.twitter.com/UORGfmcNMk — ABC News (@ABC) September 6, 2017
UPDATE 7:10 p.m. ET: CNBC reports the orange juice market is “going crazy” ahead of Hurricane Irma’s arrival.
From CNBC’s Leslie Shaffer:
Frozen concentrated orange juice futures, the contract made famous in the 1983 Eddie Murphy movie “Trading Places,” spiked higher on Tuesday as Hurricane Irma bore down on Florida. The Category 5 storm has already set records, with the National Hurricane Center on Tuesday setting its initial intensity at 155 knots, making Irma “the strongest hurricane in the Atlantic basin outside of the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico in the NHC records.” Irma’s course remained uncertain, but many of its potential paths would take it right over Florida. That sent the ICE frozen concentrated orange juice futures continuous contract spiking up as high as $146.60, from the previous close of $138.60. The contract represents around 15,000 pounds of orange juice solids.
Read more here.
UPDATE 7 p.m. ET: Hurricane Irma longest running Category 5 hurricane since Hurricane Ivan, which made landfall on the Florida Gulf Coast in 2004.
#Irma has now been a Cat. 5 hurricane for over 1.5 days – the most time spent at Cat. 5 for an Atlantic hurricane since Ivan (2004). pic.twitter.com/wqlrqumR7m — Philip Klotzbach (@philklotzbach) September 6, 2017
UPDATE 6:10 p.m. ET: Former Gov. Jeb Bush (R-FL) applauded Gov. Rick Scott’s handling of Hurricane Irma on Twitter. Nine hurricanes hit Florida during Bush’s tenure as governor, eight of which landed in the Sunshine State in 2004 and 2005.
UPDATE 6 p.m. ET: The National Hurricane Center’s latest advisory has the storm located at 18.8°N 65.4°W, moving west at 16 mph, 55 miles east of San Juan, Puerto Rico.
UPDATE 5:25 p.m. ET: Two have died as Hurricane Irma made its way through St. Barts and St. Martin.
At least 2 dead after Hurricane Irma blew through the islands of St. Barts and St. Martin, French official says https://t.co/SsArKtNgSF pic.twitter.com/VN2N2wYRlQ — CNN Breaking News (@cnnbrk) September 6, 2017
UPDATE 4:30 p.m. ET: The National Hurricane Center’s latest advisory has the storm located at 18.5°N 64.7°W, moving west at 16 mph, 35 miles east of St. Thomas.
UPDATE 4 p.m. ET: Reportedly around 25,000 people have evacuated the Florida Keys.
Around 25k people have evacuated the Florida Keys, according to @FLGovScott. More evacuations expected statewide — Allison Nielsen (@AllisonNielsen) September 6, 2017
UPDATE 3:15 p.m. ET: Comcast has opened its Wifi Internet hotspots to the public through next week.
UPDATE 3 p.m. ET: 12Z Euro model show Hurricane Irma making landfall in South Florida and returning to the Atlantic Ocean and making its way north for a second landfall.
12Z Euro slightly west of GFS track. All in the FL Peninsula need to continue to prepare for a major hurricane. GA/SC coasts in play as well pic.twitter.com/Jxjz7D5FkC — James Spann (@spann) September 6, 2017
UPDATE 2 p.m. ET: South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster declares a state of emergency as the Palmetto State is now in the forecasted path of Hurricane Irma.
Gov. Henry McMaster Asks South Carolinians to Prepare for Hurricane Irma, Declares State of Emergency pic.twitter.com/IxpyGY4EZX — SC Governor Press (@scgovernorpress) September 6, 2017
UPDATE 1:25 p.m. ET: A story from the Miami Herald warns some Puerto Ricans could be without power for four to six months after Hurricane Irma passes.
In Puerto Rico, the electric company warned the island could be without power for four to six months while the government prepared to open 456 shelters capable of housing more than 62,000 people.
(h/t The Hill)
UPDATE 12:40 p.m. ET: Hurricane Irma’s outer bands are beginning to arrive in Puerto Rico.
1230p: Eye of #Irma passing over Virgin Gorda in BVI. Outer bands lashing NE Puerto Rico. pic.twitter.com/rBws3YaLyV — Capital Weather Gang (@capitalweather) September 6, 2017
UPDATE 12:20 p.m. ET: Watch briefing live from Doral, FL featuring Gov. Rick Scott.
UPDATE 12 p.m. ET: The National Hurricane Center’s 11 a.m. advisory has the storm located at 18.2°N 64°W, moving west at 16 mph, 65 miles east of St. Thomas.
UPDATE 11:30 a.m. ET: Polk County, FL Sheriff Grady Judd has a stern warning for those with warrants that show up at shelters seeking refuge from Hurricane Irma.
If you go to a shelter for #Irma and you have a warrant, we'll gladly escort you to the safe and secure shelter called the Polk County Jail https://t.co/Qj5GX9XQBi — Polk County Sheriff (@PolkCoSheriff) September 6, 2017
UPDATE 10:30 a.m. ET: According to the Tampa Bay Times, traffic is starting to clog on Florida’s roadways as evacuations are underway.
Traffic begins to clog northbound highways across Florida https://t.co/3VOuB3xvv8 via @TB_Times — Justine Griffin (@SunBizGriffin) September 6, 2017
UPDATE 10 a.m. ET: Scott has deployed additional Florida National Guard Troops, per South Florida Sun Sentinel’s Dan Sweeney.
100 deployed yesterday means 1000 in the field now. Mostly doing logistical and prep work ahead of storm. https://t.co/BWHOi58HJQ — Dan Sweeney (@Daniel_Sweeney) September 6, 2017
UPDATE: 9:35 a.m. ET: Watch briefing live from Marathon, FL featuring Gov. Rick Scott.
UPDATE 9:30 a.m. ET: Barclays: Hurricane Irma’s damage could be most ever, topping 2005’s Hurricane Katrina.
CNBC has a report on Barclays warning Hurricane Irma could top Katrina in its damage toll.
“Given the potential magnitude of this storm as well as the potential to impact a highly populated area, we think Irma’s insured damage in Florida could be the largest ever in the US perhaps equivalent to Hurricane Katrina,” wrote Barclays’ Jay Gelb on Tuesday.
UPDATE 8 a.m. ET: Views from NOAA’s Hurricane Hunters’ aircraft give a rare peek of images high above a Category 5 hurricane.
Video from yesterday's flight in CAT 5 #Irma on #NOAA42. https://t.co/iofV4p56DE has the latest advisories. Credit Rob Mitchell/NOAA pic.twitter.com/IygcNgIbJN — NOAA Aircraft Operations Center (@NOAA_HurrHunter) September 6, 2017
UPDATE 7:30 a.m. ET: Most computer models now have the storm turning north just as it passes over the Bahamas.
UPDATE 7 a.m. ET: Hurricane Irma dominates the front pages of Florida Wednesday newspapers from Miami to Pensacola.
UPDATE 12 a.m. ET Wednesday: According to a report, the Key West International Airport will be forced to close due to the TSA’s decision not to staff security checkpoints. Key West Mayor Craig Cates called the decision “very disappointing.”
More here.
UPDATE 11:30 p.m. ET: The National Hurricane Center’s 11 p.m. advisory has the storm located at 17.4°N 61.1°W, moving west at 15 mph, 50 miles east of Antigua.
UPDATE 10:30 p.m. ET: In a statement issued late Tuesday, Gov. Rick Scott ordered state offices in all of Florida’s 67 counties closed.
Statement as follows:
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Today, Governor Rick Scott directed state offices to be closed in all 67 Florida counties this Friday in preparation for Hurricane Irma. Prior to Friday’s statewide closures, state office closures will follow the direction of county officials and will be announced as they are determined. The Governor also issued a call to state employees across Florida encouraging them to volunteer in support of the state’s emergency shelter mobilization efforts. Governor Scott said, “Our state workforce is filled with dedicated individuals who go above and beyond every day in service to the families who call Florida home. Ensuring the safety of these hardworking individuals and their families is a top priority, and I am directing all state offices to be closed this Friday so our state employees can fully focus on preparing for this storm and keeping their families safe. I am also asking these talented individuals to consider donating their time and effort to become a certified American Red Cross Disaster Services volunteer to help Floridians in need. “I have directed all state executive agencies to authorize the deployment of any American Red Cross certified employees willing to volunteer to help in or operate shelters in response to this unprecedented storm. Agency leaders have also been authorized to grant employee volunteers training time in order to become certified if they are not already. We must do all we can to prepare our families and communities for any potential impact from this major weather event, and I appreciate the many volunteers who are gearing up to help our state during this critical time.” In partnership with the American Red Cross, salaried, non-essential state employees can receive expedited volunteer certifications for disaster services so that they may assist in or operate shelters in response to Hurricane Irma impacts and preparation. Florida law allows Governor Scott to grant full-time, salaried state employees up to 15 days of administrative leave for emergency volunteer efforts through the American Red Cross. All Floridians can register for American Red Cross certifications at VolunteerFlorida.org.
UPDATE 9 p.m. ET: Miami Beach, FL Mayor Philip Levine is urging his residents to evacuate. According to a Miami Herald report, Levine did so at a press conference earlier today.
“I’m personally recommending to our residents that you consider leaving the city of Miami Beach in advance of the evacuation order that we anticipate will be coming from the county mayor,” Levine said.
As Miami Beach braces for Irma, mayor urges residents to evacuatehttps://t.co/OxBWjKIvUz pic.twitter.com/JXnthwKDh9 — Miami Herald (@MiamiHerald) September 6, 2017
UPDATE 8 p.m. ET: The latest advisory from the National Hurricane Center on Hurricane Irma has the storm at 17.2°N 60.5°W, moving west at 15 mph, 85 miles east of Antigua.
UPDATE 7 p.m. ET: Per the White House’s Tom Bossert, President Donald Trump has declare emergencies in the U.S. Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico and Florida.
UPDATE 6:45 p.m. ET: NASA offers a breath-taking look afternoon glimpse of Irma.
UPDATE 5:45 p.m. ET: Kristen Clark of The Miami Herald’s Tallahassee bureau reports Gov. Rick Scott has suspended toll collection on Florida’s roadways effective 5 p.m. on Tuesday.
UPDATE 5:30 p.m. ET: The latest computer model tracking still shows most of the models predicting Irma’s northward turn just south of Miami. However, some are starting to show Irma continuing a more westwardly track and turning into the Gulf of Mexico.
UPDATE 5:20 p.m. ET: Scott says Hurricane Irma’s landfall will be unlike anything the state has experienced since Hurricane Andrew’s landfall in 1992 near Homestead, FL.
From FloridaPolitics.com:
“One of the things that I talked with the acting director of FEMA today (Robert Fenton) is ‘don’t wait,’” he told reporters. “But we haven’t had a landfall like this since Andrew,” he said referring to the August 1992 storm, the last Category 5 rainmaker to hit the U.S. mainland.
UPDATE 5 p.m. ET: The latest advisory from the National Hurricane Center has Hurricane Irma as a Category 5 storm and will weaken to a Category 4 storm as it makes it way through the Carribbean and into the Florida Keys.
UPDATE 4:30 p.m. ET: WeatherBELL Analytics meteorologist and Cato Institute adjunct scholar Ryan Maue suggests Hurricane Irma winds could top a record-setting 200 mph.
Eye continues to warm now +20°C … if convection flares or clouds cool (more pink) then Hurricane #Irma should reach 200 mph. pic.twitter.com/yzJ5EFFTPt — Ryan Maue | weathermodels.com (@RyanMaue) September 5, 2017
UPDATE 2:30 p.m. ET: The Miami Herald has made available a list of closures and event cancelations in Miami-Dade and Monroe Counties.
UPDATE 1 p.m. ET: The sheriff’s department for Monroe County, FL, which includes the Florida Keys and the extreme mostly uninhabited southwestern corner of the Florida peninsula, has issued a mandatory evacuation order.
Monroe County will issue mandatory evacuations of tourists & residents beginning tomorrow. For details, go to https://t.co/RmY672b0bj — Florida Keys Sheriff (@mcsonews) September 5, 2017
UPDATE 11:50 a.m. ET: Scott has activated the Florida National Guard.
I have now activated 100 FL National Guard members to assist with #HurricaneIrma preparedness. https://t.co/tZyHtGXVTi (1/2) — Rick Scott (@FLGovScott) September 5, 2017
I’ve also directed all 7,000 guard members to report for duty this Friday and am ready to activate all needed for preparedness actions (2/2) — Rick Scott (@FLGovScott) September 5, 2017
UPDATE 11:30 a.m. ET: Gov. Rick Scott (R-FL) has called on President Donald Trump to declare a “pre-landfall emergency” for Florida as Hurricane Irma nears.
Today I asked @POTUS to declare a pre-landfall emergency for the State of Florida in preparation for #HurricaneIrma https://t.co/3CAzMZAr1j — Rick Scott (@FLGovScott) September 5, 2017
UPDATE 11:15 a.m. ET: Tropical Storm Jose has formed in the path of Hurricane Irma.
More bad news: We now have Tropical Storm #Jose in the Atlantic behind #Irma. Expected to become a hurricane in 36-48 hours. pic.twitter.com/pGP3gHLEcI — Steven Shepard (@POLITICO_Steve) September 5, 2017
UPDATE 11 a.m. ET: Miami’s WVNN has the latest computer models, which show Hurricane Irma still a threat to the entire state of Florida.
UPDATE 10 a.m. ET: The Weather Channel’s “Threat Index” coverage area now includes from Tampa eastward to Daytona Beach and all points south in the state of Florida.
UPDATE 9 a.m. ET: Miami’s NBC 6 reports emergency operation centers in Miami-Dade and Monroe Counties will be activated. Also, the report notes the rush hurricane preparedness supplies and predicts gas prices will continue rise in South Florida.
UPDATE 8:30 a.m. ET: National Weather Service in Key West, FL reports tropical storm force winds from Irma could reach the Florida Keys by Friday.
UPDATE 8 a.m. ET:: Hurricane Irma now a Category 5 storm.
NHC: “Hurricane #Irma has intensified into an extremely dangerous Category 5 hurricane … with maximum winds of 175 mph” pic.twitter.com/qdCFrRBVhb — Alex Lamers (@AlexJLamers) September 5, 2017
UPDATE 12:45 a.m. ET Tuesday: Latest 00Z GFS model shows Hurricane Irma impacting the entire peninsula of Florida.
New 00Z GFS paints a bleak picture for the FL Peninsula Saturday night/Sunday. People in South Florida need to take this threat seriously. pic.twitter.com/EFwwEzu7Nm — James Spann (@spann) September 5, 2017
UPDATE 11 p.m. ET: Hurricane warnings have issued by the National Weather Service in Miami for Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
Hurricane warnings issued for Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands… pic.twitter.com/bIMv5QhxnU — James Spann (@spann) September 5, 2017
UPDATE 10 p.m. ET: Both the European Medium Range |
all around our planet.
Meanwhile, the World Meteorological Organization warned that “time is running out,” as CO2 hit the aforementioned northern hemispheric 400ppm milestone, that is also a well-known “ominous threshold” for ACD.
ACD-warmed streams in Montana are pushing a native trout species towards extinction, while another recent study showed that plants and animals are becoming extinct at least 1,000 times faster than they did before humans arrived on the planet, and that the world is already beginning to experience the sixth great extinction event.
An increasing number of scientists agree that warming of 4 to 6 degrees Celsius causes a dead planet.
All of this has even caused the Pope to make the biblical case for mitigating the effects of ACD, when he recently declared to a massive crowd in Rome that destroying the earth is a sin.
Nevertheless, all signs say we’ve already gone off the cliff regarding runaway ACD.
A new report from the conservative International Energy Agency (IEA) shows that ongoing and increasing fossil-fuel reliance has placed the world on track for a 3.6-degree Celsius degree rise in temperature. This IEA report, along with several others, continues to show that the world is most certainly looking at a global increase in temperature of between 3 and 6 degrees Celsius above the pre-industrial baseline by 2100. An increasing number of scientists agree that warming of 4 to 6 degrees Celsius causes a dead planet.After the heartbreaking tale of the famous lone Grand Canyon wolf, the first one in the area for 70 years, that was shot dead around Christmas last year, it’s time we had some good news. A pack of wolves has managed to establish itself in California. Whoop!
You’ve probably already worked out the reason that this has got conservationists skipping and squealing joyfully – while they used to be a permanent feature of California’s landscapes, gray wolves were extirpated, or became locally extinct, from the state long ago. Largely the work of hunting under government programs in an attempt to protect livestock, gray wolves hadn’t been confirmed in California for more than 90 years.
But hints of a possible return surfaced a few years back when a wolf named OR7 was spotted skulking around in the tail end of 2011. Dispersed from a pack in Oregon, the lone ranger hung around for a couple of years before returning to its home state and taking up the position of breeding male in a group called the Rogue Pack.
Then, earlier this month, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) announced it had photographic evidence that at least one wolf had made its way to Siskiyou County. Prompted by “compelling information” received by Californian residents who reported spotting a big dark canid, the CDFW set up cameras in the area and scoured the footage it gathered. Although images in May captured an animal of a similar description, DNA analysis from poop specimens collected at the site were inconclusive.
Stepping up their game, the CDFW dotted more cameras around in the hope of spotting it again, but they got more than they could have hoped for. One of them took several pictures showcasing not one, but seven gray wolves. Five of these are pups (naaw) believed to be a few months old, and the others are adults, one of which was probably the individual spotted in May.
“This news is exciting for California,” CDFW Director Charlton H. Bonham said in a statement. “We knew wolves would eventually return home to the state and it appears now is the time.”
The group, which may have come from Oregon’s Rogue Pack, has been dubbed the Shasta Pack.
The wolves are afforded protection under the Federal Endangered Species Act of 1973, which states that they cannot be killed, shot, captured, collected, harmed, hunted, harassed etc. Last year, they were also added on to the California Endangered Species Act. A plan to manage them is currently under construction, but in the meantime visitors to the area can help out by reporting sightings and other info here.Gillian B. White: The book focuses on stories of eviction, but on a more macro level, the book is about poverty and inequality. Why did you decide to use eviction as the lens for those issues?
Matthew Desmond: I wanted to try to write a different poverty book, to focus on not just a place or a group of people, but a set of relationships. I thought eviction was the best way to do that. It brings landlords and judges and tenants together in this process that you can follow over time. I realized not only that had we overlooked this very central aspect of poverty, but eviction was coursing through the American city and acting as a cause, not just a condition, of poverty.
White: Why did you pick Milwaukee?
Desmond: A lot of the stories about urban America tend to be written on the margins. We focus a lot on these big global cities—New York, San Francisco—or we focus on cities that are having the toughest time—Detroit, Newark, Camden. But if you want to write a story that has a shot at representing an experience that’s very broad, Milwaukee is a very good candidate. The numbers that we crunched in Milwaukee are very similar to the numbers in Kansas City, Cleveland, Chicago, and other cities that I’ve looked at. So I think that the book is set in Milwaukee, but it tells a broader American story.
White: I was really struck by the granular detail that you were able to include, such as conversations between an evicted mother named Arlene, and the young woman her family stayed with while they tried to find a new home. What was the process for your research and how long did you spend in the two locations?
Desmond: I began by moving into the trailer park on the far South side of the city, and I lived there for about five months. And then after several months in the trailer park, I moved into the rooming house in the inner city and I lived there for about nine or 10 months. After I moved away from Milwaukee, I kept in close contact with the families and the landlords and went back as often as I could.
White: At one point you share that your parents lost their home in foreclosure. How did that impact the way you looked at home loss and the economic issues related to it?
Desmond: I don’t know if it did. I do know after that happened, there was a period in my life where I started getting more and more interested in poverty. When I was confronted with just the bare facts of poverty and inequality in America, it always disturbed and confused me. I thought [poverty and inequality] was not only unnecessary, but also out of character and out of line with our broader ideals.
White: How do you think it goes against the broader ideals of America?
Desmond: I think that we value fairness in this country. We value equal opportunity. Without a stable home, those ideals really fall apart. Without the ability to plant roots and invest in your community or your school—because you’re paying 60, 70, 80 percent of your income to rent—and eviction becomes something of an inevitability to you, it denies you certain freedoms. A finding of the book is that eviction causes job loss. So for folks that are working for low wages, the lack of affordable housing can cause them to make mistakes at work and eventually lose their jobs. That seems out of step with what we as a nation feel is right, and fair.Imagine if becoming a resident of another country was as simple as opening a Dropbox account?
Digital citizenship may now be on the horizon thanks to innovations like Estonia’s first-of-its-kind experiment in e-residency, which gives non-citizens an Estonian digital identity.
For Estonia, technology isn’t just a way to keep up with bigger nations’ innovations, but a way of thinking differently about the idea behind a national brand and what it“markets” to others. While other countries vie to create the next Silicon Valley, Estonia is busy turning itself into a nation-as-a-service, a kind of “app on the Baltic,” in the same way countries like Switzerland and Luxembourg became famous as banking havens decades ago. The latter countries took advantage of legal statutes, a less evolved form of code, to carve out their speciality niche. Estonia is remaking law to fit code itself as a way of redefining sovereignty in the 21st century. Other countries would be wise to watch.
The country’s e-residency project might not only change how economic migrants move across borders, but could also change how we think about citizenship altogether. This new kind of digital residency—which feels more like setting up a Pinterest account than getting a passport—has already attracted thousands of applicants from outside the Baltic nation after less than a year of being open to the public.
16th century pain for 21st century gain
Flickr/the waving cat Estonian digital identity card plugged into a laptop.
As of late September, the program has issued over 5,000 e-residency kits, which allows participants to set up and manage a business and bank from outside the country. As part of the EU, this has particular attractions for those wanting to trade in the region. Estonia’s government sees it as a way to gain a foothold inside the world’s most progressive experiment in digital government. It is boldly aiming for 10 million new e-residents by 2025 for a country with just over 1.3 million actual residents. (It doesn’t provide physical residency rights or formal citizenship.)
While most progressive nations are trying to make it easier to attract highly skilled migrants with new types of business visas, the rules and regulations, covering everything from registering a business to getting a bank account and a place to live, haven’t nearly kept up. Setting up shop in a new country can be a bureaucratic nightmare. I know, having recently done this myself with a move from the US to the Netherlands. The result is an experience that feels more like the 16th century, when passports were more formally established, shuffling paper with stamps and seals from office to office across continents.
This isn’t the country’s first foray into pioneering technology. It was the development home to Skype, and more recently TransferWise, which has attracted attention by applying a similar approach to foreign currency exchange. Its own government has long pursued total digitization of services, in part to stand out globally as a small nation, and as a survival strategy should Russia, decide to repeat its actions into Ukraine by moving into another territory formerly under Moscow’s control.
Hack your visa
Just getting the program up and running wasn’t sufficient for Taavi Kotka, the country’s CIO, who runs Estonia’s government technologies more like a company. Instead, the e-residency team did what any tech organization would do today and invited hackers to take becoming a digital Estonian in new directions. Held on Vormsi Island off the coast of the Baltic country in mid-September, the weekend hackathon engaged over 80 participants from 26 countries, generating 10 prototype future services based on the digital ID, as well as two concepts for e-voting.
The winning concept, InstaVisa, promises an experience for visa applications similar to website sign-ins that use Google, Facebook or Twitter IDs. InstaVisa would use data from an Estonian digital ID to fill in visa applications to enter the country physically.
Robert Norris, founder of InstaVisa, told me his team’s concept started with some basic questions about the relevancy of today’s border crossing conventions in the near future: “Ten years from now, what will visas look like? Will they be a stamp in my passport or will they be just a crypto key on my phone? Will there be any point to visit an embassy or consulate at all?”
Norris said traditional visa processes dampen the excitement of going from one country to the next. “Last year, the stats were around 17 million people applied for visas into the Schengen Zone,” he told me. “How many people needed to [travel to] consulates and embassies to prove their identification? Many people are going twice, to show their passport and documents, and then again to pick up the visa? I want to create a platform that does to visas what Google or Facebook logins did to user authentications. I believe we can make the world less rigid without sacrificing safety.”The University of Victoria Vikes men’s and women’s soccer teams know they will be in the Canada West playoff quarter-finals next weekend. But just where that will be is like trying to guess what next week’s weather will be like or what the spring fashions will be in May.
It’s all about positioning this weekend when the Vikes teams close out the regular season at Centennial Stadium today and Saturday.
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The UVic men (4-3-3) can finish between second and fourth place in the seven-team Pacific Division. The nationally second-ranked UBC Thunderbirds (9-0-1) have clinched first place and will host a playoff quarter-final next weekend against the Prairie Division fourth seed, while the Pacific Division second-place finisher will welcome the Prairie third seed.
The Pacific third and fourth seeds will travel to face the Prairie Division first and second seeds. That’s a trip the Vikes would like to avoid, making the regular-season finales tonight against the Trinity Western Spartans and Saturday against the Fraser Valley Cascades crucial fixtures. The Spartans and Cascades are both 5-3-2 and will join the Vikes in the playoffs, with the positioning between them to be settled this weekend.
Both games are at 7:15 p.m. at Centennial Stadium and represent the final regular-season home fixtures in the standout, quick-strike careers of goal-scoring Vikes seniors Cam Hundal and Craig Gorman.
“It’s hard to believe those five years have gone by so quickly,” said Vikes head coach Bruce Wilson.
“Both Hundal and Gorman have given so much to our program and have been great ambassadors for the school. This weekend represents a tremendous stage for them, and the rest of the guys, to step up. We want to finish second and stay home next weekend for the first round of the playoffs and not have to travel across the Rockies. It’s in our hands. We had a strong week of practice and I feel we’re ready.”
The UVic women (7-2-3) close out their regular season tonight against Trinity Western (9-1-2) and Saturday against Fraser Valley (8-3-1), with both games at 5 p.m. at Centennial Stadium.
Only five points separate second and fourth place in the division. It’s a tough division, to be sure, with first-place UBC (10-1-1) ranked fourth nationally in the CIS, Trinity Western sixth, UVic ninth and Fraser Valley an honourable mention.
“We can finish anywhere from second to fifth. That’s how close this division is this year,” said Vikes head coach Tracy David.
“The good thing is that it’s in our hands to control.”
It’s a different playoff format for the women, with the top-six from the Pacific and Prairie divisions making the playoffs.
David noted the keys to the final regular-season weekend for the Vikes revolve around getting the ball to go through senior striker Emma Greig, who has three goals and five assists on the season.
“We have to be mobile in the centre of the park, so we can spring out of the midfield, and help Emma up front,” said David.
Key to making that happen are midfielders Stephanie Badilla-Gutierrez, Emily Lieuwen and senior Shannon Elder. So is Mia Gunter, an Edmonton product who came to the Vikes this year from the NCAA Pac-12 University of Oregon Ducks.
“Mia brings experience and we will need her experience this weekend,” said David.
cdheensaw@timescolonist.comOn Wednesday EFF leader Julius Malema said the EFF has rejected a formal coalition with the ANC and the DA, but will vote with the DA in Johannesburg, Tshwane, Nelson Mandela Bay and Ekurhuleni. Watch. WATCH
Johannesburg - The Economic Freedom Fighters have accused the ANC’s Dan Bovu of offering their councillors hundreds of thousands of rands in exchange for votes in the Johannesburg City Council election on Monday.
Bovu is a member of the Mayoral Committee.
EFF spokesperson Mbuyiseni Ndlozi said in a statement that they would be opening a criminal case of bribery and corruption against Bovu.
"Dan Bovu, who thinks our democracy is up for sale. Dan Bovu has been calling our councillors, offering them money to the value of R500 000 in exchange for them to vote with the ANC during the elections of the Johannesburg City Council tomorrow," he said.
"The ANC must concede defeat and not try win elections through corruption. Even if they were to be successful on Monday to buy any councillor candidate, their mayor will not last, because political parties have the right to replace councillors. We will therefore do so and ensure that the ANC is out of power in Johannesburg," he said.
Bovu to open case against EFF
"The EFF's votes are not up for sale, be it money or positions. We are going to punish the ANC in Johannesburg, which has failed to transform people's lives for the past 22 years. We are going to punish them for all the arrogance of choosing to protect corruption at the expense of the people," Ndlozi added.
The ANC in Johannesburg released a statement on Sunday on Bovu’s behalf.
"I have noted with great concern the serious, defamatory and spurious allegations of bribery that the EFF is making against me to bribe their Johannesburg councillors.
“It must be stated that I have never met EFF councillors, nor have I offered anyone bribes to vote with the ANC. I intend to open a case of defamation against my character by the EFF," the statement reads.
"Since the election results were announced, the ANC has been in dialogue with other parties who are clear that they do not represent an agenda that seeks to reverse the democratic gains we as ANC have achieved since 1994."The dismissal of a lawsuit that sought to force the United States to comply with an international treaty on nuclear nonproliferation was upheld Monday by a federal court in San Francisco.
The lawsuit arose from decades-old U.S. nuclear weapons testing in the Marshall Islands.
The U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a lower court’s 2015 dismissal of a legal challenge from a group called Nuclear Zero, brought by the Republic of the Marshall Islands.
The suit did not seek money, but asked that the U.S. be found in breach of treaty obligations under international law and the 1970 Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons.
Chad Blair/Civil Beat
According to the 9th Circuit’s panel opinion, the treaty’s Article VI is “non self-executing” and so “not judicially enforceable” when it comes to claims.
The panel also determined that the claims presented in the lawsuit were “inextricable political questions that were nonjusticiable and must be dismissed.”
Republic of the Marshall Islands vs. United States was argued before the appellate court in March. It named President Donald Trump, two Cabinet officials and the National Nuclear Security Administration as defendants.
The Marshall Islands sued the U.S. government in U.S. District Court in 2014. The “genesis” for the lawsuit, as the 9th Circuit panel explained, was the “grim legacy” of the detonation of 67 nuclear weapons in the 1940s and 1950s.
As Civil Beat wrote in its series, The Micronesians, the testing was physically and emotionaly destructive for the Marshall Islands and was the beginning of what would become decades of out-migration for the Marshallese.
Payments to impacted Marshallese, mostly for personal injuries and property damage, eventually totaled $270 million. But a 2012 United Nations report recommended that the U.S. pay $2.3 billion in compensation for the nuclear testing, a view rejected in U.S. courts.
Wikimedia Commons
The Marshall Islands did not seek compensation but rather declaratory and injunctive relief “requiring the United States to comply with its commitments under the (Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons) and international law.”
A press release Monday from the nonprofit, nonpartisan Nuclear Age Peace Foundation, included a statement from Laurie Ashton, the lead attorney representing the Marshall Islands.
“Today’s decision is very disappointing,” she said. “But it is also more than that, because it undercuts the validity of the (treaty). There has never been a more critical time to enforce the legal obligations to negotiate in good faith for nuclear disarmament.”
Ashton said the court “failed to acknowledge the pleading of the (Republic of the Marshall Islands), supported by the declarations of experts, that such negotiations have never taken place. At issue was whether Article VI requires the U.S. to at least attend such negotiations, or whether it may continue to boycott them, as it did with the Nuclear Ban Treaty negotiations. To that we have no answer.”
Rick Wayman, director of programs for the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation and a consultant to the Republic of the Marshall Islands in its lawsuit, stated in the press release:China's navy and air force flexed their muscles in live-fire drills close to North Korea amid escalating tension over Kim Jong-un's nuclear test.
The drill included the firing of missiles and according to the ministry aimed to hone the military's abilities to conduct coastal assaults.
It comes as China announced it was prepared to face the consequences of backing a US-drafted UN Security Council resolution on sanctions against North Korea.
Military exercises: Destroyer Taizhou fires missile during a drill on August 7, 2017 in China
Video footage shows the drill taking place in the Yellow Sea and Bohai Gulf
Both the navy and army conducted exercises which involved the firing of dozens of missiles
The live drills were held on August 7 just off China's east coast in the Yellow Sea and Bohai Gulf, adjacent to the Korean Peninsula.
Both the navy and army conducted exercises which involved the firing of dozens of missiles.
Footage from CCTV News shows sections of the drill taking place.
Four missile frigates fire missiles during a drill on August 7 in the Yellow Sea and Bohai Sea
China's Ministry of Defence claim that the drills were aimed at testing weapons
Chinese government announced that it was prepared to face the consequences of sanctioning North Korea
Dozens of ships and 10 aircraft took part in the drills. China's Ministry of Defence claim that the drills were aimed at testing weapons and honing the military's abilities in conducting coastal assaults along with intercepting air targets.
The drill comes just days after China backed new sanctions against North Korea for its nuclear weapons pursuits.
Earlier today, the Chinese government announced that it was prepared to face the consequences of sanctioning North Korea despite being one of its biggest traders.
North Korea has since vowed that the sanctions would not stop it from developing its nuclear arsenal.
Preparing? Dozens of ships and around 10 aircraft took part in the drills
Screened in China: Video footage of the drill was shown on Chinese state televisionLast week, the metal world got excited when a new interview with Tom Araya surfaced in which he said that a song written by late guitarist Jeff Hanneman would be on the new record, including parts Hanneman performed. At the time, Araya was quoted as saying:
“There is one track on there that we recorded with him, that he did play on, which was completely done except we hadn’t finalized the vocals for it. So we were fortunate to have something that he had participated in.”
But this was all a confusing misunderstanding. In a new interview with Loudwire, guitarist Kerry King clarifies Hanneman's role on the new album:
Jeff Hanneman isn’t physically playing on this record. Somebody reported some bullshit. People say shit when they don’t know what’s actually going on. Even though Jeff’s song, “Piano Wire,” was recorded during the last album cycle [World Painted Blood], I played all the guitar. I’ve been doing that for years. Since he has no lead on that song, he’s not on it.
Well, Kerry, unless Araya was misquoted, nobody was reporting bullshit.
King went on to say that in addition to "Piano Wire" appearing on the next, 11th studio record, there are already plans for a 12th studio record and there is one leftover Hannamen-penned track that will appear on the follow-up to whatever they release this year.
So we have plenty of Slayer to look forward to the next few years.
Video Content Presented by Qello Concerts:
Related PostsForget the new food-on-a-stick. The biggest novelty this year may be the newcomer in the food competition at the Minnesota State Fair's Creative Activities building: a vegan main dish.
Yep. The home of the butter sculpture, Pronto Pups and pork-chop-on-a-stick now offers a vegan outlet. (Vegans -- not to be confused with vegetarians -- eat no animal products and that includes no eggs, dairy or honey, in addition to the no-meatapproach.)
It wasn't the U.S. dietary guidelines that prompted the change. Florence Brammer of Minneapolis, a vegan for more than a year and a vegetarian for several more, opened the discussion. "Once you get that bug [about nonmeat options], it's something you want to share, hopefully not in an obnoxious way, but that makes people more aware of how things make their way to the plate," she said. "It wasn't a hard sell, but I was persistant." Brammer was enough of an advocate that she's offering a vegan cookbook as one of the prizes.
The contest brought in 13 entries for its first year, with many dishes making use of brown rice or couscous. "The recipes that came out on top had lots of flavor, whether spicy or a good use of herbs with seasonal vegetables," said Christine Seppanen, a judge for the competition and a vegetarian herself.
Minnesota did not break new ground nationally with the contest, however. Utah and Iowa state fairs have vegan contests, as does Texas with its own vegan fried-food competition.
But the Minnesota prize? Almost priceless at $10 for first place.
Have an innovative idea for State Fair competitions? Send it to fairinfo@mnstatefair.org.Want to see some jaw-dropping camera work? Check out this 3-minute trailer for the upcoming feature film Awaken, by renowned time-lapse photographer Tom Lowe. It’s a documentary that explores humanities relationship with both nature and technology.
Lowe shot the photos and footage over 5 years across 30 different countries. During that time, he flexed his creative muscles to pioneer “new time-lapse, time-dilation, underwater, and aerial cinematography techniques to give audiences new eyes with which to see our world.”
In other words, Lowe has broken new ground with his techniques, and at least one renowned photographer and filmmaker has been blown away by the work.
“Stunning,” says Pulitzer Prize-winning photographer Vincent Laforet. “Minds will be blown. I saw stuff that’s never been done before.”
Awaken is “a celebration of the spirit of life, an exploration of the Earth, and an ode to the Cosmos,” and it is set to be released sometime in 2018. You can follow along with the project and sign up for alerts on its website. You can also find more of Lowe’s amazing work in our archives and on his TimeScapes website.
(via Awaken via Engadget)After winning a Golden Globe for his work on Transparent, it’s no surprise that Jeffrey Tambor also took home an Emmy for Lead Actor in a Comedy Series for playing Maura Pfefferman on the hit Amazon show.
Tambor dedicated his performance and his win to the transgender community. “Thank you for your patience, thank you for your courage, thank you for your stories, thank you for your inspiration, thank you for letting us be part of the change,” Tambor said onstage at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles on Sunday. “God bless you.”
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This is Tambor’s first Emmy win and seventh nomination, and his first time being nominated in the leading actor category. Tambor beat out fellow nominees Anthony Anderson, Matt LeBlanc, Don Cheadle, William H. Macy, Louis C.K., and Will Forte.In what’s surely a twist on the laws of money management, Ontario grads now can use a “points card” to actually get out of — not into — debt. Loan-laden college and university graduates can fly, shop and charge their way to a smaller loan balance now that the province will let them — or any kind-hearted friend or relative — use Aeroplan points to pay down their Ontario student loans.
Graduates facing a huge debt load when they leave university or college can now use Aeroplan points earned flying or buying goods to pay down their Ontario student loans. ( Melissa Renwick / Toronto Star )
While the chair of the Canadian Federation of Students-Ontario says the plan “treats Ontario’s student debt crisis like an episode of Extreme Couponing,” the College Student Alliance hails it as “another avenue for paying off student debt.” “Now a points card can go to something a little more positive,” said communications manager Veronica Barahona. The Ontario government announced Wednesday it has partnered with a private company called Higher Ed Points that will convert every 35,000 Aeroplan points — earned by flying Air Canada or using a TD or American Express Aeroplan credit card, for example — into a $250 payment towards the student’s debt under the Ontario Student Assistance Program (OSAP).
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It’s the latest move Aeroplan and Higher Ed Points have made into higher learning. A growing number of colleges and universities, including York, Ryerson and most GTA community colleges, are already letting students use the system to pay tuition. While few students have used it yet — only a couple at Ryerson, a handful at Centennial — these institutions say they plan to promote the option more as this fall’s tuition comes due. But letting students also use Aeroplan points to pay down student debt “will offer students and graduates another innovative way to invest in themselves and their future," said MPP Reza Moridi, Ontario’s minister of training, colleges and universities. Alberta started to let grads use the system to pay down debt back in March. Already, actuarial science grad Charles Bernatchez has knocked $1,500 off what he owes by dipping into his hefty bank of Aeroplan points, earned from frequent flights between his Edmonton home and the Montreal head office of his employer. He also uses his own Aeroplan American Express card to cover upfront expenses for a youth group with which he works. “Ironically, I can’t afford to travel myself until I pay off my student debt,” said the 26-year-old, who owed $40,000 when he graduated. “I’m going to keep paying it off with Aeroplan points; it’s a great way to take some of the weight off.” The average university graduate owes about $22,200 after a four-year degree, and a two-year college grad owes on average about $13,000.
The president of the Ontario Undergraduate Students’ Alliance said that the program, while it’s handy for those who can afford to earn points, “wouldn’t be something a large portion of students will be able to benefit from. “It seems like an odd, disconnected way to pay back OSAP; you wouldn’t normally associate it with a retail benefit,” said Spencer Nestico-Semianiw.
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However, Suzanne Tyson, founder of Higher Ed Points, said “it’s not meant to be the solution” for making higher learning affordable, “but part of the solution. Already some $120,000 in tuition and student loan offsets have been converted through this plan.” One Toronto employer cashed in his Aeroplan points and put them toward summer course tuition for three students, she said. “The average student redeems about $1,000 worth of points. And it’s often not the students themselves, but parents and grandparents, who make the donation.”
Read more about:The Cubs are now in the NLDS playoffs and start a best of five game series against the Cardinals Friday. It’s the first time back in the Playoffs since 2008, but you’ve seen all that stuff if you’re reading this. And you probably want a place on the Official Cubs Bandwagon. We Cubs fans who have been on the bandwagon since birth are always happy to get new people to join us, even if it’s just for a week or two. Unfortunately, the REAL bandwagon is pretty full, so we’ve got two sweet “overflow” bandwagons that the Backhawks are letting us borrow, so they’ll be plenty of room for all of you latecomers to jump onboard.
Now, not just anyone can get on the Cubs bandwagon. There is a process to this, and it’s been revised since the bandwagon incident of 2003, which we’d rather forget than discuss here. Just like getting the honor of buying Cubs playoff tickets or grabbing a place with 100,000 of our friends on the Season Ticket Waiting List, there is a process one must go through to get on the bandwagon, or the flatbeds in this case. Thanks to the fine people at Sports Illustrated, the application to get a spot on the Cubs bandwagon has been posted on the Interwebz and is here, courtesy of SI, for you to print and fill in.
2016 Season Of A Dream, when the Cubs will make this year’s performance look like, well, the I think everything there is self explanatory, but if you have problems with any questions, you’ll need to ask a REAL Cubs fan for the answers. Also, feel free to use me as a reference, consider it a gift to you, dear reader, but please provide at least three references, none of whom have ever put a St. Louis Cardinals hat on their heads in their life. If a reference fails that test, you’ll be off the bandwagon this year, and much more importantly, barred from joining us in the, when the Cubs will make this year’s performance look like, well, the White Sox season. Hurry, you need to get your application in soon before space runs out. Just fill it out and send it to imsorryihatedyoualltheseyearsbutiwanttobecoolnow@cubs.com. Time is running out, the first NLDS game is Friday evening and we’ll be driving the bandwagon from Wrigleyville to Busch Stadium, picking up riders all along the way. Be there or be square. And bring lots of money for beer, there are no bargains at Busch.
AdvertisementsNot Humanly Possible, Is It?
Close your eyes. Imagine what it would feel like to run a marathon. Now imagine that you’ve run not just one marathon, but two marathons in a single day. Seems crazy. Now imagine you’ve run two marathons in a day, every day, for 10 months straight without a day off!
Meet Pat Farmer. He’s an ultramarathoner from Australia who is in the process of running from the North Pole to the South Pole. He covers 50 miles a day, except when he is using snow shoes near the poles. He only manages 16 miles a day in snow shoes.
Unfortunately, Farmer isn’t as good at attracting attention as he is at running. He is doing the run to raise money for the International Red Cross. His fundraising goal before he started was $100 million, he’s almost done with the adventure and only $100,000 has been donated.Introduction
FreeOrion is a turn-based space empire and galactic conquest (4X) computer game. But more importantly, it works on Linux! The good news is, I’ve already done all the heavy lifting for you and compiled the game in easy to install RPMs. In fact, there is absolutely no development knowledge or compilation requirements at all! The RPM files I’ve put together will specifically allow anyone (running Fedora) to go right ahead and enjoy the game!
The Goods
You’ll need to have Fedora 23 or higher for this game to work due to the library requirements FreeOrion requires.
I packaged the whole thing up in RPMs to make your life easy. You can acquire the RPMs directly from my repository using dnf. But if you prefer, here is the direct link to the repository files:
Package Distro Description freeorion fc23 / fc24 The core game files. This RPM must be installed in conjunction with freeorion-data. freeorion-data fc23 / fc24 This RPM provides all of the data files used by FreeOrion
For those interested in building this themselves, you can access the source RPM here.
A setup could be as simple as the following if you’re hooked up to my repositories already:
# Install FreeOrion # make sure you're connected to http://nuxref.com/repo dnf install freeorion
Getting Started
After you’ve installed the RPMs, you’ll be able to launch FreeOrion from within the desktop search. You can also launch it from the command line by simply typing freeorion. You’ll be able to choose to create a new game from here and create your very first galaxy!
You can also launch the application up with some parameters that can tweak your experience:
/usr/bin/freeorion is the main application you’ll run. If you type it on the command line with the –help (-h) switch, you’ll get an incredible list of customization you can perform. For example:
# --show-fps 1 : Display frames per second while you play # --fullscreen 1 : Start game in fullscreen mode # --log-level WARN : The default logging mode is DEBUG which can add for # quite a bit of extra overhead. setting this variable # to WARN can speed things up a little. freeorion --show-fps 1 --fullscreen 1 --log-level WARN
There are 2 directories you’ll want to know about:
Directory Description ~/.config/freeorion The directory all of your local configuration gets written to when the game is running. ~/.local/share/freeorion The directory that the system will write some variable data to (such as your saved games).
How Do I Play
This guide here is probably a good start. But in a nutshell, the first thing the game will do for you is generate you a galaxy filled with planets and stars. You will take turns with A.I. and/or other players (if doing Multiplayer) making choices. You might colonize a planet, gather resources, or maybe just move to another planet. You’ll encounter enemies that you’ll need to fend off too. The game can seem overwhelming and complicated at first. But in a few turns, you’ll pick up things you can do and only get better over time.
Sources
Note: All |
-Qaradawi both endorsed the use of calculations to determine the beginning of all months of the Islamic calendar, in 1939 and 2004 respectively.[42][43] So did the Fiqh Council of North America (FCNA) in 2006[44][45] and the European Council for Fatwa and Research (ECFR) in 2007.[46][47]
The major Muslim associations of France also announced in 2012 that they would henceforth use a calendar based on astronomical calculations, taking into account the criteria of the possibility of crescent sighting in any place on Earth.[48][49] But, shortly after the official adoption of this rule by the French Council of the Muslim Faith (CFCM) in 2013, the new leadership of the association decided, on the eve of Ramadan 2013, to follow the Saudi announcement rather than to apply the rule just adopted. This resulted in a division of the Muslim community of France, with some members following the new rule, and others following the Saudi announcement.
Isma'ili-Taiyebi Bohras having the institution of da'i al-mutlaq follow the tabular Islamic calendar (see section below) prepared on the basis of astronomical calculations from the days of Fatimid imams.
Astronomical 12-moon calendars [ edit ]
Islamic calendar of Turkey [ edit ]
Turkish Muslims use an Islamic calendar which is calculated several years in advance (currently up to 1444 AH/2022 CE) by the Turkish Presidency of Religious Affairs (Diyanet İşleri Başkanlığı). From 1 Muharrem 1400 AH (21 November 1979) until 29 Zilhicce 1435 (24 October 2014) the computed Turkish lunar calendar was based on the following rule: "The lunar month is assumed to begin on the evening when, within some region of the terrestrial globe, the computed centre of the lunar crescent at local sunset is more than 5° above the local horizon and (geocentrically) more than 8° from the Sun." In the current rule the (computed) lunar crescent has to be above the local horizon of Ankara at sunset.[50]
Saudi Arabia's Umm al-Qura calendar [ edit ]
Saudi Arabia uses the sighting method to determine the beginning of each month of the Hijri calendar. Since AH 1419 (1998/99), several official hilal sighting committees have been set up by the government to determine the first visual sighting of the lunar crescent at the beginning of each lunar month. Nevertheless, the religious authorities also allow the testimony of less experienced observers and thus often announce the sighting of the lunar crescent on a date when none of the official committees could see it.
The country also uses the Umm al-Qura calendar, based on astronomical calculations, but this is restricted to administrative purposes. The parameters used in the establishment of this calendar underwent significant changes over the past decade.[51][52]
Before AH 1420 (before 18 April 1999), if the moon's age at sunset in Riyadh was at least 12 hours, then the day ending at that sunset was the first day of the month. This often caused the Saudis to celebrate holy days one or even two days before other predominantly Muslim countries, including the dates for the Hajj, which can only be dated using Saudi dates because it is performed in Mecca.
For AH 1420–22, if moonset occurred after sunset at Mecca, then the day beginning at that sunset was the first day of a Saudi month, essentially the same rule used by Malaysia, Indonesia, and others (except for the location from which the hilal was observed).
Since the beginning of AH 1423 (16 March 2002), the rule has been clarified a little by requiring the geocentric conjunction of the sun and moon to occur before sunset, in addition to requiring moonset to occur after sunset at Mecca. This ensures that the moon has moved past the sun by sunset, even though the sky may still be too bright immediately before moonset to actually see the crescent.
In 2007, the Islamic Society of North America, the Fiqh Council of North America and the European Council for Fatwa and Research announced that they will henceforth use a calendar based on calculations using the same parameters as the Umm al-Qura calendar to determine (well in advance) the beginning of all lunar months (and therefore the days associated with all religious observances). This was intended as a first step on the way to unify, at some future time, Muslims' calendars throughout the world.[53][54]
Since 1 October 2016, as a cost-cutting measure, Saudi Arabia no longer uses the Islamic calendar for paying the monthly salaries of government employees but the Gregorian calendar.[55][56]
Other calendars using the Islamic era [ edit ]
The Solar Hijri calendar is a solar calendar used in Iran and Afghanistan which counts its years from the Hijra or migration of Muhammad from Mecca to Medina in 622 AD/CE.[57]
Tabular Islamic calendar [ edit ]
The Tabular Islamic calendar is a rule-based variation of the Islamic calendar, in which months are worked out by arithmetic rules rather than by observation or astronomical calculation. It has a 30-year cycle with 11 leap years of 355 days and 19 years of 354 days. In the long term, it is accurate to one day in about 2,500 solar years or 2,570 lunar years. It also deviates up to about one or two days in the short term.
Kuwaiti algorithm [ edit ]
Microsoft uses the "Kuwaiti algorithm", a variant of the tabular Islamic calendar,[58] to convert Gregorian dates to the Islamic ones. Microsoft claimed that the variant is based on a statistical analysis of historical data from Kuwait, however it matches a known tabular calendar.
Important dates in the Islamic (Hijri) year are:
Days considered important predominantly for Shia Muslims:
Days considered important for Sunni Muslims (especially in India & parts of Asia):
6 Rajab: Urs of Moinuddin Chishti. Generally the sixth day of every month is celebrated and observed as Chatthi.
. 11 Rabi' al-Akhir: Urs of Abdul-Qadir Gilani. Generally the 11th day of every month is celebrated and observed as Gyarvi.
Civil and Hijri establishment dates of a library in Old City, Jerusalem
Conversions may be made by using the Tabular Islamic calendar, or, for greatest accuracy (one day in 15,186 years), via the Jewish calendar. Theoretically, the days of the months correspond in both calendars if the displacements which are a feature of the Jewish system are ignored. The table below gives, for nineteen years, the Muslim month which corresponds to the first Jewish month.
Year AD/CE Year AH Muslim
month 2011 1432 5 2012 1433 5 2013 1434 5 2014 1435 6 2015 1436 6 2016 1437 7 2017 1438 7 2018 1439 7 2019 1440 8 2020 1441 8 Year AD/CE Year AH Muslim
month 2021 1442 8 2022 1443 9 2023 1444 9 2024 1445 10 2025 1446 10 2026 1447 10 2027 1448 11 2028 1449 11 2029 1450 11
This table may be extended since every nineteen years the Muslim month number increases by seven. When it goes above twelve, subtract twelve and add one to the year AH. From 412 AD/CE to 632 AD/CE inclusive the month number is 1 and the calculation gives the month correct to a month or so. 622 AD/CE corresponds to BH 1 and AH 1. For earlier years, year BH = (623 or 622) – year AD/CE).
An example calculation: What is the civil date and year AH of the first day of the first month in the year 20875 AD/CE?
We first find the Muslim month number corresponding to the first month of the Jewish year which begins in 20874 AD/CE. Dividing 20874 by 19 gives quotient 1098 and remainder 12. Dividing 2026 by 19 gives quotient 106 and remainder 12. 2026 is chosen because it gives the same remainder on division by 19 as 20874. The two years are therefore (1098–106)=992×19 years apart. The Muslim month number corresponding to the first Jewish month is therefore 992×7=6944 higher than in 2026. To convert into years and months divide by twelve – 6944/12=578 years and 8 months. Adding, we get 1447y 10m + 20874y – 2026y + 578y 8m = 20874y 6m. Therefore, the first month of the Jewish year beginning in 20874 AD/CE corresponds to the sixth month of the Muslim year AH 20874. The worked example in Conversion between Jewish and civil dates, shows that the civil date of the first day of this month (ignoring the displacements) is Friday, 14 June. The year AH 20875 will therefore begin seven months later, on the first day of the eighth Jewish month, which the worked example shows to be 7 January, 20875 AD/CE (again ignoring the displacements). The date given by this method, being calculated, may differ by a day from the actual date, which is determined by observation.
A reading of the section which follows will show that the year AH 20875 is wholly contained within the year 20875 AD/CE, also that in the Gregorian calendar this correspondence will occur one year earlier. The reason for the discrepancy is that the Gregorian year (like the Julian, though less so) is slightly too long, so the Gregorian date for a given AH date will be earlier and the Muslim calendar catches up sooner.
Current correlations [ edit ]
An Islamic year will be entirely within a Gregorian year of the same number in the year 20874, after which year the number of the Islamic year will always be greater than the number of the concurrent civil year. The Islamic calendar year of 1429 occurred entirely within the civil calendar year of 2008. Such years occur once every 33 or 34 Islamic years (32 or 33 civil years). More are listed here:
Islamic year within civil year Islamic Civil Difference 1060 1650 590 1093 1682 589 1127 1715 588 1161 1748 587 1194 1780 586 1228 1813 585 1261 1845 584 1295 1878 583 1329 1911 582 1362 1943 581 1396 1976 580 1429 2008 579 1463 2041 578 1496 2073 577 1530 2106 576 1564 2139 575
Because a Hijri or Islamic lunar year is between 10 and 12 days shorter than a civil year, it begins 10–12 days earlier in the civil year following the civil year in which the previous Hijri year began. Once every 33 or 34 Hijri years, or once every 32 or 33 civil years, the beginning of a Hijri year (1 Muharram) coincides with one of the first ten days of January. Subsequent Hijri New Years move backward through the civil year back to the beginning of January again, passing through each civil month from December to January.
Uses [ edit ]
The Islamic calendar is now used primarily for religious purposes, and for official dating of public events and documents in Muslim countries. Because of its nature as a purely lunar calendar, it cannot be used for agricultural purposes and historically Islamic communities have used other calendars for this purpose: the Egyptian calendar was formerly widespread in Islamic countries, and the Iranian calendar and the 1789 Ottoman calendar (a modified Julian calendar) were also used for agriculture in their countries.[citation needed] In the Levant and Iraq the Aramaic names of the Babylonian calendar are still used for all secular matters.[citation needed] In Morocco, the Berber calendar (another Julian calendar) is still used by farmers in the countryside.[59] These local solar calendars have receded in importance with the near-universal adoption of the Gregorian calendar for civil purposes.[citation needed] The Saudi Arabia uses the lunar Islamic calendar.[60] In Indonesia, the Javanese calendar, created by Sultan Agung in 1633, combines elements of the Islamic and pre-Islamic Saka calendars.[citation needed]
British author Nicholas Hagger writes that after seizing control of Libya, Muammar Gaddafi "declared" on 1 December 1978 "that the Muslim calendar should start with the death of the prophet Mohammed in 632 rather than the hijra (Mohammed's 'emigration' from Mecca to Medina) in 622". This put the country ten solar years behind the standard Muslim calendar.[61] However, according to the 2006 Encyclopedia of the Developing World, "More confusing still is Qaddafi's unique Libyan calendar, which counts the years from the Prophet's birth, or sometimes from his death. The months July and August, named after Julius and Augustus Caesar, are now Nasser and Hannibal respectively."[62] Reflecting on a 2001 visit to the country, American reporter Neil MacFarquhar observed, "Life in Libya was so unpredictable that people weren't even sure what year it was. The year of my visit was officially 1369. But just two years earlier Libyans had been living through 1429. No one could quite name for me the day the count changed, especially since both remained in play.... Event organizers threw up their hands and put the Western year in parentheses somewhere in their announcements."[63]
Computer support [ edit ]
Hijri support was available in later versions of traditional Visual Basic, and is also available in the.NET Framework.
Since the release of Java 8, the Islamic calendar is supported in the new Date and Time API.
See also [ edit ]
References [ edit ]
Notes [ edit ]Courtesy Victory Hill Exhibitions
Courtesy Victory Hill Exhibitions
Courtesy Victory Hill Exhibitions
Courtesy Victory Hill Exhibitions
Courtesy Victory Hill Exhibitions
Courtesy Victory Hill Exhibitions
The Marvel's Avengers STATION inside the Treasure Island hotel-casino is seen on Friday, June 10, 2016, in Las Vegas. Erik Verduzco/Las Vegas Review-Journal Follow @Erik_Verduzco
Movie character costumes for Iron Man are seen at the Marvel's Avengers STATION inside the Treasure Island hotel-casino on Friday, June 10, 2016, in Las Vegas. Erik Verduzco/Las Vegas Review-Journal Follow @Erik_Verduzco
An interactive Hulk screen is seen inside the Marvel's Avengers STATION at the Treasure Island hotel-casino on Friday, June 10, 2016, in Las Vegas. Erik Verduzco/Las Vegas Review-Journal Follow @Erik_Verduzco
The entrance to the Marvel's Avengers STATION inside the Treasure Island hotel-casino is seen on Friday, June 10, 2016, in Las Vegas. Erik Verduzco/Las Vegas Review-Journal Follow @Erik_Verduzco
A movie character costume for Thor is seen at the Marvel's Avengers STATION inside the Treasure Island hotel-casino on Friday, June 10, 2016, in Las Vegas. Erik Verduzco/Las Vegas Review-Journal Follow @Erik_Verduzco
The retail area at the Marvel's Avengers STATION inside the Treasure Island hotel-casino is seen on Friday, June 10, 2016, in Las Vegas. Erik Verduzco/Las Vegas Review-Journal Follow @Erik_Verduzco
Interactive screens are seen at the Marvel's Avengers STATION inside the Treasure Island hotel-casino on Friday, June 10, 2016, in Las Vegas. Erik Verduzco/Las Vegas Review-Journal Follow @Erik_Verduzco
A movie character costume for Ant-Man is seen at the Marvel's Avengers STATION inside the Treasure Island hotel-casino on Friday, June 10, 2016, in Las Vegas. Erik Verduzco/Las Vegas Review-Journal Follow @Erik_Verduzco
A movie character costume for Nick Fury is seen at the Marvel's Avengers STATION inside the Treasure Island hotel-casino on Friday, June 10, 2016, in Las Vegas. Erik Verduzco/Las Vegas Review-Journal Follow @Erik_Verduzco
The Marvel's Avengers STATION inside the Treasure Island hotel-casino is seen on Friday, June 10, 2016, in Las Vegas. Erik Verduzco/Las Vegas Review-Journal Follow @Erik_Verduzco
The Marvel's Avengers S.T.A.T.I.O.N. inside the Treasure Island hotel-casino is seen on Friday, June 10, 2016, in Las Vegas. Erik Verduzco/Las Vegas Review-Journal Follow @Erik_Verduzco
The Marvel's Avengers STATION inside the Treasure Island hotel-casino is seen on Friday, June 10, 2016, in Las Vegas. Erik Verduzco/Las Vegas Review-Journal Follow @Erik_Verduzco
The Marvel's Avengers STATION inside the Treasure Island hotel-casino is seen on Friday, June 10, 2016, in Las Vegas. Erik Verduzco/Las Vegas Review-Journal Follow @Erik_Verduzco
The Marvel's Avengers STATION inside the Treasure Island hotel-casino is seen on Friday, June 10, 2016, in Las Vegas. Erik Verduzco/Las Vegas Review-Journal Follow @Erik_Verduzco
The Marvel's Avengers STATION inside the Treasure Island hotel-casino is seen on Friday, June 10, 2016, in Las Vegas. Erik Verduzco/Las Vegas Review-Journal Follow @Erik_Verduzco
The entrance to the Marvel's Avengers STATION inside the Treasure Island hotel-casino is seen on Friday, June 10, 2016, in Las Vegas. Erik Verduzco/Las Vegas Review-Journal Follow @Erik_Verduzco
Fans of comic books and movies based on comic books can indulge in their favorite forms of visual art on two fronts this weekend.
First, the Amazing Las Vegas Comic Con returns to the valley for its fourth year, giving fans the opportunity to meet animators and comic book artists and writers, check out exhibitors’ wares, play video games, dress up as their favorite comics characters and generally pay homage to their favorite superheroes and the men and women who created them.
Then, Marvel’s Avengers STATION, an interactive attraction that gives fans a chance to participate in the mythology of the blockbuster Avengers and Marvel film franchises, officially opens Wednesday at Treasure Island.
The Amazing Las Vegas Comic Con runs Friday through Sunday at the Las Vegas Convention Center, 3150 Paradise Road. Hours are from 3 to 8 p.m. Friday, 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Saturday and 10 a.m to 6 p.m. Sunday. General admission is $25 on Friday, $35 on Saturday and $25 on Sunday, with a three-day general admission available for $60. Premium packages are available and children younger than 10 will be admitted free all weekend. (For more information, visit www.amazinglasvegascomiccon.com)
This year’s event moves to the convention center after a three-year run at the South Point. Jimmy Jay, the convention’s organizer, says last year’s show attracted about 20,000 people and that attendance has been “growing each year.”
Scheduled guests this year include such creators as Kevin Eastman (“Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles”) and Mat Nastos (Disney Channel’s “Phineas and Ferb”). The show also will feature a gaming area, exhibitors, a cosplay competition and children’s activities.
“So we have the full spectrum,” Jay says, adding that the convention will be of interest not only to hard-core fans but also to casual fans “who, maybe, like the blockbuster movies. We have the creators that are responsible for those movies.
“We call them the architects of pop culture. These are the men and women who create all of the things that we love to collect, that we love watching on TV and that we like watching in movies.”
Scheduled to attend, for example, is Chris Claremont, who helmed Marvel’s X-Men comics series for more than 15 years and who, during a 1975- 1991 tenure on the “Uncanny X Men,” co-created many of characters fans of the X-Men film series have come to know.
The latest film in the franchise, “X-Men: Apocalypse,” released in late May, is one of this summer’s hits, and Claremont says he still delights at seeing the now-iconic characters that he and colleague John Byrne created brought to life by actors whom he loves tp watch.
At conventions, Claremont regularly meets fans who read his books when they came out and now have introduced their own kids to them. Such multigenerational readership is, he says, “every writer’s dream.”
Claremont also is noted among fans for creating strong female characters, and says that, “for me, that makes perfect sense.”
“My mother was RAF during the Second (World) War and assigned to a radar station on the south coast of England, which was not exactly a quiet time,” says Claremont, adding that his roster of friends includes prize-winning women journalists who have covered such events as wars and Ebola outbreaks.
This focus on strong women meshes well with the X-Men series’ goal from the start “to embrace the broadest variety of possibilities in the human condition,” Claremont says. “It’s not all upper middle-class white people.
“But more important, it’s always been defined by the benchmark line in the series description: ‘Feared and hated by the world they are sworn to protect.’ They’re all outsiders, and all they’re trying to do is find a place that they can call home and where they’ll be welcomed for who and what they are, and not feared, not hated, not exploited.”
That, Claremont says, “always struck a chord with groups within society that have always had, I guess, seen themselves … as outcasts.”
For example, women have made up one-third of regular X-Men readers, he says, while the series always has been popular with gay readers.
Jay says the Amazing Las Vegas Comic Convention differs from many other such events in its focus on creators and in that it offers fans a more intimate vibe and “great value.”
Meanwhile, Marvel’s Avengers STATION Las Vegas — in the attraction’s mythology, the letters stand for “Scientific Training And Tactical Intelligence Operative Network” — opens next week as a standing attraction at Treasure Island, 3300 Las Vegas Blvd. South.
Hours are from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. (last entry at 9 p.m.) daily. Admission is $34 for adults, $24 for children ages 4 to 11, and free for children 3 and younger (www.STATIONattraction.com)
Nicholas Cooper, chief creative officer of Victory Hill Exhibitions, which developed the attraction, says Avengers STATION has an installation in Paris and another that’s on tour, and that the Treasure Island attraction will be the company’s “flagship.”
Selecting Las Vegas for it was natural, given that this is “the entertainment capital of the United States,” Cooper says. Also important is that the city’s entertainment attractions attract “a broad demographic. So it just made sense.”
The premise of Avengers STATION is that guests are applying to become agents of the Avengers’s military team. As they “train,” they’ll view exhibits of costumes, weapons and other items relating to the long-running comics and film franchise, learn about Avengers and Marvel lore, test their mental skills, and view such items as Captain America’s motorcycle and Bruce Banner’s laboratory.
The attraction is described as “an interactive journey through the Marvel Cinematic Universe,” and Cooper calls it “a little bit exhibit, a little bit theme park, a little bit stage play and a little bit film.”
The experience is designed to be high-tech and “immersive,” he adds, and “we wanted it to be a little educational as well. We wanted it to appeal to a wide demographic.”
He expects guests will be “anywhere from 7 to 67,” and says the attraction is “100 percent” family friendly.
Read more from John Przybys at reviewjournal.com. Contact him at jprzybys@reviewjournal.com and follow @JJPrzybys on Twitter.The Kiwi dollar is falling with ''no end in sight,'' says one currency analyst.
Exporters are celebrating what appears to be a sustained fall in the New Zealand dollar, as global market uncertainty and weakening growth at home take hold.
The kiwi fell to a fresh five-year low overnight of US67.48 cents on Tuesday night due to softening business confidence and the Greek debt crisis.
It recovered to US67.95c at 2.20pm on Wednesday, by which time Greece's official default on its IMF payment was considered to be largely priced in.
Even before the default, analysts said they believed the kiwi had further to fall. Westpac is forecasting the kiwi to slump to US64c by year's end.
Catherine Beard, chief executive of Export New Zealand said the weaker dollar would provide exporters with "a well needed shot in the arm".
"Right across the board there'll be a huge sense of relief, I'm already hearing that.
"I think exporters were really hanging in there with the high dollar and it will be hugely beneficial to them," Beard said.
"Because if they've remained viable, they've had to become very mean and lean, so there should be quite a bit of good upside."
The flipside was that the stronger dollar would hurt anyone importing goods or materials.
"If they're importing raw materials through the US and then exporting to Australia, it's still quite tough," Beard said.
ANZ economist Mark Smith said it would also take time for some exporters to benefit if they were hedged or were on fixed contracts.
Meat exporters were often unhedged and were exposed to the recovering US markets, he said.
"If they haven't hedged very much, the benefits should flow through fairly quickly."
However, dairy exporters, who were often hedged and also suffering from declining world prices, were not so lucky.
"Part of the reason why our currency is falling is that the prices of what we sell have been falling as well. So while it's all very well having a lower currency, it could be a double-edged sword if the world prices for what they are selling have fallen as well," Smith said.
The softer New Zealand dollar was a "mixed blessing" for other reasons, particularly for travellers to the United States or Australia whose trips would now be more expensive.
The kiwi, which came so close to parity with the Australian dollar in April, fell sharply to A87.77c on Tuesday night, edging back to A88.05c on Wednesday afternoon.
FROM THE ARCHIVES:
* Aussies jealous as NZ dollar approaches parity
* NZ not immune to Greek crisis fallout, John Key says
* Clouds loom over NZ economy
Westpac currency strategist Imre Speizer said there was "no end in sight" for the dollar's decline.
"Most indicators point to things slowing down, confidence falling away and GDP slowing down quite a bit over the next quarter or two."
All eyes would be on the Fonterra global dairy auction on Thursday, and whether the Reserve Bank would be cut interest rates again on July 23.
"The theme the markets are toying with is whether the RBNZ will end up reversing all the hikes from the last year and cutting even further," as other central banks had done, said ANZ currency analyst Sam Tuck.
Westpac is forecasting cuts in July and September, with another cut possible before the year is out.
"We're expecting the OCR [official cash rate] to fall to 2.75 per cent at least," Speizer said.ESET Security Discovered 13 malicious apps which performing to steal your instagram creditionals.These apps has been installed almost 1.5 Millions users.
These 13 apps are tricking user by the way of encouraging to boost instagram followers. Under the detection name Android/Spy.Inazigram.
According to ESET Report,The apps were phishing for Instagram credentials and sending them to a remote server.
How it works :
According to the Report from ESET,
Harvesting Instagram Credentials and sending them to a remote server
The apps promised to rapidly increase the number of followers, likes and comments on one’s Instagram account.
It requires the user to log in via an Instagram lookalike screen
The Credentials entered into the form are then sent to the attackers’ server in plain text
After having entered the credentials, the user will find it impossible to log in, as explained in an “incorrect password” error screen.
After Credentials Stolen, it use compromised accounts for spreading spam and ads, there are also various “business models” in which the most valuable assets are followers, likes and comments. ESET said.
Protection Method :
ESET Suggest few way to protect from steal your Instagram Credentials.
If you have knowly downloaded one of these apps. you will get a notice from instagram as “some one attempting to log into your account “ Uninstall one of above mentioned apps and clear the application data in your memory. Change the instagram password immidiately. if you have used same password in multiple platform means,change the all the passwords. Verify the application before install the applciation in your mobile.check the popularity of its developer by numbers of installs, ratings and, most importantly, content of reviews.
Also Read :— A Palmdale woman was sentenced Wednesday to seven years to life in state prison for torturing her two young adopted children, officials from the Los Angeles County district Attorney’s Office said.
Ingrid Ivenia Brewer, 52, pleaded no contest to two counts of torture on Dec. 15.
RELATED: Woman Will Stand Trial After Allegedly Torturing Adopted Children
Brewer’s two adopted children – a boy and a girl who were 8 and 7 years old at the time, respectively – were found several blocks from their home, huddled under a car under a blanket, scarcely dressed and in sub-freezing temperatures on Jan. 15, 2013.
The children told deputies they had run away from home because they were tired of the abuse. Investigators say the two victims were covered in scars and blistered, and were kept separated and sometimes bound with zip ties in locked bedrooms and were afraid of returning to their adoptive mother.
The investigation found the children had been beaten with hangers, electric cords, ropes and pipes and communicated through walls while Brewer went to work as a nurse’s assistant at UCLA Medical Center.
RELATED: Palmdale Woman Arrested After Her Adopted Children Escape, Report Torture And AbuseGREY circles around bloodshot eyes accentuate the deep grooves of a face that has seen decades of labour in the sun. It is clear that Hagop, a farmer, has had little rest in the fortnight since he fled his home in northern Syria. “We’re all still dizzy,” he says, looking around his new refuge, a single-storey house in the eastern Lebanese-Armenian town of Anjar, in the agricultural plains three kilometres from the Syrian border.
Hagop (a pseudonym, as he would only speak on condition of anonymity, fearing for relatives still in Syria) arrived ten days ago from Kassab, an Armenian town on the Syrian-Turkish border. The resort town was captured by Syrian rebels, including al-Qaeda-linked groups, on March 21st, sparking now-discredited allegations of a massacre of the Christian Armenian population.
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In yet another example of a propaganda war being waged alongside the conventional one, Syrian and their allied Russian officials backed the claims. An online “Save Kassab” campaign won celebrity endorsement from the likes of Armenian-American reality TV star Kim Kardashian. Schools and shops in Beirut’s Armenian neighbourhoods closed to mark the “tragedy”.
Yet Hagop looked bewildered when asked if he had heard of such a massacre. He says no one was killed—a statement repeated by Anjar’s mayor, Sarkis Pamboukian.
The Armenians accuse an old foe for their woes. Scenes of mass panic on the day the town fell were sparked largely by rumours of a Turkish invasion, reopening wounds in the collective memory of the Armenians, victims of what is widely recognised as a genocide at the Turks’ hands in 1915. “I heard explosions, so I called friends, who said there was an attack from the Turkish border,” says Hagop.
No Turkish invasion materialised, but Anjar’s residents are adamant their historic adversaries were the masterminds behind the attack. “This is a continuation of Turkey’s project to take Kassab,” says Mr Pamboukian. “The rebels couldn’t have entered without their [Turkey’s] permission,” says Hagop, repeating claims made by non-Armenians too. Turkey’s foreign ministry says the accusations are “entirely baseless”.
There are around 100,000 Armenians in Syria, which has been a safe haven for minorities and displaced people including thousands of Palestinians, who are now finding themselves uprooted once more. Partly for this reason, Syrian Armenians and their Lebanese brethren in Anjar share quiet support for Syria’s Assad regime.
Despite Anjar’s beginnings as a squalid camp for refugees fleeing Turkey’s annexation of Hatay from Syria in 1939, the Christian town has effectively closed its doors to the 1m Syrian Arab refugees in Lebanon, the majority of whom are Sunni Muslims opposed to the regime. “If we find a Syrian in the street with no papers, we take him to the police”, says Ohanes Khoshian, the deputy mayor with the brusque manner of a man with little fondness for outsiders. The municipality also enforces a curfew on Syrians.
Still, the Armenians reject that sectarianism dictates their allegiances. Mr Pamboukian claims relations with Sunni neighbouring towns are “very good” while Hagop denies sectarianism explains Armenians’ support for Assad. He puts it down to the community’s traditional political passivity. “Armenians, wherever we are, don’t get into politics. Whoever rules is the ruler. They’re all the same for us.”Mick Thomson is a creature of habit—give him a few of his Ibanez MTM signature guitars packed with his Seymour Duncan EMTY Blackout pickups and he’s a happy dude. Each one of his guitars features a mahogany body, maple neck, and rosewood fretboard.
As far as he’s concerned, the best guitar he has out on the road right now is his white-and-black “storm trooper” Ibanez MTM that’s kept tuned to dropped-B. According to Thomson, it’s perfect for rhythm work and can stand up against any other 6-string in his collection for leads. Nearly all of 2008’s All Hope is Gone and the bulk of the rhythm material for last year’s.5: The Gray Chapter was done with the storm trooper. For this run, the band is primarily using two tunings and he uses a different set of D’Addario EXL117 strings for each one. For dropped-A tunings, he goes with.011–.058 and for dropped-B tunings he goes with.012–.068. Thomson recently worked with Dunlop to create a custom Jazz III pick made of a graphite composite because he feels they’re slicker, harder, and doesn’t make any scraping or scratching sounds when they wear down.Rameses Costumed Rameses at Carmichael Auditorium University University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Conference ACC Description Dorset ram Origin of name Jack ("The Battering Ram") Merritt First seen 1924 Related mascot(s) Rameses Jr.
Rameses is the ram mascot of the North Carolina Tar Heels. Three versions of Rameses appear at UNC sporting events. One is a member of the UNC cheerleading team in an anthropomorphic ram costume; the second is also an anthropomorphic ram costume, and the third is a live Dorset Horn sheep named Rameses who attends Carolina football games with his horns painted Carolina blue.[1]
Origin [ edit ]
The origin of a ram as North Carolina's mascot dates back to 1924. In 1922, the star fullback, Jack Merritt, was given the nickname "the battering ram" for his performance on the field, as well as for an initiation ritual he created for male freshman students. Vic Huggins, North Carolina's head cheerleader at the time, suggested the idea of a ram mascot to the athletic business manager, Charles T. Woollen, and had the idea approved. Charles gave Vic $25 to purchase a ram. Rameses the First was shipped from Texas, just in time for the pep rally.
The first appearance of Rameses was at a pep rally before the football game against Virginia Military Institute on November 8, 1924.[2][3] After the pep rally the ram was taken to Emerson Field. Through three quarters the game was scoreless. Late in the fourth quarter Bunn Hackney was called out to attempt a field goal. Before stepping out on the field he rubbed Rameses' head. Just a few seconds later Hackney kicked a 30-yard field goal that eventually won the game for the Tar Heels; the final score was 3-0. Rameses has been a fixture on the sidelines at UNC football games ever since.[4] The current Rameses ram is under the care of the Hogan family of Chapel Hill.[3]
The origin of the costumed version of Rameses dates back to the 1987-88 season. Auditions were held and a senior, Eric Chilton from Mount Airy, North Carolina, was given the honor to be the first mascot. Since auditions were held in the middle of the school year he only served for half a year and only showed up in a few basketball games in early 1988. The costume was made locally and looked different than the one used today.[1]
Rameses Jr. at a football game
Rameses Jr. [ edit ]
On the evening of October |
go into his house. We stayed there until the morning. He saved us,” Eusebio says.
The next morning Eusebio and other students assembled, cautiously, at the prosecutor’s office in Iguala. They wanted to help their classmates who had been detained.
However, on a nearby street was a horrific sign: the corpse of one of the students whom they believed had been detained. His face was sliced off.
“It was the symbol of the cartel assassins,” Eusebio says.
When students reassembled back in Tixtla, it turned out 43 of them were missing. The president dispatched federal police and soldiers to the state and arrested local police officers and some alleged cartel operatives. The Iguala mayor has gone on the run.
On Saturday, investigators found six pits with 28 bodies in fields on the outskirts of Iguala. They continue to search the area for more.
While prosecutors have named the alleged perpetrators of the atrocity, they have yet to explain why the police and cartel members reacted so violently.
Eusebio believes the bloodshed is the result of already repressive authorities working with drug cartels, which pushes the violence to new levels.
“This is narco politics. The police have always attacked us. But now that they work with cartels, those attacks become massacres.”
On Monday, President Peña Nieto called for a thorough investigation into the incident, which he called “outrageous, painful and unacceptable,” and for all perpetrators to be punished.
The state prosecutors have said the remains are very damaged and that identifying them could take several weeks.
The relatives, like this uncle of a disappeared student who spoke to GlobalPost late Sunday, want answers now.Biking for Your Kicks on Bicycle Route 66
For over 50 years, motorists traveled the legendary U.S. Route 66 – popularly known as Route 66 or the Mother Road – from Chicago, Illinois to the Santa Monica Pier in Los Angeles, California. Now it’s the cyclists’ turn.
In view of the strong association between the historic roadway and America’s love affair with the automobile, it is perhaps ironic that hundreds of travelers will now attain independence from the motor vehicle by traveling Bicycle Route 66 under their own steam. While the cafes and grocery stores along the way remain important fuel stops for them, traveling cyclists can enjoy a certain satisfaction as they whiz past the many gas stations found in the towns and cities they visit.
Over the years Route 66 was in service there were multiple alignments of its path. Some of them exist today as Historic Route 66 and are signed in various ways. In many places Historic Route 66 was replaced by interstate highways. Bicycle Route 66 travels west on bike paths, county roads and state, federal and interstate highways. However, please note Bicycle Route 66 does not always follow Historic Route 66. Deviations were made based on present-day conditions.
Right from the start in Chicago, Illinois, Bicycle Route 66 diverges from Historic Route 66 due to heavy traffic conditions. The official start location on Lake Michigan in Grant Park at Buckingham Fountain allows the use of multiple bike paths and trails along with city streets out of the congestion to meet up with Historic Route 66 in Elwood. A short distance later, the route begins its parallel path with I-55 passing through the capital city of Springfield as well as many smaller communities.
Much of the route in Illinois is characterized by the prairie landscape and rolling hills. In Madison County, the route takes advantage of a number of county-maintained trails to the Mississippi River crossing on the historic Chain of Rocks Bridge into St. Louis, Missouri.
The Riverfront Trail leads cyclists into the city and past the Gateway Arch commemorating the launch of the Lewis & Clark Corps of Discovery Expedition. Once through the suburbs on city and county roads, Bicycle Route 66 begins paralleling I-44 mostly on frontage roads and some county highways. Not far out of St. Louis, cyclists will encounter the rolling hills of the northern reaches of the Ozark Mountains. West of Springfield, Missouri, the route leaves Historic 66 in favor of quieter county roads and state highways. Leaving Bicycle Route 66 rejoins Historic Route 66 east of Joplin.
Kansas contains only about a dozen miles of Route 66, the least of any of the eight states the highway runs through. That didn’t prevent the residents of the area from taking great pride in “owning” part of the highway.
Once the route reaches the Oklahoma border, the flat to rolling landscape will encompass a variety of different prairie types until it reaches the Great Plains of the Texas panhandle. In general, the terrain across Oklahoma is a gradual uphill again paralleling interstates, first I-44, then I-40.
Amarillo, Texas is the last large city on the route before you reach the midpoint of Historic Route 66 in Adrian, Texas. Up to this point in the route, services of most types are regularly available and there are no extended sections of sparse services. However, the availability of bike shops decreases as the route heads west.
Much of Bicycle Route 66 across New Mexico is either on or roughly paralleling I-40 and/or I-25. One notable exception is where the route heads north to Santa Fe following an older alignment of Historic Route 66 before returning south to Albuquerque. Cyclists wishing a more direct route can opt to ride the shoulder of I-40 to Tijeras then return to the route. A second exception takes cyclists onto the Turquoise Trail/State Highway 14 between Santa Fe and Tijeras providing beautiful open vistas before returning to Historic Route 66.
West of Albuquerque to Chambers, Arizona and again past Flagstaff, Arizona, Bicycle Route 66 passes through several Native American lands known as Pueblos, Nations, and Reservations. These are sovereign lands with their own cultural flavor. Etiquette across them will require you to be a bit more circumspect in your behavior. Stealth camping is not permitted and in most, permission must be granted to photograph or otherwise record the scenery and sites. While most of the roads through these lands are state owned, those on the Pueblo Alternate through Acoma Pueblo are not and are subject to closures periodically. A visit to the Sky City Cultural Center and Haak’u Museum is a must if riding this 27.1 mile alternate.
Just west of Grants, New Mexico, cyclists will cross the Continental Divide as they pedal through the El Malpais National Monument. While it may be tempting to shorten the route outside of Grants west to Gallup using I-40, it is not recommended. Shoulder conditions are dangerous to impassable and there are no paralleling service or frontage roads to ride.
Gallup, New Mexico is home to the Brickyard Bike Park, which celebrated its grand opening in September 2013, with cycling celebrity Levi Leipheimer officiating. The bike park, coupled with a 15-year-long effort to build trails outside of town and recast the city as a mountain-biking mecca, has earned Gallup a formal designation by the state legislature as the Adventure Capital of New Mexico. Today, the area boasts two major networks of professionally designed, curvy singletrack trails, including the flagship High Desert Trail. Gallup hosts more mountain bike races than any other community in New Mexico and the High Desert Trail system has been designated a National Recreation Trail.
Bicycle Route 66 breaks from following Historic Route 66 to head south through the Petrified Forest National Park. Its hauntingly beautiful archaeological sites and unique geological formations include, not surprisingly, petrified trees.
In Flagstaff, Arizona you’ll see your first bike shop since Albuquerque. From Flagstaff, cyclists will ride a combination of I-40, paralleling service roads and county roads to Ash Fork before riding onto Old Route 66 the rest of the way across Arizona. From five miles south of Kingman to Topock at the California border, Old Route 66 has been designated by the Bureau of Land Management as the Historic Route 66 National Back Country Byway. It crosses Sitgreaves Pass in the rugged Black Mountains, where the BLM warns: “Travelers are advised that the portion of the highway passing through the mountains is a very narrow two-lane with no shoulders, extremely tight switchbacks, and many steep drop-offs.”
The entry into California drops cyclists into a long, desert stretch with very limited services from Needles to Barstow. This region is subject to violent thunderstorms and downpours in the summer monsoon and winter storm seasons. The weather pattern can result in flash flooding that closes the former Route 66 now known as the National Trails Highway (NTH) and thus Bicycle Route 66. Over the years NTH has fallen into some disrepair and, in September 2014, a particularly bad storm system came through not only flooding the area but further damaging NTH and several of the original Route 66 bridges causing long term closures of the road.
I-40 was built to replace the NTH. It is now the main thoroughfare between these two towns, and thankfully, has a well-maintained riding surface. While interstate riding was not our preference when planning this route, it is the best solution to the problem of travel between Needles and Barstow. Though I-40 is normally closed to bicycling, Adventure Cycling has worked with the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) to come to an agreement about temporarily allowing cyclists to ride sections of I-40 to continue on Bicycle Route 66. (See the map updates and corrections for Bicycle Route 66, Section 6 for current detour information.)
Once out of the desert, services improve and traffic increases as the route becomes urban through the suburbs of Los Angeles. While there are several plaques in the area denoting the end of Historic Route 66, the terminus of Bicycle Route 66 is on the Santa Monica Pier at the sign located where the road meets the pier.
Photo by Michael ClarkThis was a deadline week for many efforts to recall Democratic state Senators in Wisconsin. Organizers have 60 days to gather the required signatures to force a recall. Already, the deadline had passed for Lena Taylor, Fred Risser and Spencer Coggs. Now, a fourth recall effort, against Minority Leader Mark Miller, has been abandoned, because the organizers came up 268 signatures short. But there were actually two recall attempts against Miller. The story of the second one is even more interesting:
There had been a possibility that the group would consolidate with another recall effort against Miller, launched by the Utah-based American Patriot Recall Coalition, and use a May 4 deadline that group had to collect enough signatures. But Horn wrote in an email this morning that volunteers decided not to consolidate with the coalition. “We did this because we feel that the APRC is a front group for either wrecking conservative causes or for simple money making,” he said in the email. A recent article in the Deseret News of Salt Lake City, Utah, raised numerous questions about Dan Baltes, the head of the coalition. The story reported on time he served in the Idaho prison system in the 1980s and ’90s under a different name, for grand theft, forgery and writing bad checks.
This was the great hope of Wisconsin conservatives, a con artist from Utah. The APRC is running the last outstanding recall on the Democratic side, against Julie Lassa. The deadline is May 16. But given what we know about this coalition, I’d be shocked if they got their act together to file the signatures.
So the final tally here is three recalls against Democrats and at least six against Republicans. Recall efforts against GOP Senators Glenn Grothman and Mary Lazich have until next week to file. Both of them are in very red districts, but if the recall committee can pull off the signatures and go 8 for 8, it would be a great symbolic victory.
The Government Accountability Board, which runs elections in Wisconsin, petitioned a Dane County court, asking to consolidate all the recall elections to one day, July 12.
Under the GAB’s proposal, the agency and those involved in the recalls would have additional time to review the petitions, file challenges and respond to those filings. The GAB argued the additional time was needed, in part, because of the demands now placed on the agency by the ongoing statewide recount in the Supreme Court race and the thousands of signatures filed against state senators so far. It also points out in the filing recall elections by themselves are very rare in Wisconsin. To have eight going on at the same time is extraordinary.
(Note: The ninth recall, against Republican Sen. Rob Cowles, is expected to be filed today.)
I would expect that the judge would grant this request rather than force a staggered set of recalls over a number of weeks. And so July 12 is likely to be a major day in Wisconsin political history.Australian composer, actor and comedian Tim Minchin talks about the lessons of Roald Dahl, the unhelpfulness of hope and his addiction to trying new things.
Photo: RNZ / Claire Eastham-Farrelly
The Perth native, who first had international success as a provocative singing comedian in the early 2000s, was recently in the country ahead of the NZ premiere of Matilda the Musical – the wildly successful stage adaptation of the Roald Dahl story.
Minchin hadn't written musical theatre before Matilda, but he had strong feelings about the 'dark-light' tone of Dahl's story and how easy it would be to muck that up, he says.
"Dennis [the playwright] and me and Matthew [the director] just wanted to make something that we would love."
They didn't have to think about creating a show for children because the whole point of Matilda (and all of Roald Dahl's work) is that the child in all of us is still alive, he says.
"That's kind of what Matilda is about, not letting adulthood turn you into a cynical despot."
As a kid he was much 'thicker' than the character of Matilda, Minchin says.
"It's really fun thinking what would a five-year-old genius feel like? And the way you can access that is because as a 35-year-old – as I was when I wrote it – I had years worth of reading books and thinking. So I could go 'Imagine if you had all my knowledge and you were only a five year old?"
Roald Dahl himself was a "damaged, sad adult with a burning imaginative child within", he says.
"Matilda has this moral clarity. And I think Dahl craved that, he wished humans weren't so corrupt. I always felt like he thought adulthood inevitably corrupts you."
Dahl railed against anti-intellectualism and Minchin does the same thing in his comedy, he says.
Some say the Matilda song 'Loud' predicted the rise of Donald Trump.
"What you know matters less than the volume with which what you don't know's expressed" sings the character Mrs Wormwood.
But Minchin says the slide towards informational relativism – "this idea that experts aren't to be respected" – was happening long before he wrote the song and long before Trump's presidency.
"Half of America believes completely barmy conspiracy theories. Trump is an outcome of a pattern, he didn't invent it."
The digital revolution has meant that part of parenting now is teaching children to discern between real and fake news, he says.
"Bad information and good information kind of look the same on the internet and we have to figure out how to educate our kids to parse all that information and figure out what the difference between truth and bollocks is."
Minchin is also interested in the idea of hope and the faith we have in it.
Telling someone to 'never give up hope' can be trite and unhelpful, he says.
"Hope doesn't help, particularly. Also when people are in quite hopeless situations saying 'Don't give up hope' feels condescending and rather mean."
Something he's given up hope on is his "animated Australian outback musical" Larrikins ever making it to the screen.
Four years ago Minchin moved his family to LA to make the film with the animation company DreamWorks.
But $40 million and tens of thousands of hours' work later, the film was canned when Universal Pictures bought DreamWorks.
Universal Pictures are not really interested in making new stuff, he says.
"I had lunch with them the other day and I said 'You've chucked it in the bin and it's a tax write-off. It's a zero-dollar thing to you so if another studio wants it can't you just sell it to them for a few million dollars and license them the software?"
They said no.
Production was three-quarters done and the animation was half done when Larrikins was dumped, he says.
"These were living creatures voiced by the best actors – Jacki Weaver, Naomi Watts, Margot Robbie, Ben Mendelsohn, Ewen Leslie, Hugh Jackman was the lead. And these things were alive, they were fully animated, the best animation in the world, singing songs co-produced by Hans Zimmer."
"It was crazy… crazy. It's unbelievable for me, incomprehensible. There's obviously a lot of worse things in the world, but that loss of time and art makes my brain… I didn't sleep for a month after it happened. I just couldn't get past the anger.
'It just feels like the biggest error of my life, just because of the things I could have been doing in those four years. I could have done world tours and made albums and I refused acting roles. I don't expect anyone to pity me, I have the most wonderful career, but you do spend a bit of time lying awake thinking 'What a waste'."
The past year hasn't been all bad for Minchin professionally, though.
He wrote the music and lyrics for a stage version of the movie Groundhog Day which opened on Broadway this April and he plays Friar Tuck in the new Robin Hood remake Robin Hood: Origins coming out later in the year.
The movie Groundhog Day had always'screamed theatre' to him, he says.
"The idea of a human trapped in a metaphysical conundrum, the perimeters of which they don't understand. It's much more like Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead – my favourite Stoppard play."
At the end of the year, Minchin and his family will leave LA and move back to Sydney – "for the sake of the kids and family and beach and schools and getting the hell out of that crazy broken country".
Next year, he says he might record an album and get back on tour.
'I'm so addicted to trying to do new things."
Related storyGary Miller (right) opened the scoring
Stunning first-half strikes from distance by Gary Miller and Steven Lawless made it two wins on the bounce for Partick Thistle.
Thistle failed to register a victory in their first 10 matches this season but certainly did not look short of confidence against St Johnstone.
Steven MacLean pulled one back from close range after the break.
But the Jags held on despite seeing out the dying stages with 10 men after captain Abul Osman was sent off.
Thistle looked like they could not buy a goal for most of this season and now it looks like they cannot stop scoring them.
A 3-0 win over Dundee United last time out actually doubled their tally for the season and brought a first win in 11 attempts.
The confidence gained from that result and performance was evident as the Jags played some attractive football and looked the more dangerous side for long spells.
That in itself was quite an achievement against a St Johnstone side in a rich vein of form coming into the match with the boost of manager Tommy Wright committing his long-term future to the club.
They initially looked a pale shadow of the side that took Aberdeen apart last time out, but the credit for that has to go to Alan Archibald's players in general and Miller in particular.
The full-back was handed a chance to face his former club because Mustapha Dumbuya was laid low by illness and he certainly made the most of the opportunity.
Steven Lawless (right) scored Thistle's second goal at McDiarmid Park
His use of the ball was excellent going forward and never better than when he blasted his team into the lead in 28 minutes with a belter of a volley from 25 yards.
Saints probably feared as much when they saw his name on the team sheet, but it was still a stunning strike from someone who only scored once in three years at Perth.
Not that we had to wait for another marvellous goal as the lively Lawless lashed in a second from distance only six minutes later as reward for a fine first-half performance.
In response, the home side passed up a couple of half chances, while goalkeeper Tomas Cerny had to move sharply to push away a Dave MacKay curling free kick. That apart, Thistle defended diligently.
Until 49 minutes that is, when they allowed MacLean the freedom of the six-yard box to head in a Graham Cummins cross from the left for his ninth goal of the season.
Michael O'Halloran's introduction at the interval had certainly helped increase the home side's intensity and only a great Tomas Cerny save denied Liam Craig an equaliser.
Cummins then had a chance with a back-post header with nine minutes to go, but Cerny scurried across his goal to claw the ball away.
Miller then made a crucial tackle to deny MacLean a second goal after the striker had already rounded Cerny.
Osman was sent off for a second yellow card, having been cautioned for a foul in 66 minutes then walking after being booked for deliberate hand ball at the edge of the penalty area.
He now misses next week's visit from Hamilton Academical, when Archibald's side will look to continue their revival with a third straight league win.Analysis Growing in number, confidence and relevance
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The saddest sight on that cold and rainy Philadelphia afternoon in October was the lone, solitary, poncho-clad fan way up near the final rows of Lincoln Financial Field, watching hometown Temple play visiting East Carolina from a seat closer to New Jersey than green turf.
At least he caught a good show, had he been rooting for the home team: ECU was frustrated by rain and defensive ferocity, losing 20-10 despite tripling Temple's output of total yardage and first downs. Five turnovers will do that to you, ECU's Ruffin McNeill said afterward.
Good for Temple; bad for the Pirates; worse still for the American Athletic Conference.
The loss, ECU's second on the year — joining a non-conference loss at South Carolina — knocked the Pirates out of contention for an access-bowl bid to the College Football Playoff. With ECU no longer in the picture, the American no longer registered in the national conversation.
There was no American team in the final Playoff rankings. One team, Memphis, squeezed into the last spot of the final Amway Coaches Poll. No other team even received votes. As a whole, the American went 0-10 against ranked competition.
It's easy — with the hubbub over the Big 12 Conference's exclusion from the top four as one example —– to take early returns from the Playoff's existence and blow them out of proportion, hand-wringing over a single season's worth of evidence at the expense of the bigger picture. Your nearest researcher may call this "length bias," or the diagnosis of results before the onset of actual symptoms.
Memphis and coach Justin Fuente are looking for their second consecutive AAC championship.
(Photo: Tim Heitman, USA TODAY Sports)
Don't fall into that trap: Last year notwithstanding, there's room for optimism surrounding the American.
"I think we're on track and I think we're well ahead of schedule," commissioner Mike Aresco said. "In comparison to a few years ago, I feel much better than I did. That seems like a distant memory now, it really does. In a nutshell, the state of the league is good, it's strong. We're on the map nationally. I think we're poised for a really, really good year."
With Cincinnati poised to challenge for an access bowl, Memphis primed to continue its surge, Navy now in the fold, Central Florida a constant threat and Temple a trendy sleeper nationally — among other teams, among other outlooks — that much is true: This could be a good year for the American. Yet at the heart of this optimism stands long-range positivity, fueled by a tweaked conference alignment, an influx of coaching talent and countless non-conference opportunities.
Navy's arrival doesn't just bolster the American's national profile, adding as it does a program with near-flawless pedigree and a recent run of success; it pushes the league's rank to 12 teams, allowing for a pair of six-team divisions and a conference championship game.
In addition to Cincinnati's Tommy Tuberville and UCF's George O'Leary, the American's ranks include a number of fast-rising sideline prospects: Matt Rhule at Temple, Tom Herman at Houston, Chad Morris at SMU and Justin Fuente at Memphis. If to a slightly lesser degree, this mirrors the path taken by the Pac-12 Conference, which has invested in coaching talent to enormously beneficial results.
In non-conference play this fall, American teams will take on Miami (Fla.), Brigham Young, Penn State, Notre Dame, Stanford, South Carolina, Florida, Virginia Tech, Missouri, Florida State, Louisville, Mississippi, Oklahoma and Baylor, among others. Opportunities abound; the league just needs to win.
AAC commissioner Mike Aresco sees his conference rising in the national pecking order.
(Photo: Stew Milne, Associated Press)
"We don't play just a good non-conference schedule, we play an outstanding non-conference schedule," Aresco said. "We are challenging ourselves. But we need to win more of those games. We need to be competitive in all those games and we need to win more of them.
"Right now we've got some really, really good teams. Last year we had good teams, some very good teams. But we need to have that couple of elite teams that emerge, that can potentially vie for New Year's Day. We'd like to be back on New Year's Day."
Off-field growth — through new teams, new divisions, new coaches — comes easy; the hard part comes in translating this progression into on-field results, and in the process remaking the national perception of the American.
"We have to build brands," said Aresco. "Our motto lately has been, 'We're good and we're worth watching.' The conference has already done some remarkable things. I think it's just a question of getting more coverage. We're urging writers and media to cover us more. So much of it has been Power Five, and there are 10 FBS conferences.
"We're trying to get that steered into the consciousness. It's a process. There's no magic formula. You just keep fighting."
And there's a clear end game in mind: joining the Power Five structure.
Said Aresco, "We want to be in the Power Five conversation. I think we're in that conversation. I hate the term because it tends to denigrate those who are not in that category, but we have to live with it for now."
Predicted order of finish (with 1-128 ranking)
Cincinnati and quarterback Gunner Kiel are primed for a big season.
(Photo: Tommy Gilligan, USA TODAY Sports)
EAST
1. Cincinnati (No. 30)
2. Temple (No. 56)
3. Central Florida (No. 58)
4. East Carolina (No. 66)
5. South Florida (No. 103)
6. Connecticut (No. 119)
WEST
1. Memphis (No. 35)
2. Navy (No. 50)
3. Houston (No. 63)
4. Tulane (No. 91)
5. Tulsa (No. 108)
6. SMU (No. 117)
Trivia question (No Googling allowed)
By reading this sentence, you have agreed to a strict no-Googling rule in finding your answer.
Nine former Urban Meyer assistants currently serve as a head coach on the FBS level. Another two of Meyer's former assistants have been head coaches in the recent past. Can you name the nine current FBS head coaches? Extra credit for naming the two ex-assistants who were but are not currently FBS head coaches. Two hints: one, there's clearly some tie to the American, as you might think; and two, one of those active nine was a head coach before serving under Meyer, and is now again.
National conference rank Where does the AAC rank among other FBS conferences?
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7. American Athletic Conference
8.
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10.
Best case, worst case Each team's range of possibilty
CINCINNATI
Best case: The Bearcats do lose once, likely during a pair of tough games in October against Miami (Fla.) and Brigham Young, but at 11-1 secure the top spot among teams in the non-major conferences.
Worst case: Cincinnati loses five games: Temple, Memphis, Miami, BYU and UCF.
Temple coach Matt Rhule puts his all into his team, and he expects his players to do the same.
(Photo: Bill Streicher for USA TODAY)
CENTRAL FLORIDA
Best case: Topping Cincinnati gives UCF the East Division and a puncher's chance at an access-bowl bid.
Worst case: The Knights go 6-6, winning fewer than eight games for just the second time 2009.
TEMPLE
Best case: Temple exceed even some lofty preseason expectations in vaulting to the top of the East; included in the regular season is a victory against Penn State.
Worst case: Given the team's talent and coaching acumen, sliding back out of bowl eligibility would be pretty disappointing.
EAST CAROLINA
Best case: The offense doesn't miss a beat without former coordinator Lincoln Riley, helping ECU win nine games in the regular season despite a changing cast.
Worst case: A sour start in non-conference play sets ECU off on the wrong foot in a four-win finish.
SOUTH FLORIDA
Best case: I guess seven wins would be pretty exciting for a fan base growing tired of the program's recent ways.
Worst case: Let's say three wins, which would be a major issue for Willie Taggart and the Bulls' coaching staff.
Memphis quarterback Paxton Lynch (12) tries to avoid UConn defenders Kenton Adeyemi (95) and Andrew Adams (22).
(Photo: Justin Ford, USA TODAY Sports)
CONNECTICUT
Best case: Progress. It's hard to put a win total on progress. But it'd be nice to see the Huskies improve.
Worst case: Regression. Think that's not possible? It is, technically, since UConn won just once in 2014. Winless would be a bad thing for second-year coach Bob Diaco.
HOUSTON
Best case: Thanks to the rebuilt and explosive offense installed by new coach Tom Herman and his staff, the Cougars win more than eight games for the first time since 2011.
Worst case: Houston finishes tied for fifth in the West, but it'd take a real disaster to question the program's decision to nab Herman from Ohio State.
NAVY
Best case: Navy beats Army.
Worst case: Army beats Navy.
MEMPHIS
Best case: After last year's major breakthrough, Memphis returns to the top of the American thanks to impressive wins against Navy, Cincinnati and Temple.
Worst case: There's still cause for long-term optimism, but the Tigers slide out of bowl play.
New Tulsa coach Philip Montgomery (center) runs his first practice with the Golden Hurricane in March.
(Photo: University of Tulsa Sports Information)
TULANE
Best case: Curtis Johnson's solid recruiting gives Tulane the talent and depth it needs to finish at 8-4 and second in the division.
Worst case: Tulane matches last year's total with three wins.
TULSA
Best case: More than six wins would mark an impressive debut for Philip Montgomery, but Tulsa's real coaching star is new defensive coordinator Bill Young.
Worst case: The Golden Hurricane lose to SMU and end up in the cellar of the West Division.
SMU
Best case: New coach Chad Morris works his typical magic on offense, propelling SMU to seven wins and a bowl berth.
Worst case: Much like last season, SMU wins just one game and ranks among the nation's worst.
Preseason all-conference team The best at each position
E.K. Binns is a key blocker in Navy's option attack.
(Photo: Phil Hoffman)
Offense
East Carolina needs another big season out of linebacker Zeek Bigger in 2015.
(Photo: John Geliebter, USA TODAY Sports)
QB: Keenan Reynolds, Navy
RB: Mike Boone, Cincinnati
RB: Kenneth Farrow, Houston
WR: Keevan Lucas, Tulsa
WR: Mekale McKay, Cincinnati
TE: Alan Cross, Memphis
OL: Ike Harris, East Carolina
OL: Parker Ehinger, Cincinnati
OL: Kyle Friend, Temple
OL: E.K. Binns, Navy
OL: J.T. Boyd, East Carolina
Defense
DL: Thomas Niles, UCF
DL: Silverberry Mouhon, Cincinnati
DL: Hersey Walton, Temple
DL: Praise Martin-Oguike, Temple
LB: Tyler Matakevich, Temple
LB: Zeek Bigger, East Carolina
LB: Nico Marley, Tulane
CB: William Jackson, Houston
CB: Parry Nickerson, Tulane
S: Adrian McDonald, Houston
S: Zach Edwards, Cincinnati
Specialists
K: Jake Elliott, Memphis
P: Dalton Parks, Tulsa
RET: Arkeel Newsome, Connecticut
Best units Position-by-position
Quarterback: Navy and Cincinnati (tie). It depends on what's demanded from the position: Keenan Reynolds fits Navy's offense like a glove, while Gunner Kiel excels in the Bearcats' pass-based scheme. Both are superb.
Kenneth Farrow (35) and Ryan Jackson (22) give Houston the AAC's best running back tandem.
(Photo: Raymond Carlin III, USA TODAY Sports)
Running back: Houston. Between seniors Kenneth Farrow and Ryan Jackson, the Cougars tout the league's best one-two backfield pair.
Wide receiver and tight end: Cincinnati. The Bearcats are loaded with seniors, making this perhaps the most experienced receiver corps in the entire country. Mekale McKay is the best of the bunch.
Offensive line: Memphis. Despite losing all-conference right tackle Al Bond, the Tigers return the majority of last year's rotation and add Louisville transfer Ryan Mack.
Defensive line: Temple. As many as three linemen were under consideration for the preseason all-conference team, with end Matt Ioannidis joining Praise Martin-Oguike and Hersey Walton.
Linebacker: Temple. Led by Matakevich, this unit may end up being the best unit, period, in the entire conference.
Secondary: Houston. Having a stopper in William Jackson is one thing, but the Cougars also tout a pair of top talents at safety.
Special teams: Memphis. I expect kicker Jake Elliott to contend for national hardware, while punter Spencer Smith is very much in the mix for all-conference honors.
Video What to watch for
CLOSE USA TODAY Sports' Paul Myerberg breaks down the American Athletic Conference, including the game of the year and which player is going to break out in 2015.
Fact check Tidbits, notes and numbers
Navy's Ken Niumatalolo is one of nine active coaches in the FBS to lead their current program in career wins. Now 57-35 since the start of the 2008 season, Niumatalolo passed former Navy coach George Welsh last season; fittingly, he did so with a win against Army. The others: Frank Beamer, Pat Fitzgerald, Mike Gundy, Gary Patterson, Gary Pinkel, Bill Snyder, Steve Spurrier and Bob Stoops.
Speaking of elite coaching company … Three active coaches have won eight or more games at four different FBS programs. One is Urban Meyer, at Bowling Green, Utah, Florida and Ohio State. Another is Nick Saban, who reached that mark at Toledo, Michigan State, LSU and Alabama. And the third? Tommy Tuberville, who has won at least eight games in a season at Mississippi, Auburn, Texas Tech and Cincinnati.
For starters, last year's 10-win finish marked Memphis' first year with double-digit wins since 1938, when the Tigers went undefeated under Allyn McKeen. That's not all: Memphis joins Air Force as the only program in the FBS to have a 10-win season and a 10-loss season within the last four years.
ECU looked inward to find its replacement for Riley, with Ruffin McNeill opting to promote Dave Nichol rather than conduct a wider search for his new offensive coordinator. One of the more notable changes will come in scoring territory: Look for Nichol to stress the tight end more than in ECU's recent past, particularly when the Pirates reach the red zone.
East Carolina promoted Dave Nichol to offensive coordinator in the offseason, replacing Lincoln Riley, who moved to Oklahoma.
(Photo: East Carolina University Sports Information)
Temple is the only team in the FBS to return all 11 of its starters on defense. The best of the bunch if senior linebacker Tyler Matakevich, who has posted three 100-tackle seasons in a row and leads all active FBS defenders with 355 career stops. How close is his next-closest competitor? No other active defender in the country has even 300 career tackles – so it's Matakevich in a landslide.
If Tulane finishes with a winning record in 2015, Curtis Johnson will become just the second coach in the last 40 years to win seven or more games twice with the Green Wave. The other was Tommy Bowden, who won seven games in 1997 and led Tulane to a 12-0 finish in 1998.
Connecticut won at least eight games in each of Randy Edsall's last four seasons with the Huskies, culminating in a conference title and Fiesta Bowl berth in 2010. The Huskies are since mired in four losing seasons in a row, the program's longest such streak since 1998-2001. The good news? Edsall's solid run began in 2002. The bad news? I'm not sure if Bob Diaco is the next Randy Edsall.
UCF's 34-27 loss to N.C. State in last year's Bitcoin Bowl snapped a pair of winning streaks. It was the Knights' first loss in 25 tries in games kicking off later than 3 p.m. and the team's first defeat in 13 tries in non-Saturday games.
National award candidates Best of the best
Heisman Trophy: Keenan Reynolds, Navy. He'll have the numbers and the positive recognition that comes from playing for a service academy.
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The woman was passing through security at Corpus Christi airport on May 29 2008 when she was subjected to “extended search procedures” by the TSA.
“As the TSA agent was frisking plaintiff, the agent pulled the plaintiff’s blouse completely down, exposing plaintiffs’ breasts to everyone in the area,” the lawsuit said. “As would be expected, plaintiff was extremely embarrassed and humiliated.”
TSA workers continued to laugh and joke about the incident “for an extended period of time,” leaving the woman distraught and needing to be consoled. After the woman re-entered the boarding area, TSA workers continued to humiliate her over the incident.
“One male TSA employee expressed to the plaintiff that he wished he would have been there when she came through the first time and that ‘he would just have to watch the video,’” the suit said.
The woman filed an administrative claim against the TSA but was forced to launch a full lawsuit after the agency failed to respond.
The incident bears similarities to a 2002 case involving a pregnant woman who had her breasts exposed by TSA agents in public. Her husband was thrown in the airport jail for complaining about the treatment of his wife.
Other cases involve TSA agents making comments about the size of private parts, subjecting those involved to trauma and humiliation.
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Despite these and thousands of other complaints against the TSA, and the fact that police are being called to look out for over enthusiastic TSA gropers, the agency still maintains that no fondling, groping or squeezing is taking place at airports at all.
Related reading: TSA’s Top Transgressions: Who Is Doing The Terrorizing?
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Steve Watson is the London based writer and editor at Alex Jones’ Infowars.net, and regular contributor to Prisonplanet.com. He has a Masters Degree in International Relations from the School of Politics at The University of Nottingham in England.Like A Fish Needs A Bicycle A woman needs a man like a fish needs a bicycle. "A woman needs a man like a fish needs a bicycle." Or so we were told by Irina Dunn - an Australian feminist activist - and by Gloria Steinem, who popularised the statement.. Oh really? Hmm. Let's see now. Let us investigate the matter. It is men who have produced the greatest works in all of the arts - literature, poetry, music, paintings, sculptures, films, plays, architecture etc.... It is men who have progressed most of our understanding in just about all areas to do with science, engineering and medicine - astronomy, chemistry, biochemistry, physics, geology, cosmology, mathematics, economics, geography, climatology, aeronautics, pharmacology, surgery, computer hardware, software etc etc etc etc... It is men who have built the houses, the bridges, the roads, the railways, the dams, the factories It is men who have built the houses, the bridges, the roads, the railways, the dams, the factories, the ships, the canals, the monuments, the airports, the churches, the offices, the tunnels, the engines, the industrial machinery etc.... It is men mostly who have worked in the factories, the furnaces, the sewers, the mines etc.... It is men mostly who have, rightly or wrongly, fought the wars, fought the crimes, fought the elements, fought the odds etc.... And it is men who have invented, discovered and created just about everything that has ever been invented, discovered or created. So it seems to me that, while an individual woman might well need a man as much as a fish needs a bicycle, women, as a whole, need men just as much as a fish needs water. In other words, women need men just to survive! In fact, both men and women need men like a fish needs water. The whole human race does. As such, the more that men are disadvantaged, disorientated, dissuaded, demonised and discriminated against, and, hence, the more alienated and the more destructive that they become, so it is that the whole human race will pay a heavy price. And yet for the past decade or so, we have seen various'scientists' proclaiming hither and thither that men are becoming redundant, that their presence will soon no longer be required, that their faulty Y chromosome is going to disappear and that, in essence, they are merely parasites on women. But look at the list above. Would women ever do what men do? Could women ever do what men do? Would women even want to do what men do? I suspect not, for the most part. And yet one often hears western women proclaiming quite seriously that they are now "independent of men", and that they no longer need them. The truth, however, is that they are still as dependent on men as they ever were. For just about everything. Men No Longer Required Men No Longer Required Dr Robert Sparrow yesterday told the Australian Medical Students Association convention that females could soon rule the world as hermaphrodites without any biological use for men. To reach this post-sex world, Dr Sparrow said parents wanting the best for their children should start choosing baby girls through IVF because they live longer and have more opportunities in life...................... To: [email protected] Subject: Centre for Human Bioethics Dear Dr Sparrow I see that you work for the Centre of Bioethics at Monash University. BioETHICS, eh? Do you **really** think that it is 'ethical' to suggest to the world that because men currently have poorer health prospects than women that they should be extinguished? You sound just like Hitler! Take my advice. It is probably best if you do not continue to promote such a view. You would not believe the amount of sh#t that will likely come your way if you continue to promote such hatred towards men. Best wishes, Harry webmaster at angryharry.com Women Only Orange Book Award Is Sexist The country's leading literary award for women novelists is sexist and should be scrapped, a prominent male novelist claimed yesterday.
Tim Lott said the £30,000 Orange Prize - founded 13 years ago amid claims that women writers fared poorly in awards such as the Booker Prize - was "discriminatory, sexist and perverse". Did you know that even though women read many more books than men, it is still the case that the best-selling authors are male? Even women prefer male writers. Yes indeed. Even women prefer male writers. And who can blame them? And now I am going to summarise all the books ever written by women. Chapter 1: Women are victims. Men are ba*stards. Chapter 2: Women are victims. Men are ba*stards. Chapter 3: Women are victims. Men are ba*stards. Final Chapter: Women are victims. Men are ba*stards. The End. They say that there are only seven basic plots in the world of human affairs. And that all stories are simply re-arrangements of these very same plots. Well, when it comes to female authors, there is usually only one plot. And we all know what it is. LOL! You think I exaggerate, eh? No, Sir,... Daisy Goodwin, the TV producer who chairs this year's Orange Prize panel for women's fiction, has revealed how she found herself deluged by uncompromisingly tough reads. She had to battle through 129 books to select a longlist, and regular subjects that cropped up were bereavement, child abuse and rape. She added: 'A lot of them started with a rape... there was child abuse. 'There was very little wit and no jokes. There was very little wit and no jokes. if I read another sensitive account of a woman coming to terms with bereavement, I was going to slit my wrists.
'I think the misery memoir has had its day, but there are an awful lot of books out there which had not a shred of redemption in them. Women just love to wallow in tales of abuse. They love it. They can't get enough of the stuff. Nevertheless, I am sure that there many truly fantastic female authors out there. In fact, I know there are. But there are not as many of them as there are men. And there never will be, no matter how much money sexist organisations like Orange offer to women to come up with the goodies. And I can tell you why. men's brains are more various than are those of women. Statistically speaking, men's brains are more various than are those of women. Their thoughts and their experiences are, therefore, also going to be more various than are those of women. Their thoughts and their experiences are, therefore, going to be less commonplace - and, hence, more 'interesting' - than are those of women. And, as a result, their books are also going to be more interesting. Indeed, in much the same way that the variation of genes allowed organisms to diverge in their structures and their behaviours - thus allowing them to explore and, thence, to exist inside different ecological environments - the variation of brains has allowed humans to delve into cognitive arenas that were once completely unexplored. And given that the brains of men vary more so than do those of women, it is men who will more likely enter those cognitive arenas that were once completely unexplored. And so, for example,... Men Are Better Writers Controversial though it may sound, men write better books than women, at least according to the staff of Britain's biggest book chain, Waterstone's. What next, eh? "Controversial though it may sound, Beethoven produced better music than the Spice Girls." "Controversial though it may sound, Shakespeare wrote better then wot did Germaine Greer." Of course men are better writers. And that's a scientific fact!
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AH's RSS Feed Recent comments from some emails which can be viewed in full here.... "I cannot thank you enough." "I stumbled upon your web site yesterday. I read as much as I could in 24 hours of your pages." "I want to offer you my sincere thanks." "Your articles and site in general have changed my life." "I have been reading your articles for hours..." "Firstly let me congratulate you on a truly wonderful site." "I must say there aren't many sites that I regularly visit but yours certainly will be one of them,..." "It is terrific to happen upon your website." "I just wanted to say thank you for making your brilliant website." "Your site is brilliant. It gives me hours of entertainment." "You are worth your weight in gold." "Love your site, I visit it on a regular basis for relief, inspiration and for the sake of my own sanity in a world gone mad." "I ventured onto your site... it's ABSOLUTELY BRILLIANT, and has kept me enthralled for hours!" "I love the site, and agree with about 98% of what you post." "I have been reading your site for a while now – and it is the best thing ever." "you are doing a fabulous job in exposing the lies that silly sods like me have swallowed for years."(CNN) -- Craigslist will replace its controversial online "erotic services" listings with a section where ads are individually checked by Craigslist employees before they are posted, according to Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal.
Craigslist will replace its "erotic services" listings with ads that are screened by the site's employees.
The popular classified-ad Web site, which Blumenthal called "a blatant Internet brothel," has been accused by law enforcement officials across the United States of promoting prostitution through its erotic ads.
"Craigslist is heeding our clear call for conscience and common sense, sending a strong signal that Internet sites must police themselves to protect others," Blumenthal said.
Craigslist representatives met in New York last week with Blumenthal and the attorneys general of Missouri and Illinois, all of whom asked the company to shut down its "erotic services" sections in their states.
Cook County, Illinois, Sheriff Thomas Dart called Craigslist "the single largest source of prostitution in the nation."
"As head of the multistate attorney general task force," Blumenthal said, "I was informed by Craigslist late last night that it will eliminate the 'erotic services' section within seven days, create a new section called 'adult services' and manually review every ad posted there to bar flagrant prostitution and pornography." Listen to Blumenthal talk to CNN Radio about the change »
"So far, it looks like we've struck the right balance, and most of the feedback we're getting right now is positive," Craigslist CEO Jim Buckmaster told CNN's "American Morning."
He said his company does not view the law enforcement community's involvement as pressure.
"We're looking for constructive criticism, and certainly we've been getting plenty of that," Buckmaster said.
Don't Miss State vows criminal action over Craigslist sex ads
Craigslist executives released a statement Wednesday confirming the change, which it said will take place after current ads expire in seven days.
New ads in the "adult services" section "will be opened for postings by legal adult service providers," the company said.
"Each posting to this new category will be manually reviewed before appearing on the site, to ensure compliance with Craigslist posting guidelines and terms of use," it said. Advertisers will pay a $10 fee for each new ad, it said.
Blumenthal said state agencies will keep a close eye on the Web site and others "to make sure prostitution and pornography do not migrate and move elsewhere."
"We will be monitoring closely to make sure that this measure is more than a name change from 'erotic' to 'adult' and that the manual blocking is tough and effective to scrub prostitution and pornography," he said.
Craiglist CEO speaks Craiglist CEO Jim Buckmaster talks to CNN's John Roberts Thursday morning.
6 a.m. ET see full schedule »
"Our continuing investigation will assure that these steps are substance, not just spin, and that Craigslist really shuts down its open online red-light district."
Craigslist drew attention recently after a 23-year-old medical student was charged in the death of a masseuse in a Boston, Massachusetts, hotel room and in a hotel assault in Rhode Island. Police have said it appeared that the attacker in both cases had responded to the victims' Craigslist ads.
The Craigslist statement said ads on its site have been associated with "far lower rates of violent crime than print classifieds, let alone rates of violent crime pertaining to American society as a whole."
It suggested that the online ads are safer because of verification measures, community monitoring, the electronic trail left by those using the site and Craigslist's cooperation with investigators.
In November, Craigslist entered into an agreement with more than 40 attorneys general and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children to add safeguards to combat unlawful activity and improve public safety.
As part of the reforms, Craigslist agreed to implement credit card verification, assess a fee and require a phone number from people posting "erotic services."
All About Craigslist Inc. • Internet • PornographyA Tucson man filed a lawsuit Friday challenging the results of Arizona's presidential primary election, saying problems with voter registration statewide and Election Day balloting render the certified results illegal.
John Brakey's lawsuit seeks an order rescinding certification of the results and remedies that might include a new election to fix the problems. The lawsuit filed in Maricopa County Superior Court names all 15 Arizona counties and Secretary of State Michele Reagan.
Maricopa County saw huge lines on Election Day after county officials cut the number of polling places from 200 in 2012 to 60 this year and turnout exceed expectations. But there were issues statewide with voters complaining that they were registered with a party but the voter rolls showed they were independents and ineligible to vote.
Brakey co-founded a group called AUDIT-AZ that focuses on election integrity issues. His attorney, Michael Kielsky of Mesa, said he believes the long lines in Maricopa County depressed voter turnout by 12 percent. Voter registration problems, especially with errors by the state's Motor Vehicle Division, led to many people having their party registration improperly changed.
"Part of the reason we're doing this is we really need to highlight to people that if you think you voted, not so much," Kielsky said. "And this time they screwed up so badly it's not good enough even for government work."
Friday was the deadline for challenging the election results. Hillary Clinton won Arizona's Democratic primary over Bernie Sanders, and Donald Trump won on the Republican side. Sanders had been considering a contest but opted against it.
A judge has set a hearing for April 19.
The Sanders campaign had considered contesting the results of the March 22 election because of serious problems in the state's largest county, including hourslong lines and the rejection of about 20,000 provisional ballots. That amounted to about 80 percent of those cast, mainly by registered independents not allowed to vote in the state's closed primary.
"We concluded that an election contest is too narrow and restricting a venue to address the widespread problems in Maricopa County that occurred on Election Day and disenfranchised tens of thousands of Arizona voters," Sanders attorney Chris Sautter said.
The campaign determined that a challenge, which could at best add one or two Democratic delegates to Sanders' tally, did not justify the cost given that it wouldn't address the serious Election Day issues. Sautter is instead considering a federal lawsuit challenging Maricopa County's election practices, possibly partnering with other concerned groups.
The county has acknowledged it made mistakes in how it operated the election by dramatically cutting the number of polling places and widely underestimating Election Day turnout.
The U.S. Department of Justice has launched an inquiry into whether the county violated voting-rights laws.Image caption KLM has enough biokerosene for 200 flights but aims to source more
The Dutch airline KLM says it plans to use recycled cooking oil on 200 flights between Paris and Amsterdam.
The fuel, biokerosene, is derived from used frying oil, which has to be tested to meet the same technical specifications as traditional kerosene.
Airlines are under EU pressure to cut their carbon emissions by 3% by 2012.
KLM's interest in biofuels dates back to 2009, when it ran a test flight carrying 40 people, including the then Dutch economics affairs minister.
The 90-minute flight was majority powered by traditional aviation fuel, with just one of the its four engines powered 50% by biofuel.
Future flights will use half traditional kerosene and half biofuel.
KLM said its supplies - which are collected from hotels, restaurants and factories before being sent to the US for refining - were currently only enough for 200 journeys.
But KLM's managing director, Camiel Eurlings, said it was aiming to go much further than that: "The route to 100% sustainable energy is enormously challenging. We need to move forward together to attain continuous access to sustainable fuel."
The biokerosene flights are expected to start in September on some or all of the six flights a day between the two cities, although the company needs authorisation before they can go ahead.As previously noted, Virginia’s Sundials is a tight, pop-punk trio that falls on the slightly artier side of things, avoiding the snotty, brashness of the genre’s most well-known entities. The band has continually offers up ragged power-pop that brings new life into a genre that can often eschews progression or deviation, and it’s this slightly left-of-center nature that keeps Sundials from ever feeling predictable. Case in point is the lead single from the band’s last full-length, When I Couldn’t Breathe. “710” rumbles forth with a foundation-shaking bass line before a chunky-yet-complimentary guitar riff slowly gives way to a toe-tapping chorus. The song, which could easily double as the band’s mission statement, now has an accompanying video, which The A.V. Club is premiering below.
The video, which was filmed, edited, and directed by Max Weinstein-Bacal serves as a makeshift recreation of Old Yeller, with guitarist/vocalist Harris Mendell taking up the part of the loveable pup. Watch the video for “710” below, and be prepared to get traumatized all over again.Last night, I did something I hadn’t done in a very long time. I took a long, hot bath. I just laid there, and I started to feel how tired I was, and I started to feel less tense. And then I got up, and I went to my bedroom, and I laid down next to my boyfriend and my dog Hektor, who will insistently not act like a dog and sleep in a doggie bed or at the foot of the bed, he demands respect, damn it, he absolutely must sleep directly between you and the other person with his face right in your face, and I fell instantly asleep. I wasn’t distracted by sadness or anger or despair or tension, I wasn’t feeling awful for the first time in a long time, and so, I let the dog find a comfortable space next to me (FACE RIGHT IN YOUR FACE, FACE RIGHT IN YOUR FAAAACE), and I had a good night’s sleep. For the first time in a week.
Because I could do that, sort of. Because we won one. I’ll tell you why I’m certain we won it, a little later — the evidence may surprise you — but you might know part of it. The part where, in the last, final push of #MooreandMe, we turned all our hope and support and need for genuinely progressive media that takes rape claims seriously and does not smear or enable harm to women who report rape on to Rachel Maddow, and asked her to end #MooreandMe. And she got on her show, and she said this:
The timing could not be more suspicious. The man accused says he’s being pursued for political reasons. But even if you’re suspicious about the timing, there are two women who went to the police with what are essentially date-rape charges against this guy. This doesn’t fit on a bumper sticker. Can your suspicion about the forces arrayed against Julian Assange and Wikileaks — your suspicion about the timing and pursuit of these charges — coexist with respect for the women making these accusations against him and with a commitment to take rape allegations seriously, even when the person accused is someone that for other reasons you like?
Yes. You undoubtedly can. We’ve all been doing it for well over a week; #MooreandMe was only the most evident and obvious and loud manifestation of that commitment. But can you get a beloved progressive media figure say it on TV? You couldn’t, before #MooreandMe. You simply couldn’t. Maddow hadn’t screwed up on this story before, it’s true. But last night, she said, with great seriousness, that respecting those women and taking those charges seriously was important. And when her team posted it, to @MaddowBlog and the Maddow Blog, they specifically credited #MooreandMe.
And then Michael Moore came on. And the first question Rachel Maddow asked him, the first one she asked him, was about this. That the story had “blown up in a lot of directions.” It had blown up, and had reached out to Rachel Maddow, in one specific direction, and I can’t for the life of me see why she wouldn’t mention us on-air, but, OK. She asked him; she mentioned us, if not by name. And that’s the point at which Michael Moore said this:
Every woman who claims to have been sexually assaulted or raped has to be, must be, taken seriously. Those charges have to be investigated to the fullest extent possible. For too long, and too many women have been abused in our society, because they were not listened to, and they just got shoved aside… The older people here remember how it used to be. It’s not that much better now, it got a little better, because of the women’s movement made that happen.
And no, Michael Moore: It is not that much better now. It is, indisputably, not that much better. Naomi Wolf went on TV and told every viewer there that it isn’t rape if the victim is unconscious, that penetrating an unconscious woman is “consensual”: It’s not that much better. Those two women’s names were outed, to over 900,000 people, by you and by Keith Olbermann, and attached to a derogatory smear by a Holocaust denier and WikiLeaks representative on little to no evidence, because you support WikiLeaks and treated those two women as expendable in so doing: It’s not that much better. I got a message from a woman that the pro-Assange group, pro-WikiLeaks group she’s allied with, is posting messages that these women are liars and Assange is innocent, on its Facebook group, and that she’s being attacked for standing up to them: It’s not that much better. I got forwarded a link to an actual product that is being sold, an e-card featuring a drawing of a traumatized-looking woman huddled in a shower, reading “Congratulations! You just got bad touched”: It’s not that much better. A woman who was part of the protest told me that a message reading, in part, that she was “a cum-guzzling super slut wannabe hasbian dyke that is angry with the world because no matter how many times she flashed her uneven nigger breasts no man would ever touch her” was posted to streamofwikileaks.tumblr.com: It is not that much better. A man told me he had to stop protesting, had to stop posting #MooreandMe, because the harassment had gotten too intense, and “they have my home address and have explicitly threatened me and my wife,” and then he was such a goddamned good person that he actually apologized: It’s not that much better. Many of my friends, people I know and have worked with and respect, have come forward to tell me that they, too, are survivors, the absolute epidemic of rape and sexual assault that we face in this society has become that much clearer to me, the list of women I know who are also rape survivors has become much, much longer since I posted it on Saturday: It is not, it is indisputably not, that much better.
But you went on TV, Michael Moore, and you said that “every woman who claims to have been sexually assaulted or raped has to be, must be, taken seriously.” And when I realized that I was actually grateful for that, that I was so grateful I actually broke down sobbing, well: That’s when I realized the extent of what we’re actually up against. Certain people have been quick to condemn me for “settling” for so little, for taking “crumbs,” but the thing is? We all worked for a goddamned week, non-stop, risking our lives and safety, to hear a man say that women who report sexual assault and rape have to be taken seriously. And we shouldn’t ever, ever have to fight to hear people say that. It should never take a week for us to get through to those people. We should never, ever have to point out to a man that laughing out loud, discussing rape allegations, and calling them a “so-called crime” when the actual extent of the allegations is public knowledge, and OUTING THEM TO HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE WHILE REPEATING UNSUBSTANTIATED DEROGATORY SHIT INTENDED TO MAKE PEOPLE DOUBT AND HATE THEM, is WRONG.
The widespread cultural belief that every woman who reports a rape must be taken seriously should be a common part of my day-to-day experience. I should expect that people believe that; I should expect that people behave in accordance with that belief; I should have the right to be shocked or surprised when they don’t. But I don’t expect it. It’s not a common expectation. And that’s why I actually felt real, pure, huge gratitude last night, hearing Michael Moore. Because rape culture is so powerful that even hearing a man say that rape culture and rape apologism isn’t okay comes as a surprise. Strikes me as receiving a special favor. When it shouldn’t be a favor, or a victory; it should be a basic human right.
We’ve been fighting for a long time, and we still didn’t win it all. And as for Keith Olbermann, well… I have certain feelings about Keith Olbermann.
But you know we fought, and we fought, and I was tired, and I was scared, and I was crying, and I was outside the tower, and I knew we had to not go away. And then, well… then he came down.
That was in my Direct Messages inbox. On my Twitter. At the bottom of the 200 unanswered e-mails; I almost ignored it, almost blitzed right past it, because it was on Twitter and those are just new “follow” notifications.
I got a “thank you” from Michael Moore. You did. We all did.
HE FUCKING CAME DOWN FROM THE TOWER. HE CAME DOWN. We stood out here, and we waited, with our megaphones, and then THE MAN CAME DOWN.
The story ended better this time. I mean, in Roger & Me, Roger talking to Michael, that wasn’t going to give those people their jobs back, right? “Gosh, Michael, you have such a good point, allow me to immediately reverse all of this economic devastation.” No. That was never how it was going to work, even as a best-case scenarion. But we wanted Roger to talk to Michael, anyway. We wanted to talk.
They’re talking now. Keith Olbermann is on his Twitter saying it’s “misogynist” to characterize two women with date rape claims as being “in a tizzy,” which Assange did. (It’s also misogynist to refer to one of them as a “notorious radical feminist” — because us feminists, we just plain CAN’T EVER be raped, right, many many many many feminist survivors participating in this protest? — and it’s a flat-out lie to say that they “wrote many articles” about seeking revenge, when in fact what one of them did was TRANSLATE and REPOST an EHOW ARTICLE, and Assange did both things yesterday. Care to address that, Mr. Olbermann?) Keith Olbermann will never thank us for making him a better journalist, or a better person; Keith Olbermann will never acknowledge that his prior coverage kind of skimped on basic standards of both journalism and human decency. But, as many of us pointed out last night, we still accomplished something.
We made it clear that the media narrative of the Assange case, which told us that in order to be pro-WikiLeaks we’d have to minimize, discount, and smear those two women, which told us that women who allege rape and rape survivors are EXPENDABLE when it comes to certain left-wing celebrities or causes, is unacceptable. We made it clear that journalists — men and women — who do this, who minimize and misrepresent those claims, who leak those names, who endanger those women, are going to face consequences. And that those consequences might be bigger than anything they’ve ever seen before; bigger than anything that they had any reason to expect.
I said this on Twitter, before, but: We fought for basic human decency for over a week. We fought, tirelessly, at great risk and expense, to make a mountain move. The mountain moved, like, three inches to the left. If you weren’t looking closely, you wouldn’t notice that it had moved at all. You definitely wouldn’t think to thank or acknowledge the incredibly hard work of the people who moved it. But we moved a mountain. We did the impossible. We went from just a random bunch of frustrated feminists, a random bunch of people on Twitter, to a force capable of changing the rape apologism in the narrative of one of the world’s biggest news stories.
The mountain moved. The man came down from the tower. And we still live in a rape culture; we’re still not done fighting it; the narrative around Assange, in particular, is still hugely misogynist and hugely dangerous for those two women and will still encourage rape survivors not to report. We didn’t get a full apology and correction from Michael Moore; we didn’t get a full apology and correction from Keith Olbermann; neither of them have donated to the many rape crisis and anti-rape organizations to which we’ve provided links; heck, we didn’t even get credit on air. But we know what we’re capable of now. And that is immensely important.
That’s the most important lesson of #MooreandMe, for me, the most important take-away: The next time something is this fucked up, and we feel like we have to fight it, we will. The next time we feel like we have to fight something, we will know fighting can make a difference. The chief thing #MooreandMe gave me, the girl who started out a week ago just writing an irritated Tweet and then eventually hearing a “thank you” from Michael Moore, was faith in the idea that activism can change things. Faith in the idea that you matter. Faith in the idea that, next time we set out to oppose rape culture in our media or our lives, we can do so with that most precious, most rare, most essential of qualities: We can fight rape, and we can have hope.Two former HTC executives are hoping for a fresh start with their own company.
Michael Coombes, former head of U.K. sales at HTC, and James Atkins, former U.K. marketing head for the company, said on Monday that they are launching smartphone manufacturer Kazam. The two executives are promising smartphones that are about "stunning design, robust hardware, and intuitive technology, underpinned with improved customer service. Kazam will focus on the European market.
Coombes will serve as CEO, while Atkins will be the chief marketing officer. The two executives left HTC in March, part of an exodus of several key executives leaving as the company struggles with its turnaround.
"There is a real opportunity for a new mobile brand to disrupt the status quo," Atkins said. "We are passionate about delivering a truly positive mobile experience that doesn't just stop once you've bought the phone."
The company, of course, faces tremendous hurdles, and could very well go from Kazam to kablooey in short fashion. After all, if a company with the resources of HTC continues to struggle with the handset business, how much of a chance does a startup have?
Kazam, which will focus on the European market, believes it can differentiate itself by offering phones that it will continue to support after they're purchased. Considering that smartphones routinely get software updates, the company will likely offer more support than new versions of the software. The bare-bones statement didn't provide any concrete details on the products themselves, noting only that a line of smartphones will launch later this year. Presumably, the company would use Android as well.
"Kazam's dynamic structure and focus on local markets means we can react quickly to the ever-evolving and diverging needs of today's consumer," Coombes said.
But in a market where money, scale, distribution, and brand talks, Kazam is at a distinct disadvantage. It lacks all of those things when stacked up against the two executives' former employer, not to mention giants such as Apple and Samsung Electronics.
Also, in many markets where the carrier plays a dominant role in what the consumer ultimately buys, getting an in with the big companies will be a huge challenge. Fortunately, unlocked phones are more popular in Europe, so there's a potential market for customers who want something different.
But with companies such as HTC, Sony, and LG fighting for the scraps left over from Samsung and Apple, there appears to be little left over for Kazam. Even relatively large companies such as Huawei and ZTE have struggled to get into mature markets despite vast resources.
We'll have to hear more about Kazam and its phone first before making a final call, but for now, the startup is raising a lot of questions about its business with the announcement.
Corrected on June 18 at 11:04 a.m.: This story initially misstated Michael Coombes' title at HTC. Coombes was the head of U.K. sales for HTC.Vancouver, B.C. – The Vancouver Canucks are proud to announce that eight members of the organization will represent their nation at the 2014 Winter Olympic Games in Sochi, Russia. Goaltender Roberto Luongo and defenceman Dan Hamhuis will represent Team Canada; prospect forward Ronalds Kenins will represent Latvia; forwards Daniel Sedin and Henrik Sedin will join defenceman Alex Edler on Team Sweden; defenceman Yannick Weber will dress for Team Switzerland; and centre Ryan Kesler will represent Team USA.
Alex Edler, 27, has nine points (3-6-9) and 16 penalty minutes through 27 games with Vancouver this season. In 458 career NHL games, Edler has recorded 54 goals, 161 assists (54-161-215) and 253 penalty minutes. The 6-foot-4, 209 pound native of Ostersund, Sweden, has also played 59 playoff games, recording 28 points (8-20-28) and 36 penalty minutes. Edler has represented Sweden at the 2013 World Hockey Championship (gold) and 2006 World Junior Championships. This will be his first appearance at the Olympic Winter Games.
Hamhuis, 31, has registered 13 points (4-9-13) and 16 penalty minutes in 44 games with Vancouver this season. The Smithers, BC, native has represented Team Canada on seven occasions, most recently at the 2013 World Championships where he joined Canada for three games, collecting an assist on an overtime game-winning goal against the Czech Republic. This will be his first appearance at the Olympic Winter Games.
Luongo, 34, has compiled a record of 16-10-6 in 33 games with the Canucks this season, recording a.922 save percentage and 2.23 GAA. In 780 career NHL games, the 2011 William M. Jennings Trophy winner has recorded a.919 save percentage and a 2.51 GAA, ranking 16th all-time for most wins in NHL history with 364. Luongo has a.916 save percentage and a 2.51 GAA in 64 career NHL playoff games. The 6-foot-3, 219 pound native of Montreal, Quebec, was a member of the gold medal winning Canadian Olympic team in 2010 and has represented his country on a number of occasions. Luongo has been a member of Olympic, World Cup, World Championship and World Junior Teams. He helped lead Canada to the gold medal at the Olympic Games in 2010, the World Hockey Championships in 2003 and 2004, as well as the World Cup in 2004.
Kenins, 22, currently plays for Zurich in the Swiss-A League, where he has registered 16 points (5-11-16) in |
her mother's grave and, in her rush, might have been trying to reach the cemetery. On the last day of school, Takumi confesses in a note that he was the last person to see Alaska, and he let her go as well. Pudge realizes that letting her go doesn't matter as much anymore. He forgives Alaska for dying, as he knows Alaska would forgive him for letting her go.
Characters [ edit ]
Miles Halter Miles "Pudge" Halter is nicknamed because he is tall and skinny. He is the novel's main character, who has an unusual interest in learning famous people's last words. He transfers to the boarding school Culver Creek in search of his own "Great Perhaps". Pudge is attracted to Alaska Young, who for most of the novel has a mixed relationship, mostly not returning his feelings. Alaska Young Alaska is the wild, unpredictable, beautiful, and enigmatic girl with a sad backstory who captures Miles' attention and heart. She acts as a confidante to her friends, frequently assisting them in personal matters, including providing them with cigarettes and alcohol. She is described as living in a "reckless world." The second half of the novel focuses around the car accident that took her life and the other characters coping with not knowing if it was an accident or a suicide. Chip Martin Chip "The Colonel" Martin is five feet tall but "built like a scale model of Adonis",[14] he is Alaska's best friend and Miles' roommate. He is the strategic mastermind behind the schemes that Alaska concocts, and in charge of everyone's nicknames. Coming from a poor background, he is obsessed with loyalty and honor, especially towards his beloved mother, Dolores, who lives in a trailer. Takumi Hikohito Takumi is a gifted Japanese emcee/hip-hop enthusiast and friend of Alaska and Chip. He often feels overlooked in the plans of Miles, Chip, and Alaska. Towards the end of the novel he returns to Japan. Lara Buterskaya Lara is a Romanian immigrant, she is Alaska's friend and becomes Miles' girlfriend and, eventually, ex-girlfriend. She is described as having a mild accent. Mr. Starnes Mr. Starnes is the stern Dean of Students at Culver Creek, nicknamed "The Eagle" by the students. He is pranked by Miles, Chip, Alaska, Lara and Takumi multiple times throughout the novel.
Themes [ edit ]
Search for meaning [ edit ]
After Alaska's death, Pudge and Colonel investigate the circumstances surrounding the traumatic event. While looking for answers, the boys are subconsciously dealing with their grief, and their obsession over these answers transforms into a search for meaning. Pudge and Colonel want to find out the answers to certain questions surrounding Alaska's death, but in reality, they are enduring their own labyrinths of suffering, a concept central to the novel. When their theology teacher Mr. Hyde poses a question to his class about the meaning of life, Pudge takes this opportunity to write about it as a labyrinth of suffering. He accepts that it exists and admits that even though the tragic loss of Alaska created his own labyrinth of suffering, he continues to have faith in the "Great Perhaps,'" meaning that Pudge must search for meaning in his life through inevitable grief and suffering. Literary scholar Barb Dean analyzes Pudge and the Colonel's quest for answers as they venture into finding deeper meaning in life. Because this investigation turns into something that is used to deal with the harsh reality of losing Alaska, it leads to Pudge finding his way through his own personal labyrinth of suffering and finding deeper meaning to his life.[15]
Grief [ edit ]
When Alaska dies unexpectedly, the repercussions in the lives of her friends are significant, especially for Pudge and the Colonel. Scholar Barb Dean concludes that it is normal to seek answers about what happened and why. She also points out that in writing Looking for Alaska, John Green wished to dive deeper into the grieving process by asking the question "how does one rationalize the harshness and messiness of life when one has, through stupid, thoughtless, and very human actions, contributed to that very harshness?" [16] Pudge and the Colonel blame themselves for Alaska's death because they do not stop her from driving while intoxicated. Because of this, their grieving process consists of seeking answers surrounding her death since they feel that they are responsible. Ultimately, Miles is able to come to the conclusion that Alaska would forgive him for any fault of his in her death and thus his grief is resolved in a healthy way.[17]
Coming of Age [ edit ]
Throughout the book, the events that Miles and other characters experience are typical coming-of-age situations. By the end of the book, it is clear that Miles has grown throughout the year. Book reviews often note this theme, bringing up the instances in the book such as grief that cause the characters to look at life from a new and more mature perspective.[18] Scholar Barb Dean also concludes that the characters grow up faster than expected while investigating Alaska's death because exploring the concept of the labyrinth of suffering is Miles' "rite of passage" into adulthood, and he learns more about himself through grieving for Alaska.[15] Reviews also note activities such as drinking and smoking, which, though controversial, are often viewed as rites of passage by the teenagers in this novel.[19]
Hope [ edit ]
The theme of hope plays a major role in Looking for Alaska. Even though some of the novel's prominent themes are about death, grief and loss, John Green ties hope into the end of the novel to solve Pudge's internal conflict brought on by Alaska's death. In Barb Dean's chapter about the novel, she takes a closer look into Mr. Hyde's theology class where he discusses the similarity of the idea of hope between the founding figures of Christianity, Islam, and Buddhism. Mr. Hyde also asks the class what their call for hope is, and Pudge decides his is his escape of his personal labyrinth of suffering. For Pudge, his call for hope is understanding the reality of suffering while also acknowledging that things like friendship and forgiveness can help diminish this suffering. Dean notes that Green has said that he writes fiction in order to "'keep that fragile strand of radical hope [alive], to build a fire in the darkness.'" [20]
Reception [ edit ]
Reviews of Looking for Alaska are generally positive. Many comment on the relatable high school characters and situations as well as more complex ideas such as how topics like grief are handled. Overall, many reviewers agree that this is a coming of age story that is appealing to both older and younger readers.[21][19] There has been much controversy surrounding this novel, however, especially in school settings. Parents and school administrators have questioned the novel's language, sexual content, and depiction of tobacco and alcohol use.[22] Looking for Alaska has been featured on the American Library Association's list of Frequently Challenged Books in 2008, 2012, 2013, 2015, and 2016.[23] The novel was awarded the Michael L. Printz award in 2006 and has also won praise from organizations such as the American Library Association, School Library Journal, and the Los Angeles Times among others.[24]
Controversy [ edit ]
Marion County, Kentucky [ edit ]
In 2016 in Marion County, Kentucky, parents urged schools to drop it from the curriculum, referring to it as influencing students "to experiment with pornography, sex, drugs, alcohol and profanity."[25] Although the teacher offered an opt-out book for the class, one parent still felt as though the book should be banned entirely and filed a formal complaint. After the challenge, students were given an alternate book for any parents who were not comfortable with their children reading the book. One parent still insisted on getting the book banned and filed a Request for Reconsideration on the basis that Looking for Alaska would tempt students to experiment with drugs, alcohol, and sex despite the decisions made after the challenge.[26]
Depew High School, Buffalo New York [ edit ]
Two teachers at Depew High School near Buffalo, New York, used the book for eleventh grade instruction in 2008. Looking for Alaska was challenged by parents for its sexual content and moral disagreements with the novel. Despite the teachers providing an alternate book, parents still argued for it to be removed from curriculum due to its inappropriate content such as offensive language, sexually explicit content, including a scene described as "pornographic", and references to homosexuality, drugs, alcohol, and smoking. The book was ultimately kept in the curriculum by the school board after a unanimous school board vote with the stipulation that the teachers of the 11th grade class give the parents a decision to have their children read an alternate book. Looking for Alaska was defended by the school district because they felt it dealt with themes relevant to students of this age, such as death, drinking and driving, and peer pressure.[27]
Knox and Sumner Counties, Tennessee [ edit ]
In March 2012, The Knoxville Journal reported that a parent of a 15-year-old Karns High School student objected to the book's placement on the Honors and Advanced Placement classes' required reading lists for Knox County high schools on the grounds that its sex scene and its use of profanity rendered it pornography.[28] Ultimately, students were kept from reading the novel as a whole, but Looking for Alaska was still available in libraries within the district. In May 2012, Sumner County in Tennessee also banned the teaching of Looking for Alaska. The school's spokesman argued that two pages of the novel included enough explicit content to ban the novel.
Controversy Due to Cover Design [ edit ]
Further controversy came from the cover art. In August 2012, Green acknowledged that the extinguished candle on the cover leads to "an improbable amount of smoke", and explained that the initial cover design did not feature the candle. Green said that certain book chains were uncomfortable with displaying or selling a book with a cover that featured cigarette smoke, so the candle was added beneath the smoke.[29] In John Green's box set, released on October 25, 2012, the candle has been removed from the cover. Further paperback releases of the book also have the candle removed.
Author's Response to Controversy [ edit ]
Green defended his book in his vlog, Vlogbrothers. The video, entitled "I Am Not A Pornographer", describes the Depew High School challenge of Looking for Alaska and his anger at the description of his novel as pornography. Green defends the inclusion of the oral sex scene in Looking for Alaska stating, "The whole reason that scene in question exists in Looking for Alaska is because I wanted to draw a contrast between that scene, when there is a lot of physical intimacy, but it is ultimately very emotionally empty, and the scene that immediately follows it, when there is not a serious physical interaction, but there's this intense emotional connection." Green argues that the misunderstanding of his book is the reason for its controversy, and calls to people to understand the actual literary content before judging specific scenes. He also condemns the way that groups of parents underestimate the intelligence of teenagers and their ability to analyze literature. He ends with encouraging his viewers to attend the Depew School Board hearing to defend the choice of parents, students, and teachers to have Looking for Alaska included in public schools.[30]
Adaptation [ edit ]
The film rights to the novel were acquired by Paramount Pictures in 2005. The screenplay was potentially going to be written and directed by Josh Schwartz (creator of The O.C.)[31] but, due to a lack of interest by Paramount, the production had been shelved indefinitely.[32] It had been reported that Paramount was putting the screenplay in review due to the success of the film adaptation of Green's breakout novel, The Fault in Our Stars. On February 27, 2015, The Hollywood Reporter announced that Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber, screenwriters for Temple Hill Entertainment who had worked on adaptations for The Fault in Our Stars and Paper Towns, would be writing and executive producing for the film.[33] Paramount was actively casting the latest version of the screenplay, which was written by Sarah Polley.[34][35] Rebecca Thomas was set to direct.[36] Green also confirmed that Neustadter and Weber were still involved with the film.[37] In August 2015, it was announced filming would begin in the fall in Michigan.[38] It was later announced that filming would begin in early 2016 because of lack of casting decisions. Later in 2016, John Green announced in a Vlogbrothers video and on social media that the film adaptation had once again been shelved indefinitely.[39] John Green explained, "It has always fallen apart of one reason or another."[40]
On May 9, 2018, it was announced that Hulu would be adapting the novel into an 8-episode limited series.[41] On October 30, 2018, John Green announced the lead cast: Kristine Froseth as Alaska, and Charlie Plummer as Miles.[42]
Bob Carlton (2005-03-13). "One-time Indian Springs student finds his way in first novel".
References [ edit ]
Bibliography [ edit ]
Green, John (28 December 2006). Looking for Alaska. Penguin Young Readers Group. ISBN 9780142402511.If and when “white supremacists” descend on San Francisco’s Crissy Field later this month, they can do so with concealed handguns.
That’s thanks to a 2010 federal firearms law that allows guns in national parks, when applicable under state and local laws, which local officials verified on background.
That’s especially pertinent as local officials came together Tuesday to take a stand against a planned Patriot Prayer rally on Aug. 26 at Crissy Field and cited fears of violence.
SEE RELATED: ‘White supremacist’ patriot rally coming to San Francisco — counter-protest already planned
“Concealed weapons are always a concern,” Supervisor Mark Farrell told me in a written statement. “It’s one of the many reasons why I called on the National Park Service today to detail an appropriate and considerable plan to keep everyone safe.”
Farrell’s district includes Crissy Field, though it is located on federal land under the auspices of the National Park Service and is not in San Francisco’s jurisdiction.
Mayor Ed Lee announced his opposition to the rally in a news conference Tuesday, alongside Board of Supervisors London Breed, San Francisco Police Chief Bill Scott and Michael Pappas of the San Francisco Interfaith Council. Lee said he demanded the park service provide more safety assurances for the Patriot Prayer rally, which he said would attract “violence” and “hate.”
“We have demanded the National Park Service re-evaluate the permit in this case,” the mayor said.
Lee said he believes Patriot Prayer — a group that the Southern Poverty Law Center noted has attracted “white supremacists,” neo-Nazis, skinheads and other hate groups in previous rallies — is coming to San Francisco to incite violence similar to recent rallies in Charlottesville, Va. He said San Francisco would not grant a permit and “do such a careless thing with lives at stake.”
“They’re aiming their guns at our people,” Lee said.
Also citing safety concerns, three state lawmakers united to demand that the National Park Service and the Golden Gate National Recreation Area deny permits to the Patriot Prayer rally.
State Sen. Scott Wiener and Assemblymembers David Chiu and Phil Ting, in a joint letter to the park service, decried the U.S. from sliding into “racism and hate.
As this column reported Monday, the GGNRA, a federal agency over which the city of San Francisco has no control, has provisionally approved a permit for Patriot Prayer. That permit approval process is not yet complete, according to the GGNRA.
Previously, loaded weapons were not allowed in national parks. But a 2010 federal firearms law leaves it up to the states to decide which weapons are legal to carry. In California, those who obtained carry concealed weapon permits within the state can legally possess concealed handguns in national parks.
That means Patriot Prayer protesters from Oregon and Washington cannot carry concealed weapons in California — and no, there aren’t temporary permits.
Though handguns are a far cry from the rifles carried by self-styled militias in the infamous recent Charlottesville protest, they’re still a cause for concern. State lawmakers are already questioning the park service’s ability to keep people safe.
Wiener told me by text message, “Guns are a real concern … There’s a serious risk of violence — including gun violence, given who these protesters are — and the National Park Service needs to revoke the permit and start from scratch.”
When asked if the San Francisco Police Department would deploy its officers to help the smaller-staffed U.S. Park Police, regardless of jurisdictional lines, Scott said safety was paramount.
“We’re going to do what we need to help keep people safe,” Scott said. “We’re not going to draw a line of federal property or not.”
Lee sent a letter to GGNRA General Superintendent Cicely Muldoon on Tuesday demanding “contingencies” for additional safety.
“We are outraged” the permit was granted, Lee’s letter reads, “without proper planning and resources, given the public safety concerns,” including securing safety of people en route to their vehicles and counter-protest mitigation.
Breed was especially heated at the news conference.
“To say we are outraged is an understatement,” she said. “… these groups promote racism, promote hate and violence.”
Patriot Prayer has denied accusations by San Francisco politicians and others that they trumpet white power messages.
“Apparently we are having a white nationalist rally in San Fran with a black, Hispanic, Asian, and a transsexual speaking,” the Patriot Prayer group posted to Facebook on Tuesday, seemingly in response to recent news coverage.
They posted the text with an animated GIF of Winnie the Pooh tapping his forehead, saying, “think” repeatedly.
Though the group denies being themselves white supremacists, media outlets and the Southern Poverty Law Center identified hate groups in their ranks at rallies in Oregon and Washington states, and violent clashes followed their demonstrations. People pointed out the bait-and-switch messaging used by Patriot Prayer, and one of its central figures, Joey Gibson.
In a reply to the Winnie the Pooh Facebook post, Mike Woodward, a resident of Oxnard, Calif., wrote, “Gibson has attempted to sell a candy-coated form of Christian Patriotism to the mainstream, but his attempts at inclusivity and ‘dialogue’ are clearly duplicitous.”
Pappas, head of the San Francisco Interfaith Council that unites religious orders across San Francisco, was particularly bothered by the use of religious wording by Patriot Prayer to hide behind messages of hate.
“We are very concerned that the billing of this event is dealing with prayer and freedom and peace,” he said. “We believe that words are very powerful.”
Pappas added, “Disguising hatred and division and violence with words that are sacred are really misguided.”
On Guard prints the news and raises hell each week. Email Fitz at joe@sfexaminer.com, follow him on Twitter and Instagram @FitztheReporter, and Facebook at facebook.com/FitztheReporter.
Editor’s note: This column has been updated with additional information and comments.
Click here or scroll down to commentVHS Skateboards Are The Ultimate Throwback
Do you guys remember VHS tapes? It seems like an eternity ago that we were rewinding The Little Mermaid to watch it for the 143,294th time, but it hasn’t actually been that long since the world switched to digital videos. Still, there’s this huge wave of nostalgia that passes over us every time we browse the weird VHS section at the thrift store. It’s doubtful they will ever make a return to relevancy like vinyl did in the music world, but we’re still loving these reinterpreted VHS-inspired skateboards from 5BORONYC.
The series of skateboard decks is based on common VHS sleeves from blank video tapes, so you’ll probably recognize these designs immediately. They’re the same ones that house all your old home movies! Or, in our case, one of the tapes looks exactly like the one on which we recorded dozens of episodes of Captain Picard cruising the galaxy in Star Trek: The Next Generation.
We’re all for upcycling (and you know we love our nostalgia), so we seriously high five this recycling of some of our favorite memories.
Any of these tapes sitting in your parents’ basement? Let us know in the comments!In a strongly worded decision, a state judge on Friday struck down Pennsylvania’s 2012 law requiring voters to produce a state-approved photo ID at the polls, setting up a potential Supreme Court confrontation that could have implications for other such laws across the country.
The judge, Bernard L. McGinley of Commonwealth Court, ruled that the law hampered the ability of hundreds of thousands of Pennsylvanians to cast their ballots, with the burden falling most heavily on elderly, disabled and low-income residents, and that the state’s reason for the law — that it was needed to combat voter fraud — was not supported by the facts.
“Voting laws are designed to assure a free and fair election,” the judge wrote in his 103-page decision. “The voter ID law does not further this goal.”
In addition, Judge McGinley ruled, the state’s $5 million campaign to explain the law had been full of misinformation that has never been corrected. He also said that the free IDs that were supposed to be made available to those without driver’s licenses or other approved photo identification were difficult and sometimes impossible to obtain.Game 1 Cardinals starter Adam Wainwright: “I think we have a 100-win club, I really do. But we definitely had some key injuries.” (Jeff Roberson/ASSOCIATED PRESS)
That the St. Louis Cardinals were in this position — in the National League Division Series, awaiting the Washington Nationals on Sunday — is a staggering accomplishment in itself. It’s strange that one could even say that about a defending World Series champion, but after losing longtime manager Tony La Russa, otherworldly slugger Albert Pujols and terrific pitching coach Dave Duncan, and having numerous injuries to major contributors throughout the season, thus was the case.
Despite all of the above, the Cardinals still have one of the sport’s best offenses and a strong starting rotation as they once again find themselves in the playoffs as the NL’s lowest seed, a team on a run with experience that opponents fear. Last season, they sneaked into the postseason on the final day and won a World Series. This year, they earned the second wild-card spot on the penultimate day of the season and finished six games behind the Atlanta Braves. They still managed to topple Atlanta, peaking at exactly the right time.
It’s as if there’s something inside these Cardinals that is awoken around this time of year. They find an utter focus that propels them through September and into the postseason.
“Given the fact of all the changes we went through this past offseason, to win 88 games, I certainly would have taken that,” Cardinals General Manager John Mozeliak said. “To look back and try to say, ‘Were we underachieving?’ I just don’t feel that. I feel this club played well enough to qualify and that’s the most important.”
Judging solely by the quality of their lineup and strong pitching, it seems as if the Cardinals are much better than their record suggests. During the regular season, their lineup produced the fifth-highest scoring offense in the majors (4.72 runs per game), rivaling the totals of American League teams, and a starting rotation that overcame several injuries to post the fourth-best ERA (3.62) in the majors.
They were talented and deep enough to deal with the loss of aging but experienced ace Chris Carpenter, the 2005 NL Cy Young Award winner who returned two weeks ago, and injuries to starters Jaime Garcia and Jake Westbrook. They could withstand the ups and downs of Adam Wainwright, a top right-handed starter who was pitching in his first full season back from Tommy John surgery.
On offense, they were without Pujols, a three-time MVP who left via free agency; Lance Berkman, a six-time all-star who played in only 32 games because of knee injuries; and everyday shortstop Rafael Furcal to an elbow injury in August. La Russa retired after 16 years managing the Cardinals, and Duncan, one of the best pitching coaches in baseball, took an absence to tend to his ailing wife.
“We didn’t play our best ball, no doubt,” said Wainwright, the Cardinals’ starter on Sunday. “I think we have a 100-win club, I really do. But we definitely had some key injuries. We lost Chris Carpenter, Lance Berkman, Rafael Furcal. We lost some key pieces along the way. Allen Craig missed a month. These are some big bats. To be in the postseason and go in and win a really tough game against Atlanta yesterday is nothing to hang our head about. We have accomplished something great.”
The Cardinals enter the opening game of the NLDS having won eight of their past 11 games, including taking two of three games from the Nationals at Busch Stadium Sept. 28-30. They may have the worst record of all the NL playoff teams, but they went 17-13 in September and October, good enough to put them in this position.
In Friday’s inaugural one-game NL wild-card matchup, the Cardinals fell behind early by two runs against young Braves ace Kris Medlen. They recovered calmly, took advantage of the Braves’ mistakes and took the lead in the fourth inning. They didn’t have the rushed, overly aggressive at-bats that plagued the younger, less experienced Braves hitters. They continued to capitalize on miscues, building a four-run lead in the seventh inning and working out of potentially harrowing jams.
“I don’t think you can say enough about what those guys went through in 2011,” Cardinals Manager Mike Matheny said, “what they overcame, how much they were the underdog and how they were ruled out and all those things that brought them together which defines the character of a team, and ultimately defines character of people. All of those are benefits that they have earned and they worked their way through, and this team is doing the same thing this year.”Once built, the New Wilshire Grand will be the tallest building west of the Mississippi.
The final design of the New Wilshire Grand for downtown Los Angeles. (Photo11: AC Grand Architects) Story Highlights The Hanjin Group of South Korea is building the tallest structure west of the Mississippi.
Here in the U.S., Korean-Americans are increasingly visible and influential.
The 73-story New Wilshire Grand being built in downtown L.A. is of a piece with this cultural arrival.
The Hanjin Group of South Korea, better known to Americans through its flagship subsidiary Korean Air Lines, is in the process of building the tallest structure west of the Mississippi. It's going up right in the heart of downtown Los Angeles — the sort of project bound to stir conversation and controversy.
And yet there's no controversy and little conversation. No one is screaming that the Koreans are buying up America. No one is complaining about how the Wilshire Grand Hotel has been demolished to make way for a skyscraper. If you read the online comments to the handful of news articles on the project, Angelenos say they welcome the shiny glass and steel New Wilshire Grand.
This reaction is very different from the alarmism of the 1980s when Tokyo's Mitsubishi Estate Co. purchased Rockefeller Center in New York City as other Japanese companies invested in firms and properties all over America.
What's the difference?
One obvious answer is that South Korea, unlike Japan, was never an American enemy. The less obvious answer is that South Korea, despite its achievements and longstanding connections to America, has been slow to penetrate the U.S. consciousness.
'Unknown' then
When I was growing up in 1980s' New York City, the son of Korean immigrants, the construction of a Korean skyscraper would have been inconceivable. South Korea was virtually unknown, except when it was depicted as poor and war-torn in MASH. The Korean War is referred to as "The Unknown War."
After the war, South Korea's economy languished as Japan boomed. By 1967, Japan had the world's second largest economy, and its culture established a place in American minds.
South Korea's invisibility in America didn't last, however. Its international profile has grown. The current secretary-general of the United Nations, Ban Ki Moon, is Korean.
Grand arrival
Here in the U.S., Korean Americans are increasingly visible and influential, in the arts (for example, L.A. painter and graffiti artist David Choe), and in education and development (Jim Yong Kim, the former president of Dartmouth College, was appointed president of the World Bank in 2012). Korean cuisine is spreading beyond urban enclaves. And only those who live under rocks were unaware of the sardonic lyrics and equine gyrations of Psy's Gangnam Style.
The 73-story New Wilshire Grand being built in downtown L.A. is of a piece with this cultural arrival. Right now, it is a hole in the ground — a hole with a new foundation after a recent concrete pour. When it is completed, it will rise to claim the title of tallest structure in the West.
In one sense, the building has been in the making for generations. For this immigrant son, it is a testament to how much has changed in this country. The skyscraper will be a point of pride. Even if you don't hear all that much about it.
Paul S. Nam teaches Korean and Japanese history at Occidental College. He wrote this for Zócalo Public Square.
In addition to its own editorials, USA TODAY publishes diverse opinions from outside writers, including our Board of Contributors. To read more columns like this, go to the opinion front page or follow us on twitter @USATopinion or Facebook.
Read or Share this story: http://usat.ly/1bYBHM4November 17, 2017 08:24 AM
ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) - Gov. Andrew Cuomo says a petition to take his late father's name off a suburban New York City bridge is "personally hurtful."
The state legislature voted in June to name the new $4 billion Hudson River bridge between Westchester and Rockland counties the Gov. Mario M. Cuomo Bridge.
A petition with 75,000 signatures on change.org seeks to keep the familiar old name - the Tappan Zee Bridge.
According to the Journal News, the Democratic governor also calls the petition "mean" and "vindictive."
He's blaming a conservative group.
Reclaim New York it's not behind the drive, though it has promoted the petition.
The group says residents are "sick of backroom deals."
The first span of the bridge opened in August and the second span will open next year.
___
Information from: The Journal News, http://www.lohud.comToday as I type this billions of Christians all over the world are celebrating the "Holy Day" known as Easter, the celebration of the supposed resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.
Today, hundreds of thousands – perhaps even millions of atheists are delighting themselves in calling it Zombie Jesus Day, much like I did last year. This year, for me, the joke is old – I get it and all and of course it makes sense but I just don't find the same humor in it that I once did because I know that it offends some of my dear friends.
As a result of perhaps maturing another year I've chosen to make this day a different sort of holiday for me at least and I wonder if my atheist cohorts would decide to do the same.
A New Proposal
Rather than trolling message boards, Reddit, and Facebook all day today calling Christians out on their worship of a man that may never have existed I intend to make this day, and any other Christian holiday a day of reason – and I'm going to do so respectfully.
On this day, now and until we are all dead I propose that we should approach the Christian multitudes with facts and reason rather than taunts and hate. Lets talk about the historical context, pagan origins, and logical fallacies of this belief system in meaningful ways in order to promote a reasonable dialog between our two groups because I honestly don't feel that Zombie Jesus Day promotes anything more than anger and hurt feelings.
Don't get me wrong here, I'm not saying Christendom is innocent of causing massive amounts of harm to our society because it most certainly has – I just don't believe that you can fight fire with fire any longer. If we are going to attempt to put out the flames of hate, intolerance, and myth we must stop being hateful, stop being intolerant, and start presenting facts even IF they will fall of deaf ears.
What to do
Here are the things that I think we, as atheists and overall reasonable people should do on days such as this:
Know the history of Easter and the similarities between Jesus and other Christ-myth deities past such as Mithras and Glycon.
Ask believers why there are so many religions that existed PRIOR to Christianity that share a nearly identical story.
Discuss the Burden of Proof that Christians have since they are making positive claims as to the existence and person of God.
Discuss and present the evidence for the superiority of the Scientific Method and why God is unnecessary for life/the universe
Don't act like an ass – Sure I'm guilty, but it's never done anything positive for me or anyone else.
I'm not saying that we are necessarily wrong to ridicule Christianity, what I am saying is that ridiculing Christianity is fruitless. Yes, the premise of Christianity and all religions are regurgitated myths and belief in them often has very dangerous results but the only way to dispel those myths is by presenting the facts regarding them. No, this won't change every Christian's mind but at the very least it provides the opportunity to reason and grow if they are open to it.
The header picture on this post shows (L) Isis and Child – an early Christ and (R) Mary and Child – The Modern ChristUNITED NATIONS (AFP) - A global treaty banning nuclear weapons was adopted at the United Nations on Friday (July 07) but nuclear powers Britain, France and the United States dismissed it as out of step with reality at a time when the world is grappling with the North Korea crisis.
The treaty was adopted by a vote of 122 in favour with one country – Nato member The Netherlands – voting against, while Singapore abstained.
None of the nine countries that possess nuclear weapons – the United States, Russia, Britain, China, France, India, Pakistan, North Korea and Israel – took part in the negotiations or the vote.
Even Japan – the only country to have suffered atomic attacks, in 1945 – boycotted the talks as did most Nato countries.
Loud applause and cheers broke out in the UN conference hall following the vote that capped three weeks of negotiations on the text providing for a total ban on developing, stockpiling or threatening to use nuclear weapons.
Within hours of its adoption, the United States, Britain and France rejected the treaty and said they have no intention of joining it.
“This initiative clearly disregards the realities of the international security environment,” said the UN ambassadors from the three countries.
“This treaty offers no solution to the grave threat posed by North Korea’s nuclear program, nor does it address other security challenges that make nuclear deterrence necessary,” they said in a joint statement.
North Korea marked a worrying milestone in its bid to develop nuclear weapons when it tested its first intercontinental ballistic missile this week.
Nuclear powers argue their arsenals serve as a deterrent against a nuclear attack and say they remain committed to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).
The decades-old NPT seeks to prevent the spread of atomic weapons but also puts the onus on nuclear states to reduce their stockpiles.
Impatience however is growing among many non-nuclear states over the slow pace of disarmament as are worries that weapons of mass destruction will fall into the wrong hands.
DELEGITIMISING NUCLEAR WEAPONS
Led by Austria, Brazil, Mexico, South Africa and New Zealand, 141 countries joined in drafting the treaty that they hope will increase pressure on nuclear states to take disarmament more seriously.
Ireland, Sweden and Switzerland voted in favor as did Iran, Iraq, Egypt, Kazakhstan and many African and Latin American countries.
“We have managed to sow the first seeds of a world free of nuclear weapons,” said Costa Rica’s ambassador, Elayne Whyte Gomez, the president of the UN conference that negotiated the treaty.
The International Committee of the Red Cross hailed it as a “historic step towards delegitimising” nuclear weapons and declared the adoption “an important victory for our shared humanity.” Disarmament campaigners say the treaty will go a long way in increasing the stigma associated with nuclear weapons and will have an impact on public opinion.
“The key thing is that it changes the legal landscape,” said Richard Moyes, director of the British-based organization Article 36.
“It stops states with nuclear weapons from being able to hide behind the idea that they are not illegal.”
“We hope that today marks the beginning of the end of the nuclear age,” said Beatrice Fihn, director of the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons.
“It is beyond question that nuclear weapons violate the laws of war and pose a clear danger to global security.”
The treaty will be open for signatures as of Sept 20 and will enter into force when 50 countries have ratified it.Get the biggest Liverpool FC stories by email Subscribe Thank you for subscribing We have more newsletters Show me See our privacy notice Could not subscribe, try again later Invalid Email
Brendan Rodgers rubbished suggestions that his relationship with Raheem Sterling had broken down as he confirmed the Liverpool winger was on the brink of completing a £49million move to Manchester City.
The Reds boss insisted there was no rift between him and the England international after the acrimonious summer-long transfer saga finally reached a conclusion.
Sterling’s camp had claimed the youngster needed to quit Anfield because there had been “a breakdown in trust” between them. That’s something the Northern Irishman strongly refutes.
The 20-year-old was left out of the squad who touched down in Bangkok today after City increased their offer with £44million up front and a further £5million in add-ons.
Rodgers, speaking in the Thai capital, said: “The situation is currently very simple.
“The club has agreed with another club a deal for Raheem to be transferred and subject to medical that will go through.
“Contrary to probably the last week or so in terms of what was written, Raheem and I have stayed very strong in our relationship and have been right up until we left. So there is no issue there.
“I spoke to Raheem at length before I left yesterday. There is no problem and I said the two clubs have agreed a deal.”
Any business we get done will be behind the scenes
Rodgers refused to be drawn on whether Liverpool would re-invest that cash windfall on a replacement for Sterling.
The Reds have already splashed out £29million on Brazil attacker Roberto Firmino.
“My only interest is to talk about players that are here with us on the tour,” he added.
“These are the only ones that matter at this time. Maybe in the future that is |
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